Geeking as a Drug Use Term

Geeking as a Drug Use Term Addiction Drug Use Cocaine Print How Geeking Is Used as a Drug Use Term By Elizabeth Hartney, BSc., MSc., MA, PhD Elizabeth Hartney, BSc, MSc, MA, PhD is a psychologist, professor, and Director of the Centre for Health Leadership and Research at Royal Roads University, Canada. Learn about our editorial policy Elizabeth Hartney, BSc., MSc., MA, PhD Updated on November 19, 2019 Curtis W. Richter/Photographers Choice/Getty Images More in Addiction Drug Use Cocaine Heroin Marijuana Meth Ecstasy/MDMA Hallucinogens Opioids Prescription Medications Alcohol Use Addictive Behaviors Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery Geeking is a term used by drug users to describe binge crack use â€" using crack cocaine over and over in a short period of time, at higher and higher doses, to stay high. Once a user is addicted, he or she will go to any lengths to raise cash to purchase more crack, including shoplifting, stealing, pawning property or prostitution. It’s easy to see how binging on crack can lead to addiction, since cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug. At the very least, it can make the user irritable, anxious, and restless. “Geeking” is also used to describe the  paranoia  seen in people using crack. For example, a user may obsessively peer out of windows, looking for police, or search for fragments of crack on the floor. It’s also possible to experience temporary paranoid psychosis â€" severe paranoia that causes loss of touch with reality. What Is Crack? Cocaine is made from the leaves of the coca plant, native to South America. Crack cocaine has been processed into rock-like crystals (the reason it’s often called “rock”). A user heats the rock to create vapors that are breathed-in to get high. Ever wonder why it’s called “crack”? The name comes from the crackling noise the rock makes during heating. How Common Is Geeking? In a clinical study of geeking, binge crack use was defined as, “using as much crack cocaine as you can, until you run out of crack or are unable to use any more.” The researchers asked the 155 study participants to describe their crack-related behaviors over the preceding 30 days. Where They Binged: Forty-one users (26.5%) binged at home, 47 (30.3%) at a friend’s home, 41 (26.5%) at a hotel, 13 (8.4%) at a sex partner’s home, 17 (11%) in a crack house, and 10 (6.5%) in an alley, park, public restroom, abandoned house, or “other.” What a Typical Binge Looked Like: The study participants reported that a typical binge lasted about 3 days and involved about 40 cocaine rocks. Why They Stopped Binging: Seventy-four (47.7%) stopped because they ran out of crack or the money to buy it, and 81 (52.3%) stopped because they were too sick or exhausted to continue. Other Health Problems Besides Addiction Geeking Causes Cocaine can have major effects on a user’s heart and blood vessels, increasing his or her risk of having a heart attack or stroke. These effects include raising blood pressure and heart rate and narrowing blood vessels. Other ways cocaine affects a user’s body include headaches, abdominal pain, nausea, dilated pupils and increased body temperature. In addition, users may become malnourished due to cocaine-induced loss of appetite. Cocaine use also lowers a users inhibitions and impairs his or her judgment. This often leads to promiscuous and risky sexual behavior that can increase the users risk of HIV infection. What Else Should I Know? As dangerous as using cocaine (and especially geeking) is, using it together with alcohol or another recreational drug is even more so. For example, you may have heard of users dying from a drug overdose after using cocaine with heroin in a combination known as a “speedball.”   The information provided here comes out of the painful and even fatal experiences of many people who used cocaine and got into geeking. Hopefully whats been learned from them will help keep others from making the same choices.