What is Cocaine?
Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug made from the leaves of the coca plant native to South America in a white crystallized powder. Cocaine is used orally, intranasally, intravenously, or by inhalation. Any route of administration can potentially lead to the absorption of toxic amounts of cocaine, causing heart attacks, strokes, or seizures—all of which can result in sudden death.
Prevalence
- According to a 2018 Center of Disease Control and Prevention study based on data from 2016, approximately 1.9% of teenagers ages 12 to 17 reported cocaine use, whereas young adults ages 18 to 25 reported cocaine use at 5.6%.
Effects
- Decreased appetite
- More alert and more energy
- Increased heart rate and blood pressure – can put you at risk including heart failure
- Enlarged pupils
- Bizarre or violent behavior
- Hypersensitivity to light, sound, and touch
- Paranoia
- Psychosis
- Tactile hallucinations - Sensation of something crawling on the skin
- Long term changes and effects in the brain
- Intense high followed by intense depression
- Convulsions
- Muscle Spams
- Intense drug cravings
- Liver, kidney and lung damage
- Severe tooth decay
- Addiction
Know the signs
How can you tell if a friend is using cocaine? It may not be easy to tell, but symptoms of cocaine use include:
- Dilated pupils
- Restlessness and/or high energy
- Inability to sleep
- A runny nose and nosebleeds
- A hoarse voice
- Weight loss
- An increase in anxiety, depression, panic attacks, paranoia,or violent behavior
- Presence of inhaling paraphernalia, such as mirrors containing a white powder residue, razor blades, straws, small spoons, and rolled dollar bills
Myths and Cocaine
It takes a long time to get hooked on cocaine
All forms of the drug are highly addictive. Some people can become addicted after a short period of use. Even first-time cocaine use can be fatal.
Cocaine is a safe drug
Cocaine, in all forms, has the potential for serious and dangerous effects on both the body and the mind.
Cocaine has no side effects
Cocaine causes a brief high that makes the user feel more energetic, talkative, and alert; this can be followed by feelings of restlessness, irritability, and panic. Cocaine is highly addictive and can increase the risk of negative psychological states, including paranoia, anxiety, and psychosis.
Cocaine, particularly at high doses, can cause tremors and convulsions, infection, heart attack, stroke, and death.
Cocaine makes you a better athlete or worker
Chronic use of cocaine can seriously harm your body and your athletic performance. It can also cost you your job.
Cocaine makes sex better
Cocaine can cause increased sexual activity, which can lead to high-risk sex (multiple partners, unprotected sex). Heavy use of cocaine can lead to impotence and loss of interest in sex.
Using cocaine a few times is no big deal
Even a few uses can result in addiction, trouble with the law, or serious medical problems — even death.
More information
- Tolerance to cocaine reward and sensitization to cocaine toxicity can increase the risk of overdose in a regular user.
- Users who take cocaine in binges, in which cocaine is used repeatedly and at increasingly higher doses. This can lead to increased irritability, restlessness, panic attacks, paranoia, and even a full-blown psychosis, in which the individual loses touch with reality and experiences auditory hallucinations.
- Former cocaine users are at high risk for relapse, even following long periods of abstinence. Research indicates that during periods of abstinence, the memory of the cocaine experience or exposure to cues associated with drug use can trigger strong cravings, which can lead to relapse.