Crack Addiction
Crack is one of the most evil drugs because of the speed at which people can consume it.
If you have a thousand bottles of booze in your possession, it really doesn’t matter, as you can only drink so much at one time. The human body will limit your consumption for you. The same is true if you have unlimited quantities of most other drugs. You can’t just keep consuming them on a non stop basis.
This is not really true of crack cocaine. The drug disappears fast. For example, a crack addict might buy several hundred dollars worth of the stuff, thinking that it should last him for several days. In a case like this they will usually smoke it all up within the first few hours, and actually go out again that same night to purchase more. That is how evil it can be.
Because of this tendency with crack, the drug seems to push people to do things they would not normally do, because there is such an urgency to smoke it quickly and then get more of it. The big problem, of course, is money. Crack addicts need cash, and will sometimes do desperate things to get it.
Psychological addiction
One of the good things about crack addiction (imagine that, something good!) is that there really is no physical detox from the drug. If crack is your drug of choice and you decide to go to a drug rehab, they will not even need to put you in detox for withdrawal, because there really is none. Sometimes a crack user will have been awake for several days, so they might be in need of sleep, but as far as withdrawal symptoms and physical discomfort from stopping the drug, there really is no major problem with it.
This means that you can actually deal with crack addiction much on your own if you want to, simply by finding support and possibly making some major changes in your life. At least you do not have to go through an expensive detox process like you have to with some other drugs (which is good, of course, because you have likely spent all of your money at this point!).
One thing you might try to do is to just start hitting some NA meetings (Narcotics Anonymous) in your area. There you can start getting some support from other people who are living a drug free life, and also learn about a way to live without drugs yourself. If you can’t find any NA meetings you can always just substitute AA meetings instead, the basic message is the same. Of course there are other ways to live a drug free life, but starting out with 12 step meetings can give you a good foundation for your recovery in terms of exposing you to a good network of people.
Do not underestimate crack addiction
Even though crack does not produce a physical withdrawal, this does not mean that it is an easy addiction to overcome, or that crack addicts never relapse. Just like with any drug, there is always going to be a danger of relapse, regardless of how long a person has been clean.
In fact, there might be an added danger with crack because the withdrawal process is so easy compared to other drugs, that it becomes much easier to justify relapse. The person knows in the back of their mind that they will stop smoking crack when the money runs out, and that will be that. They don’t have to go to rehab or detox or anything, they will simply stop cold turkey. Because it is relatively easy to stop smoking crack, it becomes that much easier to justify starting up again.
Do not underestimate the drug. I have seen crack addicts in recovery who had several years clean who ended up going back out again. In a lot of cases, it is the lifestyle that pulls people back into addiction. It is not just the drug itself, nor is it the high from the drug….but it is all the things that go along with it. It’s the people, the dealers, the late nights, the parties, and so on. In a lot of cases that is what pulls people back into a life of drug addiction. As such, any good solution for recovery will need to focus on creating a new life for yourself that is stimulating enough to replace the old lifestyle of addiction. Being bored is not a good place to be for a recovering addict. Luckily, we can take control of this and do things in order to find real passion and purpose in our lives.
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Darb, how are things going for you? I feel.like i know you. i guess this is because all crack stories are basically the same, huh…I so hope that you kick this thing. I often wondered if a long term extreme user can stay clean. I sure hope so for your sake and for your daughters. good luck to you Darb. thanks for posting your story.
Hi…
i have been dating a crack addict for a year now..things were going good in the beginning hey…till he relapsed….then everything just started falling apart..i made the worst decision to move in together and i lost alota stuff when we were staying together for only 2 months…i’m back at my moms place now and i feel safe….we’re still together…he asked me to help him overcome his addiction…and for the first time i told him that i can only help him if he helps himself……it seems like he’s making changes however i don’t want to be hasty and get comfortable with the situation. I really do love him, but if he doesn’t want to change then he’ll be the weakest link and be evicted from my life and my sons life.
Its the hardest drug
heres a question what happens when u are dating a crack head become one when already addiction is in the blood and u become codependant and addicted to emotional abuse and anger and always say things will change but u can do nothing but smoke together and fight and amp each up… sex dissapears blame starts… i was a broadway stage performer nad always in my blood i had it all over time but a past of being an escort cause i went through three rapes.. in my life so sex was something i saw as part of me. I downgraded my beliefs and i got into cocaine at 22 and it batteled me and then i tried crystal only for a month and it was the darkest drug ever but waking up and ending up in insane asylun overnight made me never miss the addiction or drug im disgusted by ut … i met my bf through the internet how i meet most men from day one we did cocaine like crazy together and had a syd and nancy relationship but he was the first person who made me feel and not wanna escort to make money anymore i devalued money he was great in the beginning but as time passed he couldnt breather on cokeanymore so he switched to crack one day i tried it and he didnt want me to and we fell into happiness and then it was all we did past year i went through an eviction lost everything lied and still clung to him he would get high as hell w me and then leave me lone as he had to do his work and being left high on crack and alone ahhh worst feeling. he could function and i couldnt
he has endless funds to it so it keeps going he evena week ago had us up for three days and we figured lets smoke all we can to the point wher we hate it
13 rounds later and four days no sleep and two days after i wanted it again as did he
its easy when the cash is gone u stop
but im so in love w this guy because there is a part of him that sober is great and always there and another part of him that enables me
i dont know how to let him go so i dont lose myself anymore
i come from sobriety dad is 33 yrs sober aa wasnt for me a pretty face makes womn dislike ya and u are limitedon convos..
i just dont know how to stop as two days later im sober im great and bam i dont need help anymore cause i was good a few days…
this drug is so sneaky cause its light side of a lil and ur fine becomes such a large obstacle and just over a year
cause u can sleep and come down and think u control it
ive lost my will to sing and i want the old me back its gonna be a journey
im sick of the fihgts blame emotional abuse anger but thenfeeling safe at the cuddling slepe phase im sick of seeing more andmore street people when ur upper middle class and a lady and getting used to it im sick of the dealers and the urges and the pipes all over the place and choreboys i love having fun though and fear boredom
i lovve my bf but i hate my life
i will overcome this
i WAS A CRACK ADDICT MYSELF, THEN I GOT CLEAN. ILOVE MY PARTNER WHO IS LEAVING ME FOR THE CRACK. RIGHT NOW HE HAs never came home from this morning. we moved 12 hours away from our homne 5 years ago, and now he getting deeper into his addiction. he’s going to quit his job and go back home. to more actively pursue crack. i dont want him to go. because i know he will go to jail.
I am currently in the clutches of a $300-$500 per day addiction to crack cocaine. I just got fired from a very lucritive job I had for 15 years. My retirement and severance package are gone ($50,000) and my boyfriend just went to jail for 4 months cause when his probation officer came to ff our house to check on him, they found my drugs and he took the rap rather that let me mar my pristine record. I have bill collectors calling and I know my house and cars are next to go. But I am too much a slave to this stuff to update my resume and get out there pounding the pavement. I lie, lie, lie to everyone I care about to get more. I think more and more about “creative” ways to make money. And all this happened in 3 months. I took my very first hit of crack on May 15 and I haven’t missed a day yet.
I no longer have insurance since losing the job and I can’t come up with the money. Plus I have to be home as I am the only one who can care for all our animals. I have no one I can turn to for assistance, either financially, physically, or emotionally. Plus I have a lot of work to do juggling money,, etc to keep the creditors at bay. IRS issues, EDD issues.All the while I am trying desperately to quit and I have dealers showin up at my door all hours with “great deals”.
Bottom line…I HAVE to do this alone, either at home or I am trying to borrow enough money to rent a beach or mountain vacation rental home for 3 days next week. I have to be away from all this temptation and craziness. I am wondering if there is such a thing as a companion or assistant that I could take with me to help me through it? And where might I find such a person. Also any tips or advice on how to best get thru those 3 days would be much appreciated.
Lori…why not admit yourself to a rehab facility? There are places funded by the state that require no money on your part. By the way, your post seems a little “Scam-ish”. If someone gave you money what would you actually do with? I mean you just stated that you were coming up with creative ideas to get money to get more crack.
Hey Kas,
I just reread what I wrote and I guess I sort of see what you are saying. The point of the post is not that I need money. I have liquidated enough to secure a place for me to go away and detox. What I was trying to say and came on here to ask is…are there detox coaches, or detox caregivers, support people with crack detox knowledge and experience. I have only been doing this shit 3 months, I barely know anything about it except that it has begun to ruin my life and I want to stop it now. I didn’t go into all the various reasons but it is out of the question for me to go away right now for a month or more. I have no one to take over for me. Suffice it to say, I would quickly lose the things I have left. Again…The ONLY thing I want to know is “How might one find a person to enjoy a 3-5 day vacation to the beach at no cost for just holding my hand and advising, and walking me through this process I am very scared to begin.
Lori,
You sound like an intelligent woman and able to take care of herself. I suggest educating yourself on your ‘poison’. Apparently crack is easy to kick for awhile because there is virtually no physical withdrawal which ends up being the reason it’s hard to kick. It’s a mind set. It’s a choice. It’s probably not going to be hard to stay away from it when you at your sober sanctuary.(as long as you do not take any with you!!) When you are back to your ‘hood’ dealing with the pressures you can’t get away from and closer to your old haunts is when it’ll be a struggle. Keep yourself busy, join a gym, go for a walk, go to the library, a museum, write a letter, take up cooking, anything, and when the urge strikes you and you start to justify using, give it a second thought and know you are better than that!
Cheering for ya, Marie
Lori,
You sound like an intelligent woman and able to take care of herself. I suggest educating yourself on your ‘poison’. Apparently crack is easy to kick for awhile because there is virtually no physical withdrawal which ends up being the reason it’s hard to kick. It’s a mind set. It’s a choice. It’s probably not going to be hard to stay away from it when you at your sober sanctuary.(as long as you do not take any with you!!) When you are back to your ‘hood’ dealing with the pressures you can’t get away from and closer to your old haunts is when it’ll be a struggle. Keep yourself busy, join a gym, go for a walk, go to the library, a museum, write a letter, take up cooking, anything, and when the urge strikes you and you start to justify using, give it a second thought and know you are better than that!
Cheering for ya, Marie
My girlfriend and I have been in a relationship now for 4yrs we are in love with each other butwe both smoke crack have been both in n out of jail she was in prison for 18mths due to crack while she was locked up I held a job sent her money but still smoked crack on weekends she came home and started smoking again we both work rent a room my wants n goal is for us to finally get our own apartment We dont want to smoke crack any longereither we are having problems helpin each other out Im starting to feel
Scared continuously smoking crack is causing me to feel I cant trust her I love her and know she loves me I dont want us to break up. How do we stop ouraddiction together andmove on without addiction?
y
I have been with my man for 9 years, and I based our relationship on love and trust. 6 months ago he told me he was smoking crack and he was cheating on me with another lady. I was a formal crack user and I stayed clean for 22 years being so stupid for him I relapsed. I told him he did not half to smoke crack in the streets but he can smoke in the back yard, little did I know it was a set up for me. Now my addiction is back and I am losing everything. I feel so bad and less than very embarrass and fuckup. I work and keep hoping my life will change but its not. Please write me back.
@ Hot mess – Well it is hard to know for sure but to me it almost sounds like you would do well to get single for a while, get out of all relationships, just pause. “I might be back some day, might not” type of thing.
Then go work on your recovery. You had 22 years clean but obviously you had not discovered the real “you” who loves recovery just yet. Go find that part of you and then when you have that, you will be able to enter a healthy relationship again (possibly with him, it all depends).
Thank Patrick. I will take time out to discoverer the real me. I never planed on going back to using drugs. It’s a terrible “Hell Hole I have reopen in my life, and a major regret.” I did love recovery and still do I just fell weak I should have recognized the signs of relapse everything just happen so fast.
I am asking for your prayers, I threw my pipe away and is will to give myself a new start. I desire not to play mine games with myself regarding my issue but, I want to be free. I know my triggers are my boyfriend and money. I don’t go out and look for drugs I send him. I pay on what I think is important like rent, and my car note but everything else suffers. I continue to attend church and I still have hope. But in essences I am still hunted with the shock that I even started back using drugs (Crack) after 22 years of not using. I use to have extra money but within the last 4 months hell has open up in my life. My bank account is closed, I have borrowed money from pay-day loans and my gas at my home is turned off. My mental state is fracture and I am still with my man who played a major part in helping me open this hell hole of crack addiction in my life. Please send me your suggestion, comments good or self correcting; and most of all please pray for me. Finding my way back Hot Mess, Thanks.
My boyfriend is going through the same thing that alot of you guys are going threw. Its been about a year that hes been smoking crack. we have 2 kids which makes it so hard to leave him. And i want to help him and half the time he says he wants the help but than he goe right back to it. he just recently got out of jail on bail… a high bail at that because when he was in there it was all talk like i wanna do better i promise imma make it right… 3 days after getting out he got high again. Than he was good for about 2 weeks until last night. He started a bullshit fight with me which is always how i know thats whats coming next… than he walks away down the street to the crack house. i told him if you walk away right now you are walking away from your family as im sitting there with his 2 babies. and he proceeded to walk away. I want to stick to my word cause i dont want him to think that it is okay for him to just occasionally get high and than come back for a couple weeks and so it again but i love him so much and i want him to be in the kids life and im scared that if i dont let him back everytime when hes down getting high for the moment that he will never be a part of hiskids life at all…. its hard to figure out what would be better… they need a dad but not a part time one. Any suggestiong on what to do??And for all you who are fighting the addiction just believe in yourself…. everytime u think you are going to smoke crack again just tell yourself that you are worth more than that…. its a nasty dirty drug and just dont let it be stronger than you….. you are letting something so silly control you life…. wake up and realize that you control your life and that you love your life and yourself!!
I’ve heard that it’s impossible to recover from crack addiction for good, that unlike the alcoholic the crack addict will always return to his drug of choice. Is this true?
To feast/famine
I have often wondered the same thing. How many hard core crack addicts ever get sober and stay sober? I have never witnessed it. I know of crack addicts that are clean while they are incarcerated but return to the drug shortly after release. I know of those who are clean for months and then binge but they really are are not sober minded if they binge every fewmonths and that’s not really being clean. Are there any success stories out where? If so how did you do it and wht do you do every day to stay clean. I suppose I will never understand. It’s frustrating and heartbreaking and devastating to watch a loved one battle this drug.
I don’t think a person who has used a bunch of crack will ever stop using it. I think most people die being a crack head. It just messes you up to bad. You can’t get free from crack once you use it alot. I know to many who go to rehab a bunch of times and go to jail a bunch of times to. They never quit that stuff until they die. Its bad man. You cannot trust a crack head. They will take you down to if you stay involved with them. They will be a great person until that urge hits and then you are nothing to them. They will steal money from a babys piggy bank to get that crack. They will lie and cheat and steal. They always go back to crack. Wish there was a cure.
WHAT does it take to stop the urge? How can I stop this madness? Rehab and AA and NA have not worked? Jail and prison have not worked either. I have moved and changed locations, changed friends (who do not use alcohol or drugs), changed jobs. I am an intelligent person (believe it or not), but years ago made the mistake of smoking crack and I have been unable to break away from these cycles. I know most people believe that if a person wants to quit, then that person will quit. I do not want to a crack addict, but something clicks inside of me and away I go. It is like I have no control over it at all. Once the urge hits, I cannot overcome it! Can someone please tell me what works, if anything.
My Name is Crack
I destroy homes……. I tear families apart.
I take your children……and that’s just the start.
I’m more costly than diamonds, more precious than gold.
The sorrow I bring, is a sight to behold.
If you need me, remember, I’m easily found…
I live all around you…in schools and in town.
I live with the rich…I live with the poor…
I live down the street…maybe even next door!
I am made in such ways…you can shoot me or smoke…
I used to be called “cocaine…or coke”
The sound that I make, when you’re inhaling my stench…
Is how my name “Crack” came to be…(perfect sense)
My power is awesome; try me, you’ll see…
But if you do, you may never break free.
Just try me once, and I may let you go…
But try me twice, and I’ll own your soul.
When “I” possess you, you’ll steal and you’ll lie.
You’ll do what you have to, just to get “high”.
The crimes you’ll commit, for my narcotic charms…
Will be worth the pleasure you’ll feel in your arms, lungs and nose.
You’ll lie to your mother; you’ll steal from your dad…..
When you see their tears, …you should feel sad.
But you will forget your morals…and how you were raised…..
I’ll be your “conscience”…I’ll teach you “my ways”.
I’ll take kids from parents, and parents from kids.
I turn people from “GOD”…..and separate friends.
I’ll take everything from you, …your looks and your pride.
I’ll be with you ALWAYS…….right by your side.
You’ll give up everything…your family, your home….
your friends,…. your money….then you’ll be all alone.
I’ll take & take, till you have nothing more to give…
When I’m finished with you….you’ll be lucky to live.
If you try me, be warned……..this is no “game”…
If given the chance….I’ll drive you insane!
I’ll ravish your body…I’ll control your mind..
I’ll own you “completely”….your “soul” will be mine!
The nightmares I’ll give you, while lying in bed…
The voices you’ll hear…..from inside your head…
The sweats, the shakes…the “visions” you’ll see…
I want you to know…these are ALL “gifts from me”.
But then it’s too late, and you’ll know in your heart..
That you are MINE…..and we shall not part….
You’ll regret that you tried me…they always do…
But YOU came to ME…Not “I” to you……
You knew this would happen,…many times you were told…
But you challenged my “power”…and chose to be “bold”.
You could have said “no”…..and just walked away…
If you could live that day over…now what would you say?
I’ll be your “Master”…..and you’ll be my slave…
I’ll even go with you…when you go to your grave.
Now that you have met me…what will you do?
Will you try me or not? It’s all up to you….
I can bring you more misery than words can tell…
Come take my hand….let me lead you to HELL!
W O W
Rebecca that is so true. I let my brother read that who is a crack addict and he said that had to be written by someone who did alot of crack cuz its all true and you could not naked that sh* t up.
** you could not MAKE that sh*t up
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