Alena
Mrs.  Otemuyiwa

Communication arts

21 February 2012

                                                               Cocaine

            In the last 100 years cocaine has become more and more popular all around the world. What people don’t seem to realize is how addicting it is. Cocaine is a dangerous drug many people have been using; it affects your health and behavior.

Here’s what happens with cocaine addiction. A person will try the drug just once. The users’ body instantly begins the addiction process. After the few first times using the drug, this addiction grows stronger and stronger until mentally a person believes he can’t live without it. He is now entangled in a cocaine addiction and shortly it takes complete control over his emotions.

            Some ways these users’ get the cocaine in their bodies is through snorting, injecting, and smoking, Snorting is the process of the inhaling cocaine powder through the nose where it is absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal tissues. Some effects for example, can lead to loss of the sense of smell; nose bleeds; problems with swallowing; hoarseness. Snorting will last 15 to 30 minutes but the high from smoking may last 5 to 10. Injecting is the use of a needle to insert the drug directly into the bloodstream. Injecting cocaine can bring severe allergic reactions and increased risk for contracting HIV/AIDS and other blood diseases. Smoking involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke into the lungs   where it is absorbed into the blood stream. (E medicine health)

            With over doses the chances for coma, convulsions, and death are greatly increased. Cocaine rapid rush gives 5 to 10 minutes of intense pleasure which quickly subsides, leading to depression that needs to be relieved by more crack. When they continue using the drug their depression worsens and can instigate violent and suicidal behavior. The drug is also cut with one or more substances, such as the cheaper drugs procaine, lidocaine, and benzocaine, and substances that pose no serious risks. Crack is most often packaged in vials or plastic bags and sold in small quantities, usually 300-500mg or enough for two to three inhalations. (Medline plus)        

Effects it has on your health is constricts blood vessels, dilates pupils, and increases body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure and headaches and causes gastrointestinal complications such as abdominal pain and nausea. Because cocaine tends to decrease appetite, chronic users can become malnourished. Cocaine also over rides the users’ emotions; so they no longer feel normal without being intoxicated. When this occurs they feel the need to use more just to feel normal. This cycle of addiction  continues until the individual either quits using or dies. Currently there are no FDA –approved medications for treating cocaine addiction. (National institute on drug abuse)

“Crack addiction is one of society’s greatest problems today. Individuals addicted to crack will do almost anything to get the drug. It has penetrated all levels of our society; rich, poor and everyone in between. Family members connected to individuals with crack addiction live in chaos and confusion, not understanding the underlying mechanics of crack addiction” (National Institute On Drug Abuse)

Even though death lurks around the corner, individuals with an addiction to crack continue to use with no regarded to their life or anyone else’s.