• Help For Crack Addicts

1. How do people act on heroin? Her signs might not be, but with drugs you can never take the risk. If you have the slightest notion she is continuing through, you need to consult a doctor and get her to a drug rehabilitation center. Drugs will ruin her life and all of those around her. Help her while you can.
2. What is Crack Addiction? Crack cocaine is a highly potent and addictive stimulant processed from powdered cocaine and made to look like a rock crystal. Crack produces effects similar to that of powdered cocaine but comes with a higher number of health risks including lung trauma and bleeding.
3. Crack Addicts: Crack Addiction Takes Hold. Crack addicts can binge on crack for hours or days and then abstain for days, giving the impression they are in control of their drug use. Each time the crack addict gets high, however, the crack addict is becoming more physically and psychologically addicted.
4. The user feels more energetic, does not sleep for long periods, usually several days, and loses his or her appetite. It is common for meth addicts to lose large amounts of weight and look gaunt, thin and undernourished. He or she will probably appear unusually active but may also act nervous and anxious.

I don’t think I heard the term “crack” for a good year after I got involved with freebasing. As far as I could tell the term “Crack” had more to do with how it was marketed to the public a few rocks at a time with the acid base already removed rather than indicative of a substance, but that was the perspective I was looking at it from. Signs of An Addict. If you suspect a loved one might be using or even worse abusing cocaine, there are certain signs to look for. When high, they will exhibit certain behavioral cues that might let you know that they are using cocaine. When withdrawing from the drug, they might also show signs and symptoms of drug withdrawal. 5 Ways to Spot Someone with a Cocaine Addiction. Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug that causes dramatic changes in the brain and behavior. During the ‘80s and early ‘90s, cocaine was considered to be a drug used by people of high social status.1 Today, cocaine continues to wreak havoc on the lives of millions of Americans and their families.

Cocaine is a highly addictive substance. People who take it can become physically and psychologically dependant upon it to the point where they can't control their cravings. Researchers have found that subordinate cocaine-addicted monkeys will choose cocaine over food [source: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center].

Crack and other addictive drugs chemically alter a part of the brain called the reward system. As mentioned previously, when people smoke crack, the drug traps the chemical dopamine in the spaces between nerve cells. Dopamine creates the feelings of pleasure we get from enjoyable activities such as eating and having sex. But in crack users, dopamine keeps stimulating those cells, creating a 'high' — a euphoric feeling that lasts about 15 minutes. But then the drug begins to wear off, leaving the person feeling let-down and depressed, resulting in a desire to smoke more crack in order to feel good again [source: Drug Policy Alliance].

The brain responds to the dopamine overload of the crack by shutting down some of its receptors. The result is that, after taking the drug for a while, crack users become less sensitive to it and find that they must take more and more of it to achieve the desired effect. Eventually, they cannot stop taking the drug because their brains have been 'rewired' — they actually need it in order to function. How long does it take to become addicted? That varies from person to person, and an exact number is difficult to pin down, especially when physical addiction is paired with psychological addition [source: National Institute on Drug Abuse].

Of course, not everyone reacts the same way to extended use and not everyone who uses crack becomes addicted. Scientists believe dopamine acts in combination with other genetic and environmental influences to program some people's brains to become addicted to drugs. In fact, some users actually become more sensitive to crack as they take it. Some people die after taking a very small amount because of this increased sensitization.

When an addicted person stops taking crack, there is a 'crash.' He or she experiences the symptoms of withdrawal, including:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Intense cravings for the drug
• Irritability
• Agitation
• Exhaustion
• Anger

Help For Crack Addicts

Various phases of cocaine and crack withdrawal last for months in heavy users. Emotional problems, poor sleep, lethargy and other problems afflict many people [source: Australian Department of Health]. Windows 98 unofficial service pack.