DOSE:			Pharms - Methylphenidate	(daily)
			Crack

BODY WEIGHT:

250 lb

I suggest this be posted on the cocaine/crack as well as the ritalin section - it is saving my ASS. I'm a lifelong drug user. From pot to sniffing heroin, but I started smoking coke in the mid '80s and frankly, I'm an addict when it comes to crack cocaine.

First let's blow away some misperceptions - crack is not the devil-drug, but requires need plenty of money and to recognize that it is like the opiates in the harsh truth that one needs more and more over the years. It started to make me physically ill. In the case of crack, it makes me so paranoid and chronic that I become a zombie, only getting active when I need to score more. Unpleasant, but if I'm that high, I don't really care. Couldn't quit even if I wanted to, and I just didn't want to.

Started trying to limit or quit in the mid 1990s.... no real luck, maximum period without it was less then 6 months. Recent research reveals cocaine, unlike other drugs, has cravings that INCREASE rather then decrease over time. I've got the article, it was a study on rats....

So... here are the facts. 46 year old professional, lifelong drug user, cocaine addict for approximately 18 years. Cocaine use had increased to the point of no return. Then I caught probation for a public urination case! NIGHTMARE!!! Probation officers don't exactly like that rainbow-colored urine with oily coke residue visible on the surface. And suddenly my probation has been increased to 3 years for a damn misdemeanor because I can't stay CLEAN! I got so desperate I was self-catheterizing with clean piss I'd saved but I nicked my bladder and the blood tested positive in the sample and I spent 2 MONTHS in jail waiting for the probation hearing!

Enter my friend Mary. She has an aggressive physician who believes in drugs of all kinds, and after three times in trouble with my Probation Officer, on house arrest and facing up to a year in prison, I broke down and went to him. Answer? Ritalin. OMG what a lifesaver. Take one a day.... no coke cravings. Snort one or two for fun when I would otherwise party. Can't drink alcohol either, so he gave me Valium (just 5mg tabs) to take the edge off. Now my P.O. is actually ENFORCING that I get mildly high on this stuff and is somewhat concerned I'm not taking my valium regularly enough!!! (She is convinced my drug use was due to ADHD or something).

So here is the bottom line. Ritalin isn't much of a 'high' but it essentially is similar enough to cocaine that it scratches the itch and keeps the monkey in the cage. Coke if used just occasionally doesn't stay in the system over 72 hours - so now I can use if I want to on special occasions, and use the ritalin to avoid becoming chronic and being unable to stop.... and use it on 'off' days because in generic mthylphenidate 10mg pills it only costs 50 CENTS for a 6 hour 'Diet Coke' buzz!!! It is so incredible I have to pinch myself mentally to believe it!!!

Peace All,

Preacher John, Indiana

Exp Year: 2005	ExpID: 49935
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Sep 21, 2010	Views: 13,866
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Crack (82) : Therapeutic Intent or Outcome (49), Addiction & Habituation (10), Various (28)