...On the rocks

Maddie, 24, is one of many young adults in the U.S. who are trying out drugs like cocaine and crack. In a census taken by drug-rehabs.org, adults between the ages of 18 and 25 have the highest percentage of cocaine use.

"This kind of statistic isn't a surprise to me," said Maddie. "I know tons of people in Memphis who do cocaine or crack and sometimes both."

Maddie said her first experience with cocaine was when she was 23, after she found a bag of white powder at her job at a retail-clothing store in Memphis. She said she did not know what it was but brought it to the bathroom and tasted it and it numbed her tongue.

"I called my friend in and asked her what it was because it numbed my tongue, and she told me it was coke," Maddie said. "After work I met up with friends and cut a couple lines out and that's when I first snorted it."

The first time she tried it, she said it gave her a lot of energy, but she didn't feel like she was addicted. On her second time, she said she just wanted more.

"I knew something was wrong the second time because I kept wanting to do more lines," Maddie said. "I bought a second bag because I couldn't get enough."

When she was using cocaine she said she would do a line about every 30 minutes, but the snorting took a toll on her nose.

"I'd have to use Afrin every time before I snorted a line because my nose was clogged-up," she said.

Some of Maddie's friends said they saw how the drugs were affecting her.

"She really couldn't breathe well, and her nose was always running," said Karen, 22-year-old University of Fayetteville junior. "When I was in town and saw her, I knew she needed to stop."

As Maddie continued to abuse cocaine, she began to feel other side effects. She said she already had anger issues and using cocaine would heighten her anger and irritate her for no reason.

"It messes with your head," she said. "When you're doing coke anything can set you off, and some people don't realize that it changes you."

Cocaine is the strongest stimulant found in nature. Cocaine goes straight to the blood stream and can be snorted, smoked or injected, with all three ways posing great risk to the user, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy website (ONDCP).

"My favorite thing to do was to cut up lines and dish them out," Maddie said, "but now if I did it, my jaw would start to twitch like a junkie would."

Cocaine is sold in rock form and then broken down into powder that is then cut into lines and snorted, but often there are adulterants found in cocaine. Chalk, laundry detergent, rat poison and baby laxatives have been found in cocaine.

"When drugs are laced with stuff, it kills people sometimes," said Elizabeth Reece, 27-year-old registered nurse at the Methodist University emergency room. "It's hard for us to tell if it's from laced cocaine when patients come in and they're already dead, but I'm sure it has killed some patients."

The physical effects of cocaine use consist of constricted blood vessels, increased temperature, heart rate and blood pressure, as well as irritability and anxiety, according to the ONDCP website.

"Frequently we see people that are having chest pains from smoking crack," Reece said.

Reece said she has seen patients who have died from cocaine and crack overdoses come through the ER. She said she mostly sees patients addicted to crack, which is probably because Methodist University Hospital is located in the inner city. She said that on any given day there are crack addicts in the waiting room, but they are not usually there for emergency care.

"The bigger issue is that they are crack addicts and homeless and unable to take care of themselves," Reece said. "They come in hungry or with pneumonia and want a place to stay, food, psychiatric treatment or rehab."

Rehab is very important in overcoming an addiction to drugs like cocaine and crack, said Johnnie Daniels, an outreach counselor for CAP Inc., a cocaine and alcoholic awareness program.

"There are normal people who are addicts who think because they haven't lost everything - like they pay their bills, have a job, their kids haven't been taken away, still in the mainstream of life - they don't need rehab," Daniels said. "Most people when they say they're not addicted are in denial."

He said that it is important to get educated on the disease of drug abuse by going to rehab or joining a 12-step program like Cocaine-Alcohol Anonymous in order to quit. Being an addict puts the person in a dangerous position that will take a toll on your family and job and can lead to violent behaviors and crime, he said.

In 2003, the DEA made 10,518 cocaine-related arrests, which represents 38.7 percent of the total arrests made by the DEA that year, reported the DEA Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics.

Maddie said she understands the dangers of cocaine and crack and wishes she had never tried it. She said she can just be sitting somewhere and start to smell or taste cocaine even though it is nowhere around. It gives her a sick feeling inside when she thinks about cocaine and what it did to her.

"I blew chunks of skin out of my nose and after that I knew it was the last time I'd touch that stuff," Maddie said. "But even though I say that, if I'm around it, there's a high chance I'll do it because I haven't gone through rehab."

There are many rehabilitation centers and services in Memphis like CAP Inc., Pyramid Recovery Center and Grace House of Memphis. All of these centers have trained professionals to help you overcome cocaine and crack addictions.

Maddie said she wants to warn others about the hazards of cocaine and crack.

"Don't do it â€" stay away from it because it's a terrible drug," she said. "The first time you try it you won't realize how it will affect you, but once you do it a couple times you'll be addicted to it."