Are you dealing with a crack addiction, either for yourself or for someone in your life?
You’re not alone in this. Breaking out of the grasp of a powerful addiction is hard and not something most people can accomplish overnight.
Fortunately, there is hope in the form of professional care. Here’s what you should know about crack addiction, including what it is, the signs, and how to resolve it.
What Is a Crack Addiction?
Crack addiction is a physical and mental dependency on crack cocaine, a solid form of regular cocaine that’s processed into a rock-like form before being smoked.
Crack is known for the rapid onset and drop-off of a euphoric effect, where its quick, powerful sensations encourage people to binge it to help maintain the high.
While most people develop a crack addiction by buying it illegally, crack cocaine itself is a Schedule II substance, so there are rare situations where doctors may prescribe it.
However, due to crack’s potential for abuse, most doctors will attempt a safer drug (usually a painkiller, in this case) first.
Do Crack Addiction Urges Go Away?
Although it can be hard to imagine when you’re experiencing the urges, addiction urges for crack usually subside over time. Most people go through a three-stage process when withdrawing from this drug.
The first stage is the crash, which can happen anywhere from several hours to several days after you stop using the drug. This stage includes symptoms like exhaustion, restlessness, and an increased appetite.
The withdrawal stage can last up to ten weeks in most people. Withdrawal is where cravings tend to be strongest, so rehab focuses on helping people get through this and training the brain away from its focus on crack as a source of dopamine.
The final stage of crack urges is called extinction. After successfully withdrawing from crack, some people will still experience occasional cravings based on things like being around other users or being in places where it’s possible to get crack.
These urges weaken, but it helps if you can avoid triggering them as much as possible.
A common drug-related addiction is the inability to separate negative feelings from urges. It takes time away from the drug to create healthier mental associations.
Forms of Crack Addiction
Forms of addiction to crack tend to follow a predictable pattern in heavy users. Its rapid onset and quick fall-off mean people often take additional hits to get high again. Some people will take regular hits for days in a row, using its properties as a stimulant to stay awake.
Notably, taking too many hits, too quickly to each other usually leads to weaker highs. The high itself can last between five and 15 minutes. Any amount of crack is arguably too much, but higher or frequent doses can lead to hallucinations, paranoia, a sensation of vertigo, or an overdose that leads to death.
Crack addiction has distinct symptoms, which we will discuss below. Most people will display a majority of these symptoms while addicted, although even heavy users can occasionally go as long as several weeks without taking crack and may appear to behave normally for a time.
Crack Addiction Statistics
Crack use is most common among men, with the United States Sentencing Commission noting that over 90% of traffickers were men. Use is heavier among Black Americans, who comprised over 75% of trafficking offenses in 2020.
According to the National Institutes of Health, about 1.7% of people 12 or older had tried using some form of cocaine in 2021, with crack being preferred among heavy users. As many as 0.5% of eighth graders had tried it through 2022.
Even as far back as 1991, researchers observed that cocaine’s hit can reach the brain in under 10 seconds, reinforcing its potential for positive reinforcement.
What Are the Signs of Crack Addiction?
The most apparent sign of crack addiction is a diagnosis from a mental health professional. However, there are some other common types of symptoms that you can observe in an addict.
1. Increasing Use of Cocaine
Addicts tend to increase their use of cocaine over time. Increased use can be gradual, even for someone with a prescription, but it can also snowball much faster than many outsiders realize. The quick return of a high encourages people to take “one more hit,” and the next thing they know, it’s several days later.
Increased use can also occur from developing a tolerance to crack. Most people will build up a tolerance if they use crack for long enough, so they need to take more at a time to get the same high.
2. Spending a Lot of Time on Crack
Many addicts will spend a lot of time trying to obtain crack, although anyone with a steady supplier may be able to mitigate this. Outside of getting it, addicts will spend as much time as they can using it or trying to recover from its effects after a binge.
3. Giving up Social Events To Use Crack
Addicts will also tend to avoid social events and interacting with other people so they can use crack. The primary exception to this is any event where they’re spending time with other addicts or meeting their dealers. Addicts may avoid events where they can use and acquire drugs, but most will often attend them.
4. Failing To Quit
Crack addicts often make several attempts to quit using it when the problems become apparent, but quickly relapse and continue taking it. Crack is a dangerously addictive substance. Most people will become addicted within two or three weeks, and some can develop an addiction af their first dose.
5. Irresponsibility
People addicted to crack may display irresponsibility, restlessness, and overall aggressive behavior, especially if they’ve recently taken a hit of this drug. Much of this is from the feeling of excessive euphoria, which can lead people to stop thinking rationally and focus on whatever they’re feeling.
6. Frequent Illness
Crack can damage the immune system, leading to more frequent and dangerous bouts of illness. Heavy users may smoke more crack to help distract themselves from the negative feelings of being sick.
7. Lung Issues
People who take crack by smoking it, which is the most common method, may develop a range of lung issues. These can include anything from asthma and difficulty breathing to pneumonia and bronchitis.
An important detail to pay attention to here is that crack is a stimulant that can increase the user’s heart rate. An increased heart rate mixed with difficulty breathing and getting in oxygen can lead to other health effects.
8. Runny Nose
Snorting crack cocaine while smoking it can damage the mucus membranes in the nose. The typical result is having a frequently runny nose regardless of the weather.
9. Lack of Interest in Other Activities
Crack addicts often have minimal interest in things besides taking more of the drug, at least when they’re not under a mania from the euphoria. Many will have little interest in any form of pleasure besides taking drugs, although they may be willing to try other drugs simultaneously.
10. Changing Sleep Patterns
Crack addicts may sleep at different times than normal, or have a completely irregular schedule. It’s not rare for heavy addicts to stay up for days at a time or to fall asleep in the middle of the day.
11. Severe Weight Loss
People who smoke a lot of crack tend to eat less food alongside burning their energy faster thanks to an increased heart rate. While this may appear beneficial at first, it usually escalates to severe malnourishment as the feelings of euphoria help hide the problems of not eating enough.
Types of Unhealthy Crack Behavior
Crack abuse can escalate quickly, though some people have a better natural tolerance for it than others. Its emphasis on frequent, larger hits means it’s easy to trigger an overdose.
Symptoms of an overdose include high blood pressure, chest pain, sweating, anxiety, nausea, and enlarged pupils. As a stimulant, crack typically shrinks the pupils, so seeing them enlarge significantly is a major warning sign. Overdose effects can happen quickly, leading to sudden death or lasting damage to organs and muscles.
What Is the Main Cause of Crack Addiction?
The main cause of crack addiction is its rapid, powerful euphoric effect and quick drop-off when it wears off. Setups like these encourage users to take frequent hits of the drug to maintain the high. The mental association is that when you start feeling bad, you take another hit.
However, all kinds of things can make someone feel bad in life. In many cases, every time people have something negative happen, they’ll start thinking about crack as the solution to it. This leads to an almost single-minded obsession.
How Crack Addiction Affects the Brain
Crack addiction affects the brain in specific ways. Here are some things to know about its impact on users.
What Is the Personality of a Crack Addict?
The personalities of crack addicts tend to vary based on how recently they’ve had the drug. After a recent hit, they tend to be excitable, speak quickly, and have an overall positive mood. Many of them will have a lot of alertness and energy, making them excited to go out and do things.
However, as the drug wears off, many addicts will demonstrate a major personality shift. Common symptoms include restlessness without much energy, trouble concentrating on things, and a mix of anxiety and paranoia. Even when they’re tired, though, they tend to be active and want to move around.
Is Crack Addiction a Mental Health Issue?
Yes. All forms of addiction are mental health issues, but crack falls into this category more than most because much of its addictive qualities come from the rapid sense of euphoria taking crack offers.
In other words, the main component of the addiction is mental. This type of addiction is different from more physical-dependent drugs, where there may not be as many emotional elements but withdrawal still triggers heavy physical symptoms.
What Mental Illnesses Go Hand in Hand With Crack Addiction?
Mental illnesses can be a trigger for crack addiction. According to a 2012 study, crack addicts are more likely to have antisocial personality disorder, and are also more likely to commit violent crimes.
Depression and anxiety can also push someone towards addiction. If someone has felt bad for a long time, a sense of euphoria and freedom can be instantly invigorating, and the drop-off from the drug that much more painful.
How Do I Stop My Crack Addiction?
Addiction support groups offer a range of treatments for crack. The most important thing to understand is that it’s extremely difficult to quit crack by yourself. It’s faster and more effective to seek professional help, which can guide you through the withdrawal symptoms and mitigate the physical effects on your body.
Can Crack Addiction Ever Be Cured?
Yes, it is possible to cure crack addiction. Some symptoms may persist for months or even years after the initial withdrawal phase, but it becomes easier to avoid relapse over time.
What Is the Most Common Treatment for Crack Addiction?
The best way to stop a crack addiction is by landing in rehab. Crack habits are difficult, and often impossible, to break on your own. Outside of heavy cravings for crack, people can also experience major headaches, lethargy, sleepiness, insomnia, muscle tremors, and general depression.
Many of these are triggers for people to want to use crack again. Proper treatment will help minimize the impact of side effects.
Once someone is out of the most immediate danger from withdrawal, treatment moves to focus on therapy and support. One of the major goals of this is replacing mental associations so that instead of craving crack when something bad happens, a former addict can implement a healthier, more positive behavior instead.
A typical rehabilitation program will include at least three months of primary care, and years of follow-up support afterward. Some people will use cognitive behavioral therapy or go to therapeutic communities.
What Can I Replace Crack With?
Medications for addiction to crack are not currently available. There’s no simple pill you can take to block off the urges and eliminate physical dependency.
Doctors can also prescribe a range of replacement drugs to help someone ease off of crack. Going “cold turkey” may be more dangerous, so a more minor stimulant can take the edge off of the worst cravings.
Do not replace crack with another drug before talking to a doctor. Crack’s withdrawal effects can be severe enough to require professional medical supervision.
Additional Addictions To Be Aware Of
Here are some other types of addictions to be aware of.
- Cocaine Addiction: Cocaine addiction is essentially a lesser form of crack addiction. Crack is a more concentrated and powerful form of cocaine, and the two can have similar effects on someone’s body.
- Adderall Addiction: Adderall is not nearly as powerful as crack, but some people use it as a stimulant because it’s relatively available and seen as safer overall.
- Morphine Addiction: Morphine is a powerful, highly addictive opioid that people often take as a painkiller.
Wrapping Up
Crack addiction is a serious and unfortunately common problem. However, help is available, and professional guidance is the best way to get through an addiction. If you or someone in your life is addicted to crack, talk to a doctor today. The sooner an addict enters rehab, the safer they’re going to be.
