Crack

Crack appears as white-to-brown crystals.

Crack is a processed form of cocaine. Cocaine appears as a white, crystal-like powder. It tastes bitter. Cocaine is in the leaves of the coca plant that mostly grows in South-America. Cocaine is taken from the leaves via a chemical process, to be made into a powder.

To make it possible to smoke cocaine powder, it first has to be processed. After processing, you get crack.

The effects of alcohol and drugs can be different every time. This has to do with how you feel mentally and physically (set) and where and with who you are at that moment (setting). How much you take and what exactly is in your drugs also matters for the effect. We call this drug, set, setting’

What does crack do to you?

The effects of crack are much like the effects of regular cocaine, but far more intense. Cocaine & crack give you more energy and fight tiredness. It's a stimulating substance, also known as an 'upper'.

• You feel happy and alert
• You feel less tired and have much more energy
• You feel like you can think fast and clearly
• You feel more confident and want to talk a lot
• You feel less hungry
• It can be harder to talk clearly

After just a few minutes the positive effects (the flash) start to fade. You become sad and irritated. This is called the crash. You immediately feel like using more. A session of constantly using more can last very long (sometimes days) until someone really can't keep going because of over exhaustion.Afterwards, it's possible they sleep for days and eat a lot in between sleeping.

How long the effects last: the effects of crack are very short. If you smoke crack, you'll feel the effect within only 10 seconds. After 5 minutes, the effects will have faded again.

Crack is smoked. This can be done in a few different ways. With a pipe, or with a piece of aluminium foil above a flame. By heating the crack on aluminium foil, a vapor comes off that you can inhale with a tube. Crack can also be used with a waterpipe or a vaporizer.

A benefit of vaporizing crack is that you don't burn it. Crack releases harmful chemicals when burnt.

The use of crack also has risks. Some risks you'll notice right away, like a heart attack. Other risks you'll only notice later, when the drug has already worn off, like depression or addiction.

What are the short-term risks?

• Overdose.
• You could get problems with your heart and blood vessels. The blood vessels get narrower. This could cause internal bleeding or a blood clot in the brain. Or it could cause a heart attack.
• You could get overly exhausted after using crack. Crack fights feelings of tiredness and falling asleep.
• You could get mental problems like feeling depressed or having a hard time focusing.
• You could get 'excited delirium syndrome' - you suddenly act very aggressive without noticing it. This is very uncommon, but it can be very dangerous for yourself and the people around you.

What are the long-term risks?

• Addiction.
• If you use a lot of cocaine often, your personality could change. You could become unfriendly, arrogant and selfish. Some people might become more sensitive and more easily irritated or angered.
• You can get completely exhausted and depressed
• If you use a lot of cocaine you can become aggressive or distrustful. You might trust people and your environment less and less.
• Basecoke zorgt ervoor dat je minder honger hebt. Hierdoor kan je veel gewicht verliezen in korte tijd.
• Crack causes you to be less hungry. Because of this, you can lose a lot of weight in a short time.
• Smoking crack is very harmful for your lungs. After a long time of smoking crack, you could get frequent asthma attacks or lung infections. This can cause coughing, mucus and shortness of breath. You could end up getting emphysema - a lung disease.

Safe use of crack does not exist. You can make the risks of using crack smaller though:

1. Get your crack tested. Then you'll know how strong it is and whether there's other harmful substances in there.
2. Use crack that has been prepared with baking soda, instead of ammonia. When making ammonia-based crack, there's often still ammonia left over in the final product, which is harmful.
3. Make sure you rest enough so your body and lungs can recover.
4. Instead of smoking crack with a pipe, you can smoke it with aluminium foil. The foil first has to be burnt in, though.
5. Stay away or leave places where crack is being used.
6. Rest well after using and make sure you eat enough.
7. Don't use again because you feel tired or sad after using crack.
8. Only use crack if you feel good mentally and physically.

Do you use a lot of crack, or often? Then it can be addictive. You might lose control over your use or you might fail to use less or quit. You'll quickly start needing more to get the same effect - we call this tolerance.

Crack is very addictive. Together with heroine and nicotine it's the most addictive drug we know.

When the effects of crack go away (after 5 minutes) the user feels so bad that they're very likely to immediately use more. They might keep going until they're completely exhausted.

When using crack, you quickly gain tolerance. The first dose gives a very pleasant feeling. But a second dose already feels less pleasant at the same dosage. You'll start using more and more to use the same effect.

If you quit using crack, you can get withdrawal symptoms. These are bodily symptoms that can make you feel very sick. The symptoms are not the same for everyone.

Withdrawal symptoms when quitting include;

• Strong depression
• Pain and shaking
• Exhaustion and a feeling of being mentally 'drained'
• Feeling weak
• Having trouble sleeping

These symptoms can last a long time. Because it might take a while before you don't feel these symptoms anymore, you might want to start using again. This is called relapse.

Crack is on list (schedule) 1 of the Opiumwet. According to the law it's a hard drug. That means you are not allowed to carry, make or sell it.

If you carry a little bit of crack with you (1 gram or less) you usually aren't punished. Police could however take (confiscate) your crack. You can also be rejected or kicked out of a party if you are seen carrying crack. If you have more than 1 gram  with you, security or the police could think that you're selling drugs (dealing). You can get a fine or prison sentence for this.

There is a lot of research into drug usage in the Netherlands. Some research is about all people above 18 years old. Other research is about smaller groups. Like people who go out a lot, students, or citizens of a specific city. This research gives us a good overview of drug usage in the Netherlands.

Crack is rarely used in The Netherlands. 'Regular' cocaine is far more common.

2,2% of Dutch people aged 18 and over had in 2022 used crack or cocaine in the last year.

• Het aantal meldingen bij de Monitor Drugs Incidenten in 2022 waarbij alleen basecoke is gebruikt waren laag. Het ging om 1% van alle meldingen (MDI)
• The amount of incidents reported to the Monitor Drug Incidents in 2022 in which the only drug used was crack, was low. It made up 1% of all reported incidents (MDI).
• The LADIS keeps track of how many people need help with a certain substance in addiction care organizations. In 2023 of all the people looking for help, 12% was looking for help with a cocaine or crack addiction.

If you want to use alcohol or other drugs it's important you feel good physically and mentally. If you're sick, sad or fearful for example, then alcohol and drugs can make it worse.

Some drugs in combination with certain medicine can make you very sick. Some combinations can even be deadly.

Are you using medicine and do you still want to use alcohol or other drugs? Then carefully research if you can beforehand. You can ask your doctor or pharmacy. Or check our overview. Do you still feel uncertain? Then make sure to message us at our Question & Answer service.

Do not use alcohol or other drugs if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Drugs are harmful for the baby and can cause your baby to be born sick.

More info about the influence of cocaine on sex, pregnancy and breastfeeding can be found in this overview.