A love rose consists of a glass tube with a paper or plastic rose inside of it, and a bit of cork or foil on the ends to keep the rose from falling out. While ostensibly intended as romantic gifts, their primary known use is as a crack pipe by users of crack cocaine

Crack cocaine

Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...

. They are commonly sold at convenience store

Convenience store

A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...

s, particularly in inner-city locations.

Crack cocaine users remove the cork or foil from the ends, discard the rose, and put a small piece of steel wool

Steel wool

Steel wool, also known as wire wool, is a bundle of strands of very fine soft steel filaments, used in finishing and repairing work to polish wood or metal objects, and for cleaning household cookware....

or similar metallic material into the end to act as a "filter". The pipes are not durable, and must be replaced often.