Crack Cocaine - Health Issues

Health Issues

Because crack is an illicit drug, users may consume impure or fake ("bunk") drug, which may pose additional health risks. However, use of crack alone is less dangerous than speedballing or "snowballing" (mixing cocaine with heroin), which can lead to more fatalities than either drug used on its own.

Like other forms of cocaine, smoking crack can increase heart rate and blood pressure, leading to long-term cardiovascular problems. Some research suggests that smoking crack or freebase cocaine has additional health risks compared to other methods of taking cocaine. Many of these issues relate specifically to the release of methylecgonidine and its effect on the heart, lungs, and liver.

• Toxic adulterants: Virtually any substance may have been added in order to expand the volume of a batch while still appearing to be pure crack. Occasionally, highly toxic substances are used, with an indefinite range of corresponding short and long-term health risks. For example, if candle wax or macadamia are procured alone or in combination with real crack, they will produce a noxious smoke when burned.

• Smoking problems: Any route of administration poses its own set of health risks; in the case of crack cocaine, smoking tends to be more harmful than other routes. Crack users tend to smoke the drug because that has a higher bioavailability than other routes typically used for drugs of abuse such as insufflation. Crack has a melting point of around 90 °C (194 °F), and the smoke does not remain potent for long. Therefore, crack pipes are generally very short, to minimize the time between evaporating and ingestion (thereby minimizing loss of potency). Having a very hot pipe pressed against the lips often causes cracked and blistered lips, colloquially known as "crack lip." The use of "convenience store crack pipes" - glass tubes which originally contained small artificial roses - may contribute to this condition. These 4-inch (10-cm) pipes are not durable and will quickly develop breaks; users may continue to use the pipe even though it has been broken to a shorter length. The hot pipe might burn the lips, tongue, or fingers, especially when passed between people who take hits in rapid succession, causing the short pipe to reach higher temperatures than if used by one person alone.

• Pure or large doses: Because the quality of crack can vary greatly, some people might smoke larger amounts of diluted crack, unaware that a similar amount of a new batch of purer crack could cause an overdose. This can trigger heart problems or cause unconsciousness.

• Pathogens on pipes: When pipes are shared, any bacteria or viruses can be transferred from person to person.