OBJECTIVE To describe the users' drug abuse characteristics, problematic behaviors associated with addiction, the motivation of teenagers and young adults to quit cocaine and/or crack abuse, and then compare these characteristics. METHODS A cross-section study was conducted with 2390 cocaine/crack users (teenagers from 14 to 19 years of age, and young adults from 20 to 24 years of age); 1471 ...

Drug abuse is a major social and medical problem and has become a significant cause of stroke, especially in young adults. Cocaine is already a commonly used drug, and its new form, "crack," has an enhanced risk of cerebrovascular complications. Because cocaine is now used in nearly epidemic proportions throughout the United States and because crack is a high-potency, essentially pure form of c...

In the present feasibility study, we developed a 3-dimensional virtual "crack" cocaine environment and evaluated the environment's ability to elicit subjective craving and cue reactivity (i.e., subjective emotional responding, heart rate and skin conductance) in 11 crack cocaine dependent individuals. Each of the seven 3-D crack cocaine scenes in the cocaine environment depicted actors engaging...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to compare sociodemographic characteristics, patterns of drug use, and risky sexual behaviour among female and male users of crack cocaine. METHODS Between 2012 and 2013, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 919 crack cocaine users (783 men and 136 women) in Central Brazil using face-to-face interviews. Blood samples were collected to test for syphilis....

BACKGROUND The health risks of crack cocaine smoking on the oral mucosa has not been widely researched and documented. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to analyze the proliferative activity of oral epithelial cells exposed to crack cocaine smoke using silver nucleolar organizer region (AgNOR) staining. METHODS Oral smears were collected from clinically normal-appearing buccal mucosa ...

Objective This study aimed to explore the functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) in crack-cocaine users, in comparison with that observed in age-matched non-drug-using controls. Materials and Methods Inpatient crack-cocaine users who had been abstinent for at least four weeks and age-matched non-drug-using controls underwent resting state functional magnetic resonance imagi...

Today, a lab technician testing an arrestee’s urine sample for cocaine use would not be distinguishing between use of crack or powder cocaine. That may soon change. Staff of the National Institute of Justice and Pharm-Chem Laboratories (PCL) have recently reported new findings from a project to detect crack use through urinalysis. The study also involves comparing urine tests with users’ self-r...

From January 1, 1987, through June 30, 1990, 44 cases of tuberculosis (TB) occurred among residents of Contra Costa County, California, who were known to use crack cocaine. To investigate a possible association between crack cocaine use and TB, local health officials conducted a retrospective study of TB cases among residents of Contra Costa County.

AIMS To examine how race and methamphetamine legislation are associated with changes in cocaine and methamphetamine use among untreated rural stimulant users. DESIGN A longitudinal study of stimulant users identified through respondent-driven sampling. SETTING Rural areas of three US states. PARTICIPANTS Participants at baseline were current users of methamphetamine and/or cocaine. MEAS...

Choreoathetoid movement secondary to cocaine use is a well-documented phenomenon better known as "crack dancing." It consists of uncontrolled writhing movements secondary to excess dopamine from cocaine use. We present a 32-year-old male who had been using cocaine for many years and was recently started on paroxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) for worsening depression four...