Crack Addiction

Crack and cocaine are fundamentally the same drug, however, crack is a “freebase” cocaine that users are able to smoke. It produces much of the same effects as cocaine, but the effects are much more intense and for a shorter period of time. While fundamentally similar, crack is a lot cheaper to produce than cocaine and has thus become associated with being a “poor man’s drug” and is more accessible for users who are seeking a cocaine-like high.

Due to the short-term effects that crack produces, it is very easy for users to overdose while using it. Oftentimes, following the high is a period of depression which leads the user to want to seek that high more frequently, increasing the risk of overdose.

Effects of crack are similar to cocaine – increased blood pressure, altered behaviour, and increased risk of stroke, seizure and heart attack – but crack delivers a higher dose of these side effects to its concentration and strength and the desire to use on a chronic basis. Crack is also closely associated with psychosis, hallucinations and extreme irritability. Crack is rarely “pure” which will never allow the user to truly understand what they are smoking and the potential harm they are causing to their brains and bodies.

The most effective way of avoiding these terrible effects of crack use is to completely lose the habit. Trying to limit your use will not save you from the potentially fatal dangers that each hit of crack can deliver you. At Toronto Addition Rehab, we work with you to understand your addiction and come up with a treatment plan that works for you and your life so that you can live a life free of crack and temptations for its use.