Cocaine
Methamphetamine the downward spiral
What does it look like? What form does it come in?
- In powder form it is white
- In rock form it is yellowish or off white
- In liquid form it is clean
What kind of drug is cocaine?
Cocaine is a stimulant
Short term effects
- Loss of appetite
- Increased heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature
- Increased rate of breathing
- Dilated pupils
- Disturbed sleep patterns
- Nausea
- Hyperstimulation
- Bizarre, erratic, sometimes violent behavior
- Hallucinations, hyperexcitability, irritability
- Tactile hallucination that creates the illusion of bugs burrowing under the skin
- Intense euphoria
- Anxiety and paranoia
- Depression
- Intense drug craving
- Panic and psychosis
- Convulsions, seizures and sudden death from high doses (even one time)
Long term effects
- Permanent damage to blood vessels of heart and brain
- high blood pressure, leading to heart attacks, strokes and death
- Liver, kidney and lung damage
- Destruction of tissues in noes if sniffed
- Respiratory failure if smoked
- Infectious diseases and abscesses in injected
- Malnutrition, weight loss
- Severe tooth decay
- Auditory and tactile hallucinations
- Sexual problems, reproductive damage and infertility (both genders)
- Disorientation, apathy, confused exhaustion
- Irritability and mood disturbance
- Increased frequency of risky behavior
- Delirium or psychosis
- Severe depression
- Tolerance and addiction (even after on use)
How is cocaine used?
- Cocaine is most often sniffed
- Ingested
- Injected
- Smoked
- Rubbed into gums
Cocaine's legal status
- First conviction carries a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment up to 6 months, or both
- Subsequent summary conviction means the penalties are doubled, a fine of up to $2,000 and up to a year in jail, or both
- If the charge is treated as an indictable offence, the offended may be sent to prison for up to 7 years
- Trafficking cocaine is considered an indictable offence and is punishable by a sentence of life in prison
Social factors that may influence cocaine
- Risk takers (help the cope)
- Predisposition (genetics)
- Experimentation
- Gender and age
- Hedonism (buzz or thrill)
- Peer group
Decision Making
Cocaine rewires the brain , studies have shown that even after a single use the brain is rewired overriding priorities, decision making and memory after cocaine has been introduced.