Along with the physical risks, cocaine use can affect your life in other ways. In the United States, cocaine is an illegal drug. For example, those who identify as LGBTQ are more than twice as likely to use illicit drugs as heterosexual people.
What to Know About Cocaine
Food and Drug Administration to treat cocaine use disorder. Babies exposed to cocaine during pregnancy are often prematurely delivered, have low birth weights and smaller head circumferences, and are shorter in length than babies who are not exposed to cocaine during pregnancy.30-32 Snorting cocaine produces a relatively slow onset of the high, but it may last from 15 to 30 minutes. Stress can contribute to cocaine recurrence, and cocaine use disorders frequently co-occur with stress-related disorders. This pathway originates in a region of the midbrain called the ventral tegmental area and projects to other brain areas including the nucleus accumbens, where one of the brain’s hedonic hotspots is also located.6 Besides reward and reinforcement, this circuit also regulates emotions and motivation.7 Cocaine is a Schedule II drug, which means that it has high potential for misuse but can be administered by a doctor for medical uses, such as local anesthesia for some eye, ear, and throat surgeries.
- The UNODC approximated that 97,622 hectares of primary forest were cleared for coca cultivation during 2001–2004 in the Andean region.
- If you keep using cocaine, your brain’s circuits become more sensitive.
- When we experience something that makes us happy or gives us pleasure, our brains release dopamine.
- The continued use of cocaine can lead to serious problems, including tolerance, dependence, and eventually addiction.
Insufflation of cocaine also leads to the longest duration of its effects (60–90 minutes). This occurs because cocaine’s absorption is slowed by its constricting effect on the blood vessels of the nose. Crack cocaine is a smokeable form of cocaine made into small “rocks” by processing cocaine with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water. The duration of cocaine’s effects depends on the amount taken and the route of administration.
FIND TREATMENT:
If you or someone you know has problems with cocaine use, seek help from a doctor or mental health professional. The vaccine activates your immune system to create antibodies that attach to cocaine and stop it from making its way into your brain. The FDA hasn’t approved any medicine to treat cocaine addiction. Counseling and other types of therapy are the most common treatments for cocaine use disorder.
In 2024, drug-related deaths in England and Wales reached their highest level in three decades, with a notable increase in fatalities involving cocaine and experts urging urgent government intervention to address the crisis. Some individuals seek plastic surgery to repair or reconstruct nasal damage caused by cocaine use, although surgical outcomes can be complicated by ongoing tissue loss and poor healing. In 2024, Belgian doctors report a rise in patients needing nose reconstruction due to cocaine use, which damages nasal tissue and cartilage; however, few undergo surgery because it requires at least six months of abstinence from cocaine for proper healing. As a result, individuals with cocaine-induced nasal damage frequently withdraw from social activities and relationships, leading to social isolation. “Cocaine nose” or “coke nose” are informal terms that refer to nose disorders resulting from repeated or chronic cocaine use. Contingency management (CM)—which rewards patients with vouchers for meeting treatment goals—has proven especially effective, particularly for helping patients achieve initial abstinence from cocaine.
Cocaine Complications
This makes you compulsively crave or use substances like cocaine. Cocaine, especially crack cocaine, is strongly addictive for several reasons. If you use cocaine regularly or to excess, you may have long-lasting and serious problems with your Cocaine Withdrawal Guide physical and mental health. Since it’s an illegal drug, you can never be sure about the quality of cocaine. If you keep using cocaine, your brain’s circuits become more sensitive.
When the Spanish arrived in South America, they initially banned coca but soon legalized and taxed it after seeing its importance to local labor. Coca leaves have been used by indigenous South Americans for thousands of years, both as a stimulant and for medicinal purposes. The CCDB challenges optimistic views of drug interdiction effectiveness and underscores the need for new policy approaches, yet remains underutilized in research despite being unclassified. Because the glyphosate is sprayed from the air, there is a much higher chance of human error when spraying suspected illegal coca plantations. There is increasing support for shifting toward drug policies that focus on sustainable development and human rights instead of punitive measures. Drug war policies in Latin America and the Caribbean have led to more violence, higher incarceration rates, health crises, and deeper poverty, while undermining trust in institutions and worsening inequality.
Cocaine
Cocaine is an addictive stimulant drug that can change lives and be life-threatening. The best way to support someone coping with addiction is to encourage them to find help. It’s important to remember addiction is a chronic disease.
Cocaine Effects
A 2001 study reported that the sharing of straws used to “snort” cocaine can spread blood diseases such as hepatitis C. In 1994, the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals cited findings that in Los Angeles, three out of four banknotes were tainted by cocaine or another illicit drug. When insufflating cocaine, absorption through the nasal membranes is approximately 30–60%
Sometimes, people use cocaine and an opioid drug, such as heroin, at the same time. Instead of using baking soda as you would with crack, you add ammonia to “free” the cocaine base from its natural form. Freebase cocaine is also a solid form of the drug.
Often, a cocaine high is over in minutes. It’s also important to remember cocaine use often has a ripple effect, putting stress and strain on relationships. Asking for help is a huge and important step toward recovering from cocaine use disorder. People with cocaine use disorder may benefit from community-based programs.
Need Help With Cocaine Addiction?
Further specific receptors it has been demonstrated to function on are NMDA and the D1 dopamine receptor. Cocaine has been demonstrated to bind as to directly stabilize the DAT transporter on the open outward-facing conformation. Cocaine and its major metabolites may be quantified in blood, plasma, or urine to monitor for use, confirm a diagnosis of poisoning, or assist in the forensic investigation of a traffic or other criminal violation or sudden death.
Ypadú or ypadu (also known as mambé) is an unrefined, unconcentrated powder made from toasted coca leaves and the ash of various other plants. The article stated that drinking two cups of the tea per day gave a mild stimulation, increased heart rate, and mood elevation, and the tea was essentially harmless. Coca leaves are typically mixed with an alkaline substance (such as slaked lime) and chewed into a wad that is retained in the buccal pouch (mouth between gum and cheek, much the same as chewing tobacco is chewed) and sucked of its juices. Since 1961, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs has required countries to make recreational use of cocaine a crime. The highest prevalence of cocaine use was in Australia and New Zealand (2.1%), followed by North America (2.1%), Western and Central Europe (1.4%), and South and Central America (1.0%). Decades later, the cocaine boom marked a sharp rise in illegal cocaine production and trade, beginning in the late 1970s and peaking in the 1980s.
- Use of cocaine can induce long-term changes in the brain.
- Cocaine crosses the blood–brain barrier via both a proton-coupled organic cation antiporter and (to a lesser extent) via passive diffusion across cell membranes.
- Cocaine is typically used orally, intranasally, intravenously, or by inhalation.
This enables the immune system to recognize cocaine and produce anti-cocaine antibodies, which can bind cocaine in the bloodstream and prevent it from reaching the brain, thereby blocking its psychoactive effects. The increased concentration of dopamine in the synapse activates post-synaptic dopamine receptors, which makes the drug rewarding and promotes the compulsive use of cocaine. Family history is a known risk factor, as relatives of cocaine users have an increased likelihood of developing cocaine addiction.
Who Controls the Cocaine Trade?
Some of the most frequent are cardiovascular effects, including disturbances in heart rhythm and heart attacks; neurological effects, including headaches, seizures, strokes, and coma; and gastrointestinal complications, including abdominal pain and nausea.3 In rare instances, sudden death can occur on the first use of cocaine or unexpectedly thereafter. Small amounts of cocaine usually make people feel euphoric, energetic, talkative, and mentally alert.15 The drug can also temporarily decrease the need for food and sleep.16,17 Some people find that cocaine helps them perform simple physical and intellectual tasks more quickly, although others experience the opposite effect.18 Dissolving cocaine in water and injecting it (intravenous use) releases the drug directly into the bloodstream and heightens the intensity of its effects.
In the United States the manufacture, importation, possession, and distribution of cocaine are additionally regulated by the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. Fishscale cocaine, from fish + scale, is named for its shiny, yellowish flakes that resemble fish scales—distinct from the dull white appearance of standard cocaine powder. Both the pharmaceutical supply chain and the illicit supply chain obtain cocaine from coca cultivated in Latin America, but they operate under very different controls and oversight.
