Crack 

Crack cocaine (“crack”) is a form of Cocaine that is processed into a rock form using baking soda which extracts a high percentage of impurities. The term “crack” refers to the crackling sound heard when it is heated prior to smoking. Crack abuse rose in the mid-1980’s and is considered the most addictive form of the cocaine drug.

In it’s crystallised form, is a fast-acting drug that creates a short-lived and extreme high. Crack is heated and smoked through a makeshift or dedicated glass “crack pipe”. It is the most potent form of cocaine and the most dangerous as the drug is 75% – 100% pure. The drug reaches the brain faster when smoked and inhaled and the extreme high lasts 15 minutes.

Thus the need for more and more…

As the ‘high’ only lasts minutes, often with an intense “crash”, this generally leads to repeated use to sustain the high, an action called ‘binging’. Use in a binge, during which the drug is taken repeatedly and at increasingly high doses, leads to a state of increasing irritability, restlessness, and generally extreme paranoia. Resulting in paranoid psychosis, in which the user loses touch with reality and can experience extreme physical & auditory hallucinations.

The physical signs of crack abuse:

• Dilated pupils
• Dry mouth
• Sweating
• Suppressed appetite
• Restless and talkative
• Insomnia
• Physically active
• Depression and isolation
• Defensive and paranoid
• Mood swings
• Hallucination

No matter how frequent or infrequent one uses the substance there is an increased chance of the below health risks.

Health effects of crack addiction:

• Strokes
• Respiratory failure
• Heart attacks
• Seizures
• Death