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 rehab endures.
Source
Cocaine is derived from the cocoa leaf, indigenous to South America and imparting its stimulating effect when chewed. In this form, it’s about as strong as a good cup of coffee. However, the active ingredient in the leaf was identified and powder cocaine was first processed in the mid-19th Century. Its potency was ramped up again in the 1980s, when the drug industry’s chemists learned to process a smoking form of the drug without risking explosion.
Effects
The user smokes the drug and then feels its powerful effect in just eight to ten seconds. It creates a huge dopamine rush, bringing the characteristic intense feeling of elation. The user feels he or she has escaped all mundane problems. This feeling, however, is exceptionally short-lived, lasting only about ten minutes. The elation is followed by a significant crash, making the user almost desperate to return to the elation.
Responsibility
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
Addicts damage their brain, lungs and heart by smoking crack. The heart is subject to arrhythmia and heart attack. The brain is subject to producing hallucinations and to stroke. Lung damage can make breathing difficult, and the lungs might even collapse altogether. Everything from sexual dysfunction to the user’s characteristic dilated pupils attests to a distressed circulatory system.
Treatment
The first step in the addict’s treatment program is detoxification. The addict becomes a patient, treated as an inpatient in a facility, whether a hospital or some smaller, more dedicated center. It can take days for the patient to endure the entire withdrawal process. Propranolol can help the patient get through it but the patient will suffer loss of sleep, irritability, loss of appetite and of course, craving more of the drug. If seizures become a problem, the doctor will administer vigabatrin.
Psychological Help
After medical drug addiction 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.