I read an article this morning about crack cocaine users and the problems they have getting treatment; their erratic, uncontrollable and distrustful behavior makes them unwelcome in facilities that could hook them up with the drug rehab they need.

The author described crack cocaine as a ‘devastatingly effective shortcut’ to rock bottom. According to the article, which was about Toronto – a typical city - 50 percent of the homeless are on crack, but no one knows which came first, the homelessness or the crack.

Snorting powdered cocaine constricts the blood vessels, and raises the temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Those are bad enough, but when you add the side effects of smoking cocaine in the crack form - coughing, shortness of breath, severe chest pains, lung trauma and bleeding – you can see why the life of crack users may be shortened without drug rehab.

Add to that the fact that cocaine is somewhat like opiates in that the user sometimes needs more and more cocaine, or crack, to get the desired effect, and you’ve got a deadly drug on your hands. Cocaine and crack users often combine the drug with alcohol to intensify the effect – a combination which sometimes leads to sudden death.

Crack addicts can be difficult to tolerate. The extreme restlessness, irritability and anxiety users experience can really make them seem pretty crazy. Nevertheless, they need help to get into a successful drug rehab program as soon as possible.

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