Cocaine

What is cocaine?

Cocaine is a stimulant drug that comes from the South American Coca plant. It gives you a powerful – but short-lived – high. In fact, after you’ve taken it your body becomes flooded with the ‘happy hormone’ dopamine. Cocaine usually comes as a fine white powder.

What is crack?

Crack is cocaine in a crystallised form. It’s more addictive than powder cocaine because the high is more intense and reaches the brain quicker. Crack cocaine is made by heating cocaine with bicarbonate of soda (and you thought that GCSE in Chemistry would never come in handy). These crystals are often called ‘rocks’.

How do you take it?

The powder is usually chopped into small lines and snorted using a rolled-up bank note. On the other hand, crack cocaine is usually smoked with a pipe on foil, or rolled-up in a ‘crack spliff’. Some people even inject cocaine and crack, but this is INCREDIBLY risky.

Why do people take it?

• It bombards you with happiness chemicals a.k.a dopamine, making you feel euphoric
• You’re WIDE AWAKE. If you weren’t so happy, you could probably complete 10 million Sudokus because your concentration skills on coke are off the charts
• It gives you a lot of confidence. While high, you’re convinced that you are, in fact, utterly and completely amazing at everything.
• Unlike boozing, when all you want is some comfort food, coke actually makes your appetite disappear
• If you suddenly get in the mood when you’re high and are now thinking, does cocaine get you horny? Let’s just say, It gets you reaching for the condoms (or maybe just a box of tissues)

Keep in mind, this list is just for recreational users. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, chances are there’s some trauma behind it. You can also use resources such as the Amy Winehouse Foundation for support with treatment for cocaine addiction.

What are the bad side effects of coke?

• A racing heart and high blood pressure (can lead to seizures, strokes or even heart attacks)
• Getting hot and sweaty
• Large dilated pupils
• Snorting it can give you nosebleeds or the ‘Columbian Cold’ It can also erode your nostrils so you end up with one giant one, where your two normal ones used to be.

What does cocaine do to you mentally?

It can…

• Make you really paranoid
• Give you scary hallucinations
• Make you irritable and aggressive
• Make you really, really confused

How long do the effects last?

The question, ‘how long does coke last?’ kind of depends. If you snort a line of coke, the high lasts between 20 to 30 minutes. If you smoke crack, the high peaks for about two minutes and lasts for about 10 minutes overall.

Because the coke high is so short, there’s a temptation to reach for more as soon as the high ends. But coke is notoriously expensive, so your bank account will be crying by the end of night. Also, your body builds up a resistance quickly meaning you have to take more and more every time.

What’s the comedown like?

The natural reaction to the comedown is “GIVE ME MORE COKE NOW, PLEASE”, which can be a tough urge to fight. After a coke binge, you can feel sad for a few days afterwards. You can also feel like you’ve got a bad cold or flu.

Is it addictive?

Yes. Your next question is probably, ‘how addictive is cocaine?’ Very. It’s psychologically addictive because the high is so strong and so short-lived that you have to take more every time to get the same effect. This causes long-term effects such as addiction and health problems.

Crack is even more addictive because the high is shorter and people take more to avoid the ‘crash’.

Fun fact: When coca-cola was first made, the two main ingredients were cocaine and caffeine (hence the name). It eventually lost the coke part, but clearly kept its addictive properties.

Is crack purer than powder form?

Actually no, not necessarily, but we understand the confusion. We tend to think of crystals as ‘pure’ but in recent police seizures, both crack and cocaine tested contained only about 30% cocaine. The other 70% is often made up of multiple other substances (some of which could also be harmful).

Should I mix cocaine with alcohol?

That’s a hard no. Mixing cocaine with alcohol is dangerous because they produce something called ‘cocaethylene’ in your liver. It increases the risk of your heart beat being irregular, having a heart attack, fits, and even sudden death. Drinking alcohol even 12 hours after taking coke can do this.

How can I reduce the risks of taking coke?

• Do it with people you trust. Avoid using cocaine alone and never do it behind locked doors.
• Don’t inject. It makes an overdose more likely and makes it much more addictive. Plus, if the cocaine isn’t pure, you can be injecting potentially fatal toxins right into your bloodstream.
• Decide how much you’re going to take and DON’T go over what you decide. This will increase (or stabilise) your bank balance, and lower your likelihood of getting addicted.
• Don’t take cocaine if you have high blood pressure or a heart condition.

Cocaine nose is a serious side effect of doing the stuff and is sometimes irreversible. If the mucous membrane becomes damaged due to sniffing coke, it can impair the way that air is humidified before it reaches the lungs. Not to mention the decreased blood supply to the nose. All of these things are pretty permanent and can mess with the way you smell and breathe.

Continued use can also cause sores to form in the membrane, and it can also lead to a perforated septum. This is basically the appearance of a hole in the dividing wall of the nasal cavity that can continue to grow with your coke habit. If enough support is destroyed, the septum can collapse. This can cause a multitude of problems such as sinus infections and breathing problems.

You might even face cosmetic problems such as a scab in the nose from coke. Plastic surgery can improve these issues, but patients are advised to seek treatment of the addiction before any attempt at reconstruction can be carried out.

I’m worried about my coke use, help!

Cocaine is notoriously addictive and it’s a tough habit to break. Try not to wait until your nose is collapsing in on itself (cocaine nose) before you get the help you deserve. The NHS have advice if you’re ready to face your cocaine addiction.