Crack Abuse Research Paper

"Cocaine and crack are among the most addictive substances known to modern science, and they have already ruined the lives of millions of Americans" (Morganthau and Miller, 208). Cocaine and crack are both dangerous, harmful drugs. Though pleasurable effects can be obtained from these drugs, the use of crack and cocaine cannot be worth the actual consequences that are inflicted on mind and body. The bad effects of these drugs, by far outweigh the good. Because crack and cocaine are so closely related, it is important to have a firm understanding of both drugs.

The short term effects of the crack includes: higher breathing rate, elevated blood pressure, soaring heart rate, compressed blood vessels, lack of appetite, dilated pupils, extreme euphoria for both casual and heavy users. The long term effects are the following: depression, violent, fearful performances, hallucinations, bad temper, psychosis, heart attack/stroke, sterility (for both men and women), brain convulsion, respiratory malfunction and even death for heavy users! Since crack cocaine is exceedingly addictive, addicts can easily build up tolerance and become addicted in a short time by smoking it constantly. There are many ways to take crack cocaine. Users can smoke through a hand pipe or a water pipe, snort, infuse through vein, or they can combine crack with marijuana, heroin etc (University Of Maryland). While taking crack, users face plenty of risks like: coughing, respiratory bleeding, out of breath, paranoia, lung trauma and many more (“Crack cocaine facts”). Dealers shipped crack cocaine from the Bahamas and the Caribbean to Miami, where the dealers would sell it for lower incomes (“A Complete History of Crack Cocaine”). Anyone can be addicted to crack cocaine – from adults to teens. Crack cocaine is most rampant in urban regions but addicts from rural areas can also be seen. Crack is highly addictive because a user trying for the first time becomes addicted to it and he uses it many times throughout the day. A single dosage is inexpensive but a crack

Crack users range from the Wall Street stockbroker to a homeless person living in Central Park, but by and large this evil drug called crack had its biggest impact on New York’s inner city minority population. A New York doctor, Dr. Mark Gold who is the person who set up and helps run the not for profit organization called 800-COCAINE, a hotline set up to help addicts and perspective users answer questions about the drug and also offers counseling and drug intervention services; suggested that his findings showed that, “occasional users of crack quickly increased, the amount and frequency of crack use until total dependency was achieved.” Men and women who were once law abiding citizens and honest people were now robbing and stealing to pay for the drug, and many who once enjoyed good health were now suffering from a variety of physical and mental aliments springing from their cocaine abuse. Crack brings along with its amazing high, some ominous dangers. Dr. Robert Maslansky is the director of New York City’s Bellevue Hospital

First of all, there is the Structural-Functional perspective way people view drug addiction as. The structural-functional perspective is the role the drugs do for the person or the weakening of the norms. It is the way they affect the person and what it does to them that makes them be addicted to drugs. For some people drugs relieves them. It takes them away from their problems from a while and they feel stress free and because of that feeling they receive from the drugs they like it and continue to take more and more. Those with this type of perspective well most likely disagree with this view of drug addiction and would want the problem to decrease.

Pretty soon they’ll find themselves having to use crack just to feel “normal” again. This is the physical dependency stage. It occurs when the user has built up such a high tolerance from frequent usage, that their body basically forgets what is normal so they have to maintain a continuum of the drug to ward of the withdraw effects. As a result of usage, anxiety and depression can last for weeks. Attempts to stop using the drugs can fail simply because the resulting depression can be overwhelming, causing the addict to use more cocaine in an attempt to overcome his depression. This is the point in which you get the more stereotypical crack addict. They begin to steal from their family and friends, miss work/school, prostitute, and do just about anything they can to get the money to support their habit. They begin to short or try to get over on the person who is selling them drugs, which can result in violence. Some even become drug dealers themselves so that they can pay for the drugs that they use.

There are many withdrawal symptoms when people stop using crack cocaine. Some of them are depression, anxiety, stress, worry, irritable, easily agitated, and intense craving for more. The reason it is so addictive is because it is the most pure and concentrated form of cocaine which means it has a higher addiction

There are many ways to recognise that an individual ha a drug problem that can be

The clinical manifestations of cocaine toxicity are not just a function of its inherent toxicity, but also of its adulterants. An example of a common adulterant that has been found in street samples of cocaine is levamisole, an anthelmintic used to deworm cattle and

Drug abuse is categorized into four separate principles by the DSM-IV and at least one must apply within a twelve-month period to be considered drug abuse. First, there is the recurrence of drug abuse that causes the individual to miss work or other events because the individual snorts a line of cocaine or injects heroin (Bethel, 2012).

So when the effects wear off, the user will experience severe breakdowns, mentally and physically. If use is continued, then extreme weight loss will accumulate, because using the drug lessens appetite, thus making you lose weight. Other negative effects include, but not limited to, disturbed sleep patterns, hyperactivity, nausea, delusions, increased aggressiveness, and irritability. Other serious side-effects include insomnia, confusion, hallucinations, anxiety, and paranoia. Some cases of extended use leads to death. Long-term effects include increased heart rate and blood vessels, strokes, cardiovascular collapse, and liver, kidney, and lung damage. Brain damage is also an outcome. This is a list of short and long term affects crystal meth could give (THE DEADLY EFFECTS):

Long-term addiction can have serious health consequences. Depending on the drug, users may experience skin infections, tooth decay, a weakened immune system, and heart problems, all of which will have a major effect on quality of life. Diet and physical activities such as sports and exercise often fall by the wayside, making it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle and physique.

Though cocaine is illegal, we are still seeing it targeted to adolescents and teenagers by dealers. Parents, especially, need to be diligent in watching for signs of addiction; they are numerous and some can be debilitating and life threatening. Some of the most easily recognized signs that a person is abusing cocaine are restlessness, irritability, anxiety, mood swings, paranoia, rapid or uneven heartbeat, confusion, lack of appetite, insomnia, nosebleeds, hoarseness and a chronically

Many drugs have serious negative effects on those who abuse them. From all the way to effecting the mind, the body, and brain. People are doing drugs because they think it is fun thing to do and they are doing them because they cannot stop.

Cocaine is a powerful drug. Made from coca plants in South America it usually is found as fine, white powder. Many times when it is sold on the street is it mixed with other things such as flour, cornstarch, and talcum powder. This powder is either snorted or rubbed on the gums. Or it could be mixed with water and injected or with heroin in what is called a “Speedball”. It can also be mixed with baking soda and water to make white rocks. These rocks, called crack cocaine, are smoked in a pipe.

In the case of drug abuse there are many signs both behavioral as well as physical which is a direct sign of drug use. Nevertheless, every drug has its own unique sign of usage but there are always indications that a person is using. Therefore, some of the changes could be withdrawal from family members, not caring about their personal appearance, sniffy or runny nose and red or glassy eyes to name a few of the signs. Rather look at these sign and assume all drugs have these sign a person must first find out the type of drug someone is using in order to determine the exact signs of that drug. For example if a person is using methamphetamine they would be “wired” and not sleeping for days or even weeks at a time. They would also lose their appetite and with the loss of their appetite they will start to lose weight. Another sign would be the dilation of his or her pupils as well as become sexually excited when they are using the drug. Although, these are a few signs of this drug there are a few more that can tell someone that a person is in fact using this drug. Now if a person was to be using cocaine their thinking would be impaired, they would be confused, anxious, depressed, short tempered and a decreased sexual drive unlike someone using methamphetamine. Furthermore, they would also have some of the same signs as a meth user such as sleeplessness, and loss of appetite. Therefore, they would be acting differently because the drugs have a different effect on different people