NAME: LUPHINA SURNAME: MFOBO GRADE: 7 NAUDE TEACHER: MRS LAWLOR DUE DATE: 17 JULY 2012

TOPIC: DRUGS

What is crack cocaine?

Crack (or crack cocaine) is an illegal drug which is made from cocaine. Cocaine is mostly an illegal drug that comes from the leaves of a plant called coca. When people smoke crack, they have a feeling called "being high." The name "crack" comes from the

cracking sound the drug makes as it is smoked. The cracking sound is caused by evaporating water escaping. Crack is a form of cocaine, an illegal drug. In

most parts of the world, its production (making crack), possession (having crack), and distribution (selling or giving away crack) are illegal

What is cocaine? What is crack?

Cocaine, also called coke, nose candy, snow, blow or tooth, is a substance that comes from the coca plant. When mixed and heated with ether (cooked), a highly flammable substance (freebase), its gas is released in its pure form, which can be inhaled. Crack cocaine, also called rock cocaine, refers to cocaine when it is in solid form. It is made by mixing powder cocaine with baking soda and water, making it a highly concentrated and therefore highly addictive form of the drug. This form of cocaine is taken in by placing the cocaine rocks into a crack pipe and smoking them.

How is cocaine abused?

Cocaine is one of a number of street drugs that can be abused in a number of different ways, including injecting, smoking, or taken in through the nose by snorting. Statistics about cocaine use in the United States include that 25 million people have used it at least once, about 4.6 million people tend to use it once per month or less, and about 2.4 million people use the substance at least twice per week. More than 5% of people who use cocaine just once go on to develop cocaine dependence within two years after the first use. Other facts about cocaine use are that up to $70 billion was spent on the drug from 1990 to 1999. Of the 4% of women who use drugs during pregnancy, about 10% of them use cocaine. Overall, the rate of cocaine use during pregnancy is 1.1% of all pregnant women under 44 years of age.

What are cocaines effects on the body and mind?

The time it takes for a person to feel the

effects of cocaine, as well as how long cocaine stays in the system, is determined by the way the drug is taken. For example, when cocaine is in solid form, the individual feels the effects of smoking crack cocaine within seconds, while the powder form of cocaine that is snorted (taken intranasal) takes up to 10 minutes to take effect. Regardless of the way this drug is taken, it tends to cause intense euphoria and pleasurable sensations, highly intensifying every pleasure. Then the person tends to become hyperactive and excessively alert. Once the high wears off (in less than 20 minutes for crack), the individual often becomes agitated, irritable, and uncomfortable. The physiological (biological) effects of cocaine on the brain involve the drug's effects on chemicals called neurotransmitters. Specifically, cocaine tends to dramatically increase the release of dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. Because these chemicals are responsible for pleasure and well-being, alertness, increases in blood pressure and pulse, as well as happiness, the effects of cocaine on the body and mind are consistent with these effects. Other physical signs and symptoms of cocaine use include decreased appetite, sleep, and male infertility. When a person withdraws from the effects of cocaine the decrease in neurotransmitters results in a sudden drop in blood pressure or pulse. Severe depression and sometimes suicidal thoughts and behaviour. In the event of cocaine overdose, the effect of excess dopamine can cause anger, aggressiveness, violence, psychosis, and sometimes homicidal thoughts and behaviour. Cocaine abuse also tends to result in decreased inhibitions that can lead to risky sexual behaviours.

How is cocaine diagnosed?

There is no single test that indicates that someone is abusing or addicted to cocaine with complete certainty. Therefore, health care professionals diagnose these disorders by thoroughly gathering medical, family, and mental health information. The professional will also either perform a physical examination or request that the individual's primary care doctor do so. The medical examination usually includes lab tests to assess the person's general health and to explore whether or not the individual has a medical condition that includes mental health symptoms. In asking questions about mental health symptoms, mental health professionals are often trying to find out if the person suffers from depressive and/or manic symptoms, as well as whether the individual suffers from anxiety, hallucinations, delusions or some behavioural disorders. Health care professionals may provide the people they evaluate with a quiz or self-test to screen for substance abuse or dependence. Since some of the symptoms of cocaine misuse and dependence can also occur in other mental illnesses, the mental health screening helps determine if

the individual suffers from bipolar disorder, an anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or other psychotic disorders, or a personality or behaviour disorder like narcissistic personality disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), respectively. Any disorder that is associated with sudden changes in behaviour, mood, or thinking, like bipolar disorder, a psychotic disorder, borderline personality disorder, or dissociative identity disorder (DID), may be particularly challenging to distinguish from some symptoms of cocaine abuse or dependence. In order to assess the person's current emotional state, health care professionals perform a mental status exam as well. In addition to providing treatment that is appropriate to the diagnosis and to the person in need of it, determining the presence of mental illnesses that may co-occur (comorbid/dual diagnosis) with cocaine abuse or dependence is important in promoting the best possible outcome. Dual diagnosis of cocaine-abusing or addicted individuals indicates the need for treatment that addresses both issues in an integrated fashion by professionals with training and experience with helping this specific population.

What is the treatment for crack cocaine addiction?

An unfortunate fact about the treatment of cocaine and other drug addiction is that it continues to be unutilized by most addicted individuals. For example, less than 10% of people with a substance abuse disorder and less than 40% of those with a substance dependence disorder receive treatment. Those statistics seem to be independent of socioeconomic or other demographic characteristics but do seem to be associated with the presence of other mental health problems (comorbidity).The primary goals for the treatment of addiction symptoms (also called recovery) are abstinence, relapse prevention, and rehabilitation. When the addicted person first abstains from using drugs, he or she may need help avoiding or lessening the effects of withdrawal. That process is called detoxification or detox. That part of treatment is usually performed in a hospital or other

inpatient setting (often called detox centres), where medications used to decrease withdrawal symptoms and frequent medical assessments can be provided. The medications used as part of detox depend on the substance the individual is dependent upon. As with many other drugs of abuse, the detox process from cocaine is the most difficult aspect of coping with the physical symptoms of addiction and tends to last days. Medications that are sometimes used to help cocaine addicts abstain from drugs use include propranolol (Inderal, Inderal LA, InnoPran XL), which decreases some of the physical symptoms associated with cocaine withdrawal, as well as vigabatrin (Sabril), a medication that treats seizures. Usually much more challenging and time consuming than recovery from the physical aspects of cocaine addiction is psychological addiction. People who may have less severe psychological symptoms of cocaine dependency may be able to be maintained in an outpatient treatment program. Those who have a more severe addiction have relapsed after engaging in outpatient programs, or whom also suffer from a severe mental illness might need the higher level of structure, guidance, and monitoring provided in an inpatient drug treatment centre, often referred to as "rehab." After inpatient treatment, many cocaine addicts may need to reside in a sober-living community, that is, a group-home setting where counsellors provide continued sobriety support and structure on a daily basis. Another important aspect of treating cocaine addiction is helping family members and friends of the addicted person refrain from supporting addictive behaviours (co-dependency). Whether co-dependency loved ones provide financial support, excuses, or fail to acknowledge the addictive behaviour of the addict, discouraging such co-dependency of friends and family is a key part of the recovery of the affected individual. Focusing on the cocaine-addicted person's role in the family likely becomes even more urgent when that person is a child or teenager, given that underage people almost always come within the context of a family. Cocaine dependency treatment for children and adolescents differs further from that in adults by the younger addict's tendency to need help finishing their education and achieving higher education or job training compared to addicts who may have completed those parts of their lives before developing the addiction.

What is the treatment

for crack cocaine?

An unfortunate fact about the treatment of cocaine and other drug addiction is that it continues to be unutilized by most addicted individuals. For example, less than 10% of people with a substance abuse disorder and less than 40% of those with a substance dependence disorder receive treatment. Those statistics seem to be independent of socioeconomic or other demographic characteristics but do seem to be associated with the presence of other mental health problems (comorbidity).The primary goals for the treatment of addiction symptoms (also called recovery) are abstinence, relapse prevention, and rehabilitation. When the addicted person first abstains from using drugs, he or she may need help avoiding or lessening the effects of withdrawal. That process is called detoxification or detox. That part of treatment is usually performed in a hospital or other inpatient setting (often called detox centres), where medications used to decrease withdrawal symptoms and frequent medical assessments can be provided. The medications used as part of detox depend on the substance the individual is dependent upon. As with many other drugs of abuse, the detox process from cocaine is the most difficult aspect of coping with the physical symptoms of addiction and tends to last days. Medications that are sometimes used to help cocaine addicts abstain from drugs use include propranolol (Inderal, Inderal LA, InnoPran XL), which decreases some of the physical symptoms associated with cocaine withdrawal, as well as vigabatrin (Sabril), a medication that treats seizures. Usually much more challenging and time consuming than recovery from the physical aspects of cocaine addiction is psychological addiction. People who may have less severe psychological symptoms of cocaine dependency may be able to be maintained in an outpatient treatment program. Those who have a more severe addiction have relapsed after engaging in outpatient programs, or whom also suffer from a severe mental illness might need the higher level of structure, guidance, and monitoring provided in an inpatient drug treatment centre, often referred to as "rehab." After inpatient treatment, many cocaine addicts may need to reside in a sober-living community, that is, a group-home setting where counsellors provide continued sobriety support and structure on a daily basis. Another important aspect of treating cocaine addiction is helping family members and friends of the addicted person refrain from supporting addictive behaviours (codependency). Whether co-dependent loved ones provide financial support, excuses, or fail to acknowledge the addictive behaviours of the addict, discouraging such co-dependency of friends and family is a key part of the recovery of the affected individual. Focusing on the cocaine-

addicted person's role in the family likely becomes even more urgent when that person is a child or teenager, given that underage people almost always come within the context of a family. Cocaine dependency treatment for children and adolescents differs further from that in adults by the younger addict's tendency to need help finishing their education and achieving higher education or job training compared to addicts who may have completed those parts of their lives before developing the addiction.