Cocaine How can anyone possible get addicted to crack?

[Rio Fantastic]

Serious question here. I've smoked it properly a few times, but since I was addicted to heroin at the time, it never became the focal point of my drug abuse. But crack addiction doesn't make sense to me. I mean I can entirely understand enjoying the feeling and chasing it, but the mechanics of it confuse me. Crack is associated with poor people in urban ghettos and its relatively low price reflects that, but how can anyone poor person afford to continuously get high on it? I mean the high lasts what ten minutes at best? How can they even afford to be high half of the day? Even considering that they might be selling it or prostituting, I still don't get how someone without a significantly large bank account can afford to be high on crack most of the time. I mean at least with meth your dose lasts a long time, and heck even the coke high can linger for an hour before you crash. How do people stay on crack, constantly crashing and fiending for more day in day out? And especially when tolerance comes into play, and considering there's no *physical* withdrawals driving the urges, how do they do it? Any ex-crack addicts I'd love to hear from, or just anyone with an insight into this.

 

[when I dream]

Interesting question. I would imagine that they are not actually high for half the day. It seems more likely that the ones that have been doing it for a while with no savings at all probably live the life they do for no more than an hour or so of actual high time everyday. However, my experience with freebase/crack is minimal and I've never been addicted to it so I don't really know.

 

[Bropiace]

I've abused Crack regularly and ODed twice in it.

Never became physically dependent tho it doesnt seem to hard to figure how it could happen if you do it too often.

I know I would blow 600$ to 1 000$ a night and I was smoking a quarter gram at once.

So I guess your question was how can someone maintain this addiction and I have to say I have no idea. I need to agree it's fucking expensive.

 

[Dresden]

I used to only do 10 dollars' worth a day, but I was still addicted. Most crack addicts who don't have large amounts of cash to blow through are sober 98 percent of the time. Yes, it sucks.

 

[Rio Fantastic]

I've abused Crack regularly and ODed twice in it.

Never became physically dependent tho it doesnt seem to hard to figure how it could happen if you do it too often.

I know I would blow 600$ to 1 000$ a night and I was smoking a quarter gram at once.

So I guess your question was how can someone maintain this addiction and I have to say I have no idea. I need to agree it's fucking expensive.

I've never been a stimulant addict (except coffee/nicotine, but they hardly count in this context), but as far as I know there is no true physical withdrawals like there are with benzos, opiates etc. My understand is that even meth and crack don't cause true physical withdrawals akin to depressants, and from the sounds of it I'd say you were as addicted to crack as any crackhead is. If you don't mind me asking, I have a couple of questions:

-When you were in the grip of full-blown crack addiction, what proportion of your average day & night were spent smoking crack or being high on crack?

-Did the comedowns and crashes just get worse & worse or did you adjust to them? Did you have any benzos/zopiclone/beers or anything to take the edge off of it?

-How long did your period of crack addiction last & what made you keep going?

And finally, though not a question, I'd love to hear about your OD. Thanks for responding, it's just the only people I know who are addicted to crack use speedballs, which obviously I can understand a lot easier.

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

I've never smoked crack/freebase but I know people who have. Some of them said how they smoked it and nothing happened or they did not get high like they did when they snorted powder coke, and it was not fake crack/freebase since other people who smoked it with them got super high.

I know other people who got addicted to crack/freebase who would binge on it for days/weeks/months/years, or whenever it was around or someone had it, and they were chasing that first time high.

 

[szuko000]

I never thought of myself as a "crack head" in a sense but after I quit dope, the first time, i got into crack. I would smoke about 10-20 dollars worth a night almost every night but because it aws like 100 dollars a week at most I didnt think it was bad. I also didnt think thats how crack addiction works but thats kind of what it is.

I realized that even if i could go almost all week I could only go 6 days for sure because i got paid on thursday. I would try to get a 20 bag every thursday and when i couldnt i would get upset. Sure I wouldnt get WD upset like i would when I couldnt get dope but I would get like when i really want candy, just kind of like "man i dont have the money for some skittles, this sucks" I could normally get over it but if i had been looking forward to it, forget it i was upset all night kind of like when you dont have weed and your use to smoking. Its a really deceiving thing especially when your use to dope.

This went on for a year almost and then i relapsed on dope, completely unrelated to crack. I never really cared about the come down like i would just power through it watching reruns with the g/f it sucked but once i could eat it was like i never got high lol. I also made it a point to not go crazy out of my way, its a 10 minute high im not driving 45 minutes round trip, but i could easily get it delivered to work. If not for relapsing and pushing crack all the way to the end of my mind for 6 months i probably would still be at it only because i never thought i was at it to begin with.

 

[pbuilder]

I really don't know, nothing feels worse then coming down off crack or cocaine so I really don't know how those homeless toothless stickfigured crackheads can deal with the depression of a comedown in there living situation.

 

[namnoc16]

Serious question here. I've smoked it properly a few times, but since I was addicted to heroin at the time, it never became the focal point of my drug abuse. But crack addiction doesn't make sense to me. I mean I can entirely understand enjoying the feeling and chasing it, but the mechanics of it confuse me. Crack is associated with poor people in urban ghettos and its relatively low price reflects that, but how can anyone poor person afford to continuously get high on it?

I had a 300$ a day heroin habit and I afforded it by stealing. I'm not proud of it and did some prison time but if you're hooked on anything bad enough you will find a way! We used to pull up to housing developments under construction and steal the copper me and the guy I did it with must've hit every new development with in 3 states and we'd score big money. I believe they've gotten wise to this and re more strict on the salvage yards now!

Also must mention I've paid $5000 into $30,0000 of restitution I owe and that's just what I was convicted of. Crime doesn't pay,I finally have my shit together and I'm still paying on shit that happened 9 years ago. I'm not bitchin I deserve it(maybe more) but it still sucks!

Shit,one more thing,I don't know how people get addicted to sherm. I know crack doesn't last long and is expensive but so is dust,maybe not money wise but that shit steals your soul.When I used to cop dope in Philly I'd see dustheds screming at brick walls. No euphoria from dust whatsoever,I don't get it !

 

[Mad Dash]

I can't understand it and tried it a couple times, but I can't stand any type of stims. However, there are people out there that can't stand opiates. So in the end it really just depends on the person.

 

[Thomas29]

It Is A Very Mentally Fiendish Drug For Some People Just Like Any Drug Like Alcohol Etc Depends On Your Brain Chemistry. I Am More Of Downer Lover So Uppers Will Never EVER be a daily Habit Nevermind Now that they Have Levamisole Tained Blow Everywhere These Days are The Worse To Do Cocaine.

 

[SixBuckets]

We don't really have crack in Australia, but our meth is really expensive. I've often wondered how people can maintain a 'habit' (at least what I'd consider a habit) if they're not holding down a job, especially with Sydney rents!

I guess you don't have to be going on massive benders to be addicted or dependent - you just need to have that regular input of your substance of choice.

 

[Kid Amine]

Crack is possible the ultimate instant gratification drug. Ive done it, never liked it unless I had opiates to come down with (and not even really then). Im not a stims kinda guy tho so I guess my brain aint wired to like it. :/

 

[legaluser]

We don't really have crack in Australia, but our meth is really expensive. I've often wondered how people can maintain a 'habit' (at least what I'd consider a habit) if they're not holding down a job, especially with Sydney rents!

I guess you don't have to be going on massive benders to be addicted or dependent - you just need to have that regular input of your substance of choice.

good point

 

[SmokingAces]

I used to only do 10 dollars' worth a day, but I was still addicted. Most crack addicts who don't have large amounts of cash to blow through are sober 98 percent of the time. Yes, it sucks.

What Dresden says. I've bought cocaine from various places IRL and online, I've used various levels of sources, buying both rock and powder, from shady ghetto types to people who charge a premium and supply only the best flakes at the price of £120 a gram. I've rocked up my own and bought rock. One thing I find with crack is because it wears off so quick, if you google the high it only actually is meant to last 3 minutes, I'd say it's instant but lasts a max of 3 minutes.

I can blast say a .2 of crack in the morning and leave the other .3 til later quite easily. Infact I'd say in my case crack kind of helped me realize you can actually exercise some restraint with cocaine use. However if I leave it in powder form, I have to actually wait before picking up my stuff til after 5pm if going on a night out. If not I've hoofed up at least half a gram if not more by the time I get out. To quantify; crack is morish as fuck, but any intelligent user will realize quickly it is only those first couple of hits that really will produce a great buzz. After that your chasing rapidly diminishing returns unless you wait until you return to baseline, something that is not easy to do between doses. It's easier to have a beer, pop a benzo or whatever and just outright stop the crack session then have another half hour session later at night.

Cocaine is the same with the first say few lines produce the most euphoria, but I find there is a stage with cocaine where once I've had a drink and cocaethylene is produced where I can actually hit a second wind if you'd call it that of euphoria, this is actually my favorite level of cocaine high, when you've built up a bit of tolerance through the day and you can hammer a bit more in one dose and combined with the booze for me it is a better drug. This is clean coke I am talking here not bullshit cut with levamisole benzocaine and the likes. If there is levamisole or ephedrine in it you almost need a drink to take that horrible edgyness away, in my opinion its why so many coke users are heavy drinkers too.

I've IV'd it a few times too but only once was it enough to produce the bellringer effect and it scared the shit out of me tbh. I think the whole process in general scares me, I underdosed the first few times by being overly cautions, but better that than dead. With any crack I've ever smoked and I've rocked and smoked in excess of 4 grams in one day before so I know what I am talking about here. You will find the best buzz is always the first couple and the longer you stay on it the more insane it sends you. 3 days on speed or meth is nothing, a walk in the park, I've seen friends loose the plot after less than 24 hours of taking crack, akin to day 3 of methamphetamine. Only crack seems to come with an added aggression, I myself have flipped out on it a couple of times. The way I see it cocaine is a social drug, or can be an addictive stay at home abuse substance too. Depending how much you take and when you start, if you want to be social my advice is don't sniff more than 2 small lines before going out. But cocaine and alcohol to me go well together. Crack doesn't, your twice as likely to fiend and twice as likely to flip out and loose the plot because of it. Crack is better off just making it yourself (this avoids the inevitable benzocaine being thrown in), and it's better to just leave it at a half a gram max between 2. No alcohol. I don't like to go over that amount with crack anymore because quite frankly you would be better off sniffing it or IV'ing it if you seriously want any effect and I'm not prepared to make the full jump to the latter. I've thought of doing it again often but it scares the life out of me. IV cocaine is the most deadly drug to IV because its such a fine line between ringer and OD.

As for finances, you will probably find in general most cocaine abusers owe lots of money and their finances are a mess. If you get to the stage of psychological addiction then one way or another you will find the money.

 

[mankind]

It's why it destroyed most poor communities in the 80s and early 90s. All the violence, stealing, robbing, etc. was due to crack. People forget but, it was a true epidemic. Cops being shot in broad daylight. Crazy shit.

 

[tricomb]

Different strokes for different folks. However here, since the pure crystal methamphetamine epidemic has predominantly taken over the most desired stimulants trade, it's cheaper than crack, lasts way longer, feels way better, $10 of meth vs $10 of crack is the difference between a 8-12 hour high and a 30 minute high.... Economics and user preference has largely shifted away from crack and towards crystal on the west coast USA.

 

[Raki]

People can get addicted to anything but addessing the OP, the very facts you cite about a ultra-short psychoactivity is what makes Crack such an addictive substance. With stimulants you begin with a baseline of normalcy. You then ingest and psychoactively ride through the stratosphere at 500kph. When that psychoactivity cease however, you do not return to that baseline. Instead you plummet to heretofore unimagined emotional depths. You are immediately desperate to climb out of that mental abyss and so of course the simplest answer is to re-ingest that same stimulant. Therein lies its addictive potential.

From 1984 to 1992 or so entire communities fell to Crack. I can tell you subjectively that in NYC's black and Hispanic neighbourhoods there literally wasnt a single extended family that wasnt devestates by that drug. On the brightside stimulant epidemics burn themselves out rapidly. At the time though a half gramme vial cost the price of a single glassine of heroin and so many heroin addicts fell to Crack by default. One could get vials for as little as $2 so that it was well within the reaches of the poorest of the poor.

 

[oxygirlinct]

I think it's hard for those who prefer heroin or other opiates to imagine just because it's not their (our) thing. I've been addicted to h for years with periods of sobriety. I'm currently off dope and decided last night to get a few g's of blow. I forgot just how impartial I am to it...I mean, it's nice, I suppose...but it's not what floats my boat. Now I'm sitting here looking at it wishing I hadn't gotten so much I guess it really has to do with your brain chemistry and also what you're exposed to. I do like the fact that I don't physically wd from this stuff though...but it just disappoints me....

 

[Bropiace]

...

-When you were in the grip of full-blown crack addiction, what proportion of your average day & night were spent smoking crack or being high on crack?

-Did the comedowns and crashes just get worse & worse or did you adjust to them? Did you have any benzos/zopiclone/beers or anything to take the edge off of it?

-How long did your period of crack addiction last & what made you keep going?

And finally, though not a question, I'd love to hear about your OD. Thanks for responding, it's just the only people I know who are addicted to crack use speedballs, which obviously I can understand a lot easier.

Sorry for the delay in answering, seems I forgot to revisit this thread. I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

- 1st I think I might have given the wrong impression. I've first tasted freebase at a friend house and wasn't really impressed by it. I've tried it a few time when offered for the "why the fuck not" but never really got into it. Then one time he scored crack instead and with that same bored, nothing better to do attitude, I tried it and loved it instantly. However I don't think I ever was a crack addict altho maybe you are right and it is all in the head.

In any case I would do it every two or three weeks. When I would have lots of money and felt like it. But it never been a daily thing. However I would binged like crazy. And everything people said about chasing that first high is so true. In any case it was a very occasionnal thing. As for the session I would smoke about 4 - 5 grams in about 3 to 4 hours. I was young and that is probably what have saved me because retrospectively, I think with no tolerance and smoking a quarter gram rock in one toke was risky.

Also, crack is a very antisocial drug. I would be real high for about 3 minutes, then having this aftereffect glow for maybe 10 to 20 minutes and then I'll have another rock. I hated doing it with other people. You feel like enjoying the high for yourself, not speaking, and when others are smoking all you can think of is when will the pipe be back in your hand.

- I've never used crack whitout having a few beers. I wish I would have known about/had benzos at the time but I did not. Crashing was hard. I never really got used to it because I haven't done it that much time. I might have smoked crack around 20 to 40 times. Not more. I eventually end up ODing (which I'll get back to as you asked) and stopped.

- It went on for a few months (Maybe 3 to 6 months, not exactly sure). I kept at it because the high was unique and very satisfying (altho really short lived). Somehow crack always was to me some sort of downer. I would be relaxed and my brain exploded with pleasure. I am diagnose with ADD so maybe it kind of medicated me but I also think ADD or not, it is the general concensus that crack paradoxally relaxes. Anxiety goes away, in the few minutes after use you get lots of pleasure sensation and the aftereffect was some kind of very relaxed states like you might get after you ran a marathon and you just crash on your couch soaking in endorphins. I kept doing it for the simple fact that I loved that state and nothing, not even coke, would come close to it. Maybe it is the same for everyone or maybe it was the amount I did, but it was extremely pleasurable and unique.

Finally my two ODs. The first time I was alone home and bought for 800$ worth. I smoked and smoked and smoked for a few hours until there were no more. Then I realised I was sweating a lot, my hands were cold, I was tachycarding like hell and my lips were blue. I was stupid enough to not call the emergencies, or anyone else actually, and waited until it calmed down which it did after a few hours. I do think it has been a close one and could have died.

After this I stopped doing crack. There were no withdrawal of any sorts and was so afraid since then that it was enough for me. Then a few months later, I was walking downtown with a girl with whom I indulged crack a few times and a dealer just recognize me, pass by and gives me a rock, he know I'll smoke it and I will want more. He probably wondered why he did not see me in a while.

So me and my friend debate about what to do and being young and stupid, we end up thinking : fuck it let's do this. So I bought a can of softdrink to make an improvised pipe, go in an alley and we split that rock together. Then we go on and buy another shitload and go to her house. Smoked and smoked and smoked, same story again, tachycardia, bluelips, all this shit. So we get a cab and get me to the hospital and all the while I am there being treated she goes back and forth outside to finish the stash.

Never touched it since. But I remember a few years after that, when that movie came out (I think it was Cartel) with Michael Douglas, there was this scene where his daughter get to smoke crack and they did such a good job at depicting it that I remember craving for it badly in the theater for the whole movie after that point and a few days afterward.

I hope I answered your questions, feel free to ask for more information.