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| Cocaine |
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Cocaine Powder and Snorting Spoon |
Glass Cocaine Container and
Snorting Spoon |
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Rock Crack Cocaine Packaged To Sell on the
Streets |
Powdered Crack
Cocaine |
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| What It Is |
| Cocaine is a white powder obtained from the leaves of
the coca plant and has powerful stimulant properties similar to those of
amphetamines. |
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| Street Names |
| Cocaine and Crack Coke, Charlie, Snow, Rock |
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| How It Is Taken |
| Soluble cocaine is sometimes injected, possibly mixed
with heroin (this mixture is sometimes called 'Speedball') but the usual method
is for a small amount (usually called a 'line') to be sniffed or 'snorted' up
the nose through a small tube and is absorbed into the blood via the nasal
membrane. However, more recently a smokeable form of freebase cocaine called
crack is become increasingly more common. Crack is purer and more concentrated
than soluble cocaine and is absorbed into the body faster than if it is
snorted. |
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| What It Does |
As with amphetamines, cocaine produces feelings of
well-being, mental exhilaration, reduced appetite and great physical strength
and mental capacity. However, the intended feelings can often be replaced by
feelings of anxiety or panic.
When snorted the effects of cocaine peak
in about 15-30 minutes and then fade, which often encourages users to repeat
the dose in order to maintain the effect. Large doses or lots of quickly
repeated doses over a period of hours or days can lead to extreme states of
agitation, anxiety, paranoia and possibly hallucinations which generally fade
when the drug leaves the body. After effects can include tiredness and
depression.
Excessive doses can in rare cases cause death from heart
failure. Effects of long-term use Users do not necessarily develop tolerance,
but are often tempted to increase doses for a more intense effect.
Discontinuation of the drug produces tiredness, sleepiness and depression,
which can encourage users to take more to alleviate these side effects
Cocaine is thought to produce a physical dependency in some people, although
this is still being debated and researched. Crack does produce a strong
physical dependency.
With regular heavy use increasingly unpleasant
symptoms occur. Euphoria is replaced by an uncomfortable state of restlessness,
over excitability and feelings of nausea. With continued use this can lead to
paranoid psychosis. Regular users may appear chronically nervous, excitable and
paranoid. Confusion with exhaustion, due to lack of sleep is common. These
effects may all disappear once use is stopped, however a paranoid mental state
may be irreversible and permanent.
Repeated snorting of cocaine may
also damage the nasal membranes and the structure separating the nostrils.
Smoking crack can produce severe respiratory problems. |
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| Medical Uses |
| Cocaine is used medical as a local anesthetic and
vasoconstrictor in Europe. In the United States cocaine was once used to treat
sinusitis, hay fever and chronic fatigue. Cocaine was also used in wines and
soft drinks such as Coca Cola. Cocaine was widely used until it was outlawed by
the Harrison Act in 1914 during the temperance movement. |
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