Crack

Crack rose to prominence in the 1980s when users found that old-fashioned cocaine hydrochloride just wasn’t good enough, they hadn’t been satisfied with the “enhanced mood, sexual interest, self-confidence, conversational prowess and intensified consciousness” to be derived from just snorting cocaine. Normally, only the intravenous route of administration could be expected to deliver the more potent and rapid hit that was being sought. However, with there being very strong cultural prejudices against injecting recreational drugs a smokeable form was developed.

Since the hydrochloride salt decomposes at the temperature required to vaporise it, cocaine is instead converted to the liberated base form. Initially, “free-base” cocaine was typically produced using volatile solvents, usually ether. Unfortunately, this technique is physically dangerous. The solvent tends to ignite. Hence a more convenient method of producing smokeable free-base became popular. Its product is Crack. To obtain Crack-cocaine, ordinary cocaine hydrochloride is concentrated by heating the drug in a solution of baking soda until the water evaporates. This type of base-cocaine makes a cracking sound when heated; hence the name “Crack”. Base-cocaine vaporises at a low temperature, so it can be easily inhaled via a heated pipe.

Crack-cocaine is said to deliver an intensity of pleasure completely outside the normal range of human experience. It is also said to offer the most wonderful state of consciousness, and the most intense sense of being alive, the user will ever enjoy.

Because crack is smoked, the user experiences a high in less than 10 seconds. This rather immediate and euphoric effect is one of the reasons that crack became enormously popular in the mid 1980s. Another reason is that crack is inexpensive both to produce and to buy.

Effects and Health Issues of Crack use

The effects of Crack are similar to those of Cocaine, although since Crack is smoked, additional risks exist. Constant crack use can lead to depression. When large amounts of dopamine are used up by crack, it is harder for the brain to generate motivation for other activities. It also releases a large amount of adrenaline into the body, which tends to increase heart rate and blood pressure, leading to cardiovascular problems.

Getting the drug into the body presents a series of health risks. It cannot be snorted like regular cocaine, as is has been transmuted into an alkaline. Therefore, smoking is the most common method of ingesting the drug. Crack has a melting point of around 90 degrees C, and the smoke does not remain potent for long. Therefore crack pipes are generally very short, to minimise the time between evaporating and losing strength. This often causes cracked & blistered lips from having a very hot pipe pressed against the lips. Not surprisingly, this is often called “crack lip”.

Another significant health risk is the condition commonly known as “crack lung”. Hot smoke and ash often used in the smoking process do a large amount of damage, and inevitably people who use the drug intensely, or for more than a few months will display symptoms of dead tissue, weeping wounds, bleeding and burns.

Less commonly, the drug is injected. This is more damaging than smoking the drug, as it needs to be transmuted into an acid again in order to mix it up and inject it. This decreases the purity and increases the acidity levels and therefore damage to the veins. Another issue is frequency. Heavy heroin users would not often inject more than a few times a day. As the crack high lasts only 15 minutes, many users end up injecting the drug four times an hour, vastly accelerating the damage associated with intravenous drug use.

Treatment for Crack use

Whilst there is no recognised need for a medically supervised detox in the same way that opiate users can expect there may be a need to medicate to reduce or address some of the related problems caused by withdrawal. Treatment would normally consist of therapuatic interventions and treatment programmes in either a Residential Rehab setting or Day Care service providing highly structured programmes of care.

To discuss any issues relating to Crack use or treatment please call treatment-now.com on 0207 100 9931