Cocaine - How Is It Taken?

How Is It Taken?

The speed at which cocaine reaches the brain depends on how it is taken. The faster and more intense the high produced in the user, the greater the risk of addiction. Drug researchers have determined patterns in cocaine use. Cocaine abusers are more likely to take the drug at night rather than earlier in the day. They also tend to use up whatever supply they have in one sitting, snorting or injecting the drug over several hours until all of it is gone.

Cocaine is taken in one of four ways. The leaves of the coca plant, combined with lime or plant ash, are chewed, releasing small amounts of cocaine alkaloid in the process. Some of the cocaine is absorbed by the mucous membranes of the mouth and the intestines absorb some of the juice as it is swallowed. The small amount of cocaine entering the bloodstream numbs the mouth, decreases the feeling of hunger, and has a stimulant effect. Rather than feeling a high, users report feelings of well-being that can last one to two hours.

Snorted, Injected, or Smoked—They Are All Addicting

Powder cocaine is snorted through the nose in 20 to 30 milligram doses called "lines." Lines of powder cocaine, about the width of a straw, are placed on a smooth surface and inhaled through one

Lines of cocaine are placed on a smooth surface so they can be inhaled through one nostril at a time. In less than a minute, the cocaine travels through the network of blood vessels in the nasal cavity and reaches the brain. Photo by Lezlie Lig
Lines of cocaine are placed on a smooth surface so they can be inhaled through one nostril at a time. In less than a minute, the cocaine travels through the network of blood vessels in the nasal cavity and reaches the brain. Photo by Lezlie Light.

nostril at a time. In less than a minute, the cocaine travels through the network of blood vessels in the nasal cavity and reaches the brain. The high obtained from snorting powder cocaine is the least intense of all methods of ingestion. The drug causes the blood vessels in the nose to constrict, or tighten up. Thus, the high that is produced is milder, but longer lasting than the high achieved by the remaining two ingestion methods: injecting and smoking.

Some users take powder cocaine, dissolve it in water, and inject the solution directly into their bloodstream through veins. The intravenous, or IV, methodInjected into a vein. of taking cocaine is considered the most dangerous method because it involves the use of needles. In a matter of seconds, the injected cocaine reaches the brain, resulting in an almost immediate rush. IV cocaine use is highly addictive because the rush generally lasts only a few minutes, and the remaining high drops off quickly. To maintain the high, users inject another dose after about fifteen minutes.

Cocaine is also smoked. Users change the cocaine powder into paste or rock form in order to smoke it. If inhaled deeply into the lungs, cocaine vapors will enter the bloodstream in just three seconds. The immediate brain rush occurs slightly faster than the injection method and is achieved without the use of needles. Smoking cocaine is highly addictive because it creates the fastest and most intense rush and subsequent high.