Long-term cocaine use creates a severe risk to your quality of life and often leads to death. Extracted from a South American plant, cocaine is a highly addictive drug, that acts as a stimulant to your central nervous system. A surge of excitement, physical vigor and self-confidence are caused by snorting, injecting or smoking cocaine. These instantaneous effects are short-term and with each use, you often require more to achieve the same high.
As per The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH):
- In 2012, 639,000 persons aged 12 or older used cocaine for the first time
- This averages to around 1,800 new users per day.
Keep in mind, there is no secure approach for using cocaine! The health threats become much severe when cocaine blends with alcohol, substance or other drugs.
Here are more quick facts from the NSDUH 2014 report:
- 5 million U.S. adults aged 12 and older struggled with a substance abuse disorder
- Approximately 80% of persons battled an alcohol addiction disorder
- More than 7 million U.S. populations struggled with a drug use
Additionally, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shared the following:
- In 2014, nearly 8 million U.S. adults struggled a mental health disorder and a substance addiction disorder at the same time
Although the dangers and risks of cocaine addiction are well-known, it still remains popular drug of choice amongst frivolous users. Cocaine’s many dangers include:
Heart Disease Dangers
- Irregular heart rhythm
- Chest pain
- Dysfunction of the heart muscle
- Inflammation of the heart muscle
- Extremely high or very low blood pressure
- Heart attack
- Heart infection
- Stroke
- Sudden death
Psychological Dangers
- Irritability
- Auditory hallucinations
- Paranoid delusions
- Mood disorders (anxiety)
- Sleep disorders
- Severe Depression
- Insomnia/Fatigue
- Suicidal Thoughts
- Aggression
Reproductive System Problems
- Sexual dysfunction irrespective of gender
- Menstrual cycle troubles
- Infertility
Risk During Pregnancy
- Miscarriage
- Premature delivery
- Stillbirth of pregnancies
- Addicted newborns
- Low birth weight
- Smaller head size in newborns
- Shorter length in newborns
- Deformities in newborns
Other Health Problems
- Brain infections
- Headaches, Convulsions
- Seizures, Coma
- Weight loss
- Gangrene
- HIV/AIDS
- Viral Hepatitis
- Chronic nasal congestion
- Sinus inflammation
- Shortness of breath
- Wheezing, coughing up of blood
- End-stage kidney disease
- Chronic renal failure
- Diminished kidney function
- Ulcers
- Motility problems
- Arterial occlusion or tissue death
- Vascular problems and skin lesions
If you’ve ever used cocaine, you’ve likely experienced bouts of depression when you come down from your high. According to Science Daily, the reason for this is simple, “Chronic cocaine use may cause damage to brain cells that help produce feelings of pleasure, which may contribute, in part, to the high rates of depression reported among cocaine abusers.”
Additionally, cocaine is an upper, so users often experience increased heart rates. In situations where you’ve ingested a significant amount, it can often feel like your heart is going to explode.
The Postgraduate Medical Journal explains this symptom as the following, “[use of cocaine] can result in a variety of clinical manifestations including both ischaemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Potential mechanisms involved in cocaine‐induced stroke include vasospasm, cerebral vasculitis, enhanced platelet aggregation, cardioembolism, and hypertensive surges associated with altered cerebral autoregulation…Cocaine use should always be considered as a possible cause of stroke.”
Cocaine also affects the part of your brain that can cause you to experience hallucinations.
No matter if you’re a relatively new user or addict, the journal Current Opinion in Psychiatry shares, “More than half of such individuals experience paranoia and hallucinations…Among patients who attend psychiatric emergency services, non-schizophrenic cocaine abusers are reported to have as severe hallucinations as schizophrenic patients who do not abuse cocaine.”
DUI Effects
Cocaine is an extremely popular drug which is unlawful and comes with harsh penalties for both dealers and users. It is an addictive chemical ethylbenzoylecgonine also identified in its powdered form of cocaine hydrochloride and in its customized rocklike type identified as “crack”.
25 percent of deaths among people ages 18-45 caused due to cocaine abuse, in its powder or rock form. According to NSDUH, more than 900,000 U.S. adults (above age 11) battled with a cocaine addiction in 2014. TEDS revealed that in 2010, 8 percent of all treatment entrance was for cocaine abuse or addiction problems.
As per NCAAD, nearly half of the residents of U.S. prisons and jails are suffering from addiction. An overwhelming amount of accidents and casualties still occur annually because of impaired driving, as a result of cocaine consumption.
Driving under the influence (DUI) is a severe illegal crime defined as operating a means of transportation while consuming alcohol or drugs. Any quantity and dose of alcohol or drug in your bloodstream can affect your driving aptitude which can put you at danger for causing an accident.
Secure driving needs the skill to focus, fine decisions and rapid response to situations. But, alcohol hinders these abilities and put you and others at risk.
Here are just a few ways alcohol harms your good driving skills:
● Slow reaction time
● Lack of coordination
● Reduce concentration
● Decrease vision
● Inhibit judgement
Even though casualty rates due to substance abuse related car accidents reduced 27% between 2005 and 2014, crashes cost the U.S. approximately $44 billion every year. The monetary prices of these crashes are lost efficiency, workplace losses, legal expenses, medical costs, emergency medical services, insurance administration, congestion and property damage.
Cocaine or cocaine breakdown products are discovered in the systems of approximately 5-24% of all individuals involved in severe traffic disobediences, vehicular crashes and fatalities as per a range of local research performed across the United States.
Nevertheless, several of these incidents also entail the abuse of alcohol. As declared formerly, any particular measure of cocaine abuse can cause unprodictable effects for individual users.
Quick Facts About Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
- CDC reveals that 31% of car accident deaths are caused due to an impaired driver.
- The research of CDC exposed that 16% of car accidents involve drugs.
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) statistics stated that nearly half of drivers killed in car fatalities are due to drugs or alcohol abuse.
- MADD estimates that drunk driving costs the United States $132 billion a year and $500 for each adult in the U.S.
- An average of 27 people are murdered in a drunk driving accident per day in U.S. and every two minutes someone is harmed or injured because of drunk driving.
- There is a deadly alcohol or drug related accident every 51 minutes.
What Should you do if you Need Help to Battle Cocaine Addiction?
It is vital to find professional assistance to overcome cocaine addiction as quickly as possible – not only because of the mental, economic and societal issues connected with drug and alcohol abuse, but also because of long-standing physical damage caused. It is extremely essential to speak up if you think that a loved one is suffering from a cocaine addiction.
Treatment centers are typically the best solution to kick an addiction.
As per NIAAA,
- In 2013, nearly 1.3 million adults and 73,000 adolescents attended treatment centers
Searching and finding a best treatment center for drug addiction is one of the first steps towards a road to recovery. The best treatment centers have knowledgeable personnel and a long record of success in treating addicts.
Every rehabilitation center has diverse services and treatments to fit your needs based on locality, cost, and experience.