Cocaine Abuse: Effects and Treatment Approaches

Abuse and addiction to cocaine is a major problem in the world. Cocaine is known for its medical use; however, it is abused by many people. Scholars argue that at the age of 30, one out six people has abused cocaine. The concern for the abuse is high because of the adverse effects on the body and the mind. The abuse leads to addiction, which can be treated through cognitive behavioral approach that prevents relapse. This helps individuals focus on abstaining from cocaine and any other drug abuse. This research paper will discuss the effects of cocaine and the possible treatment methods. .

Cocaine is the oldest psychoactive substance and has been in use for a long time with men having a higher rate of abuse than women. Initially, it was used

to treat various illnesses by extracting purified cocaine that was used as a primary active ingredient as local anesthesia to carry out surgeries (Zuckerman, Frank and Cabral et al., 1989). Nowadays, it has become a common drug of abuse referred to by common street names such as coke, snow, and blow. In fact, street dealers dilute it with other substances such as sugar, cornstarch, and talcum powder. Cocaine exists in two forms either in water-insoluble or soluble salt. Then, the powdered form can be snorted or injected or can be heated to sociable substances commonly known as the crack.
The standard ways of abusing Cocaine are intranasal, inhalation, intravenous and oral.

It is administered to the body through nostrils where it is directly absorbed through nasal tissues into the blood stream. Besides, intravenous or injecting method releases it directly into the bloodstream and therefore fastens the power of its effects. Smoking is another method of directly inducing the drug into the bloodstream as fast as the injection method. Therefore, cocaine users start from occasional to compulsive use with several patterns between the two levels. According to Volkow and Wang (1997), cocaine should only be used for medical. Therefore, any method of administration into the blood stream can cause acute cerebrovascular or cardiovascular emergencies as well as seizures, which can lead to sudden death. Moreover, it affects the sensitive part of the brain that controls our process of communication because of a substance called dopamine from the

synapse.
Cocaine has short-term or long-term effects depending on the kind of dosage administered into the blood stream.

Its effects appear immediately one has administered a single dose and can cease within an hour or a couple of minutes. When the dosage is administered in a small dosage, it makes the individual feel extremely energetic, mentally alert to sight, touch, and sound as well as talkative. It can also reduce an individual’s appetite for food and causes amnesia temporarily. However, some users feel more physically active and carry out intellectual activities very quickly while others experience extremely opposite effects (Hollander, 2012). Besides, the duration of effects on the user depends on the route of administration. If the drug is absorbed fast into the blood, stream the user experiences high and intense effects that last for a shorter period (Fowler et al., 1997). For instance, snorting administers the drug into the bloodstream at a slow rate, however; the effects can last for fifteen to thirty minutes. On the other hand, smoking may be directly administering through nasal nerves may last for five to ten minutes.

The short-term effects include dilated pupils, constricted blood vessels and increased heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature. Large amounts can result in violence and unusual behaviors. Some users have feelings of anxiousness, irritability, and restlessness. Others may experience muscle twitches, paranoia, and tremors. Some effects are very severe because

they alter the heart rhythms resulting to heart attacks.
Cardiovascular disturbances are dominant to cocaine users, therefore, disturbing the heart functions leading to stroke, seizures, coma, and headaches (Zuckerman, Frank and Cabral et al., 1989). Besides some suffer from gastrointestinal complications that include nausea and abdominal pains. Most deaths resulted from cocaine are caused by cardiac arrest and seizures that are followed later by respiratory arrest. Moreover combining cocaine and alcohol can have detrimental effects that can result in death. A cocaine user has no control over the duration of abusing the drug. Once addiction grows within the user, there is a high risk for relapse to drug use following a long abstinence period. With several exposures of cocaine and individuals, brain is exposed and begins to adopt and becomes less responsive to it. Therefore, tolerance builds within the blood system where a higher dosage of cocaine is required to maintain similar pleasure derived from the initial use.