Cocaine

By Christian Addiction Recovery Group

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain.  The pure chemical, cocaine hydrochloride, has been an abused substance for more than 100 years, and coca leaves, the source of cocaine, have been ingested for thousands of years.

Cocaine is generally sold on the street as a fine, white, crystalline powder, known as "coke," "C," "snow," "flake," or "blow." Street dealers generally dilute it with such inert substances as cornstarch, talcum powder, and/or sugar, or with such active drugs as procaine (a chemically-related local anesthetic) or with such other stimulants as amphetamines.

Cocaine can be snorted through the nose, smoked, or injected. Injecting cocaine--or injecting any drug--carries the added risk of infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, if the user shares a needle with a person already infected with the virus.  The drug can also be rubbed onto mucous tissues. Some users combine cocaine powder or crack with heroin in a "speedball."

"Freebase" is a form of cocaine that is smoked and is extremely dangerous. It appears that compulsive cocaine use may develop even more rapidly if the substance is smoked rather than snorted. cocaine reaches the brain within seconds, resulting in a sudden and intense high. However, the euphoria quickly disappears, leaving the user with an enormous craving to freebase again and again.  The user usually increases the dose and the frequency to satisfy this craving, resulting in addiction and physical debilitation.

Crack is the street name given to one form of freebase cocaine that comes in the form of small lumps or shavings. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound made when the mixture is smoked (heated).

Smoking crack is very dangerous since it produces the same debilitating effects as freebasing cocaine. Crack has become a major problem in many American cities because it is inexpensive--selling for between $5 and $10 for one or two doses--and easily transportable--sold in small vials, folding paper, or tinfoil.

Cocaine's effects appear almost immediately after a single dose, and disappear within a few minutes or hours. Taken in small amounts (up to 100 mg), cocaine usually makes the user feel euphoric, energetic, talkative, and mentally alert, especially to the sensations of sight, sound, and touch. It can also temporarily decrease the need for food and sleep. Some users find that the drug helps them to perform simple physical and intellectual tasks more quickly, while others can experience the opposite effect.

Users often report feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety, and cocaine can trigger paranoia. Users also report being depressed when they are not using the drug and often resume use to alleviate further depression. In addition, cocaine users frequently find that they need more and more cocaine more often to generate the same level of stimulation. Therefore, any use can lead to addiction.

Once having tried cocaine, an individual may have difficulty predicting or controlling the extent to which he or she will continue to use the drug.

Use of cocaine in a binge, during which the drug is taken repeatedly and at increasingly high doses, leads to a state of increasing irritability, restlessness, and paranoia. This may result in a full-blown paranoid psychosis, in which the individual loses touch with reality and experiences auditory hallucinations.