More Traditional Crack Pipes
Smoking crack cocaine
"The funny thing is, once you're using crack every day, your whole life is in that pipe. Your fingers are all yellow, your thumb is usually deformed from flicking the lighter - it's just so f**king sick. And all you can think about is who's behind the wall? who's outside? who's coming to get me? and of course the question you're always asking - where can I score some money to get more?"
Dave M. - Five Years Clean and Five Year Member Of Cocaine Anonymous
"Using cocaine was like erasing my old self and drawing a new self. The new self was confident, had a great attitude and could do anything. And the only thing that sucked is that the old self kept coming back. And each time that it did, it was a little more afraid, a little more depressed, a little more paranoid.
And then finally, toward the end of my using, it seemed as though I had created a "third" self that lived in a tiny world where the only thing that mattered anymore was getting high. It's the only thing I thought about 24 hours a day, every day of the year."
Karen E. - Thunder Bay
Two Years Nine Months Clean
(This is her second time in recovery.)
"When I was using, I knew people that wore their thumb print off from using a disposal lighter to smoke crack. I saw that day in and day out and it still never really stuck in my head that we were all hopeless addicts.
And every one of us didn't think we were as bad as every other one of us. I guess even when you're down that low, the drug still makes you think you're okay."
Rich J. - As of December 2006, six months clean.
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"Freebasing" Many people remember the late comic genius Richard Pryor's adventures in "freebasing" cocaine where he inadvertently lit himself on fire. Freebasing involves mixing ammonia and ether with cocaine to turn it into a more potent and more easily smoked form. However, this mixture is highly volatile and can easily explode, making it potentially lethal even before it starts wreaking havoc on your brain. As a result, "freebasing" has gradually been replaced by the production of "crack cocaine." (see below) Crack Cocaine “Crack” is cocaine that's been processed from cocaine hydrochloride to a free base for smoking. Crack cocaine is processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water. The term “crack” refers to the crackling sound heard when the mixture is smoked. It's then heated to remove the hydrochloride producing a form of cocaine that can be smoked, typically through a purchased or home-made pipe. (see illustrations in the left side bar) The small vials of Ginseng sold in many convenience stores are extremely popular for use as a crack pipe. Smoking crack delivers large quantities of the drug to the lungs, producing effects comparable to intravenous injection. These effects are felt almost immediately after smoking, they are very intense, but do not last long. For example, the high from smoking cocaine may last from 5 to 10 minutes. The high from snorting can last for 15 to 20 minutes. 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. A secondary reason for the popularity of crack is that it's inexpensive both to produce and to buy. A typical crack piece or "rock" will sell on street for between $ 5.00 and $ 20.00, but it varies greatly depending on location.
A Relentless, All-Consuming Hunger However, the term "inexpensive" is fairly irrelevant when you consider that once you're addicted to crack, (which is not at all hard,) you'll spend every penny you have and anybody else's money you can get your hands on to buy your next "piece." Crack addicts are absolutely relentless when it comes to acquiring more of the drug. Ultimately, anything they have is for sale and we'll leave it to your imagination as to what that includes. Suffice to say, and extremely high percentage of men or women turning tricks on the street are addicted to crack cocaine, crystal meth, or some type of substance. You will not find a lot of people selling their body on the street because they enjoy sex. It's just a means to an end. While cocaine and crack cocaine are still incredibly popular, methamphetamine is beginning to make big inroads into the territory of crack. (see The All Positive Option Drug Index – Methamphetamine) From a world-wide perspective, one locale that's experiencing an explosion in cocaine activity is in Northern Ireland, where seizures of cocaine have increased seven-fold in the past three years. No one seems completely sure of what's caused this sudden upswing in use of the drug. The Paranoia One of the really sick things about cocaine in general, but particularly crack cocaine is the paranoia it produces. Ultimately users get to a point where all they want to do is hide in a room, smoke crack and obsessively peek through the curtains or blinds because they think someone, or something is coming to get them. The irony of crack cocaine is that ultimately, it's the shortest, most paranoia-filled lousy high of almost all the drugs - but you still want to do it. And that's because over time, the drug rewires your brain so that even though the drug is no longer producing the original "perfect" effect, you still do it believing it will. Symptoms Of Use: (short-term) Cocaine is a stimulant and as a result, produces increased energy, decreased appetite, elevated mental alertness, increased heart rate and blood pressure, increased temperature and dilated pupils. Some people feel ten times more confident (in the beginning) and some react to cocaine by talking incessantly, among other annoying things. Symptoms Of Use: (long-term) Long-term coke users can look forward to extreme agitation and irritability, mood swings, restlessness, jumpiness, mild to extreme paranoia, auditory hallucinations (hearing things that aren't there) chronic nose bleeds, chronic sore throat, exhaustion/chronic fatigue, nausea/vomiting, extreme weight loss, yellowing and burned fingertips, miscarriage and birth defects. The Real Harm Of Cocaine Like all substance abuse, it's not the drug that usually kills you, it's the lifestyle. A coke addict is concerned about one thing, and that's coke - period - end of story. Everything else comes behind that. Their friends, their family, their job, their children, their dignity - everything. Given enough time, life becomes a pathetic cycle of scoring, using, scoring using, scoring, using. Of course, in between "scoring" and "using," there will be lying, cheating, stealing, mugging, assaulting, robbing, prostituting, abandoning, and of course in some cases, killing. It doesn't happen overnight, but like all addictions, coke addiction is progressive and ultimately, you'll do whatever it takes to get what you need. One of the thinnest books in the world is "Happy And Successful Active Cocaine Addicts" because it has no pages.
Street Names By our count, there are at least sixty different street names for cocaine and crack cocaine which will vary depending on the country and even the region of the country you're in. So it makes little sense to list them all there. However, the two most universal of these street names are "blow" for powder cocaine, and "rock" for crack cocaine. The "crack" nickname came from that fact that this form of cocaine often makes a cracking sound when smoked. Treatment Options There is no recognized pharmacotherapy (treatment using a drug) for cocaine dependence. Disulfiram (Antabuse) shows promise when alcohol dependence is a part of the cocaine addiction (and it often is) and is particularly suitable for use in methadone programs. Also, some preliminary (and we stress preliminary) findings about a supplement called N-acetylcysteine, appears to reduce an addict's desire for cocaine in some early testing. More tests are forthcoming. The anti-seizure medication "topiramate" also shows some promise in preliminary trials, as well. In terms of therapy type, the Cognitive/Behavioral style seems most effective when used in conjunction with Group Therapy. Support groups such as Cocaine Anonymous also have a long history of helping people and also give you the benefit of "fellowship." "Fellowship" is an intangible, but millions of recovering addicts and alcoholics will tell you that it's invaluable. Despite the treatment used, relapses are not at all uncommon because cocaine, like any addiction, is a tough habit to break. But it can be done if you really want it and luckily, most regions of North America have a good number of treatment facilities available.
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