Crack

Page contents

• Other Names
• How's it taken?
• Effects
• Legal Status

Related links

• Government drugs website

Summary

• Cocaine and crack cocaine are the same drug in different forms.
• The drug is manufactured from the leaves of both the Erythroxylum coca and Erythroxylum novagranatense plants.
• Crack is a smoke-able form of cocaine

Other names include

• rock, wash, stone, rocks, freebase

How is it taken?

• It is usually smoked through a pipe.
• It can also be rolled into a ‘joint’ with cannabis or tobacco.

Effects

• The effects of smoking crack are similar to snorting cocaine but much more intense.
• The high lasts for about 10 minutes.
• Users often ‘chase’ the high by repeating the dose.
• Heavy users may take heroin to dull the craving caused by the use of crack.
• Heavy use can lead to potentially fatal heart problems.
• Crack is highly addictive.
• Because the high can be so intense, crack use is often difficult to control.
• Smoking crack can seriously harm the lungs and cause chest pains.
• After the high, feelings of restlessness, nausea and sleeplessness are common.
• Large or frequent doses over a short period can leave users restless, confused and paranoid.
• Regular users may find their habit very expensive.
• Users have died from overdose.

Legal Status

• It is a class A drug
• Possession: 7 years’ prison and/or a fine
• Possession with intent to supply, or supply: life imprisonment and/or a fine