Cocaine is often viewed as a recreational drug from the 80s. Popular media often depicts beautiful people snorting lines of cocaine before they start partying. Crack addiction tends to be portrayed less glamorously. You see desperate people doing anything possible to get their next hit. There’s not much difference between crack and cocaine despite the difference in how many perceive them. A stay at a drug rehab can help individuals struggling with a crack or cocaine addiction.
What Is Cocaine?
Cocaine is a stimulant drug derived from the coca plant grown throughout South America. Natives discovered the plant’s benefits centuries ago, often chewing the plant for hunger relief and enjoying the pleasurable feelings it invoked. Once researchers figured out how to extract the main chemical, cocaine became a popular ingredient in various tonics and elixirs during the early 20th century.
Because it was so addictive, the government eventually labeled cocaine as an illegal substance. You needed special permission to use it for medical purposes. That didn’t stop the illicit production and distribution of cocaine throughout the U.S. and the world. Cocaine became a popular recreational drug, with some ending up with a cocaine addiction after repeated use.
What Is Crack?
Cocaine typically resembles a white powdery substance. People typically snort it to experience a rush of euphoria. Many dealers mix cocaine with another component like hydrochloride to stretch out their supply.
Crack is a form of cocaine processed into a rock crystal form. The name “crack” comes from the sound cocaine makes when heated. People typically ingest crack cocaine by heating it in a pipe or other device before smoking the substance. Cocaine tends to produce a longer-lasting high than crack.
People with a cocaine addiction or a crack addiction tend to get introduced to the drug through acquaintances. They may not realize the addictive properties of what they ingest until it’s too late. Crack typically produces a faster high because it’s usually smoked. People tend to develop a crack dependency more quickly.
How Addiction to Crack or Cocaine Develops
Cocaine affects how your body handles dopamine, a neurotransmitter that affects the way we process reward responses. The chemical typically gets recycled within individual nerve cells. Cocaine and crack disrupt that process, increasing the buildup of dopamine. When your nerve cell fails to recycle dopamine, the neurotransmitter floods your reward circuits, producing euphoric feelings.
Side effects that come from using crack or cocaine include:
- Feeling extremely happy
- Becoming irritable
- Feeling energetic to the point of mania
- Sense of heightened mental alertness
- Feelings of paranoia
- Growing sensitivity to sights, sounds, and the way things feel
Eventually, your brain starts building up a tolerance to crack or cocaine. It starts asking you for more and more drugs, leading to cravings. Crack and cocaine addiction can make you feel like you can’t function without another hit. Every action tends to become about achieving your next high. Other signs of cocaine or crack addiction include:
- Withdrawal when you stop ingesting crack or cocaine
- Feelings of agitation and anxiety
- Not being able to feel pleasure at anything
- Being hungry all the time
- Feeling sluggish when you come down from your high
- Increased thoughts of hurting yourself, including suicide
Get Help For Drug Addiction
You don’t have to continue struggling with your addiction to crack or cocaine. Midwest Detox offers various treatments to help you manage the symptoms of withdrawal. After that, you can participate in therapy sessions to help you manage your addiction and learn to break the cycle of dependency.
Our Ohio drug rehab center also helps individuals struggling with:
Call Midwest Detox today at 833.647.0392, or contact us online if you or a loved one is struggling with cocaine or crack addiction.
