The crystal structure of racemic Venlafaxine hydrochloride, C(17)H(28)NO(2)(+).Cl(-), consists of two types of parallel chains formed by translated Venlafaxine(+) cations, hydrogen bonded by Cl(-) anions, and characterized by the opposite chirality of their constituent molecules. These chains organize in two different types of broad layers of opposite handedness, related by a glide plane.