HEALTH : Crack Spawns Rash of Strokes

The crack cocaine epidemic appears to be causing a rash of strokes among young users, and smoking crack may be like playing “Russian roulette” for people with weakened blood vessels in the brain, researchers reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A study involving 28 people who suffered strokes within 72 hours of using crack found a strong link between drug use and the appearance of brain-damaging hemorrhages and blockages of blood vessels.