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What Does a Crack Addict Look Like?

Crack cocaine is highly addictive and is cheap to buy, according to an EduBook article on crack addiction. After the effects of this drug subside, the user immediately wants more, and this leads to multi-binge drug use. After the binging stops, the user will crash, or come down, according to an article about crack from the Hillsborough County Florida Sheriff's Office. Because the intensity of the high is so great, the low that follows is just as intense. This leads to the addict's compulsive behavior to keep getting more crack.

  1. History

    • In the 1980s, cocaine became so popular in the U.S. that the market soon became flooded, causing the price of cocaine to drop dramatically, according to the EduBook article. Drug dealers began to make crack, a smokeable from of cocaine that is easy to produce and cheap to make. Crack produces huge profits for drug dealers and has become a nationwide epidemic.

    Features

    • Once people start using crack, it becomes very difficult for them to stop, according to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office. They note that this drug is extremely dangerous, because it causes dependency and addiction after a very brief period of use. They explain that the high from crack only lasts five to seven minutes. Depression, worthlessness and a desire for more crack ensues. Crack soon controls the user and often leads to violence and crime.

    Societal and Psychological Effects

    • Crack leads to crime, according to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office, because the addict needs money to keep buying more crack, and because crack produces vicious and aggressive behavior. According to the Hillsborough crack article, first, the user feels euphoric and excited, but then when the drug starts to wear off, the user feels depressed, irritable, paranoid and cannot sleep.

    Physical Effects

    • When a person uses crack, he or she will first get a sore throat, hoarseness and shortness of breath, according to the Hillsborough article. This can lead to bronchitis and emphysema. The user's eyes will dilate, and his or her heartbeat will increase 50 percent, raising blood pressure. Heart attacks or strokes can occur. The user will lose interest in eating, so he or she will lose weight and could suffer from malnutrition.

    How to Identify

    • The first sign to look for if you suspect someone you know is using crack is a change in behavior. According to the EduBook article, the user will be extremely talkative and unable to sit still. You will also notice a loss of concentration, weight loss, valuables or money missing, associations with drug users, agitation, animosity, altered sleep patterns, decline in appearance, extreme paranoia, restlessness and anxiety, according to the Hillsborough Sherriff's Office.

    Items to Look For

    • According to EduBook, you should notice if the suspected user has Chore Boy scrubbing pads, baking soda and glass pipes with a flower in them that were purchased from a liquor store.

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