Brazoria County Sheriff's Department

Narcotic Division

Cocaine

What is cocaine?

Cocaine, a stimulant drug extracted from the leaves of the coca plant, increases heart rate and blood pressure. Street cocaine is a powder which is most commonly inhaled, although some users ingest, inject, or smoke a form of the drug called freebase.

 

What dangers are associated with cocaine use?

Paranoia is not an uncommon response to heavy doses of cocaine. The drug may also trigger psychosis in users who are prone to mental instability.

Repeated inhalation often results in nostril and nasal membrane irritation. Injection with nonsterile equipment can transmit AIDS and other infections.

Some regular users have reported feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. Others have experienced hallucinations of touch, sight, taste, or smell.

When people stop using cocaine after taking it for a long time, they frequently become depressed. They tend to fight off this depression by taking more cocaine, just as in the up/down cycle amphetamine cycle.

Cocaine is toxic. Although few people realize it, overdose deaths from injected, oral, and even snorted cocaine have occurred. The deaths are a result of seizures followed by respiratory arrest and coma, or sometimes by cardiac arrest.

Cocaine death are rare. But a pervasive public health problem could easily result if smoking base cocaine continues to catch on.

What is cocaine base?

Cocaine base, or freebase, a smokable mixture converted from street cocaine, is the most toxic form of the drug. Since smoking is the fastest way to get the cocaine to the brain, freebase smoking increases the risk that the user will become fearful, anxious, or develop serious psychological symptoms. Freebase smokers appear to be less able or willing to control their use, which suggests that smoking can produce a strong form of psychological dependence.

 

Can people become addicted to cocaine?

Cocaine isn't a narcotic. No evidence suggests that cocaine produces a physical dependence. But it is clear that a psychological dependence can result from heavy or continuous use. Studies show that monkeys, when allowed unlimited access to cocaine, will inject themselves with it constantly and ignore vital activities such as eating or drinking.