All Hail the New Medical Disovery—Never Mind Addiction to It

Cocaine followed by crack cocaine became the drug of choice in many of our UK big cities like London and Manchester in the 1980s. By 2002 crack importing and addiction reached epidemic proportions. Seizures of it had increased by 50% and the numbers of crack addicts seeking help by 54%. London joined Paris and Hamburg as major centres for the illegal importing of cocaine and crack cocaine.

So what is the difference? Well, crack cocaine is a crystallised form of cocaine. It's cheaper to produce and costs less by the time it gets down to street level. And, it’s more addictive in a shorter length of time.

Hear the “myth” that cocaine had something to do with Coca-Cola. Well, it’s not a myth. Mr Pemberton of the USA back in Victorian times was formulating a new bottled soda drink. He called the new drink Coca-Cola and it did contain cocaine. We have come a long way since then of course and there is no coke in cola now. Just a lot of fizz and sugar in a standard formula.

crack cocaine

Crack cocaine potency, however, is different virtually every time it is manufactured. It is doubtful if any two dealers get it from the same source of suppliers and suppliers from the same source of manufacturers who in turn churn out a product with no quality control whatsoever. It is doubtful if they have heard of the word!

As well as destroying the central cartilage in one’s nose, you get the sensation of creepy crawlies moving around under your skin. Not the best of skin care products you might say for the ladies or for that matter the gents.

Stimulating dopamine in the brain, but more quickly than straight cocaine, it also drops you down faster and lower. The next time you need more of it to get the same high and euphoric few minutes. The low one gets afterwards is often tagged as depression. Highly addictive, it leads to fluid in the lungs (stops you breathing), heart failure and eventually death.

As usual, there is a wealth of data on production, illegal importation and effects of crack cocaine on the internet but let's look at it from the view of its effect on society.

Its medical uses got going in Germany and scientists imported tons of coco leaves to see what they could do with it. Even Sigmund Freud was involved. The end result was medical use as an anaesthetic and addiction to it across the world. Nowadays of course anaesthetics are made from different chemicals and crack cocaine doesn’t enter that scene.

Society was plagued with a young drug-taking population in the 1980s and along with it came sexual activity as it intensifies sexual desires and gets rid of inhibitions. Up go the venereal disease statistics and the problematic heart and lung diseases that hospitals have learned to cope with.

Those symptoms push up the cost of our NHS, the costs of rehab medical care, rehab premises, staff training and so on. In turn, up goes income tax to pay for it all. One way or another the nation is paying for the effects suppliers and dealers create in our general population.

paraphernalia to smoke crack cocaine

The very very nasty effects of crack cocaine and the extent and depth of the desire for it when withdrawing are known about and understood at Narconon. Strict rules and procedures apply on withdrawal and during the rest of the rehab programme. The staff will get them through. It doesn’t take a rehabbed addict to help a crack addict come out the other side but it can help and many many ex-addicts help on staff or volunteer their time. This successful, drug-free rehab programme marks out Narconon from the rest.

Jemima J. Jones.


SOURCES:

AUTHOR

Jemima J. Jones

A writer that tells it like it is. She has been there done that and got the T-shirt.

NARCONON UNITED KINGDOM

DRUG EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION