Aunt Nora/Bernice/Binge/ Blow/C/Charlie/Coke/Dust/Flake/Mojo/ are all the street names of the White powder Cocaine. It was discovered by German chemist Albert Neimann. Its use was popularized by Sigmund Freud the famous psychoanalyst who was himself addicted to it. It was also an ingredient of Coca Cola at one point. Cocaine was initially used in the form of cocaine eye drops and in medicine for the relief of terminal cancer pain etc this was before the addictive nature of the drug was discovered.
In the 1990s Columbian cartels exported tonnes of cocaine to the US making it the most fashionable drug of choice.
Cocaine /Charlie is the party drug of the world… now, however, it is not only for the movers and shakers but has reached the corporate rungs and is trickling down the social rungs and across all age groups in varying qualities and quantities.
It is snorted, rubbed on gums, or injected. It is one of the drugs that can get you addicted from the very first use itself and requires higher and higher doses to get the same effect.
Cocaine affects the reward system in the brain that secretes the hormone dopamine… It blocks the reuptake of dopamine in the brain which causes the brain to flood with the chemical and creates the high.
Short Term Effects of Cocaine
-Cocaine causes a short-lived, intense high that is immediately followed by a low.
-Loss of appetite
-Increased heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory failure can result from the combined use of Coke with alcohol. One tends to drink more without realizing the increase in quantity as Coke is an upper and alcohol a downer.
-Dilated pupils
-Disturbed sleep patterns
-Bizarre, erratic, sometimes violent behavior – (one of our clients used to run on a treadmill at a speed of 20 and then jump off it )
-Paranoia – ( a client of ours felt anyone who was looking at him wanted to kill him and there were people coming after him -after this scare he came into treatment)
-Intense euphoria
-Anxiety and Depression
-Intense drug craving, Panic, and psychosis
-Convulsions, seizures and sudden death from high doses (even one time), heart, kidney, brain and lung damage.
Long Term Effects of Cocaine
-Permanent damage to blood vessels of heart and brain
-Cocaine is called the “heart attack” drug – it causes the heart to stop beating followed by an arrest in the breathing mechanism resulting in death.
Depending on how it is consumed- if snorted it affects the sense of smell and damages the lining of the nostrils. If swallowed it can cause gangrene ( death of ) the intestines and stomach. If injected it can cause allergic reactions, ulcers, HCV, HIV as a result of shared needles.
-The term “dope fiend ” describes the negative side effects of constant cocaine use. As tolerance to the drug increases, it becomes necessary to take greater and greater quantities to get the same high. Prolonged daily use causes sleep deprivation and loss of appetite. A person can become psychotic, aggressive, and begin to experience hallucinations especially auditory.
-Sexual problems, reproductive damage, and infertility (for both men and women)
-The combination of cocaine and alcohol results in a chemical called cocaethylene which had severe cardiotoxic effects. The alcohol is consumed to bring down the effects of the cocaine high.
-The downside from the drug is a depression so severe that a person will do almost anything to get the drug— even commit murder or suicide
Children of cocaine-addicted mothers come into the world as addicts themselves. Many suffer birth defects and many other problems. They are called “crack babies”
The effects from Cocaine usage on the brain can last more than two years at times and at times the damage can be permanent .
Sooner than later it leads on to further addictions… The important thing is the arrival at a solution to go beyond this in a conducive environment wherein every issue is addressed and the ability to not find the need to use surfaces from becoming aware of one’s own experiences, meditations, and counseling. We at Anatta Humanversity facilitate this process in a client-specific, confidential loving manner.