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Crack Cocaine Addiction & Treatment

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug. Whereas the powdered form of cocaine is chemically the hydrochloride salt, crack is the “free base” form of cocaine, which exists in rock crystal form. Powder cocaine is typically snorted nasally in “lines” or dissolved in water and injected, but crack is heated and its vapors smoked, usually in a pipe. The term “crack” refers to the crackling sound heard when it is heated. Addiction to crack typically happens more quickly than to powder cocaine and its effects are often more devastating. Common street names for crack are:

› Freebase
› Rock
› Yea
› Balboa
› Charlie

How Crack Cocaine Affects the Body

Physical side effects and symptoms of crack cocaine use include constricted blood vessels; dilated pupils; and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. The high from snorting powder cocaine may last 15 to 30 minutes, but that from smoking rack usually lasts only 5 to 10 minutes. The user may go on binges for days at a time pursuing the initial pleasurable feelings. Increased use can reduce the period of time a user feels high and increases the risk of addiction.

Some users of crack cocaine report feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. A tolerance to the “high” may develop— many addicts report that they seek but fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did from their first exposure. Some users will increase their doses to intensify and prolong the euphoric effects. While tolerance to the high can occur, users can also become more sensitive to cocaine’s anesthetic and convulsant effects without increasing the dose taken. This increased sensitivity may explain some overdose and deaths occurring after apparently low doses of cocaine.

Crack Cocaine Withdrawal, Detox, Treatment and Rehabilitation

Crack users need more and more crack to attain the same high and avoid the intense “crash” or depression that follows their high. They become physically and psychologically dependent on crack, which often follows only a few doses taken within a few days. This dependence on the drug easily leads to crack addiction. Further increasing the harmful effects, users often balance out the intense lows following crack use with other drugs such as alcohol or marijuana.

Crack withdrawal symptoms include but are not limited to:

› Agitation
› Depression
› Intense craving for the drug
› Extreme fatigue
› Anxiety
› Angry outbursts
› Lack of motivation
› Nausea/vomiting
› Shaking
› Irritability
› Muscle pain
› Disturbed sleep

In addition to treatment medications, behavioral intervention and, particularly, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be effective in recovery and halting drug use by patients in treatment for crack cocaine abuse. Providing the optimal combination of treatment and services for each individual is critical to successful outcomes.