Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Crack Usage, Addiction Expert Weighs in on Crack Myths
CNN reported that Ford admitted his usage but refuses to leaveoffice. “All I can do now is apologize andmove on,” says Ford.
Ford told reportersin a press conference that he smoked crack cocaine when he was in a “drunken stupor” last year.
Inspire Malibu founder, Dr. Reza Mohammad, MD, is a nationally recognized expert in illicit drug use who is both board certified in psychiatry andaddictionmedicine and professor at USC Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles. Dr. Mohammad has shared his expertise on the subject of Ford and his drug use with Monsters and Critics.
“Despite what many believe is Mayor Ford’s ‘loss of moral authority,’ he is likely correct when he said during the press conference that ‘I wasn’t lying…. I’m not an addict, and I do not do drugs’ on a regular basis,” says Dr. Mohammad.
In fact, despite its societal stigma, crack cocaine is no more addictive than powder cocaine or any other legal or illegal drug. Like users of these drugs, the vast majority of people who try crack, soon quit. Those who cannot quit and are compelled to do it regularly are bonafideaddicts, or sufferers of the brain disease commonly referred to as drug addiction.
Dr. Mohammad’s upcoming book “The TruthAbout Addiction” outlines his expert opinion about crack cocaine.
Crack Myths
Crack Is Instantly Addicting:
According to Dr. Mohammad: “Most people who try crack don’t like it and don’t use it again. Over 75 percent of people who have tried crack between 2004 and 2005 were not using it 2 years later. Only 15 percent smoked it occasionally in the last 30 days.”
Crack Is Much More Addictive Than Powder Cocaine:
Dr. Mohammad says, “According to National HouseholdSurveyon Drub Abuse in 2004, of Americans aged 12 years and older, less than 6 percent of individuals who had tried cocaine went on to become regular uses. The same statistic holds true for crack.”
Crack Is Much More Potent Than Powder Cocaine:
“There are no pharmacological differences between crack and powder cocaine.”
Crack Is More Lethal Than Powder Cocaine Or Other Drugs:
“The percentage of deaths attributed to all illegal drugs combined is less than 1 percent of all deaths in the U.S. Compare that to the 18 percent of all deaths in the U.S. attributed to tobacco use. (Source: American Medical Assoc.) While the misuse of any drug (legal or illegal) can be detrimental to your health (and even deadly), it’s simply not true to claim that crack is major cause of death,” says Dr. Mohammad.
Crack Is More Addictive Than Other Drugs:
“Most people who use crack simply stop using it after awhile. Most people who misuse and experiment with stimulants eventually find it boring, too expensive or physically exhausting and just quit. The people who cannot quit have the brain disease that we call ‘addiction'” says Dr. Mohammad.
Crack Is Largely A Drug of The Ghetto:
“While often characterized as a drug of the poor and minority communities, 60% percent of individuals who have use crack in the last month are white. (Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics). Mayor Rob Ford, of course, is a case in point,” says Dr. Mohammad.
