The Effects of Cocaine & Crack
Cocaine is a powerfully addictive 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.
Health Hazards Due to Cocaine Use
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 hyperstimulation, reduced fatigue, and mental
alertness, depends on the route of administration. The faster the absorption, the more
intense the high. On the other hand, the faster the absorption, the shorter the duration of
action. The high from snorting may 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.
Effects of Cocaine Use
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 convulsant 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.
Methods of Administering Cocaine
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. Snorting is the
process of inhaling cocaine powder through the nose, where it is absorbed into the
bloodstream through the nasal tissues. Injecting is the use of a needle to release the
drug directly into the bloodstream - any needle use increases a user's risk of contracting
HIV and other blood-borne infections. Smoking involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke
into the lungs, where absorption into the bloodstream is as rapid as by injection.
Added Danger: Cocaethylene - When people mix cocaine and alcohol consumption, they
are compounding the danger each drug poses and unknowingly forming a complex
chemical experiment within their bodies. National Institute on Drug Abuse 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.
Treatment of Cocaine Addiction
The widespread abuse of cocaine has stimulated extensive efforts to develop treatment
programs for this type of drug abuse.
One of the National Institute on Drug Abuse's top research priorities is to find a
medication to block or greatly reduce the effects of cocaine, to be used as one part of a
comprehensive treatment program. The National Institute on Drug Abuse funded
researchers are also looking at medications that help alleviate the severe craving that
people in treatment for cocaine addiction often experience. Several medications are
currently being investigated for their safety and efficacy in treating cocaine addiction.
In addition to treatment medications, behavioral interventions - particularly cognitive
behavioral therapy - can be effective in decreasing drug use by patients in treatment for
cocaine abuse. Providing the optimal combination of treatment and services for each
individual is critical to successful outcomes.
Information from www.usdoj.gov
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.
Health Hazards Due to Cocaine Use
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 hyperstimulation, reduced fatigue, and mental
alertness, depends on the route of administration. The faster the absorption, the more
intense the high. On the other hand, the faster the absorption, the shorter the duration of
action. The high from snorting may 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.
Effects of Cocaine Use
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 convulsant 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.
Methods of Administering Cocaine
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. Snorting is the
process of inhaling cocaine powder through the nose, where it is absorbed into the
bloodstream through the nasal tissues. Injecting is the use of a needle to release the
drug directly into the bloodstream - any needle use increases a user's risk of contracting
HIV and other blood-borne infections. Smoking involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke
into the lungs, where absorption into the bloodstream is as rapid as by injection.
Added Danger: Cocaethylene - When people mix cocaine and alcohol consumption, they
are compounding the danger each drug poses and unknowingly forming a complex
chemical experiment within their bodies. National Institute on Drug Abuse 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.
Treatment of Cocaine Addiction
The widespread abuse of cocaine has stimulated extensive efforts to develop treatment
programs for this type of drug abuse.
One of the National Institute on Drug Abuse's top research priorities is to find a
medication to block or greatly reduce the effects of cocaine, to be used as one part of a
comprehensive treatment program. The National Institute on Drug Abuse funded
researchers are also looking at medications that help alleviate the severe craving that
people in treatment for cocaine addiction often experience. Several medications are
currently being investigated for their safety and efficacy in treating cocaine addiction.
In addition to treatment medications, behavioral interventions - particularly cognitive
behavioral therapy - can be effective in decreasing drug use by patients in treatment for
cocaine abuse. Providing the optimal combination of treatment and services for each
individual is critical to successful outcomes.
Information from www.usdoj.gov
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Cocaine can appear in powder
or rock form and often is stores
in small baggies that make it
easy to hide and sell.
or rock form and often is stores
in small baggies that make it
easy to hide and sell.
The Effects of COCAINE & CRACK
