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Incas and other indigenous
peoples in South America ingested cocaine in small amounts
by chewing the leaves of the coca plant. Coca, which has a
small amount of cocaine occurring in its leaves, produces
only a mild increase in energy, but lasts a longer time.
In the 1800's cocaine was
isolated from the leaves of the coca plant. From this
point on, cocaine was available in a much more
concentrated, potent form. It could now be snorted,
inhaled into the nose in a powder form or injected in a
solution form directly into the blood stream.
 An easy way
to understand the different forms of ingesting a drug and
how that relates to intensity of effect and duration of
effect, is to look at the path a drug will take to the
brain. This goes for any drug, not just cocaine. In order
for a drug to start to work it needs to get to the brain.
The most direct path that it can take is the quickest and
potentially the most addicting. Smoking crack, or
freebase, cocaine is the most direct path to get cocaine
into the brain. Cocaine vapor is inhaled into the lungs,
goes to the heart, then to the brain. Injecting cocaine is
the next quickest. Snorting cocaine, would come in third.
Crack cocaine, or freebase, is then the quickest way to
get the most amount of cocaine directly to the brain. It
is consequently the most addictive method of use, and
produces the worst lows after the drug has run out.
No matter how an individual
consumes cocaine, the potential for abuse and for
addiction is high. With prolonged cocaine use, the user is
forced to spend greater and greater amounts of money on
cocaine. What had perhaps been a casual party pastime has
now become a mental obsession coupled with a compulsion to
use despite the consequences. With cocaine addiction,
there are little or no physical withdrawal symptoms once
the drug has stopped being ingested. There are significant
psychological factors present, such as the craving for
more, deep depression, extreme exhaustion, hunger,
despair, a sense of deep remorse, etc.
 When a
cocaine user continues to go on a run, for several hours
or days of continual cocaine use, they can experience what
is known as cocaine psychosis. This is a complete
psychological break from reality, where a person becomes
completely unpredictable and possibly violent. Consistent
cocaine users also develop a characteristic paranoia, a
sense of mistrust of the environment around them,
including loved ones and family members.
There is recovery available
for addicts who abuse cocaine. The process can be long,
but reaching out for help is the first step in any program
of recovery. If you have any questions about you or a
loved one, please reach out and call us at the number
below.
Heroin
 Heroin is
an opiate drug with a long history of abuse. It has no
medical uses. Its effects are similar to that of opiate
pain medications, however, heroin is a street drug, and
its strength can be many times that of any medication.
Deaths resulting from accidental and intentional overdoses
are very common among heroin users. Heroin causes physical
dependence, and the withdrawal symptoms are extremely
uncomfortable. Most heroin users need to enter a medical
detox to be able to break the habit. Heroin can be
injected, snorted or smoked. Signs of heroin use are
extremely small pupils ("pin eyes"), difficulty staying
awake, slurred speech, and excessive scratching.
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Cocaine,
and cocaine use, is known by a variety of slang terms,
i.e. crack, rocks, nose candy, snow, girl, tooting, doing
bumps, getting skied, c., flake, coke, blow, free-base,
base, Peruvian marching powder, doing lines, blowing
lines, doing rails, etc. Cocaine is one of the most
frequently abused drugs in the United States. Crack
cocaine is a particularly dangerous and addictive form of
this drug.
depending
on the method of ingestion and the quantity of drug
consumed, as well as the frequency of administration of
the drug. The greater the amount of cocaine a person
ingests and the faster the drug gets to the brain, the
more intense the euphoria. Paradoxically, the greater the
euphoria, the shorter the duration of time the high will
last and the deeper the low.