Crack essays

Crack essays Crack (rock) and cocaine are both stimulant drugs, which are widely used in our country today. They both present problems for us because of their potency and highly addicted addicts that can not seem to escape their grasp. Crack and cocaine also have various street names such as coke, snow, blow, base, C, ice, flake, sniff, rock and the list goes on. Cocaine is sold in a white powder form, which is sniffed, injected, or smoked (free-basing) and is much more expensive than its cousin crack (rock). Crack is a powerful form of cocaine and comes in a small crystal form, which is smoked, in a crack pipe or suitable utensil. "Cocaine by binding to the sites that normally reabsorb neurotransmitter molecules, cocaine blocks the reuptake of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. The extra neurotransmitter molecules therefore remain in the synapse, intensifying their normal mood altering effect and producing an euphoric rush. When the cocaine level drops, the absence of these neurotransmitters produces a crash"(D.G.Meyers PG 233). The high that a user will experience from cocaine lasts approximately fifteen to thirty minutes. Crack is another name given to cocaine, which has been processed with hydrochloride to a free basing state. " Rather than requiring the more volatile method of processing cocaine using ether, crack cocaine is processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water and heated to remove the hydrochloride, thus producing a form of cocaine that can be smoked. The term "crack" refers to the cracking sound heard when the mixture is smoked, presumably from the sodium bicarbonate".(NIDA's home PG 1). This process produces a small white to tan looking pellet that has the texture of porcelain. Crack smoke reaches the lung tissue through the bloodstream to the brain in seconds. Its instant effect or ...