Cocaine is a very addictive drug and is one of the most commonly used drugs in the United States. When the individual addicted to cocaine stop using cocaine, a state of withdrawal occurs. Cocaine withdrawal can be so strong that the individual will do anything to get cocaine. Tolerance to cocaine then develops, meaning that when the individual with a cocaine addiction wants to obtain the high, he will need to use more cocaine. This is the danger of cocaine as it can lead to long term damage to the addict.
Cocaine has destroyed numerous families, relationships and lives throughout the United States. There are still over 1 million cocaine addicts in the United States who need rehabilitation treatment for their cocaine addiction.
But there is hope as several individuals with a cocaine addiction got their lives back after attending a cocaine rehab center. Drug rehab treatment is a process that brings those with cocaine addiction to a drug and alcohol-free life.
Drug Rehab Centers Serves the main objective is to give honest, caring and knowledgeable advice, support and referrals to a cocaine rehabilitation treatment according to your unique circumstances.
Our mission is to achieve a drug-free world.
Cocaine was originally found in the mid-19th century. Cocaine comes from the leaves of the coca bush, which grows mainly in South America’s country such as Columbia and Puru.
In the early 19th century, it became the main stimulant drug used in mainly all of the tonics/elixirs that were created to treat a large variety of illnesses.
Today, cocaine is a Schedule II drug, meaning that cocaine has a high potential for abuse, but can be used by a doctor for legitimate medical purposes, such as a local anesthetic for some eye, ear, and throat surgeries.
There are mainly two chemical forms of cocaine: the hydrochloride salt (HCL) and the “freebase.” The hydrochloride salt, or powdered cocaine, dissolves in water and, when abused, can be administered intravenously (by vein) or intranasally (snort). 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 and commonly called crack cocaine.
Cocaine can be used orally, intranasal, intravenous, and inhalation. Chewing, snorting, mainlining, injecting, and smoking are some of the slang terms for ways of administration for cocaine. Smoking is mainly a way of administering freebase and crack cocaine but cocaine can be put in a marijuana cigarette and smoked. Powder cocaine is inhaled through the nostrils: this act is usually known as snorting or sniffing. With this way of administration, the cocaine is absorbed into the bloodstream via the nasal tissues. A feeling of heightened intensity (rush) is the effect of injecting the cocaine directly into the bloodstream. Inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke into the lungs causes the absorption into the bloodstream as fast as by injection. Rubbing the cocaine onto mucous tissues is another way of administration.
The use of cocaine may lead to a loss of appetite and exaggerated mental alertness which can bring the individual to a loss of weight and sleep. Cocaine use will increase a person’s heart rate and blood pressure. Dilated pupils are a short-term effect of cocaine use. An increase in temperature and a rise in energy may also be identified by the cocaine user. The increased heart rate and elevated blood pressure may cause the blood vessels to constrict. Some cocaine users may perform simple physical tasks easier than they would usually and intellectual tasks more quickly others may experience the opposite.
The effects and length of the euphoric feeling will differ according to the way the cocaine was administered. A more intense high is brought by a method that promotes faster absorption into the bloodstream. With a quicker absorption method, the duration of the cocaine high will be shorter and a higher level of euphoria will be created. When smoking cocaine, a high of 5 to 10 minutes can be expected. When snorting cocaine, feeling the high will take longer to come up but may last 15 to 30 minutes.
The use of cocaine in a binge, during which the cocaine is taken repeatedly and at an increasingly high dosage, may lead to a state of irritability, restlessness, and paranoia. This can lead to a period of full-blown paranoid psychosis, in which the cocaine user loses touch with reality and can experience auditory hallucinations. This state can be temporary or in the worst case permanent.
- Based on SAMHSA‘s 2002 and 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 5.9 million Americans aged 12 or older (2.5%) used cocaine in the past year.
- Males were more than twice as likely as females to have used cocaine in the past year and to have met the criteria for abuse of or dependence on cocaine in the past year.
- Incidence of cocaine use generally rose throughout the 1970s to a peak in 1980 (1.7 million new users) and subsequently declined until 1991 (0.7 million new users). Cocaine initiation steadily increased during the 1990s, reaching 1.2 million in 2001.
- Age-specific incidence rates generally have mirrored the overall incidence trends, with greater initiation among adults than among youths under 18. Approximately 70% of cocaine initiates in 2001 were age 18 or older.
- Since 1975, males have generally comprised the majority of cocaine initiates. In 2001, there were 0.7 million new male users and 0.5 million new female users.
- The average age of cocaine initiates rose from 18.6 years in 1968 to 23.8 years in 1990 and subsequently declined to approximately 21 years from 1995 to 2001.