Cocaine

COCAINE

Cocaine can be taken orally, through the nose (snorted), injected with a syringe or, in the case of crack, through inhalation of the fumes from heating it.

The terms used to describe ingestion include chewing, snorting, mainlining (injecting into a large vein) and smoking.

The word cocaine refers to the drug in a powder form (cocaine) and a crystal form (crack). It is made from the coca plant and, next to methamphetamine creates the greatest psychological dependence of any drug.

Cocaine is one of the most dangerous drugs. Once any person starts taking cocaine, it is almost impossible to become free of its grip mentally and physically. Physically it stimulates key receptors (nerve endings that sense changes in the body) within the brain that create euphoria to which users quickly develop a tolerance. Only higher dosages and more frequent use can bring about the same effect.

Short-term Effects:

Cocaine causes a short-lived intense high that is immediately followed by the opposite—intense feelings of depression and edginess and a craving for more of the drug. Increased rate of breathing

• Muscle spasms and convulsions
• People who use it often don’t eat or sleep properly.
• Disturbed sleep patterns
• Dilated pupils
• Nausea
• Intense euphoria
• Loss of appetite
• Increased heart rate, blood pressure & body temperature
• Contracted blood vessels
• Hyper stimulation
• Bizarre, erratic and sometimes violent behavior
• Hallucinations, hyper–excitability, irritable
• Tactile hallucination that creates an illusion of bugs burrowing under the skin
• Anxiety and paranoia
• Depression
• Intense drug craving
• Panic and psychosis
• Convulsions, seizures and sudden death from high doses (even one time)
• The drug can make people feel paranoid, angry, hostile and anxious, even when they aren’t high.

Long-term Effects:

Tolerance to the drug develops so that more is needed to produce the same “high.”

Coming down from the “high” results in severe depression, which becomes deeper and deeper after each use. This can get so severe that a person will do almost anything to get the drug, even commit murder. And if he or she can’t get cocaine, the depression can get so intense it can drive the addict to suicide. Cocaine use can lead to.

Children of cocaine addicted mothers are born as addicts themselves. Many suffer birth defects and many other problems.

• Liver, kidney and lung damage
• Severe chest pains
• Death from respiratory (breathing) failure, stroke, cerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain) or heart attack
• Permanent damage to blood vessels of the ear and brain
• High blood pressure leading to heart attacks, strokes and death
• Infectious diseases and abscesses if injected
• Malnutrition or weight loss
• Severe tooth decay
• Auditory and tactile hallucinations
• Sexual problems, reproductive damage and infertility
• Disorientation, apathy, confused exhaustion
• Irritability and mood disturbances
• Increased frequency of risky behavior
• Delirium or psychosis
• Severe depression