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Drug Effects Help-Line
Untitled Document

Effects of Crack Cocaine

The short term effects of crack cocaine can be felt upon users initial hit of crack. The individual begins to feel the effects of crack cocaine immediately; they experience an increase in energy, temperature, mental alertness, heart rate, constricted blood vessels, as well as a decrease in appetite. These temporary effects of crack cocaine are as short lived as the users high. Because crack cocaine is smoked causing it to travel through the blood up to the brain much faster than cocaine which is snorted, the user experiences these short term effects more intensely. The duration and intensity of these short term effects of crack cocaine are based on the amount of crack cocaine that is used.

The long term effects of crack cocaine affect the user physically, mentally, and emotionally. An individuals long term effects from crack cocaine vary from person to person depending on their length and intensity of abuse. In general, the long term effects of crack cocaine include restlessness, mood change, irritability, auditory hallucinations, extreme paranoia, and eventually and rather quickly, addiction.

Smoking crack cocaine combines the efficiency of intravenous administration with the relative ease of intranasal (in the nose). Facilitated by the large surface area of the lungs' air sacs, cocaine administered by inhalation is absorbed almost immediately into the bloodstream, taking only 19 seconds to reach the brain. However, only 30 to 60 percent of the available dose is absorbed due to incomplete inhalation of the cocaine-laden fumes and variations in the heating temperature.

Crack smokers achieve maximum physiological effects approximately two minutes after inhalation. Maximum psychotropic effects are attained approximately one minute after inhalation. Similar to intravenous administration, the physiological and psychotropic effects of inhaled cocaine are sustained for approximately 30 minutes after peak effects are attained.

Almost a quarter (22%) of the cocaine emergency department mentions in 2000 are attributed to crack cocaine. During this year, there were 39,266 crack mentions in hospital emergency departments around the U.S.

Early Use and the Effects of Crack Cocaine

  • Magnification of pleasure, euphoria
  • Alertness and in some cases - hyper-alertness
  • Increased and sometimes a (grandiose) sense of well being
  • Decreased anxiety
  • Lower social inhibitions: more sociable and talkative
  • Heightened energy, self-esteem, sexuality and emotions aroused by interpersonal experiences
  • Appetite loss; weight loss

Compulsive Use and the Effects of Crack Cocaine

  • Extreme euphoria - "mental orgasm"
  • Uninhibited
  • Impaired judgment
  • Grandiosity
  • Impulsivity
  • Hyper sexuality
  • Hyper vigilance
  • Compulsivity
  • Extreme psychomotor activation/agitation
  • Anxiety; irritability; argumentative
  • Transient panic
  • Paranoia
  • Terror of impending death
  • Poor reality testing; delusions
  • Extreme weight loss

Physical Effects of Crack Cocaine

  • chronic sore throat
  • hoarseness
  • shortness of breath
  • bronchitis
  • lung cancer
  • emphysema and other lung damage
  • respiratory problems such as congestion of the lungs, wheezing, and spitting up black phlegm
  • burning of the lips, tongue, and throat
  • slowed digestion
  • weight loss
  • high incidence of dependence
  • blood vessel constriction
  • increased blood pressure
  • increased heart rate
  • brain seizures that can result in suffocation
  • dilated pupils
  • sweating
  • rise in blood sugar levels and body temperature
  • disability from drug-induced health problems
  • suppressed desire for food, sex, friends, family, and social contacts
  • heart attack
  • stroke
  • death

Emotional/Psychological Effects of Crack Cocaine

  • sadness and depression
  • loss of interest in appearance
  • loss of household valuables or unexplained vanishing cash due to the expense of the drug
  • sleeplessness
  • extreme paranoia
  • intense craving of the drug
  • schizophrenic-like psychosis with delusions and hallucinations

Crack Cocaine and Pregnancy

  • increased incidence of still births
  • increased incidence of miscarriages
  • premature (often fatal) labor and delivery
  • in males, the cocaine in crack may attach to the sperm causing damage to the cells of the fetus.
  • babies exposed to cocaine experience painful and life threatening withdrawal, are irritable, have poor ability to regulate their own body temperature and blood sugar and are at increased risk of having seizures.

Effects of Crack Cocaine on the Fetus

  • seizures or strokes
  • cerebral palsy
  • mental retardation
  • vision and hearing impairments
  • urinary tract abnormalities
  • autism and learning disabilities


  • Drug Facts
  • Crystal meth effects are similar to those of cocaine but with more power and intensity.
  • Heroin effects many parts of the human body, including blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys and brain.
  • Since about 1990, GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) has been abused in the U.S. for its euphoric, sedative, and anabolic (body building) effects. It is a central nervous system depressant that was widely available over-the-counter in health food stores during the 1980s and until 1992.
  • Some of the most frequent complications due to cocaine use are cardiovascular effects, including disturbances in heart rhythm and heart attacks; such respiratory effects as chest pain and respiratory failure; neurological effects, including strokes, seizu
  • The effects of alcohol are experienced differently for each individual depending on their size, sex, body build, and metabolism.
  • Methadone mimics many of the effects of opiates such as heroin.
  • Research suggests that people who used ecstasy at least 25 times had lowered serotonin levels for as long as a year after quitting.
  • Research in humans suggests that chronic ecstasy use can lead to changes in brain function, affecting cognitive tasks and memory. Ecstasy can also lead to symptoms of depression several days after its use.