The Effects
of Cocaine
Cocaine
is a very powerful and highly addictive stimulant that comes from
the coca plant that grows in Central and South America. The coca
leaves are processed to extract small amounts of cocaine, which
is made into a white powder known as cocaine hydrochloride. The
cocaine is then smuggled into the United States by plane, boat
or human carrier.
"Crack"
is the street name given to tiny chunks of free-base cocaine.
It is a smoke-able form of the drug extracted from cocaine hydrochloride
powder. It is not a pure form of cocaine because the extraction
process does not eliminate all the adulterants or "cuts". Its
name comes from the crackling sound that is made when the drug
is heated. Cocaine is both physically and psychologically addictive
in any form.
Slang
or Street Names for Cocaine:
Coke, Flake, Snow
Method
of Ingestion:
Sniffed, Smoked, Injected
Short-
and Long-Term Effects of Cocaine:
- Intense,
euphoric feeling followed by an equally intense "crash"
or depressed feeling
- Heart
attacks
- Lung
damage
- Chest
pains
- Erratic
heart beat
- Brain
hemorrhage
- Seizure
- Death
- Psychosis
- Paranoia
- Violent
behavior
- Heart
attacks, strokes, respiratory failure
- Brain
seizures
- Decreased
ability of body to fight infection
- Violent,
erratic, paranoid behavior
- Hallucinations
and "coke bugs" (sensation of imaginary insects crawling
over the skin)
- Hepatitis
or AIDS through shared needles
- Confusion,
anxiety, and depression
- "Cocaine
psychosis"—losing touch with reality, loss of interest
in friends, family, hobbies, sports, and other activities
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