Cocaine Use and Its Effects

Cocaine -- a high-priced way of getting high -- has a mystique. Called "the caviar of street drugs," Cocaine is seen as the status-heavy drug of celebrities, fashion models, and Wall Street traders. Movies like "Blow" and books like Killing Pablo sensationalize the business and use of cocaine.

The reality of cocaine hits after the high. Cocaine has powerful negative effects on the heart, brain, and emotions. Many cocaine users fall prey to addiction, with long-term and life threatening consequences. Even occasional users run the risk of sudden death with cocaine use. Read on for the not-so-glamorous truth about cocaine use and its effects.

Coca, Cocaine, and Crack

Cocaine is a purified extract from the leaves of the Erythroxylum coca bush. This plant grows in the Andes region of South America. Different chemical processes produce the two main forms of cocaine:

About 14% of U.S. adults have tried cocaine. One in 40 adults has used it in the past year. Young men aged 18 to 25 are the biggest cocaine users, with 8% using it in the previous 12 months.

Cocaine: Anatomy of a High

Smoking or injecting cocaine results in nearly instantaneous effects. Rapid absorption through nasal tissues makes snorting cocaine nearly as fast-acting. Whatever the method of taking it in, cocaine quickly enters the bloodstream and travels to the brain.

Deep in the brain, cocaine interferes with the chemical messengers -- neurotransmitters -- that nerves use to communicate with each other. Cocaine blocks norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, and other neurotransmitters from being reabsorbed. The resulting chemical buildup between nerves causes euphoria or feeling "high."

What's so great about being high on coke? Cocaine users often describe the euphoric feeling as:

On the other hand, some people describe other feelings tagging along with the high:

Signs of using cocaine include:

Cocaine's immediate effects wear off in 30 minutes to two hours. Smoking or injecting cocaine results in a faster and shorter high, compared to snorting coke.

Physiological Effects of Cocaine

Cocaine produces its powerful high by acting on the brain. But as cocaine travels through the blood, it affects the whole body.

Cocaine is responsible for more U.S. emergency room visits than any other illegal drug. Cocaine harms the brain, heart, blood vessels, and lungs -- and can even cause sudden death. Here's what happens in the body:

What are the short-term effects of cocaine?

Cocaine causes a short-lived, intense high that is immediately followed by the opposite—intense depression, edginess and a craving for more of the drug. People who use it often don’t eat or sleep properly. They can experience greatly increased heart rate, muscle spasms and convulsions. The drug can make people feel paranoid,1 angry, hostile and anxious—even when they aren’t high.

Regardless of how much of the drug is used or how frequently, cocaine increases the risk that the user will experience a heart attack, stroke, seizure or respiratory (breathing) failure, any of which can result in sudden death.

What are the long-term effects of cocaine?

The phrase “dope fiend” was originally coined many years ago to describe the negative side effects of constant cocaine use. As tolerance to the drug increases, it becomes necessary to take greater and greater quantities to get the same high. Prolonged daily use causes sleep deprivation and loss of appetite. A person can become psychotic and begin to experience hallucinations.

As cocaine interferes with the way the brain processes chemicals, one needs more and more of the drug just to feel “normal.” People who become addicted to cocaine (as with most other drugs) lose interest in other areas of life.

Coming down from the drug causes depression so severe that a person will do almost anything to get the drug—even commit murder.

And if he or she can’t get cocaine, the depression can get so intense it can drive the addict to suicide.

Short-term effects

Long-term effects

What Are the Other Health Effects of Cocaine?

Cocaine affects the body in a variety of ways. It constricts blood vessels, dilates pupils, and increases body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. It can also cause headaches and gastrointestinal complications such as abdominal pain and nausea. Because cocaine tends to decrease appetite, chronic users can become malnourished as well.

Most seriously, people who use cocaine can suffer heart attacks or strokes, which may cause sudden death. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of the heart stopping (cardiac arrest) followed by an arrest of breathing.

People who use cocaine also put themselves at risk for contracting HIV, even if they do not share needles or other drug paraphernalia. This is because cocaine intoxication impairs judgment and can lead to risky sexual behavior.

Some effects of cocaine depend on the method of taking it. Regular snorting of cocaine, for example, can lead to loss of the sense of smell, nosebleeds, problems with swallowing, hoarseness, and a chronically runny nose. Ingesting cocaine by the mouth can cause severe bowel gangrene as a result of reduced blood flow. Injecting cocaine can bring about severe allergic reactions and increased risk for contracting HIV, hepatitis C, and other blood-borne diseases.

Binge-patterned cocaine use may lead to irritability, restlessness, and anxiety. Cocaine abusers can also experience severe paranoia—a temporary state of full-blown paranoid psychosis—in which they lose touch with reality and experience auditory hallucinations.

Cocaine is more dangerous when combined with other drugs or alcohol (poly-drug use). For example, the combination of cocaine and heroin (known as a “speedball”), carries a particularly high risk of fatal overdose

Tolerance and dependence

There is evidence that after prolonged use, cocaine is highly addictive. People who use cocaine regularly can develop dependence and tolerance to it, which means they need to take larger amounts of cocaine to get the same effect.

Dependence on cocaine can be psychological, physical, or both. People who are dependent on cocaine find that using the drug becomes far more important than other activities in their life. They crave the drug and find it very difficult to stop using it.

People who are psychologically dependent on cocaine may find they feel an urge to use it when they are in specific surroundings or socialising with friends.

Physical dependence occurs when a person's body adapts to cocaine and gets used to functioning with the cocaine present.

Withdrawal

Giving up cocaine after using it for a long time is challenging because the body has to get used to functioning without it. Please seek advice from a health professional.

Withdrawal symptoms usually start around 1-2 days after last use, peaking in severity over 4-7 days, then subsides over 1-2 weeks. These symptoms usually occur in 3 phases:

Treatment

There are many different types of treatments for drug problems. Some aim to help people stop using drugs, while others aim to reduce the risks and harm related to drug use. Cocaine addiction treatment should be approached in holistic manner including intensive therapy, behavioral therapies and support that leading rehab centers provide. If you are fighting urges to use, even if you believe the problem is under control, call us right now at 1-888-563-5213. Our helpline representatives can answer your questions and provide you with tips for immediate treatment options at the appropriate recovery center in your area.

What to do if you are concerned about someone's cocaine use

If you are concerned about someone else's drug use, there is confidential help available. Please feel free to contact our team of specialists to find the best course of action to take.

What to do in a crisis

Always call 911 if a drug overdose is known or suspected—and remember that paramedics are not obliged to involve the police.

If someone overdoses or has an adverse reaction while using cocaine, it is very important that they receive professional help as soon as possible. A quick response could save their life.

Cocaine Use Prevention

Prevention should start early in the preadolescent years for those who are at risk. This would include children in families with a history of any addiction such as alcoholism and drug use. However simplistic the concept, teaching youngsters to say "no" to smoking, alcohol, and drugs is an excellent prevention tool. If we can keep the children and our future generations from the gateway drugs of nicotine, alcohol, and marijuana, then we may be able to prevent the escalation to harder drugs such as cocaine.