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How Long Does Crack Stay in Your Urine

how long does crack stay in your urine
Cocaine urine test

Crack is a highly potent form of smokable cocaine with a significant risk for addiction. Taking crack quickly produces more intense euphoric effects than using the powder form of cocaine. The question many people ask is : how long does crack stay in your urine. This article will explore everything you need to know about crack and how long does crack stay in your urine.

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What is Cocaine ?

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug made from the leaves of the coca plant native to South America. Although health care providers can us it for valid medical purposes, such as local anesthesia for some surgeries, cocaine is an illegal drug.

 

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how long does crack stay in your urine
Cocaine

As a street drug, cocaine looks like a fine, white, crystal powder. Street dealers often mix it with things like cornstarch, talcum powder, or flour to increase profits. They may also mix it with other drugs such as the stimulant amphetamine.

What does it look like?

There are three types of cocaine: coke, crack and freebase.

  • Coke looks like a fine white powder
  • Crack looks like small lumps or rocks
  • Freebase looks like a crystallised powder

What does it taste/smell like?

Cocaine powder has a bitter ‘chemical’ taste and smell, while crack cocaine can smell like burnt plastic or rubber.

How does cocaine works ?

The brain ‘rewards’ us for engaging in life-enhancing behaviour, such as eating or having sex, by releasing a flood of pleasurable neurochemicals. Dopamine is one of these brain chemicals. This chemical reinforcement makes us want to engage in those behaviours again. 

Cocaine works by tapping into this reward system and triggering the release of dopamine. This means that cocaine is extremely addictive, not only psychologically, but neurochemically.

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How do people take Cocaine ?

There are various ways people resort to in taking cocaine. It can be by snorting, smoking and even injecting.

By snorting it as a powder

Most people snort cocaine – they crush it into a fine powder, divide it into lines and snort it through the nose. This is the most common way to take cocaine.
Snorting cocaine can damage your nose, especially if it’s not been chopped very finely. Some people find that switching between nostrils helps, and some people rinse out their nostrils with water or saline solution after taking it.

By smoking it as crack or freebase

Crack or freebase can be smoked through a glass pipe, tube, plastic bottle or in foil, but this is less common.

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By injecting it

Powdered coke and crack can be prepared to make a solution for injecting, which is much more dangerous than snorting or smoking cocaine.

How long does crack stay in your urine

When you take light or moderate crack, it quickly absorbs into your blood plasma. Enzymes in the blood and the liver metabolize the crack, transforming it into various metabolites, including benzoylecgonine which leaves the body in your urine for up to two days.

how long does crack stay in your urine
Cocaine urine test

Chronic, heavy use of crack may substantially extend this time window.

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How long it lasts

The initial high from cocaine doesn’t last that long, around 20 to 30 minutes – although this depends on the purity of the cocaine and the person’s tolerance. You might still experience some physical effects after the high has gone, such as a faster heart beat.
The effects of smoking crack are even shorter lasting, around 10 minutes, with the peak lasting for about two minutes after smoking it.

Crack Side Effects

Along with its euphoric effects, crack causes several side effects that can last beyond the initial high. Psychological side effects, such as cravings, can continue even after the drug has left a person’s system. In addition to the cravings for crack, there are other physical and psychological side effects associated with crack use. A person who smokes crack may experience some of these side effects:

  • Dilated pupils
  • Dizziness
  • Increased temperature
  • Increased heart rate and blood pressure
  • Muscle twitches
  • Paranoia
  • Seizures
  • Sudden death
  • Trouble breathing

Long-Term Effects of Crack Cocaine Use

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), some of the long-term effects of crack cocaine use include:

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  • Lung damage. Crack use may also intensify the effects of asthma.
  • An increased risk of developing infections.
  • An increased risk of heart attack, stroke and respiratory failure.
  • Mental health issues. Some people develop psychosis—the state of being disconnected from reality—during crack cocaine use. Prolonged use of cocaine can also damage the brain and affect mental health, triggering paranoia, depression, anxiety and other symptoms.
  • Crack cocaine addiction. Over time, you may become dependent on crack, disrupting your life, your relationships and your health

Can you get addicted?

  1. Yes, cocaine is very addictive. This is because regular use changes the way the brain releases dopamine, a brain chemical that makes you feel happy.
    Cocaine is mostly known for causing psychological dependence (addiction), but users can sometimes continue to use cocaine just to overcome the negative after effects of using. This can lead to a binge pattern of use and increase the risk of dependence.

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