Addiction to Drugs.org

Cocaine has been the drug of choice for the wealthy and the artistic elite. It is a highly toxic substance that can cause heart failure and death, even when taken in small doses. It also regularly causes users to experience psychotic delusions.

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug that is snorted, sniffed, injected, or smoked. Crack is cocaine that has been processed from cocaine hydrochloride to a free base for smoking. Its street names include coke, snow, flake, blow, and many others.

Cocaine is a stimulant drug. The powdered, hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected. Crack is cocaine that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. This form of cocaine comes in a rock crystal that can be heated and its vapors smoked. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound heard when it is heated.

Regardless of how cocaine is used or how frequently, a user can experience acute cardiovascular or cerebrovascular emergencies, such as a heart attack or stroke, which could result in sudden death. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizure followed by respiratory arrest.

Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant that interferes with the re-absorption process of dopamine, a chemical messenger associated with pleasure and movement. The buildup of dopamine causes continuous stimulation of receiving neurons, which is associated with the euphoria commonly reported by cocaine abusers. Physical effects of cocaine use include constricted blood vessels, dilated pupils, and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. The duration of cocaine's immediate euphoric effects, which include hyper-stimulation, reduced fatigue, and mental alertness, depends on the route of administration.

The faster the absorption of the drug, the more intense the high. On the other hand, the faster the absorption, the shorter the duration of action. The high from snorting might last 15 to 30 minutes, while that from smoking may last 5 to 10 minutes. Increased use can reduce the period of time a user feels high and increases the risk of addiction. Some users of cocaine report feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. A tolerance to the "high" may develop - many addicts report that they seek but fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did from their first exposure.

Some users will increase their doses to intensify and prolong the euphoric effects. While tolerance to the high can occur, users can also become more sensitive to cocaine's anesthetic and convulsive effects without increasing the dose taken. This increased sensitivity may explain some deaths occurring after apparently low doses of cocaine.

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

Other complications associated with cocaine use include disturbances in heart rhythm and heart attacks, chest pain and respiratory failure, strokes, seizures and headaches, and gastrointestinal complications such as abdominal pain and nausea. Because cocaine has a tendency to decrease appetite, many chronic users can become malnourished. Different means of taking cocaine can produce different adverse effects. Regularly snorting cocaine, for example, can lead to loss of the sense of smell, nosebleeds, problems with swallowing, hoarseness, and a chronically runny nose.

Ingesting cocaine can cause severe bowel gangrene due to reduced blood flow. People who inject cocaine can experience severe allergic reactions and, as with all injecting drug users, are at increased risk for contracting HIV and other blood-borne diseases.

When people mix cocaine and alcohol, they are compounding the danger each drug poses and are unknowingly forming a complex chemical experiment within their bodies. NIDA-funded researchers have found that the human liver combines cocaine and alcohol and manufactures a third substance, cocaethylene that intensifies cocaine's euphoric effects, while potentially increasing the risk of sudden death.

Symptoms Of Drug Addiction
The most obvious sign of course is your loved-one's inability to resist taking the drug. People who are addicted to ...
symptoms_of_drug_addiction.php

Server
...
server.php

Heroin Addicts
Heroin addiction is not a habit that can be picke...
heroin_addicts.php

Heroin Users
Heroin addiction is a personal struggle that many describe as the biggest ...
heroin_users.php

How To Help A Drug Addict
Most people who take prescription medications use them responsibly. However, the inappropriat...
how_to_help_a_drug_addict.php

Causes Of Drug Addiction
The causes of drug addiction are as varied as the amount of drugs that are available f...
causes_of_drug_addiction.php

Heroin Addiction
Heroin is an addictive drug that is processed...
heroin_addiction.php

Ice Addiction
Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant that is close...
ice_addiction.php

Teen Drug Addiction
Drugs affect a teenager's body in different ways. Plus when persons are becoming addicted as teenagers, it's going to ...
teen_drug_addiction.php

Nicotine Addiction
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that tobacco us...
nicotine_addiction.php

Safe Detoxing
The reason for this is that detox can be fatal. What ...
safe_detoxing.php

Methadone Treatment
Methadone reduces the cravings associated...
methadone_treatment.php

Vicodin Addiction
Prolonged use of Vicodin can lead to addiction because the body builds up a tolerance to the drug requiring more an...
vicodin_addiction.php

Drug Addiction Rehab
Drug rehab can take the form of behavioral (or 'cognitive') therapy, medication,...
drug_addiction_rehab.php

Marijuana Addiction
Lots of people believe that marijuana is not a harmful drug and that it should be as legal to bu...
marijuana_addiction.php

Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol is one of the most commonly abused drug in the United States. For most people who drink, alcoh...
alcohol_addiction.php

Addiction To Drugs
Nowadays, we are familiar with the extremely addictive character of methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs, an...
addiction_to_drugs.php

The Narconon Controversy
This form of treatment does not use any drugs of any type to ease the pain of withdrawal but provides drug reha...
the_narconon_controversy.php

Addiction To Prescription Drugs
Most people who take prescription medica...
addiction_to_prescription_drugs.php