Cocaine and the Human Body

Cocaine is an illegal substance that when taken can have dramatic effects on the human body. There are two main categories that will be discussed. Firstly the short term effects this would be for a first time user or a casual user a person who happened to have used this more than once but it is not an addiction. Secondly this article intends to go over the longer term effects of the substance. Additionally we will go over how long the substance stays in your body and the detection times.

The effects of the drug do vary depending on its use. There are three main ways that people take this particular drug. They insufflate or snot it through their nose, they inject it with a needle into their bloodstream or smoke it. The severity of the side effects increase with each method as they were mentioned. The most harm is done smoking while all forms cause harm. The short term effects are found from the DEA's website and are described as the following:

Cocaine's effects appear almost immediately after a single dose, and disappear within a few minutes or hours. Taken in small amounts (up to 100 mg), cocaine usually makes the user feel euphoric, energetic, talkative, and mentally alert, especially to the sensations of sight, sound, and touch. It can also temporarily decrease the need for food and sleep. Some users find that the drug helps them perform simple physical and intellectual tasks more quickly, while others experience the opposite effect.⁽⁶⁾

The duration of cocaine's immediate euphoric effects depends upon the route of administration. The faster the absorption, the more intense the high. Also, the faster the absorption, the shorter the duration of action. The high from snorting is relatively slow in onset, and may last 15 to 30 minutes, while that from smoking may last 5 to 10 minutes.⁽⁷⁾

The short-term physiological effects of cocaine include constricted blood vessels; dilated pupils; and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Large amounts (several hundred milligrams or more) intensify the user's high, but may also lead to bizarre, erratic, and violent behavior. These users may experience tremors, vertigo, muscle twitches, paranoia, or, with repeated doses, a toxic reaction closely resembling amphetamine poisoning. Some users of cocaine report feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. In rare instances, sudden death can occur on the first use of cocaine or unexpectedly thereafter. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory arrest.⁽⁸⁾

There are many short term effects so cocaine is by no means a safe substance to partake in. However I feel that it is important to know everything you can if you have tried or even thought about wanting to try the substance. I hope that this is a huge deterrent for anyone tempted or thinking about the drug. This is by no means a safe drug and its use should not be condoned. Cocaine really takes a toll on a person's body it eats away at your heart and mind. The drug is also known to cause impotency in men. People try the drug for the immediate feelings of euphoria but do not think of the harm that the drug does to the body. However if a person has gone to the lengths of trying such a severe drug perhaps they do not take into consideration their personal health or well being. Sudden death is not something I would consider a short term effect that is a side effect that you will not come back from.

The Following information is for those who have an addiction to cocaine and suffer the following long term effects:

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug. Thus, an individual may have difficulty predicting or controlling the extent to which he or she will continue to want or use the drug. Cocaine's stimulant and addictive effects are thought to be primarily a result of its ability to inhibit the reabsorption of dopamine by nerve cells. Dopamine is released as part of the brain's reward system, and is either directly or indirectly involved in the addictive properties of every major drug of abuse.⁽⁹⁾

An appreciable tolerance to cocaine's high may develop, with many addicts reporting that they seek but fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did from their first experience. Some users will frequently increase their doses to intensify and prolong the euphoric effects. While tolerance to the high can occur, users can also become more sensitive (sensitization) to cocaine's anesthetic and convulsant effects, without increasing the dose taken. This increased sensitivity may explain some deaths occurring after apparently low doses of cocaine.⁽¹⁰⁾

Use of cocaine in a binge, during which the drug is taken repeatedly and at increasingly high doses, leads to a state of increasing irritability, restlessness, and paranoia. This may result in a full-blown paranoid psychosis, in which the individual loses touch with reality and experiences auditory hallucinations.⁽¹¹⁾

The long term effects sound like a nightmare. The users are not able to control themselves at this point. The human body feels that it requires the substance in order to survive and function properly. This is a very sad state of affairs when you reach this point. People have deeper problems then a chemical addiction. The problems can be vast but majority of which are most likely treatable. I would think that if people had the proper outlets to seek help whether its emotional, physical or mental would not turn to these substances. I doubt that people began using cocaine simply for fun. There is so much more to do in life that to partake in the use of illegal substances. The long term effects are not those that are easy to overcome. The ramifications of such an addiction are lifelong such as Lupus, stroke or heart attack fromlong term use. These addictions not only cause a problem for your individual health and well being, but also to your friends and family.

The duration that the drug stays in a person's body can vary depending on factors such as metabolism and how you absorb chemicals. When cocaine enters the body the liver does most of the work to metabolize the substance in the body. A very small percentage is excreted in urine. Depending on liver and kidney function, cocaine metabolites are detectable in urine typically for up to eight days after cocaine is used. Detection using human hair samples is possible in regular users until the sections of hair grown during use are cut or fall out. This can take weeks or months.

Many people feel that nobody will notice if their habit does not get out of control. The truth is that people who have an addiction or a habit usually show their true colors sooner or later. You are most often than not going to get caught. The risk of losing a job or your health does not outweigh any benefits you think taking the drug might possess. There are many other things out there in the world to help you feel better and more positively. You really should not look towards a substance as a solution to your problems. Know that your problems will only increase exponentially from drugs and the abuse of drugs. There is usually an underlying issue that you are avoiding or don't know how to overcome. I urge you to consult someone you trust if you feel you have an addiction. There are many hotlines you can call the following are only 2 examples of many places who are more than willing to help.

1) http://www.stgregoryctr.com/5/?gclid=CLem0PzdyZkCFQJN5Qodu1RhKA

2)http://www.drugrehabcenter.com/testwww/?cpao=111&cpca=General/+Drug&cpag=Treatment&kw=drug+abuse+hotline

Please go ahead and select a treatment center if you feel you have no other place to turn and have exhausted all of your resources.

The information for this article were gathered from The DEA's website, Wikipedia as well as information from college courses.