Heightened, semi-permanent or even permanent psychosis.Damage to the organs, reproductive system, and heart.Extreme disturbances in mood, mood swings, and irritability.
According to UCSC Health Center, “chronic use can result in a period of paranoid psychosis, in which the user loses touch with reality.” Additional long term effects of crack cocaine use include: Repeat use of crack cocaine can have a significant impact on the overall health and mental stability of the user. As a result, many users will binge on crack cocaine for hours or days at a time, repeatedly using the drug over and over again such use can lead to overdose, psychosis or other serious side effects. Unfortunately, as the effects dissipate, the user will often feel intense cravings to reproduce the high that they earlier felt. These effects will generally dissipate within a few hours without continued use of the drug.
The initial rush will last for about ten minutes and then the user will generally seek more of the drug in order to keep the intense euphoria going. When a user smokes crack, the immediate effects include heightened paranoia, increased blood pressure and reduced appetite. Short Term Effects of Crack CocaineĬrack cocaine use can cause violent outbursts.
When users abuse multiple drugs at a time, the risk for overdose and serious consequences are greatly increased. Users often have burnt hands, black fingertips and may show other noticeable signs of abuse that can be easily spotted by the right eye.Ĭrack may also be mixed with other drugs, such as marijuana or heroin. Unfortunately, glass gets hot very quickly and most people who smoke crack will use the drug repeatedly over and over again in a single setting which leads to intense burns on the hands, fingers and lips. Because of the risk of the drug crackling and burning the user or popping right out of the pipe, most users smoke crack out of what is known on the streets as a “crack stem.” This is a long, slender glass tube that allows the user to put the drug deep inside the device so that crackling does not result in the drug being ejected from the pipe. The crackling and popping that occurs when the drug is heated is not only responsible for the drug’s namesake, it can also cause burns on the user’s mouth, lips, hands and face. The substance can also be intravenously injected or snorted but both of these methods of use are far less common. Other names include:Ĭrack is generally smoked using a glass pipe. The name “crack,” according to the Center for Substance Abuse Research, is given to the substance because of the crackling noise that is made when the drug is smoked. When cocaine is crushed down, mixed with ammonia and baking soda and heated, the substance evolves into a hardened, more potent mixture that can be smoked to produce intense effects.
Crack is a powerful stimulant that is made up of a cocaine and baking soda.