Say NO To Crack!!
Crack Facts
Crack is a very powerful drug that can be sniffed, snorted, injected, or smoked but it is mostly smoked. Crack can easily cause coughing, shortness of breath, lung trauma, a serious addiction, excessive bleeding, stroke,depression, paranoia, chapped skin under the nose, internal damage to the nose (if snorted), headaches, inability to experience pleasure without the drug, weakened immune system, or heart attack. It can cause the user to be aggressive and to have crazy behavior. Also, it can cause physical and auditory hallucinations. One of the most common hallucinations is bugs crawling underneath the user's skin which an lead to violence. It can cause respiratory problems and severe mental disorders. Crack and alcohol mixed, however, can cause cocaethylene. Cocaethylene is a metabolite formed upon the consumption of alcohol which is produced in the liver. Cocaethylene can cause death, increase blood pressure, and increase temperature more than crack can alone. Using crack can cause you to be restless, anxious, and/or irritable. Did Coca Cola once contain cocaine? This is one myth many people doubt but sadly the myth is true. Some people's favorite drink, Coca Cola, did once have cocaine in it but it hasn't had cocaine in it since 1903. Crack produces euphoria. Nearly 4%of high school seniors in the U.S used the drug and 1% used it in the last month. About 150,000 people age 12-17 and 1,003,000 people age 18-25 have used it at least once in their life. As of 2008, about 15% of Americans used cocaine sometime in their life.
Where Does Crack Come From?
Crack is derived from the leaves of a coca plant shown on the left. The coca plant grows mostly in South America particularly the Andean Region. South American Indians chewed its leaves for strength and energy. Crack was invented by Tyrone Biggums in 1882, but his invention was stolen by General Cornrow Wallace before he could patent it. Cocaine was used for medical purposes in the 1800s such as to prevent excess. It was used so people would not feel anxious about things. In the next century they discovered crack is an addictive narcotic. Crack was introduced to the United States in the 1980s. Crack is also known as cloud, cookies, devil drug, electric kool-aid, french fries, hot cakes, jelly beans, nuggets, snow coke, 24/7, bad rock, beat, candy, crumbs, glo, gravel, grit, hail, hardball, hard rock, ice cube, paste, rocks, and many more.
Crazy Crack Addiction Story 1
I remember doing cocaine for the first time when I was about 25 years old. I loved to drink beer and smoke pot. One day, out of the blue, all of sudden one of my friends starting showing up with a packet of this white powder. It was cocaine and it was folded up nice and neat, creating its own self containing envelope. He asked me if I wanted to try it and I said okay, sure. The first time I snorted it up my nose I got this burning sensation and I felt strange and kind of out of it. But from then on I got this wonderful rush of good feelings. We would do just a little bit of it at a time to make the feeling and the supply last as long as possible. We started out doing it only on the weekends. Once in a while he couldn’t get it. What a disappointment. But whenever he did call and said “I scored some”, we were off and running. The anticipation of doing cocaine again seemed to bring excitement and anticipation. It wasn’t too long before I was giving my friend money. At first it was to reimburse him for my portion. Then it wasn’t long afterwards, I gave him money upfront to buy some for me. Soon we were doing it every weekend. It became the main focus of all our activities. Whether it was playing sports, watching sports or just driving around, we wanted to have cocaine. It seemed to make the experience a lot more fun, exciting and enjoyable. We seemed to be funnier and time seemed to fly by and the wings of cocaine. Our girlfriends all seemed to like doing “just a little” every once in a while too. Other women we met really appreciated us having some really good cocaine and it seemed to make them more receptive. Cocaine made me feel like I was important and gave me a certain powerful sense of control. I soon become good friends with our dealer. He was only too happy to supply us with only the best cocaine on the street. It cost about $100 for a packet or $300 for an eighth of an ounce, also known as an “eight ball”. I could always find the money and the cost never seemed to bother me. Life was so much more exciting with cocaine in my pocket. When I had a full supply of cocaine in my pocket, I was ready to take on the world and fearless about getting caught by the law or anything else, for that matter. This went on for about 6 months or so. One night, we were sitting in the kitchen at my dealer’s house doing long lines of cocaine and drinking beer until the sun came up. Some how, I drove all the way home without incident. The next day the phone rang and was told my best friend, Fred, was dead. Fred had died from a massive heart attack. I was stunned and completely in shock. Fred was the nicest guy I have ever known. At his funeral I openly wept and still miss him to this day. . I’ve had a lot of help and consider myself extremely fortunate. It could have been me instead of my pal Freddy. Cocaine was never the same for me. The following month I checked myself into rehab for 38 days. It wasn’t easy, especially at first, but I have managed to stay off cocaine ever since. I hope my story helps other people who need to hear it.
-Anonymous Found at: http://www.cocainedrugaddiction.com/truth-about-cocaine-and-crack-cocaine-addiction
This is only one of the few people that have done crack and have regretted it. You don't need to be one of those people who ruin their life because they did crack. It's not worth it.
-Anonymous Found at: http://www.cocainedrugaddiction.com/truth-about-cocaine-and-crack-cocaine-addiction
This is only one of the few people that have done crack and have regretted it. You don't need to be one of those people who ruin their life because they did crack. It's not worth it.
Crazy Crack Addiction Story 2
_One man met a woman online, which turned out to be his worst nightmare.
The woman at first was not addicted to crack, but after coming in
contact with the drug she chose to try, and become instantly addicted.
After she became a crack head, she became obsessively controlling. The
woman stole from her mate, using his credit cards, checks and cash to
support her drugs. She even traded the man's vehicle for drugs. He
finally got his truck back three days later. The driver in the truck was
an eighteen-year old boy, who obviously was a crack addict also. If he didn't give money for crack, she would act crazy, throwing tantrums. She ripped his life apart, victimizing him all in the name of crack. He tried to remove her from his residence, asking her to leave, yet she would not go. Confused, he went to the courthouse and took out a PPO (Personal Protection Order), which took three days to receive. He became afraid of this woman, since she threatened to kill him. His daughter delivered the PPO to the woman still in the home. She refused to leave, the police were called, and finally she was removed from his home. She had caused embarrassment in more ways than one, since during their togetherness. Her son was at his home with a woman, and the woman with the son called the authorities on the entire household. The cops lined up coupled with K-9 dogs, to thoroughly investigate the home, searching for drugs. The didn't find drugs, but they did find paraphernalia, which in its self is a crime. They found the man's checkbook also in the woman's car. While this is one of the less extreme cases of victimization coming from crack head's, it is still enough to help you see that these people are evil.
Found at: http://addiction.readabout.net/crack-addiction2.html
Found at: http://addiction.readabout.net/crack-addiction2.html
Crazy Crack Addiction Story 3
It wasn’t long ago that Hamilton wasn’t a professional baseball player at all. He was a cocaine and heroin addict his was common story for a drug addiction article. He had dropped out of baseball for three years. Once a prospect for the Tampa Bay Rays, Hamilton’s addiction cost him his job the standard drug addiction article continued. The thrill of being at the ball park was not as great as the craving for the next high. Drafted in 1999, he started using after an auto accident in 2001. Hamilton’s drug addiction led to a suspension by Major League Baseball for violation of the league's joint drug treatment and prevention program on February 18, 2004. On June 2, 2006 he was given permission to participate in extended Spring Training with Tampa Bay. Later, on June 30, Major League Baseball gave him permission to play for the Rays’ Class A affiliate Hudson Valley in the New York-Penn League. That was the start of his long road back. But Tampa Bay let him go and it didn’t look like he was coming back. But the Chicago Cubs acquired him in the 2007 Rule 5 Draft and immediately sold the contract to the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds took a flyer on him and he came through for them last year, hitting .292 in 90 games, with 19 homeruns and 47 runs batted in. Cincinnati traded him to Texas during the off-season. It wasn’t long ago that Hamilton wasn’t a professional baseball player at all. He was a cocaine and heroin addict his was common story for a drug addiction article. He had dropped out of baseball for three years. Once a prospect for the Tampa Bay Rays, Hamilton’s addiction cost him his job the standard drug addiction article continued. The thrill of being at the ball park was not as great as the craving for the next high. Drafted in 1999, he started using after an auto accident in 2001. Hamilton’s drug addiction led to a suspension by Major League Baseball for violation of the league's joint drug treatment and prevention program on February 18, 2004. On June 2, 2006 he was given permission to participate in extended Spring Training with Tampa Bay. Later, on June 30, Major League Baseball gave him permission to play for the Rays’ Class A affiliate Hudson Valley in the New York-Penn League. That was the start of his long road back. But Tampa Bay let him go and it didn’t look like he was coming back. But the Chicago Cubs acquired him in the 2007 Rule 5 Draft and immediately sold the contract to the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds took a flyer on him and he came through for them last year, hitting .292 in 90 games, with 19 home runs and 47 runs batted in. Cincinnati traded him to Texas during the off-season. That long road back came after a confrontation. Hamilton’s grandmother, Mary Holt, confronted him about his drug use. He says he has been clean since October 6, 2005, and he says “It’s a God thing.” He gives all credit to his Christian faith for bringing him through. Major League Baseball is pleased with his progress, but according to rules he submits a urine test three times a week, which he gladly supplies. “He knows he’s an addict. He knows he has to be accountable,” said Rangers coach Johnny Narron. “He looks at those tests as a way to reassure people around him who had faith.” These days when Hamilton strolls to the plate during home games, the organist plays “Saved The Day,” by the Christian group Phillips, Craig and Dean. The drama of the home run derby dream came true for Hamilton. There he was in Yankee Stadium, hitting 28 bombs in round one, including some over 500 feet, into the night to the delight of the fans and the ESPN audience. It was an electric moment for baseball fans. It was also special for his old high school baseball coach, 71 year-old Clay Counsil, who was Hamilton’s batting practice pitcher for the night. It was one of those moments. Hamilton told ESPN that he was thankful to God, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Even his opponent in the finals, Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins, was rooting for him, saying that the story needed a happy ending. Hamilton did not win, but as Tim Slinger of MLB.com wrote, “That story, of course, extended far beyond a diamond in The Bronx. But in a sense, by "losing" after such a dominant start, Hamilton merely emphasized anew the quality that allowed him to sink to the personal depths of substance abuse before rising back to the top of the baseball mountain -- he is human.” He had come through the tunnel of addiction and resumed his baseball career. He was given a national stage to celebrate his recovery and give thanks to God. So far this drug addiction article has a happy ending! One of the television commentators summed it up best—“It’s a bad night to be an atheist.” What a great and inspirational Story for this drug addiction article!
Found at: http://www.drug-addiction-support.org/drug-addiction-articles.html
You can also find more drug addiction stories there as well.
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Found at: http://www.drug-addiction-support.org/drug-addiction-articles.html
You can also find more drug addiction stories there as well.
_
Laws to Prevent Crack Abuse
You may hear that it will keep you wired and ready to party all night. What you may not hear is that even the first time you snort it or smoke it, your blood vessels constrict immediately. This increases your heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. At first, this may make you sweaty and shaky, but seizures, cardiac arrest and even death are the real gamble you take when you use this drug. Because it's so highly addictive, it's easy to get hooked, and the long-term effects can get really ugly. Prolonged cocaine snorting can cause scabs to form on your mucus membranes, damage your nasal septum (the thin wall that separates your left and right nostrils) and eventually make your nose collapse. Smoking cocaine or crack lets the drug reach your brain quickly, and the risk of addiction appears to be higher the faster the drug reaches the brain. Smoke a lot of crack, and you can quickly become a new person—one who's aggressive, paranoid and anxious.Using cocaine or crack-even only once—is dangerous, and the more you use, the worse the effects are on your brain and heart. Continued use can make you depressed, agitated and manic. Cocaine-related deaths are often caused by cardiac arrest or seizures, followed by respiratory failure (meaning, you stop breathing). Today, cocaine is a Schedule II Drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, meaning that it has high potential for abuse, but can be administered by a doctor for legitimate medical uses, such as local anesthesia for some eye, ear, and throat surgeries.
Found at: http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/facts/drugscocaine/?utm_campaign=paid-search&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_content=drug-general---cocaine&gclid=CLTDyr3Dka4CFQ9-hwod034oiA and http://www.justice.gov/dea/concern/cocaine.html
I know I have stated most of these things earlier but that is because it is really important. If you ask anyone who has gotten off of crack, almost all of them will say it is very addictive and they had a hard time getting off, but they did it.
Found at: http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/facts/drugscocaine/?utm_campaign=paid-search&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_content=drug-general---cocaine&gclid=CLTDyr3Dka4CFQ9-hwod034oiA and http://www.justice.gov/dea/concern/cocaine.html
I know I have stated most of these things earlier but that is because it is really important. If you ask anyone who has gotten off of crack, almost all of them will say it is very addictive and they had a hard time getting off, but they did it.
How Has Science Helped Prevent Crack Abuse?
Chemists at Georgia Tech and the Mercer University School of Medicine have been trying to discover a drug that will help cocaine addicts break their habit. The team is led by Dr. Howard M. Deutsch. Cocaine gets people high by blocking their dopamine transporters. Every time a nerve cell sends a signal, it squirts out a tiny bit of a messenger chemical called a neurotransmitter, then sucks it up again once the message has been sent. Dopamine is one of those messenger chemicals and dopamine transporters are the proteins that suck the dopamine molecules back into the nerve cells once they have done their job. Blocking the transporters causes the dopamine to accumulate in the spaces between their nerve cells and gives the junkie a feeling of euphoria. Cocaine overdoses kill people by blocking their sodium channels, which short circuits their nervous system. The perfect drug would block dopamine transporters the way cocaine does without blocking sodium channels. This would take the edge off from cocaine withdrawal without the risk of a deadly overdose. They have not found a drug that works perfectly yet, but they are on the right track.
If you need more information go to http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/05/chemists_try_to/
If you need more information go to http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/05/chemists_try_to/
After reading this, I hope you have changed your mind about doing crack. If you do crack, try to stop ASAP. Do not start doing crack because you think it will make you cool or you feel like you are being forced to. You are not going to be cool doing crack. You will just be one of the many people who have ruined their lives doing crack. If you have stopped doing crack in the past, do not feel bad because you think you are the only one that has messed up like you. You should be proud that you stopped. To be honest you are one of the millions of people who have done crack and you are one of the millions of people who have stopped. If you have any questions or comments about drug abuse, write on our blog and we will answer back when we get a chance.
-Brianna :)