Cocaine Rehab Treatment

Cocaine originates from the coca leaf primarily in Bolivia and Peru. To date cocaine is a Schedule II drug, defining that it has a high potential for abuse. Cocaine's effects depend on its administration and dosage. Physically the pupils will dilate, increased heart rate, temperature, and blood pressure will occur in a low dosage user. However, in a larger dosage one will experience tremors, erratic violent behavior, muscles twitches, paranoia, agitation, and apprehension. Drug Treatment Centers

Cocaine is usually dispensed on the street in a fine, white, powder form with various labels such as "coke," or "blow." The danger with cocaine is that when cocaine reaches the street level of distribution it has been processed more than once. If pure cocaine is cut with ammonia, or baking soda, then it becomes crack cocaine. Comparatively, crack cocaine in some states is considered a worse violation legally. Rehab Treatment Centers

Within its structure of addiction cocaine similarly builds tolerance to users like heroin or nicotine. Therefore a greater dosage is needed to achieve the same euphoric effect. Using cocaine in large amounts and consistently increasing dosage may develop into a paranoid psychosis. The individual will lose a grasp on reality and auditory hallucinations will occur. Drug Rehab Centers Locations

Cocaine use ranges from sporadic use to frequent or compulsive use, with a variety of patterns between these extremes. Cocaine is highly dangerous in every fashion. Any route of administration has the potential to absorb toxic amounts of cocaine, leading to acute cardiovascular or cerebrovascular emergencies that potentially may lead to sudden death. Frequent cocaine use may produce addiction and other adverse health consequences.

Slang: Coke, Dust, Toot, Snow, Blow, Sneeze, Powder, Lines, Rock (Crack)
Know the Facts

Cocaine affects your brain. The word "cocaine" refers to the drug in both a powder (cocaine) and crystal (crack) form. It is made from the coca plant and causes a short-lived high that is immediately followed by opposite, intense feelings of depression, edginess, and a craving for more of the drug. Cocaine may be snorted as a powder, converted to a liquid form for injection with a needle, or processed into a crystal form to be smoked.

Cocaine affects your body. People who use cocaine often don't eat or sleep regularly. They can experience increased heart rate, muscle spasms, and convulsions. If they snort cocaine, they can also permanently damage their nasal tissue.

Cocaine Rehab

Cocaine affects your emotions. Using cocaine can make you feel paranoid, angry, hostile, and anxious, even when you're not high.

Cocaine is addictive. Cocaine interferes with the way your brain processes chemicals that create feelings of pleasure, so you need more and more of the drug just to feel normal. People who become addicted to cocaine start to lose interest in other areas of their life, like school, friends, and sports.

Cocaine can kill you. Cocaine use can cause heart attacks, seizures, strokes, and respiratory failure. People who share needles can also contract hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, or other diseases.

Think Hard If You're Considering Risking It

Know the law. Cocaine--in any form - is illegal.

Stay informed. Even first-time cocaine users can have seizures or fatal heart attacks.

Know the risks. Combining cocaine with other drugs or alcohol is extremely dangerous. The effects of one drug can magnify the effects of another, and mixing substances can be deadly.

Be aware. Cocaine is expensive. Regular users can spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on cocaine each week and some will do anything to support their addiction.

Stay in control. Cocaine impairs your judgment which may lead to unwise decisions around sexual activity. This can increase your risk for HIV/AIDS and other diseases, as well as rape and unplanned pregnancy.

Cocaine Rehabilitation

Know the Signs

How can you tell if a friend is using cocaine? Sometimes it's tough to tell. But there are signs you can look for. If your friend has one or more of the following warning signs, he or she may be using cocaine or other illicit drugs:

• Red, bloodshot eyes
• A runny nose or frequently sniffing
• A change in eating or sleeping patterns
• A change in groups of friends
• A change in school grades or behavior
• Acting withdrawn, depressed, tired, or careless about personal appearance
• Losing interest in work, school, family, or activities he or she used to enjoy
• Frequently needing money

What can you do to help someone who is using cocaine? Be a real friend. Save a life. Encourage your friend to stop and to seek professional help.

Commonly Asked Questions About Cocaine, Coke, Blow, Crack, Rock

Q. Is cocaine really still a problem?

A. Yes. While the number of cocaine users has decreased from what was witnessed in the mid-1980's, there have been nearly 2 million cocaine users every year since 1992.

Q. Isn't crack less addictive than cocaine because it doesn't stay in your body very long?

A. No. Both cocaine and crack are powerfully addictive. The length of time it stays in your body doesn't change that.

Q. Don't some people use cocaine to feel good?

A. Any positive feelings are fleeting and are usually followed by some very bad feelings, like paranoia and intense cravings. Cocaine may give users a temporary illusion of power and energy, but it often leaves them unable to function emotionally, physically, and sexually.

Source: National Clearinghouse For Alcohol and Drug Information

Crack and Cocaine

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug of abuse. Once having tried cocaine, an individual cannot predict or control the extent to which he or she will continue to use the drug.

The major routes of administration of cocaine are sniffing or snorting, injecting, and smoking (including free-base and crack cocaine). 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 act of using a needle to release the drug directly into the bloodstream. Smoking involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke into the lungs where absorption into the bloodstream is as rapid as by injection.

"Crack" is the street name given to cocaine that has been processed from cocaine hydrochloride to a free base for smoking. Rather than requiring the more volatile method of processing cocaine using ether, crack cocaine is processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water and heated to remove the hydrochloride, thus producing a form of cocaine that can be smoked. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound heard when the mixture is smoked (heated), presumably from the sodium bicarbonate.

There is great risk whether cocaine is ingested by inhalation (snorting), injection, or smoking. It appears that compulsive cocaine use may develop even more rapidly if the substance is smoked rather than snorted. Smoking allows extremely high doses of cocaine to reach the brain very quickly and brings an intense and immediate high. The injecting drug user is at risk for transmitting or acquiring HIV infection/AIDS if needles or other injection equipment are shared.

Health Hazards

Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant that interferes with the reabsorption process of dopamine, a chemical messenger associated with pleasure and movement. Dopamine is released as part of the brain's reward system and is involved in the high that characterizes cocaine consumption.

Physical effects of cocaine use include constricted peripheral blood vessels, dilated pupils, and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. The duration of cocaine's immediate euphoric effects, which include hyper-stimulation, reduced fatigue, and mental clarity, 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 stimulation.

Some users of cocaine report feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. An appreciable tolerance to the high may be developed, and many addicts report that they seek but fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did from their first exposure. Scientific evidence suggests that the powerful neuropsychologic reinforcing property of cocaine is responsible for an individual's continued use, despite harmful physical and social consequences. In rare instances, sudden death can occur on the first use of cocaine or unexpectedly thereafter. However, there is no way to determine who is prone to sudden death.

High doses of cocaine and/or prolonged use can trigger paranoia. Smoking crack cocaine can produce a particularly aggressive paranoid behavior in users. When addicted individuals stop using cocaine, they often become depressed. This also may lead to further cocaine use to alleviate depression. Prolonged cocaine snorting can result in ulceration of the mucous membrane of the nose and can damage the nasal septum enough to cause it to collapse. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory arrest.

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. NIDA-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 possibly increasing the risk of sudden death.

Treatment

The widespread abuse of cocaine has stimulated extensive efforts to develop treatment programs for this type of drug abuse.

NIDA's top research priority 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. NIDA-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 to test 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 services for each individual is critical to successful treatment outcome.

Extent of Use

Monitoring the Future Study (MTF)*

The MTF assesses the extent of drug use among adolescents and young adults across the country.

The proportion of high school seniors who have used cocaine at least once in their lifetimes has increased from a low of 5.9 percent in 1994 to 9.8 percent in 1999. However, this is lower than its peak of 17.3 percent in 1985. Current (past month) use of cocaine by seniors decreased from a high of 6.7 percent in 1985 to 2.6 percent in 1999. Also in 1999, 7.7 percent of 10th-graders had tried cocaine at least once, up from a low of 3.3 percent in 1992. The percentage of 8th-graders who had ever tried cocaine has increased from a low of 2.3 percent in 1991 to 4.7 percent in 1999.

Of college students 1 to 4 years beyond high school, in 1995, 3.6 percent had used cocaine within the past year, and 0.7 percent had used cocaine in the past month.

Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG)**

Although demographic data continue to show most cocaine users as older, inner-city crack addicts, isolated field reports indicate new groups of users: teenagers smoking crack with marijuana in some cities; Hispanic crack users in Texas; and in the Atlanta area, middle-class suburban users of cocaine hydrochloride and female crack users in their thirties with no prior drug history.

National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA)***

In 1998, about 1.7 million Americans were current (at least once per month) cocaine users. This is about 0.8 percent of the population age 12 and older; about 437,000 of these used crack. The rate of current cocaine use in 1998 was highest among Americans ages 18 to 25 (2.0 percent). The rate of use for this age group was significantly higher in 1998 than in 1997, when it was 1.2 percent.

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