Crack Addiction
Crack cocaine 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. Addiction and abuse arose in the mid-1980s and is considered the most addictive form of the cocaine drug.
In it’s crystallized 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. Crack Addiction can result in paranoid psychosis, in which the user loses touch with reality and can experience extreme physical & auditory hallucinations.
The physical signs of abuse and addiction:
- 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 Crack Cocaine there is an increased chance of the below health risks.
Health effects of crack addiction:
- Strokes
- Respiratory failure
- Heart attacks
- Seizures
- Death
For more information on dealing with Crack addiction, or any addiction or other substance abuse, getting yourself help and possibly into an in or outpatient rehab to start a new life, call Houghton House for advice or help now:
office hours: 011 787 9142
24/7 emergency helpline: 079 770 7532
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