Pubdate: Fri, 14 Apr 2006
Source: Nunatsiaq News (CN NU)
Copyright: 2006 Nortext Publishing Corporation
Contact:  http://www.nunatsiaq.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/694
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

WHAT IS CRACK COCAINE?

Highly Addictive, And Hard To Recover From

The first time you smoke crack you will probably feel a rush to the  
head, a burst of energy, and a tinny vacancy in your brain, which may  
be refreshing. But the high in this case is barely worth it, because  
the next time you smoke the drug, you will already be well on your  
way to experiencing its negative effects.

Crack is a form of cocaine, "freebased" into a crystallized rock so  
it can be smoked. Crack users smoke the drug by heating it on a thin  
piece of tin foil, in a dented pop can, or off a broken light bulb,  
until it "crackles" and smokes.

The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound the rock makes when it  
is heated.

While crack is related to cocaine, it is much more addictive.

Hard-core crack users buy the drug many times a day to stay high.

People's mannerisms while on crack make users easy to spot. When  
people are high on crack, they are unable to sit or stand still,  
their bodies move strangely, and their pupils are large.

When the high wears off, crack smokers "crash" and feel irritable and  
anxious. For some people, this will lead to depression or a period of  
paranoid psychosis.

A more immediate danger is the potential for heart attacks,  
respiratory failure, stroke, seizures and stomach problems. People  
who use a lot of crack may forget to eat, because crack dulls the  
appetite. Poor nutrition and poor sleep makes crack users more  
vulnerable to illness and disease.

Permanent brain damage is a likely side-effect of crack smoking, but  
the long-term consequences of crack use are under-investigated by  
medical researchers.

Studies have shown, however, that crack use is closely associated  
with crime. People addicted to crack are much more likely to engage  
in shoplifting, break-ins, and robbery than people hooked on other  
drugs. That's likely because crack is highly addictive, and the need  
for more crack begins shortly after the first crash.

Crack continues to be a problem in parts of southern Canada, where  
the drug is used mainly by hard-core drug users, who live on the  
streets and devote their lives to the drug. Unlike cocaine, there are  
few recreational users of the highly addictive drug.

Withdrawal can be severe, and treatment for crack users is difficult.  
Even in the South, there is little available specifically for  
recovering crack addicts, and the few programs that do exist have not  
had great success.

Compiled with data from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse fact  
sheet on crack cocaine, dated Februrary 2006.
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