Know the facts about....


Cocaine
Photos taken from the U.S. DEA web site. Click here for more photos
What is Cocaine?

Cocain is made from the leaves of the coca plant, which grows in Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia. The drug is very expensive to make and usually is mixed with other chemicals before being sold on the street. Cocaine can be snorted, smoked, or even injected.



Like all stimulants, cocaine stimulates the brain’s pleasure areas. Users feel euphoric and in control and get a rush of pleasure. Coming down, or crashing, brings on fatigue and depression. After the crash, which comes as soon as 10 minutes later, users will need to use more and more of the drug to achieve the same high again.



Is Cocaine the same as Crack?





Crack is a form of cocaine that is smoked. It looks like rocks and is often pink. The name is derived from the sound made when the cocaine is burned in a glass pipe. Cocaine that is snorted looks like flour or baby powder. Sometimes, cocaine is injected into a vein, like herion. The high from crack comes faster and leaves earlier than a high from cocaine. All forms of cocaine are highly addictive. Users searching for the high will forget about all other responsibilities and self-respect to get high again.



What are some of the street names for these drugs?




    

  •  Coke

  •  Dust

  •  Snow

  •  Flake

  •  Blow

  •  Toot

  •  Line

  •  Nose candy


Crack may be called:


    

  •  Rock

  •  Freebase Rocks




What are the Short Term Effects of Cocaine?

It’s not common, but even first-time users can have a fatal heart attack or seizure from taking any form of cocaine. 

Other effects include:


    

  •  Severe mood swings and Irritability

  •  Increased blood pressure and heart rate

  •  Respiratory problems from smoking crack

  •  Dilated pupils

  •  Dry mouth

  •  Decreased appetite

  •  Insomnia

  •  Paranoia

  •  Muscle twitches

  •  Angry, hostile, and anxious feelings




What are the long-term effects?

The highly addictive nature of cocaine can cause a downward spiral of physical and mental deterioration. Cocaine smokers may suffer from severe respiratory problems like coughs, shortness of breath, severe chest pains, lung trauma, and bleeding. Because cocaine errodes away the membranes in the nose, nosebleeds are common in those individuals who snort cocaine. Some addicts permanently lose their sense of smell. There is no specific antidote for a cocaine overdose.



Other long-term effects include:


    

  •  Violent behavior

  •  Confusion

  •  Mental illness that appears to be schizophrenia (paranoid feelings, picking at the skin, hallucinations)

  •  Increased physical activity

  •  Loss of appetite, which can result in severe weight loss

  •  Inability to sleep

  •  Increased heart and pulse rate

  •  Permanaent damage to the blood vessels of the brain, which can lead to strokes

  •  Convulsions and body tremors

  •  Chest pain and raised blood pressure, which can lead to a heart attack

  •  Irregular heart beat

  •  AIDS or hepatitis resulting from shared needles (when cocaine is injected)




 What are the come-ons to using cocaine?

People may offer cocaine to you for free to get you to try it and experience the euphoric feelings. What they are really trying to do is get you hooked so that you come back to them for more—then they start to charge (this practice is common for most drugs). Don’t fall for it! The high you will get from cocaine is short lived, but the problems that you will face are long-term. Any euphoric feelings you may get from cocaine will be accompanied by paranoia, jumpiness, and hard-to-ignore cravings for more.



Cocaine use and distribution is illegal in all 50 states, and the penalties for using or selling the drug are high. It’s not worth the risk—to your body and your life.



How Common is Cocaine use?




    

  •  Cocaine is the second most commonly used illicit drug (marijuana is No. 1) in the United States.

  •  Approximately 10 percent of people over the age of 12 have tried cocaine at least once in their lifetime, about 2 percent have tried crack, and nearly 1 percent are currently using cocaine.

  •  The age of women entering treatment for smoked cocaine abuse has increased. By 1998, nearly half of the women were age 35 or older.

  •  In 1999, pregnant women aged 15 to 44 were more likely to enter treatment for cocaine abuse than nonpregnant women of the same age group.

  •  There are more hospitalizations per year resulting from crack and cocaine use than any other illicit substance




Is a 30-minute high worth a lifetime of addiction? No. The draw of cocaine has caused countless people to give up promising careers, millions of dollars, lost years behind bars and sometimes even their life for a brief feeling of euphoria.

 







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