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Nearly one in every five overdose deaths that occurred in 2023 was attributed to cocaine. In the 20-year period between 2003 and 2023, cocaine-involved overdose death rates rose from 1.8 to 8.6 deaths per 100,000 U.S. residents.1
Cocaine is a strong stimulant that has dramatic effects on the central nervous system (CNS). Cocaine is taken in many ways, including orally, by snorting, smoking, and injecting, all of which cause the drug to enter the bloodstream and take effect within seconds.
What Is Crack Cocaine?
Crack cocaine is a crystallized form of cocaine mixed with other chemicals that is hardened into a rock-like object. When a person uses crack cocaine as their drug of choice, they smoke the rock in a pipe. When the rock is heated, it makes a cracking sound, which is why this form of cocaine is called “crack.”
Crack cocaine casts a long shadow on public health in the United States. This highly addictive and illegal substance can quickly spiral into a debilitating cocaine use disorder. Millions of Americans find themselves affected by this struggle, facing severe health risks. Long-term crack use significantly increases the chances of developing high blood pressure, chest pain, and even heart attacks. It can also exacerbate or trigger mental health problems.
Effective treatment programs offer real hope for people struggling with cocaine use disorder.
These programs go beyond the surface, exploring the underlying factors that may have contributed to crack dependence. They provide a structured and supportive environment, empowering individuals to break free and reclaim their health. If you or someone you know is struggling with crack cocaine use, reaching out for professional help is the first step toward recovery.
Crack Cocaine Side Effects on the Brain
Since crack is smoked, the drug reaches a person’s brain incredibly quickly. This stimulates the brain’s reward system and rapidly increases dopamine levels, which causes a potent rush of energy, confidence, and euphoria.
This artificially high level of dopamine reinforces crack use as an important behavior to be prioritized even over survival behaviors like eating and sleeping. When combined with a quickly developing tolerance that drives a person to smoke larger and larger amounts of crack to feel the same effects, dependence can develop within a short period.
According to NIDA, addiction is a chronic brain disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences.
Crack Cocaine Effects on the Body
Crack cocaine produces a variety of effects on the body. The high begins seconds after the drug is inhaled and typically lasts about 5 to 15 minutes. Effects include hyperstimulation, euphoria, fever, and increased heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure.
Cardiovascular Effects
The unnatural increases in heart rate and blood pressure put enormous strain on the cardiovascular system, leading to heart and blood vessel damage. Crack also suppresses immune function, making a person more vulnerable to illness.
Tweaking
Crack use causes a person’s pupils to dilate and makes them restless and jumpy. Because the high lasts a relatively short time, a person may repeatedly use the drug to maintain their high, which can lead to uncontrollable twitching movements known as “tweaking.”
Weight Loss
Using crack cocaine can cause a person to forget to eat and drink, resulting in malnutrition and rapid weight loss.
Skin Wounds
Crack can cause the sensation of bugs crawling under the skin, a phenomenon sometimes called “formication.” This leads people to pick at their skin until they have open wounds, which can easily become infected.
Sleep Loss
Crack use also causes sleep disruption, which produces a range of negative mental and physical consequences. People need rest to recover from the damage being done throughout their brain and body, but the drug prevents them from getting it.
Serious Medical Complications
Serious medical complications can develop from crack use. Heart attacks, strokes, and seizures may occur even after just one or two uses and can lead to coma and sudden death. This danger increases when a person combines alcohol with crack cocaine, which amplifies cocaine’s effects on the body.
Long Term Effects of Crack Cocaine
Since crack cocaine is among the most addictive substances, stopping use is extremely difficult for many people. With continued use, the brain triggers intense cravings, causing a person to want the drug more frequently and in higher doses.
With repeated exposure, the brain begins to adapt by reducing its sensitivity to dopamine. This leads to an inability to feel pleasure from normal activities. The person may experience depression that can only be temporarily relieved by more crack.
When a person smokes crack cocaine in “binges,” the drug can cause severe irritability, panic attacks, and paranoia. Psychosis, a condition in which a person loses touch with reality, is also possible with heavy use. These psychotic episodes can recur with repeated crack use.
Once an individual has stopped using crack cocaine, the risk of relapse is higher than with almost any other drug, as it takes a long time for the brain’s pleasure and reward system to heal and normalize. This is why addiction treatment, continued therapy, and peer support meetings are essential for long-term success.