
With any form of drug use, especially when using pure cocaine or freebasing, you need to be aware of the dangerous side effects as well as the symptoms of addiction. When you don’t know what you’re putting into your body, there is no way to stay safe. This makes freebasing much more potent, leading to drastic increases in cocaine overdose and the rate of cocaine addiction. In addition to the potency of cocaine, a lot of times users receive a form of the drug that they think is pure cocaine but is in fact mixed with other dangerous substances, such as fentanyl or synthetic opioids.
#Make crack cocaine with ammonia crack#
Smoking crack or freebasing crack cocaine is popular for people who are addicted to cocaine because it has stronger “highs” when taken in this form.īut this is exactly why freebasing cocaine is more deadly. Freebasing Puts You at Higher Risk for Addiction and Cocaine Overdose Increased anxiety, paranoia, depression, and addiction are all common mental health issues that occur during situations of substance use with cocaine, especially in such strong forms of the drug. Higher risk of infections, including pneumonia and blood diseasesĪdditionally, because cocaine disturbs your brain’s natural production of serotonin and other important hormones, you might experience serious mental health struggles in addition to physical complications when freebasing.Common long-term effects of freebasing look like: In the cases of freebasing, long-term effects can be even more dangerous and put you at a higher risk for serious health conditions or even death. Snorting cocaine affects your nose and sinuses, however, often resulting in long-term sinus issues and chronic nosebleeds. Something important to remember is that freebasing cocaine directly impacts your lungs and respiratory system, which can make it more dangerous than snorting cocaine. Some of the common health risks for short-term use include: The short- and long-term side effects of freebasing cocaine are dangerous. Cocaine Abuse Causes Serious Long-Term Effects This is why it is commonly called smoking crack, because of the sound it makes when heated. If the cocaine catches fire, users risk hurting themselves or losing control of a fire.įreebasing quickly evolved into a less flammable method in recent years with the introduction of baking powder to remove hydrochloride from pure cocaine. The unique thing about freebasing is that it changes the chemical construction of cocaine so that users can heat and smoke its pure form, usually through a glass pipe.īecause this form of the drug is highly flammable due to the hydrochloride, heating it up can be just as dangerous as actually using pure cocaine. Freebasing and Smoking Crack Are Similar Forms of Cocaine Use Thus, while it is difficult to smoke cocaine, it is not impossible.įreebasing, as it originated in the 70s, specifically involves the process of heating this form of the drug, which releases or “frees” the chemical hydrochloride from the pure cocaine so that users can smoke cocaine in its “clean” or pure form. It is highly flammable and water-soluble because the main element in cocaine is hydrochloride-otherwise known as the cocaine base. Typically, the chemical makeup of cocaine prevents users from heating up the powdered substance and smoking it.Ĭocaine has a high melting point of over 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Powdered cocaine is the most common form of the drug, and users will snort the cocaine. People who use cocaine take it in different forms. Freebasing Cocaine Has Been Around for Decades Recovery from Cocaine Addiction Is Possibleġ. This explains why the powder is snorted and injected and crack is smoked. 98 degrees Celsius) temperature than cocaine powder and is not water soluble. Base and crack cocaine has a much lower melting (c. With ‘crack’ particularly when the final heating step is made in a microwave impurities are locked in as opposed to washed out. This will be a much purer form of base cocaine. The precipitate (freebase) will dissolve in the ether, then mixture will separate, the ether is dissolved off and white crystals will form. Ethyl ether, which is highly inflammable is added. Freebase is made by adding ammonia to a cocaine/water solution, forming a white milky precipitate. Crack cocaine is less pure than using ether to make freebase cocaine (there is lots of baking soda left), but the procedure is safer.

It should be distinguished from ‘Freebase cocaine’. Crack derives from the discovery that cocaine in its base form delivers a similar effect to injecting (nearly always the most efficient way of getting a drug into the bloodstream.
