It’s funny, when I started doing research for this blog, I immediately Googled ‘crack use in Lethbridge, Alta,’ hoping that this would point me in the direction of some good statistics. However, everywhere I look I just see ads for rehab.

Delving deeper, I discovered the LRPS have been issuing a steadily increasing amount of tickets relating to the possession and trafficking of crack cocaine.

This rising star drug has gripped the impoverished residents of southern Alberta, particularly Calgary.

Crack’s appeal comes from the instantaneous euphoric effects it has on the user. The duration and intensity of the high depend on the absorption. Snorting on average creates a 15-30 minute high, whereas smoking will only last for five to ten.

Did you know that ingesting crack can cause a user to develop bowel gangrene. For those of you out there who aren’t sure what that means, gangrene is “…a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies.”

The National Institute on Drug Abuse  – NIDA – funded research has recently discovered that combining cocaine and alcohol creates a volatile substance known as ‘Cocaethylene.’

Cocaethylene rapidly exacerbates cocaine’s euphoric effects, at the same time increasing the risk of sudden death.

When you consider the residents of Lethbridge, and how many of them are impoverished, this could become a potential safety concern for homeowners as well as business owners. When addicts are unable to get what their body craves, it can cause anxiety, rapid emotion exhilaration as well as a plethora of potentially fatal side effects.