General Effects Of Crack Use Include Burning The

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What is cocaine?

The results of abusing crack cocaine are so severe that only the most powerful addiction would keep a person using this drug. Crack cocaine is a strong stimulant that energizes the entire central nervous system and places damaging stresses on the heart, lungs and brain. Crack can hook someone immediately, and they also stand the chance to be killed on their first try. Crack users often suffer from respiratory problems, such as severe coughing, shortness of breath and damage or bleeding in the lungs. In addition, some other long-term effects of crack use include.

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug made from the leaves of the coca plant native to South America. Although health care providers can use it for valid medical purposes, such as local anesthesia for some surgeries, recreational cocaine use is illegal. As a street drug, cocaine looks like a fine, white, crystal powder. Street dealers often mix it with things like cornstarch, talcum powder, or flour to increase profits. They may also mix it with other drugs such as the stimulant amphetamine, or synthetic opioids, including fentanyl. Adding synthetic opioids to cocaine is especially risky when people using cocaine don’t realize it contains this dangerous additive. Increasing numbers of overdose deaths among cocaine users might be related to this tampered cocaine.

Popular nicknames for cocaine include:

  • Blow
  • Coke
  • Crack
  • Rock
  • Snow

How do people use cocaine?

People snort cocaine powder through the nose, or they rub it into their gums. Others dissolve the powder and inject it into the bloodstream. Some people inject a combination of cocaine and heroin, called a Speedball.

Another popular method of use is to smoke cocaine that has been processed to make a rock crystal (also called 'freebase cocaine'). The crystal is heated to produce vapors that are inhaled into the lungs. This form of cocaine is called Crack, which refers to the crackling sound of the rock as it's heated. Some people also smoke Crack by sprinkling it on marijuana or tobacco, and smoke it like a cigarette.

People who use cocaine often take it in binges—taking the drug repeatedly within a short time, at increasingly higher doses—to maintain their high.

How does cocaine affect the brain?

Cocaine increases levels of the natural chemical messenger dopamine in brain circuits related to the control of movement and reward.

Normally, dopamine recycles back into the cell that released it, shutting off the signal between nerve cells. However, cocaine prevents dopamine from being recycled, causing large amounts to build up in the space between two nerve cells, stopping their normal communication. This flood of dopamine in the brain’s reward circuit strongly reinforces drug-taking behaviors, because the reward circuit eventually adapts to the excess of dopamine caused by cocaine, and becomes less sensitive to it. As a result, people take stronger and more frequent doses in an attempt to feel the same high, and to obtain relief from withdrawal.

Short-Term Effects

Short-term health effects of cocaine include:

  • extreme happiness and energy
  • mental alertness
  • hypersensitivity to sight, sound, and touch
  • irritability
  • paranoia—extreme and unreasonable distrust of others

Some people find that cocaine helps them perform simple physical and mental tasks more quickly, although others experience the opposite effect. Large amounts of cocaine can lead to bizarre, unpredictable, and violent behavior.

Cocaine's effects appear almost immediately and disappear within a few minutes to an hour. How long the effects last and how intense they are depend on the method of use. Injecting or smoking cocaine produces a quicker and stronger but shorter-lasting high than snorting. The high from snorting cocaine may last 15 to 30 minutes. The high from smoking may last 5 to 10 minutes.

What are the other health effects of cocaine use?

Other health effects of cocaine use include:

  • constricted blood vessels
  • dilated pupils
  • nausea
  • raised body temperature and blood pressure
  • fast or irregular heartbeat
  • tremors and muscle twitches
  • restlessness

Long-Term Effects

Some long-term health effects of cocaine depend on the method of use and include the following:

  • snorting: loss of smell, nosebleeds, frequent runny nose, and problems with swallowing
  • smoking: cough, asthma, respiratory distress, and higher risk of infections like pneumonia
  • consuming by mouth: severe bowel decay from reduced blood flow
  • needle injection: higher risk for contracting HIV, hepatitis C, and other bloodborne diseases, skin or soft tissue infections, as well as scarring or collapsed veins

However, even people involved with non-needle cocaine use place themselves at a risk for HIV because cocaine impairs judgment, which can lead to risky sexual behavior with infected partners (see 'Cocaine, HIV, and Hepatitis' textbox).

Cocaine, HIV, and Hepatitis

Studies have shown that cocaine use speeds up HIV infection. According to research, cocaine impairs immune cell function and promotes reproduction of the HIV virus. Research also suggests that people who use cocaine and are infected with HIV may be more susceptible to contracting other viruses, such as hepatitis C, a virus that affects the liver. Read more about the connection between cocaine and these diseases in NIDA's Cocaine Research Report.

Other long-term effects of cocaine use include being malnourished, because cocaine decreases appetite, and movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, which may occur after many years of use. In addition, people report irritability and restlessness from cocaine binges, and some also experience severe paranoia, in which they lose touch with reality and have auditory hallucinations—hearing noises that aren't real.

Can a person overdose on cocaine?

Yes, a person can overdose on cocaine. An overdose occurs when a person uses enough of a drug to produce serious adverse effects, life-threatening symptoms, or death. An overdose can be intentional or unintentional.

Death from overdose can occur on the first use of cocaine or unexpectedly thereafter. Many people who use cocaine also drink alcohol at the same time, which is particularly risky and can lead to overdose. Others mix cocaine with heroin, another dangerous—and deadly—combination.

Some of the most frequent and severe health consequences of overdose are irregular heart rhythm, heart attacks, seizures, and strokes. Other symptoms of cocaine overdose include difficulty breathing, high blood pressure, high body temperature, hallucinations, and extreme agitation or anxiety.

How can a cocaine overdose be treated?

There is no specific medication that can reverse a cocaine overdose. Management involves supportive care and depends on the symptoms present. For instance, because cocaine overdose often leads to a heart attack, stroke, or seizure, first responders and emergency room doctors try to treat the overdose by treating these conditions, with the intent of:

General Effects Of Crack Use Include Burning Therapy

  • restoring blood flow to the heart (heart attack)
  • restoring oxygen-rich blood supply to the affected part of the brain (stroke)
  • stopping the seizure

How does cocaine use lead to addiction?

As with other drugs, repeated use of cocaine can cause long-term changes in the brain’s reward circuit and other brain systems, which may lead to addiction. The reward circuit eventually adapts to the extra dopamine caused by the drug, becoming steadily less sensitive to it. As a result, people take stronger and more frequent doses to feel the same high they did initially and to obtain relief from withdrawal.

Withdrawal symptoms include:

  • depression
  • fatigue
  • increased appetite
  • unpleasant dreams and insomnia
  • slowed thinking

How can people get treatment for cocaine addiction?

Behavioral therapy may be used to treat cocaine addiction. Examples include:

  • cognitive-behavioral therapy
  • contingency management or motivational incentives—providing rewards to patients who remain substance free
  • therapeutic communities—drug-free residences in which people in recovery from substance use disorders help each other to understand and change their behaviors
  • community based recovery groups, such as 12-step programs

While no government-approved medicines are currently available to treat cocaine addiction, researchers are testing some treatments that have been used to treat other disorders, including:

  • disulfiram (used to treat alcoholism)
  • modanifil (used to treat narcolepsy—a disorder characterized by uncontrollable episodes of deep sleep)
  • lorcaserin (used to treat obesity)
  • buprenorphine (used to treat opioid addiction)

Points to Remember

  • Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug made from the leaves of the coca plant native to South America.
  • Street dealers often mix it with things like cornstarch, talcum powder, or flour to increase profits.
  • They may also mix it with other drugs such as the stimulant amphetamine or the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
  • People snort cocaine powder through the nose, or rub it into their gums. Others dissolve the powder and inject it into the bloodstream, or inject a combination of cocaine and heroin, called a Speedball. Another popular method of use is to smoke Crack cocaine.
  • Cocaine increases levels of the natural chemical messenger dopamine in brain circuits related to the control of movement and reward.
  • A person can overdose on cocaine, which can lead to death.
  • Behavioral therapy may be used to treat cocaine addiction.
  • While no government-approved medicines are currently available to treat cocaine addiction, researchers are testing some treatments that have been used to treat other disorders.

Learn More

For more information about cocaine, visit our:

  • NIDA for Teens Drug Facts on Cocaine - Offers resources for teens and teen influencers. Get the latest on how drugs affect the brain and body. Features videos, games, blog posts, and more!
  • Easy-to-Read Drug Facts on Cocaine (Coke, Crack) - Has pictures and videos to help readers understand the text. The website also can read each page out loud.

For more information about drug use and HIV/AIDS, visit our webpage, Drug Use and Viral Infections (HIV, Hepatitis).

This publication is available for your use and may be reproduced in its entirety without permission from NIDA. Citation of the source is appreciated, using the following language: Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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What Is Crack Cocaine?
Effects of Long-Term Crack Use on the Body
Effects of Long-Term Crack Use on the Mind
Other Consequences of Long-Term Crack Use
Finding a Crack Treatment Facility
Learn More and Find Addiction Help

People who use crack are often seeking an intense euphoric high and, perhaps, a temporary escape from personal problems that they can’t cope with.

However, these fleeting highs are often replaced with longer-term devastation in many areas of their life.

Unfortunately, the allure of crack is tough for many to resist, and the drug is so powerful that it’s quite possible to become addicted after the first time it is used.

Eventually, the slippery slope of addiction can develop into long-term drug use – a destructive pattern of behavior that can ultimately lead to a range of health issues and personal damage.

What Is Crack Cocaine?

Crack cocaine is the most commonly used form of “freebase” cocaine. While crack cocaine is most commonly smoked, it may also be snorted or injected. This is in contrast to hydrochloric salt forms of cocaine that can’t be as easily smoked, and are more frequently used via the other routes of administration.

Both cocaine forms come from the Erythroxylum coca plant that is native to the Andes Mountain regions of South America. While pharmaceutical cocaine exists, and is scheduled for some medical use, the bulk of the drug that makes its way to the U.S. is found on the illicit market. All forms of cocaine, when abused, can quickly lead to addiction and its associated ills.

According to The Partnership at Drugfree.org, many people enjoy the effects of crack after smoking it, as it gives an individual increased alertness and energy. However, the high lasts only until the drug leaves the brain, which can be only five to 10 minutes. This means that in order to continue to feel the effects, one must continually smoke it. When the high goes away, the person feels a “crash” that may include excessive tiredness, irritability and depression. Because of this, crack is often used in binges and in increasingly higher doses, which makes a person prone to overdose.

Short-term Effects of Crack Use

Although being high on crack feels pleasurable to many people, it comes with many drawbacks. Crack is especially bad for your health. According to The Partnership at Drugfree.org, crack can cause many negative effects, including dilated pupils, insomnia, irritability, anxiety, restlessness, and a rise in blood pressure and body temperature. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, crack can also cause nausea, stomach pain and headaches. It can also cause a loss of appetite, which can leave a body malnourished. Crack can also constrict blood vessels and cause an increase in heart rate, which can lead to a stroke or heart attack. Either of these conditions can cause sudden death. In fact, many deaths related to cocaine use are because of heart attacks and seizures.

Effects of Long-term Crack Use on the Body

If you have used crack over a long period of time, you can expect to see a number of physical changes occur. Among other organ systems, these changes can affect:

  1. Your brain.
  2. Your heart.
  3. Your lungs.
  4. Your nose.

1. Crack’s Effects on Your Brain

Unfortunately, your brain doesn’t forget the damage done from using crack. Long-term effects on the brain may include1-6:

  • Structural and functional brain abnormalities (worsened memory and attention span).
  • Compromised dopamine production and activity throughout the brain.
  • Movement disorders.
  • Seizures, strokes and the potential for irreversible brain damage.
  • Brain aneurysm (abnormal dilation of a blood vessel) and brain hemorrhage.

Crack, as an excitotoxic stimulant, is capable of killing brain cells and can cause persistent changes to various neural pathways. Crack can cause seizures – even in first-time users.

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Crack’s intense circulatory system influence can precipitate strokes, which can create even more irreversible brain damage. Your risk of a brain aneurysm (abnormal dilation of a blood vessel) also increases, which can lead to a deadly brain hemorrhage.

2. Effects on Your Heart

Another long-term effect of crack use is extensive damage to your heart. Damage to the cardiovascular system may manifest as7-10:

  • Chest pain.
  • Elevated heart rate.
  • Elevated blood pressure.
  • Increased resistance in the body’s blood vessels.
  • Increased risk of heart attacks.
  • Increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias.
  • Increased risk of sudden death.

Long-term crack use is also associated with ventricular hypertrophy – which is an enlargement of the heart wall. This can lead to an increased risk of heart arrhythmias, heart attack and congestive heart failure.

Coronary atherosclerosis may also develop from long-term crack use. Coronary atherosclerosis is the hardening of your arteries – and spasms near these hardened areas can deprive the heart of blood, resulting in ischemic chest pain and, ultimately, myocardial infarction.

3. Effects on Your Lungs

Lung problems are a common long-term risk of crack use. The type of lung problems you will experience depend on the route of drug administration you’ve been using and may include any of the following11-13:

  • Shortness of breath.
  • Coughing up sputum.
  • Coughing up blood.
  • Chest pain.
  • Wheezing.

More unusual lung complications that may result from long-term crack use may include:

  • Pulmonary hemorrhage (bleeding of the lung).
  • Pneumothorax (a collapsed lung).
  • Pulmonary edema (accumulation of fluid in the lungs).
  • Thermal airway injury (from the heated vapor).
  • Pneumomediastinum (abnormal presence of air in the space between the lungs).

You may suffer severe respiratory problems such as a chronic cough, bleeding from the lungs, or you may have “air hunger” which makes you feel as if you aren’t getting enough air into your lungs. Air hunger is very distressing and can lead to panic attacks because it can make you feel as if you are suffocating or dying.

4. Effects on Your Nose

Depending on your method of using crack cocaine, long-term abuse can result in severe damage to the tissue – and even the structure – of your nose. Snorting crack cocaine can result in nasal damage that may include3,14:

  • Perforated nasal septum (a tear or hole in the cartilage bridge between your nostrils).
  • Chronic rhinitis (irritation and inflammation of the nasal tissue).
  • Sinus infections.
  • Ulcers in the throat.
  • Nasal tissue death, due to narrowing of the blood vessels and insufficient oxygen.
  • Nosebleeds.
  • Anosmia, or loss of smell.

Nasal insufflation of all forms of cocaine can create holes in your nasal septum. These holes may be small or large and can lead to serious infections.

You could also destroy your nasal septum completely and cause permanent disfiguration to your facial features. This damage can make it difficult to breath. In fact, some chronic crack users are only able to breath through their mouth.

Chronic sinus infections, chronic runny nose and frequent nosebleeds may also develop due to the damage in your nasal lining. Some individuals even lose their ability to smell, which can impact the ability to enjoy food.

Effects of Long-term Crack Use on the Mind

Long-term use of crack also causes severe mental problems. Some of the mental health problems that may result include15:

  • Restlessness.
  • Anxiety.
  • Depression.
  • Irritability.
  • Paranoia.
  • Hallucinations.

You may suffer from a deep, crushing depression that causes you to lose interest in life.You may begin to suffer from paranoia and hallucinations – developments that may persist long after you abstain from crack.

You may lose the ability to feel pleasure since crack affects the reward centers in the brain. You may even become violent and aggressive.

There are many effects of long-term crack use on the mind – all of which are important reasons for making sure you seek the help you need.

Other Consequences of Long-term Crack Use

While long-term crack use can cause devastating damage to both your physical and mental health, it can also wreak havoc on your personal life – from relationships with family and friends to performance at work and in school.

Other long-term physical effects are not related to addiction or withdrawal, however. For instance, crack can cause sexual dysfunction in both men and women. Both men and women can become infertile as the drug damages the reproductive systems.

Cocaine use, including crack use, can cause individuals to make risky choices in their lives that can lead to diseases such as hepatitis B and C, HIV and AIDS.

Damage to Personal Life

Problems from long-term crack use affecting your personal life can be far-reaching:

  • Broken relationships with family and friends.
  • Losing the trust of those you love if you have lied and stolen from them in order to get more crack.
  • Poor performance at work or school.
  • Losing your job, vehicle, home, significant other and kids.
  • Financial destruction from using your money to pay for your drug use.
  • Increasing your risk of becoming homeless.
  • Being thrown in prison or jail for years due to your crack habit.

Is It Really Worth It?

With the consequences of long-term crack use being so pervasive in so many aspects of your life, you have to ask yourself if continued drug use is really worth it.

In the end, you deserve a better quality of life – from your health to your relationships to your career and general wellbeing.

You need to start believing that you are worth it and that recovering from your addiction is really possible.

Perhaps you still need some help believing these things. And that’s ok. We are here to help you see these truths and to lend you a hand to help you see what options and hope you have for recovering. Call to speak with one of our caring recovery advisors today.

Effects Of Crack Use

Do You Need Help for Crack Addiction?

Denial can be a strong deterrent to getting the help you need for a drug or alcohol addiction. Admitting that you have a problem with drug addiction is not an admission of weakness or failure. Addiction is a disease, and like any disease, it can be treated. How do you know if you have an addiction to crack cocaine? Ask yourself the following questions. If you answer “yes” to any of them, give us a call and let us help you find the best private residential crack addiction treatment center that can help you to stop using cocaine today.

In the past year, have you:
  • Been unable to stop using crack once you’ve started?
  • Experienced withdrawal symptoms that have caused you to give up sobriety and return to using crack?
  • Chosen to use crack rather than go to work, go to school or otherwise meet your obligations?
  • Driven a car while under the influence of crack cocaine?
  • Continued to use crack cocaine despite harmful consequences to your health, your lifestyle or an experience with pending legal problems?

If you or someone you love is experiencing the disease of addiction to crack or any other form of drugs, contact us right away so we can help you find the resources you need. It is possible to reclaim your life and the lives of those you love through evidence-based treatments with experienced and trained professionals.

Finding a Crack Treatment Facility

When you find yourself ready to start exploring your crack addiction treatment options, it will be helpful for you to understand a few of the different addiction treatment facility types that are available to you:

  • Luxury rehab facilities offer 24/7 residential addiction treatment care alongside a range of high-end, resort-like amenities to make your recovery more comfortable.
  • Executive rehab facilities offer the same care and many of the same extra amenities that luxury programs offer – only they also provide special resources and program structures to accommodate busy professionals who need to remain actively involved in the workplace during recovery.
  • Traditional or standard rehab facilities offer quality addiction recovery care but without the extra amenities or costs that come with luxury facilities. Both inpatient (residential) and outpatient (non-residential) treatment options are available.

Learn More and Get Help for Your Addiction

If you’d like to stop the damage that crack is causing in your life, or if you’d just like to get some more information – contact us today at .

We can help you reverse some of the long-term effects of crack use and stop it from causing more problems in your life.

General Effects Of Crack Use Include Burning The American Flag

You are worth it.

Sources

General Effects Of Crack Use Include Burning The Same

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  2. Angrist, B. (1987). Clinical effects of central nervous system stimulants: A selective update. In: Brain Reward Systems and Abuse, Engel, J., Oreland, L., Ingvar, D. H., et al (Eds). Raven Press, New York, 109-27.
  3. Boghdadi, M. S., Henning, R. J. (1997). Cocaine: pathophysiology and clinical toxicology.Heart Lung, 26(6), 466.
  4. Brust, J. C. (1998). Acute neurologic complications of drug and alcohol abuse. Neurol Clin., 16(2), 503.
  5. Neiman, J., Haapaniemi, H. M., Hillbom, M. (2000). Neurological complications of drug abuse: pathophysiological mechanisms.Eur J Neurol., 7(6), 595.
  6. Treadwell, S., D., Robinson, T. G. (2007). Cocaine use and stroke.Postgrad Med J., 83(980), 389.
  7. McCord, J., Jneid, H., Hollander, J. E., de Lemos, J. A., Cercek, B., Hsue, P., et al. (2008). Management of cocaine-associated chest pain and myocardial infarction: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association Acute Cardiac Care Committee of the Council on Clinical Cardiology, 117(14), 1897.
  8. Afonso, L., Mohammad, T., Thatai, D. (2007). Crack whips the heart: a review of the cardiovascular toxicity of cocaine. Am J Cardiol., 100(6), 1040.
  9. Lange, R. A., Hillis, L. D. (2001). Cardiovascular complications of cocaine use.N Engl J Med., 345(5), 351.
  10. Ghuran, A., Nolan, J. (2000). Recreational drug misuse: issues for the cardiologist. Heart, 83(6), 627.
  11. Caponnetto, P., Auditore, R., Russo, C., Alamo, A., Campagna, D., Demma, S., et al. (2013). “Dangerous relationships”: asthma and substance abuse. J Addict Dis, 32(2), 158-67.
  12. Tseng, W., Sutter, M. E., Alberston, T. E. (2014). Stimulants and the lung: review of literature. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol., 46(1), 82-100.
  13. de Almeida, R. R., de Souza, L. S., Macano, A. D., Souza, A. S. Jr., Irion, K. L., Nobre, L. F., et al. (2014). High-resolution computed tomographic findings of cocaine-induced pulmonary disease: a state of the art review. Lung, 192(2), 225-33.
  14. Warner, E. A. (1993). Cocaine abuse.Ann Intern Med, 119(3), 226.
  15. What are the long-term effects of cocaine use. National Institute on Drug Abuse.