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Crack cocaine treatment remains a desperate need for as many as a million afflicted people. One use of the drug can make an addict out of a person who thought to try it on a recreational basis. Most dangerous, crack is inexpensive, and therefore in a position to poison the lives of those who are most vulnerable. The crack wars of the ’80s have passed but the need for crack addiction treatment endures.

Source

The South American cocoa leaf is the source for cocaine and all its derivatives. The Indians habitually sucked or chewed the leaf for its stimulant properties. Those properties were relatively weak. However, chemists discovered the active ingredient and processed the leaf into true cocaine in the mid 19th Century. It wasn’t till the 1980s that drug dealers derived a form that could be smoked without risking blowing themselves up.

Effects

A mere ten seconds after the user smokes the drug, he or she experiences a strong sense of elation brought on by a surge of dopamine. Any difficulties the user suffers in daily life seem to vanish during the next ten elated minutes. This is followed by a depressive crash. That crash renders the user helplessly looking to get back to the elated feelings that only just passed.

Responsibility Rejection

Tantalizingly, that feeling only takes a few dollars, so it’s never far away. The user quickly gets caught in a treadmill of going from hit to hit, with the greatest terror being the possibility of ever touching the ground. The drug becomes all the user cares about. Any earlier commitment, up to and including the family bond, loses all importance. Addicts have been known to sell off everything of value, to steal and borrow from others, or become prostitutes, rather than give up their high.

Physical Symptoms

Aside from these “lifestyle effects” are a long list of obvious physical symptoms. These begin with the dilated pupils of someone under the influence. Users are prone to seizures, auditory hallucinations, and stroke. They might have difficulty breathing, and their lungs might collapse. Their heartbeats can become irregular, and they might suffer heart attacks. Sudden death can come from several directions.

Treatment

The addict receives treatment on an inpatient basis in a hospital or other facility. There, he or she undergoes the withdrawal process, which isn’t as bad with crack as perhaps one might expect. It includes weight loss, sleeplessness, irritability, and craving. If withdrawal is particularly difficult, propranolol may be administered. If the patient suffers seizures, vigabatrin may be administered.

Psychological Help

After medical detox, the psychological aspects of the abuse must be treated as well. Those without permanent damage or whose addiction had been less pernicious, can be treated through counseling on an outpatient basis. However, others will have to come to “rehab” or a treatment center as an inpatient client. Afterward, the patient might be placed in a group home for recovering addicts, monitored by a social worker or therapist.