<strong>Victory</strong> <strong>Over</strong> <strong>Addiction</strong> - 18
Crack Coccaine FACTS: STREET NAMES: Crack, Crumbs, Rock(s), APPEARANCE: Blocks or crystals varying from pale yellow to white. PARAPHERNALIA: Glass pipes, light bulbs, steel wool, copper wire, foil, straws, pipes made from aluminum cans. SMELL: Like burning plastic. METHOD OF USE: Heated and smoked EFFECTS: Dilated pupils, insomnia, hypertension, weight loss. Aggression and volatile mood swings. Risky sexual behavior. LONG TERM EFFECTS: High cardiovascular risk, marked cognitive decline, contusion and delirium. Psychotic symptoms. Damage to lips, mouth and teeth. Crack cocaine is the crystal form of cocaine, which normally comes in a powder form. It comes in solid blocks or crystals varying in color from yellow to pale rose or white. Crack is heated and smoked in glass or metal pipes. It is so named because it makes a cracking or popping sound when heated on a wire mesh inserted in the pipe. Crack, the most potent form in which cocaine appears, is also the riskiest. It is between 75% and 100% pure, far stronger and more potent than regular cocaine. Smoking crack allows it to reach the brain more quickly and thus brings an intense and immediate but very short-lived high that lasts about fifteen minutes. And because addiction can develop even more rapidly if the substance is smoked rather than snorted (taken in through the nose), an abuser can become addicted after his or her first time trying crack. Because of cocaine's high cost, it has long been considered a “rich man's” drug. Crack, on the other hand, is sold at prices so low that even teens can afford to buy it at first. The truth is that once a person is addicted, the expense skyrockets in direct ratio to the increasing amount needed to support the habit. The word cocaine refers to the drug in a powder form. The powder is usually mixed with substances such as corn starch, talcum powder and/or sugar or other drugs such as procaine (a local anesthetic) or amphetamines. Cocaine is one of the most dangerous drugs known to man. Once a person begins taking the drug, it has proven almost impossible to become free of its grip physically and mentally. Physically it stimulates key receptors (nerve endings that sense changes in the body) within the brain that, in turn, create a euphoria to which users quickly develop a tolerance. Only higher dosages and more frequent use can bring about the same effect. Users encompass all ages, occupations and economic levels, even schoolchildren as young as eight years old. Cocaine use can lead to death from respiratory (breathing) failure, stroke, cerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain) or heart attack. Children of cocaine-addicted mothers come into the world as addicts themselves. Many suffer birth defects and many other problems. <strong>Victory</strong> <strong>Over</strong> <strong>Addiction</strong> - 19