Crack is known to be one of the most addictive drugs available. If you are looking for help with crack cocaine abuse or addiction, you can find answers to your many questions and learn what happens during crack cocaine addiction treatment programs in our comprehensive guide on Crack Treatment Programs and Help.
Here, we review the risks and danger of snorting crack cocaine. Then, we invite your questions about crack’s addictive properties or helping crack addiction that you can post in the comments section at the end of the article.
Crack: What are you really snorting?
Crack is a cooked version of cocaine hydrochloride, a white to light brown crystalline powder, shiny in appearance. Crack base is white to beige in color, and can appear as soapy to flaky solid chunks. Crack is produced by dissolving powdered cocaine in a mixture of water and ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). The mixture is then boiled until a solid substance forms. When the solid is separated, it needs to be dried, and then it can be broken into chunks (rocks).
How does snorting crack affect the body?
Cocaine is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that interferes with the reabsorption process of dopamine, a chemical messenger associated with pleasure and movement. When you use crack, it blocks the normal reabsorption and elevates the levels of dopamine, which leads to chronic stimulation of the opioid receptors. That is why you feel the euphoric “rush” and sudden “crash”.
These processes are many times faster when crack is smoked rather than snorted. Crack is not water-soluble, so it CANNOT get transferred through the nasal tissue and into the bloodstream. Cocaine HCL, on the other hand, is a salt (which is soluble in water) and can be easily absorbed by the mucus membrane and get into the bloodstream, and then reach the brain.
Snorting crack to get high
Users snort crack believing that they will get high faster.But, since we already clarified that it cannot be absorbed by snorting it is obvious that this is not the most efficient administration route. When you snort crack, it basically passes through the nasal passages, throat, and then ends up in your stomach.
There are some effects that you can feel once crack gets absorbed in the stomach. It can make you happy and excited, but can also affect your mood negatively and lead to sudden mood wings, so you become angry, nervous and paranoid. Often crack users have the paranoid feeling that somebody is after them and trying to hurt them.
After the peak level is reached and when the effects of the crack “high” start to wear off, you may “crash” and feel tired and sad for many days. You also get a strong craving to use again in order to feel better. That is the breaking point to turning into a crack addict!
Snorting crack vs oral
Is snorting crack effective vs. the oral route of administration? When comparing snorting crack to administering it orally, the biggest difference is the time of onset, or the time it takes for the effects to be felt. In general, cocaine has a very short half-life of 0.8 to 0.2 hours, so time makes a big difference.
However, both snorting and taking crack orally produce a shorter duration of effects compared to smoking. It is interesting to note that the same amount of crack is absorbed by the body in both snorting and oral use. This is basically because snorted crack goes to the stomach, where any orally taken dose also goes.
Snorting crack side effects
Crack affects the body in a variety of ways. The heartbeat is increased, the body temperature is raised. Also, lack of hunger and constant insomnia are always present when you are high on crack. It basically speeds up your whole body.
Here is a list of the possible side effects that crack abusers often experience.
- abdominal pain and nausea
- auditory hallucinations
- constricted blood vessels
- decreased appetite and malnutrition
- increased body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure
- insomnia
- paranoia
Of course, this is not a full list of all possible effects of crack abuse and what you experience varies depending on many factors. These factors include the amount taken, frequency of use, the general medical state, are any other substances (alcohol or other drugs) taken along with crack, etc. It is important to seek immediate medical help if you start feeling any abrupt and unusual effects after taking crack cocaine.
Snorting crack dangers
There is no safe way to use crack. Any route of administration can lead to absorption of toxic amounts of cocaine, possible acute cardiovascular emergencies, and seizures—all of which can result in sudden death. Furthermore, the user is exposed to risk for/AIDS and hepatitis, from sharing needles or having unsafe sex. Regularly snorting crack can lead to crack addiction (moving to frequent smoking from snorting), loss of sense of smell, sudden nosebleeds, pain when swallowing and an overall irritation of the nasal septum, which could result in a chronically inflamed, runny nose.
Repeated doses of crack are frequently taken to avoid the ”crash” that often follows the initial intense euphoric effects. Crack is frequently used in combination with other drugs; injected with heroin (“speedball”) or taken with alcohol to reduce irritability; smoked with phencyclidine (“tick”); and smoked in marijuana blunts (“turbo”). However, it is extremely dangerous to combine crack with other drugs because of the unpredictable intensity of the effects of both of the narcotics.
Snorting crack safely
Snorting, beside its high risk, is not a vary common route of administration for crack cocaine. But, people still tend to experiment and want to see what happens.
A very important factor in the quality of the experience of snorting crack is the purity of crack HCL (hydrochloride). Depending on the demographic region – street purity varies a lot, because the powder is often diluted with a variety of substances such as sugars, other CNS stimulants like caffeine, or local anaesthetics.
Questions about snorting crack
Is there anything else you would like to know about snorting crack? Our team is more than happy to help you! All you need to do is post your question right in the section below, and we will try to provide a personal answer as soon as possible.
Reference Sources: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Cocaine
NIDA: What are long term effects of cocaine use
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