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Cocaine & Cocaine Addiction Information

What Is Cocaine?

Coca leaves, the source of cocaine, have been used for thousands of years. Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. Cocaine has been labeled the drug of the 1980s and '90s, because of its extensive popularity and use during this period. However, cocaine is not a new drug. In fact, it is one of the oldest known drugs. 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.

Pure cocaine was first extracted from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia, in the mid-19th century. In the early 1900s, it became the main stimulant drug used in most of the tonics/elixirs that were developed to treat a wide variety of illnesses.

Today, cocaine is a Schedule II drug, meaning that it has high potential for abuse, but can be administered by a doctor for legitimate medical uses, such as a local anesthetic for some eye, ear, and throat surgeries.

There are basically two chemical forms of cocaine: the hydrochloride salt and the "freebase." The hydrochloride salt, or powdered form of cocaine, dissolves in water and, when abused, can be taken intravenously (by vein) or intranasally (in the nose). Freebase refers to a compound that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. The freebase form of cocaine is smokable.

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.

What is the scope of cocaine use in the United States?

In 1997, an estimated 1.5 million Americans (0.7 percent of those age 12 and older) were current cocaine users, according to the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). This number has not changed significantly since 1992, although it is a dramatic decrease from the 1985 peak of 5.7 million cocaine users(3 percent of the population). Based upon additional data sources that take into account users underrepresented in the NHSDA, the Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates the number of chronic cocaine users at 3.6 million.

Medical Complications from the use of Cocaine

There are enormous medical complications with Cocaine use. Some of the most frequent are:-

• Cardiovascular effects, including heart attacks
• Respiratory difficulties, including respirator failure
• Neurological effects, including stroke seizures and headaches
• Gastrointestinal complications including abdominal pain and nausea
• Loss of sense of smell
• Nose bleeds
• Malnourishment

Symptoms of Cocaine use

• Chaotic heart rhythm or fast heart beat
• Accelerated breathing
• Increased blood pressure
• Increased body temperature
• Chest Pain
• Nausea
• Blurred Vision
• Restlessness
• Irritability
• Paranoia
• Psychosis
• Fever
• Muscle spasms
• Convulsions
• Coma
• Death

For help with cocaine abuse phone 1-800-785-4962.

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