Cocaine - Effects on the Body
Effects on the Body
When smoked or injected, cocaine quickly brings on an intense rush in the user, followed by a high. Snorting the drug does not produce the rush, and the high is slightly delayed because constricted blood vessels release the cocaine into the system at a slower rate.
Small doses of cocaine can cause users to feel self-confident, uninhibited, talkative, clever, and in control. Users have reported that they feel as if they can take on and accomplish just about any task. Their energy levels increase, and their appetites decrease. Larger doses and heavy use can cause the opposite effects. Heavy users often have difficulty expressing themselves verbally. They just cannot seem to find the right words to say what they want to say. They may also suffer memory problems, become extremely confused, and show signs of aggression, antisocial behavior, and paranoiaAbnormal feelings of suspicion and fear..
The pleasurable feelings from cocaine use last only twenty to thirty minutes if it is snorted and only five to ten minutes if it is smoked or injected into the veins. When the high is over, the user feels tired, sluggish, and low. This cycle can trigger a dangerous pattern of repeated cocaine use as the user tries to recapture the first high. As the user "takes more of the drug," explained Elaine Landau in Cocaine, "he or she develops a toleranceA condition in which higher and higher doses of a drug are needed to produce the original effect or high experienced. for it. The same amount of cocaine will no longer make that person feel as good as it once did. Higher cocaine doses and increasingly frequent use of the drug become necessary. Many cocaine users say that in time they [need] significant amounts of the drug just to feel normal."
Harm to the Brain
In 1999, two NIDA-funded studies confirmed that heavy cocaine use could cause long-lasting brain impairment. Because cocaine reduces blood flow to the brain, some abusers develop problems with their attention span, memory, and problem-solving skills. Even a month after their last use, heavy users still found it difficult to perform tasks involving planning and reasoning. Users can become psychologically dependent on cocaine, using the drug to take the place of real-life experiences and problem-solving strategies. People who become dependent and then quit using cocaine often experience an intense craving for the drug long after the last use.
It has been known for years that cocaine use narrows blood vessels, raises blood pressure and body temperature, and increases the user's heart rate. These changes put a user at a high risk for life-threatening events. Sudden death can result from heart failure, respiratory failure, seizures, and strokesA loss of feeling, consciousness, or movement caused by the breaking or blocking of a blood vessel in the brain.. In 2003, even more evidence came to light about cocaine's negative effects on the heart and circulatory system. Patrick Zickler reported in NIDA Notes that heavy users of cocaine also seem to "have elevated levels of … a blood protein that increases in concentration" among people at risk for a heart attack.
The Dopamine Connection
Drug researchers found out long ago that cocaine interferes with the regulation of the brain's dopaminePronounced DOPE-uh-meen; a combination of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen that acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. levels. Dopamine is a neuro-transmitterA substance that helps spread nerve impulses from one nerve cell to another. and acts on the part of the brain responsible for filtering incoming information, making choices, judging behavior, and deciding when and how to act. Dopamine levels are associated with movement, emotional response, and the ability to experience pleasure.
Cocaine blocks the normal flow of dopamine, allowing greater-than-normal amounts of the chemical to build up in the spaces between the neurons. Too much dopamine in the brain produces negative effects: dopamine receptors become over-stimulated, and this can cause the brain to lose the ability to produce feelings of pleasure on its own. Although a cocaine-induced high typically lasts from fifteen to thirty minutes, the low can last from one to two days. Scientists suspect that continued use of cocaine actually reduces both the amount of dopamine and the number of dopamine receptors in the brain. So, once the cocaine-induced high is over, the user can fall into a period of deep and lasting depression. "In the same way that [the] brain will interpret the presence of cocaine as one of the most pleasurable experiences," wrote Heather Lehr Wagner in Cocaine, "it will interpret the absence of cocaine as one of the most painful."
The Myth of Nonaddiction
As late as the 1980s, there was a myth that cocaine was not addictive. Addiction occurs when drug use is no longer a voluntary choice but an uncontrollable compulsion. Some crack users report addiction after just one use.
When a person addicted to a substance stops taking that substance, he or she experiences unpleasant withdrawalThe process of gradually cutting back on the amount of a drug being taken until it is discontinued entirely; also the accompanying physiological effects of terminating use of an addictive drug. symptoms. Cocaine withdrawal symptoms include an intense and irresistible craving for the drug, along with depression, irritability, exhaustion, extreme hunger, and sometimes paranoia. It is now known that cocaine is extremely addictive. In fact, it is one of the easiest drugs to get animals to take willingly. Animal research indicates that after repeated ingestion of cocaine, nearly 100 percent of monkeys and rats tested will continue to self-administer the drug whenever they are given the chance.
The most serious effect of using cocaine is the possibility of sudden death. It can happen after the first use or anytime thereafter. Sudden death can occur with cocaine use alone, but is more common when combined with alcohol or other drugs. Other side effects include irreversible damage to the heart and liver, along with damage inflicted by strokes and seizures.
And There Is More.…
The point of ingestion determines the specific side effects cocaine will cause in a user. For instance, snorting powder cocaine over time will damage the septum and ulcerate the mucous membrane of the nose. Users who snort cocaine are prone to nosebleeds.
The bleeding may occur without warning and could cause considerable disruption if it happens in public. For instance, schools are required to evacuate and thoroughly clean areas where human blood has spilled. This precaution must be taken to decrease the risk of transmitting blood-borne viruses such as HIV (the human immunodeficiency virus), which causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
Smoking crack cocaine can cause lung trauma and bleeding. Injecting cocaine into the veins often causes inflammation and infections. It also carries a greater risk for contracting HIV/AIDS and hepatitis because users sometimes share needles. Cocaine also has a reputation for lowering users' inhibitionsInner thoughts that keep people from engaging in certain activities.. Users may take unusual risks that can lead to long-term consequences. These risks can range from unsafe sexual encounters to automobile crashes caused by poor judgment or aggression.
New information released by NIDA in 2004 revealed that cocaine might negatively affect a user's immune system. "Cocaine itself has a direct biological effect that may decrease an abuser's ability to fight off infections," wrote Patrick Zickler in NIDA Notes. This information, reported by a team of doctors at Harvard Medical School and the McLean Hospital Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center, could help explain why drug abusers have such a high incidence of infections.
Other research findings published in NIDA Notes show that cocaine has a definite negative effect on unborn babies. Children born to mothers who took cocaine when they were pregnant usually have lower-than-average birth weights, small heads, and the potential for more behavioral problems than other children. "At age two," wrote Robert Mathias, "cocaine-exposed children did significantly poorer in mental development than children" who were not exposed to cocaine.
These findings suggest that cocaine-exposed children may require extra assistance to overcome learning difficulties. Experts such as Dr. Lynn Singer of Case Western Reserve University believe that early educational programs can help these youths develop the skills they will need to succeed in school.
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
