For those in this thread who are interested I recommend reading, “The Night of the Gun” by David Carr. Mr. Carr abused cocaine (powder, crack, IV) and alcohol for over a decade. His book is a surprisingly candid mix of investigation and anecdotal reflection on his experiences on the cocaine scene. I’m not going to post a link because I’d rather this post not come off as some sort of an advertisement.
Tell me what I am ignorant about?? I will admit to the purity aspect. I was wrong. I admit that. But what is it in your experiences that conflict with what I have said?
I’d just like to hear about this time in your life. You don’t feel comfortable sharing any more?
Excellent, well written and very knowledgable post, Chimpy. Thanks!
I agree; thank you.
And let me just say, overall I have made statements regarding crack cocaine addiction that perhaps I didn’t appropriately articulate. Of course not every person who tries the drug is automatically going to become an addict. And not every single person who does become addicted is going to become hypersexual-or engage in any specific behavior. But with this drug, enough of the people addicted to it do engage in certain behavior that this behavior can be considered “likely” in those addicted.
It wasn’t just online research that was the source of my information. It was also, if not primarily, the real world. When I found out that my friend was addicted to crack-on top of the already known heroin- I tried to help her. This was before I knew anything about the drug and the lifestyle. I didn’t begin my online research until after I had cut this friend out of my life completely. In the two weeks or so prior to that (maybe a little less), I was dragged through hell and back trying to help her.
I saw the seedy underbelly of the trailer park in which she was living. I saw the same dynamics of a crackhouse-just spread out amongst several individual trailers. That whole fucking park was one big crackhouse (damn near). The last time I saw my friend, I picked her up from this park to take her to her mother’s; her mom was taking her to a nationally nenowed drug rehab. Suffice to say she never made it to rehab.
On the way to her mom’s (which was about an hr’s drive) she told me she wanted to say goodbye to her cousin, who was right on the way. Now in hindsight I realize how obviously this was a lie; but I guess that’s why hindsight’s always 20/20. So anyway we stop there, and I tell her to hurry, her mom is waiting for us. She tells me she won’t be five minutes.
Well ten minutes goes by and she’s still not out. So I beep my horn. And wait. Nothing. I beep it again; a couple times. And wait. And still nothing. I’m realizing now that I’ve been had and she’s not coming out. But I still blare my horn one long, last time. And then two women come storming out of the back door and racing towards my car. "Motherfucker you get your fuckin no good ass outta here!!" And she starts beating her hands on my fucking hood! “You pimpin’ her out?! Gettin her fucked up!?”
Wha??? I called my friend’s mom in a mild panic to try to find out what was going on. I pulled away from the frenzied women in order to be able to make the call. She called the cousins, eventually calmed them down and found out what was going on.
Well it turns out that Amanda (that’s my friend’s name), had told her cousin that I was her abusive pimp and that she really didn’t want to go back out there with me. Of course, she really didn’t want to go to her mom’s and go to rehab but couldn’t say that. But holy shit, I was freaked out when I had crazy women chasing me down!
Anyway, the main point of telling this story is because when Amanda got out of my car and went in to her cousin’s, she ended up leaving her phone in my car. I didn’t discover this until the next day, and it was after this next day that I learned that Amanda never made it to rehab and was back in the trailer park in Flint. It was then that I made the decision to read through her texts in her phone. It was what I read in those texts that compelled me to find out more. Because I had never been more shocked and disgusted by what I read in those texts than by anything in my life.
It was the vast network of a crack-survivalist. Someone who created different images of herself, and in turn created different relationships, in all corners of the bottom; all in order to maintain this neverending habit. To the drug dealers; she was the white-girl who was down, in more ways than one. To her trailer park crack mates, she was the ‘hardware’ girl-and if there happened to be a big score happening when she wasn’t around; well if you ‘looked out’ for her, she’d ‘look out’ for you. And to her streetwalking johns; she was simply the bitch who would do anything you wanted for $20 (because she’s “starving” of course).
And when I began to read other people’s stories about being close to a crackhead, everything began to click. Things that never made sense to me before suddenly were clear. I read entire message boards. Beginning to end. There are common elements that are recognizable in a vast majority of these stories. The link in my OP is just one of these boards. I know not everyone reacts the same way. I know not everyone becomes addicted.
You were mildly inconvenienced.
And you did. I ate to beak this to you, but if you fell for that, you are about ten years away from knowing the first thing about addiction.
Incidentally, many of the people I knew from the music scene in the late 80s went on to use heroin and crack. A couple of them bottomed out and had to go to rehab or died. In the vast majority of cases, though I only found out they had done it years later. People who use drugs and are maintaining ordinary lives are usually not going to volunteer “and I smoke crack” in ordinary conversation. You are suffering from a cognitive bias, reinforced with with some lone-nut theorist and a Newsweek cover story which the publisher retracted and apologized for.
Perhaps those who end up as crackheads have co-occuring personality disorders as well
LOL this reads like a salacious novel from 1930.
Crack Whore
The story of a white girl ensnared by the Devil’s sugar cubes, debasing her soul on the streets. And how one good man’s love saved her with marriage.
I’ve known a few crackheads personally. One was a guy who lived off and on in my grandma’s garage while I was living there. He was a sweet guy but he was always trying to ring the doorbell to take out the trash, or do oddjobs for a dollar or two…every night, very annoying. And he would amass junk in the backyard to try to sell for anything he could get. Probably if he had such a bad addiction and wasn’t in his 50’s he might’ve been violent when he couldn’t get a hit, I don’t know.
I knew an old woman who was in her 50’s-60’s who owned a beauty parlor for 30+ years, when she died it was found out that she was a crack addict for about the same time. I was stunned because she was a black successful entrepreneur and always very sweet to me.
The crack addicts I know for sure that their drug of choice is crack are all old, I don’t know any young crack addicts personally, though I’ve known some young people who smoked crack a few times. Nasty nasty drug and I’m not sure there’s any good answer for the problems with it.
I don’t joke about crack heads, a lot of people think calling anyone acting remotely silly a crack head is so hilarious, but when you know real people whose lives have been destroyed by it and their whole families torn apart…not so funny.
I took care of a neighbor boy for many years while his mother was off looking for rock. She did what she had to do to get it. The woman was, in the beginning, a bright, lovely, talented artist. She died in her thirties after years of abusing her body and by that time she just wasn’t herself anymore. She did seem rather like a zombie. She couldn’t think of anything else, to the point that she even stole from me. She prostituted herself and had a long record of petty theft. Worst of all though was how she thought nothing of abandoning her little boy for days.
I’ve known several others with the addiction since then but never anyone so close.
Hey, I used to live with a crack hoe! Shit was tiiiiiight! Tiiiight son! It really wasnt that tight. She was a hardworking hoe though, Ill tell you that. She was also a stone cold maniac and not bad lookin at all. But alas, the crack was yellower on the other side of the street. Actually,she tried to kill me and got arrested. I still went down and put money on her books. All you people with your sensitive feelings about dont say crackhead this or crackwhore that need to get over it. Crackheads dont need your sympathy. They have crack. They usually are funnier about makin fun of that shit than non-crackheads. I still like to think my material was better than hers. I had one I was talkin bout they should make a crack pipe that when you hit it, made a sound like a police siren so the other crackheads would run out of the trap house and you could snatch their dope. I seen it all. Its some ugly shit. But then again aren’t they makin children kill babies over in Somalia or somethin? So yeah, crackheads got it rough…
I know a lot of drug users and have for over 50 years. Opiate users show the least physical signs of stress. Very little side effects from opiate use aside from life style degradation. I haven’t really known any long term opiate smokers, I would imagine it is bad for the lungs.
Most all heroin addicts I have known become alcoholics when they get too old to hustle drug money
Most crack heads I know tend to end up on chystal meth at some point. Both crack and meth are disasters. A good friend 52 yrs old played with it after his divorce at 40 yrs old. This was a well off succesful man. He ended up mollesting his girlfriends kids, going to prison. Getting out of prison and dieing on skid roe from aids. He became gay while under the influence.
I also know a few who seem to function somewhat normaly and even maintain jobs. But you can see how it has taken it's toll on them.You ask for personal experiences, then require cites?
The people publishing things to cite are mostly the ones dealing with the subject with some professional detachment, “at arm’s length.”
Lots of personal views are variously distorted as well, but still…
Hi everyone,
I have been eagerly reading most posts to try to get an understanding regarding this subject matter. i think (i can clear up some common misconceptions at least from
my humble and limited point of view).
I was born to an upper-middle class family and although i have gone thru my fair share of terrible things amazingly enough drugs and alcohol are truly everywhere. I have never gone thru anything as terrible as some of the posts described. And hopefully never will have to. Part of my strategy has and is being smart about it, the other part not is to not be too greedy. However, everyone can be struck by misfortune so even the best plans can fail. All it takes is one foul-up. (you could be in jail, crippled, dead; and you wouldn’t even have to be under the influence of anything.
This is why i am writing this post. Because the stigma has to be steered towards
a more healthy direction. I think it is clear that a lot of things are wrong with the current system and we must come up with a more humane, rational, and scientific approach.
That focuses on prevention, harm reduction, not punishment (depending on the crime of course committed).
The biggest misconception about alcoholics and drug addicts is that they have to hit ‘rock’ bottom before they will change. This is total non-sense. A) only 3% every remain clean for 2 years after hitting ‘rock’ bottom. b) 97% are back on the streets doing what it is they do. There is no focus on harm-reduction and no focus on true patient care. Instead,
whether crackheads, potheads, crack whores, morphine junkies are ostracized and not helped. Any other Gay/Racial/Religious or whatever group is far more organized than the ‘addicted’ group. It is time for those ‘addicted’ to stand up and demand their civil rights to be treated as human beings, not scum of the earth, worthless, lock them up and throw away the key. This trend cannot and will not continue. As science, especially neuro-science, has made great progress in understanding addiction and we all may already be on the verge for a real break-through that could save hundreds, if not thousands of lives, families, and our livelihood. Including ourselves.
A few things i would like to clear up right away:
- Life is not easy. (a lot of people have this misconception that life is supposed to be easy,
and are unable to handle difficult situations and grap to drugs and alcohol. (me included
but not to the total decrement of my lively hood, that’d be crazy :S and that is why
acceptable use ends and abuse begins).
-Whatever drug or alcohol one chooses, you are doing it for only one thing to create
pleasure in your life. All drugs either release dopamine or serotonin (or both).
Cocaine/Crack releases about 200% as much dopamine as Sex does. (something to
think about). Meth Amphetamine releases about 3200% as much dopamine as Sex does
(incredible, really).
Note: Anyway who says crack is the worst drug has probably never encountered a true
meth addict. (there is always someone worse off)
- 12.5 % the population (that is statistically proven) have a high tendency genetically for addiction. That is > 1 out of 10 people. Have a high risk to be addicted to any serotonin or domine related chemical increase. People that take MDMA in masses and can’t quit,
are addicted to serotonin. Sex addicts: Dopamine. Coke/Crack: Dopamine. Depending on which type of weed you smoke some strains release more dopamine than others,
some release more serotonin. Working out releases dopamine. Shopping does too. Eating food both dopamine and serotonin. Even Gambling. Some people get even ‘high’ and totally bankrupt themselves watching the Shopping Network. Let’s not even get started on the food junkies who just ‘must eat’ a whole 2 pound burger daily.
No matter what the drug/behavior/circumstance is, the likelihood is rather high that that 12.5% of use will be addicted to something. Anything, really, that pushes up dopamine or serotonin. It is the human condition. so to speak.
So why pick on the morphine junkies, the crackheads, the crack-whores?
Additionally, One research article after another has been stating that up to 80% of addictive behavior comes from the environment. People, places, crews the addict hangs out with. Multiple experiments in labs confirmed this. (research at your own leisure).
If our goals would be to ‘cure’ addicts, putting them in jail with more addicts and then releasing them into the same environment where they were to begin with is extremely counter-productive. if the 80% is to be believe. if the 12.5% is to be believed, then
more than 1 > 10 will be doing their thing no matter how many jails you put them trough.
Additionally, Not every crack smoker becomes a raging addict. (see the 12.5% above). Sadly just like with heroin and cocaine/crack, most media coverage is focused around the 12.5%. Not on successful people (unless it’s a political drama where the politician is doing coke with hookers and getting busted).
The reality is there are quite a few people i know that can take cocaine/crack and take or leave it for years to come and only use it on occasion. Living perfectly happy lives with their families, their jobs, setting priorities straight, saying ‘no’ when needed.
A previous post had this to say “CFO was busted buying crack in projects, lost job and family”. I find this very sad. Instead of getting the help he needed (and this goes for everyone) he lost everything, making recovery even more unlikely.
The closer you hit ‘rock’ bottom, the more likely you stay there.
Bottom is not a way up. It’s a never-ending pit that only can result in death.
Just google “crack whore confessions” and you will see what i mean.
I am proponent that anyone who has had trouble with the police,
has been clinically diagnosed an addict, should almost certainly been
given a prescription for it.
(harm reduction). Driving drugs into the illegal market has skyrocketed costs for them.
Cocaine which sells for $1500 a pound in mexico, sells as much as $50-70K in the Unites States. Plus you don’t even know the purity.
Addicts need our help and they are people just like us.
I am pretty sure ‘crack’ whores don’t want to be sucking 200 dicks a day, but have not
found another way out and lack the environmental support group as well as the medication to get them closer out of this lifestyle. (as well as probably some education training).
Giving a true addict access to high grade ‘medication’ / ‘drugs’ to help them with their addiction and slowly integrate them back into society. (now that the drugs don’t cost $2000 a day but only $150, let’s say), they won’t have to result to having sexual relations with 20 men a day. Or violence. A safer world for all of us.
Needle exchanges have for example shown to dramatically lower HIV infections wherever implemented.
Since you can never get rid of the 12.5% of the human poplulation that will get addicted,
the key is to reduce the harm to the rest of the society.
I totally 100% agree with this quote from a post earlier and hope that we/the United
states will one day formally adopt it (email your congress man).
“I sometimes wonder how many coke, meth, and crackheads could live a decent life if they were only medicated instead of having to chase down street drugs and get put in cages”
We can only grow by lifting people up not by putting them down.
If everyone pushes everyone down, we’ll become a society of dwarfs.
If on the other hand, everyone pushes everyone up, we’ll become a society of giants.
My 2 cents,
I didn’t read the entire thread. I don’t have time right now. But Hi everybody, nice to meet you. I am a former crack user.
I used very heavily for about 3 months, staying up for days at a time and lost a ton of weight (way too much). Me and a bunch of my friends fell into it. I got it for free so I was never a “whore” for crack.
Nobody I know ever had sores on their face and the OP’s claim that it makes you horny is BS. In fact, it does the opposite. At least for me and my friends. Nobody was f’ing anyone.
My family was in denial. Nobody ever confronted me on why I looked so skeletal. It wasn’t hard to stop. I just simply stayed away from the people who were using.
This was in the late 80’s and I haven’t touched it since.
I was a crackhead.
I am not sure how well I knew that person.
Drug addiction is not a disease. A disease happens to you. Drug addiction comes about by choice; it is self-inflicted.
Yes, I know, the current trend is to call it a disease and try to excuse behavior in that manner. But the reality is that it is not a disease, it is just plain stupidity running rampant.
So drug addicts are just stupid? Tell that to some of the smartest people who have ever lived who were/are self-described addicts. Or, are you saying diseases can’t change behavior? Alzheimer, OCD, etc. beg to differ. It is self-inflicted? “Would you rather suck dick for crack or work at WalMart?” How many choose to suck dick?
Even if we choose to say it is by choice and self-inflicted, it does not stop us from treating it like any other mental illness.