Crack cocaine is the same chemical product as powdered cocaine, but with a different delivery system. Powder cocaine is a water-soluble “salt” form of the chemical, while crack cocaine is a fat-soluble form that is absorbed more readily and more quickly into a user’s body when it is smoked. Crack’s effects are felt more quickly
With drug overdose ranking first among all other causes of adult accidental death in America, it is increasingly important to be aware of some critical factors regarding drug treatment. The last ten years have seen the largest increases in heroin use among the young adult population on record; more than double the number of previous
Individuals who are fortunate not to suffer from drug addiction or alcoholism will have a difficult time in understanding the mind and thought processes of a drug addict or alcoholic. It will seem apparent to everyone, including a substance abuser, that drugs and alcohol are harming every aspect of the addict’s or alcoholic’s life, including
Binge drinking and excessive alcohol consumption can and will cause you grievous harm even if you are not an alcoholic. At high levels, alcohol is a fatal poison that can cause irreparable brain damage if it does not kill you. Because alcohol absorption and processing rates are different for different people, you might suffer alcohol
Marijuana has been used for almost five thousand years. Early Chinese medical texts include records of marijuana’s psychoactive and medicinal properties. Trade and cultural cross-breeding took marijuana from China and into North Africa and Europe, where it continued to have medicinal and occasional recreational uses. Spanish settlers brought marijuana to the North American continent in
Long before man developed a capacity for logic and reason, his brain developed a dopamine reward system that gave him an intuitive and instinctive capacity to distinguish good from bad. When intuitive man experienced what we now recognize as pleasure, his brain released a dopamine neurotransmitter that attached to certain receptors in his brain to
