Cocaine and Meth Information
Cocaine/ Crack
Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug. The
powdered, hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in
water and injected. Crack is cocaine that has not been neutralized by an acid
to make the hydrochloride salt. This form of cocaine comes in a rock crystal
that can be heated and its vapors smoked. The term "crack" refers to the
crackling sound heard when it is heated. There were 2.0 million current cocaine
users and nearly 25 percent of those used crack-cocaine.
Physical
effects of cocaine use include constricted blood vessels, dilated pupils, and
increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. The faster the
absorption, the shorter the duration of action. The high from snorting may last
15 to 30 minutes, while that from smoking may last 5 to 10 minutes. Increased
use can reduce the period of time a user feels high and increases the risk of
addiction.
Some users of cocaine report feelings of restlessness,
irritability, and anxiety. A tolerance to the "high" may develop—many
addicts report that they seek but fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did
from their first exposure. Some users will increase their doses to intensify
and prolong the effects.
Use of cocaine in a binge, during which the
drug is taken repeatedly and at increasingly high doses, may lead to a state of
increasing irritability, restlessness, and paranoia. This can result in a
period of full-blown paranoid psychosis, in which the user loses touch with
reality and experiences auditory hallucinations.
Other complications
associated with cocaine use include disturbances in hearth rhythm and heart
attacks, chest pain and respiratory failure, strokes, seizures and headaches,
and gastrointestinal complications such as abdominal pain and nausea. Because
cocaine has a tendency to decrease appetite, many chronic users can become
malnourished.
Different means of taking cocaine can produce different
adverse effects. Regularly snorting cocaine, for example, can lead to loss of
sense of smell, nosebleeds, problems with swallowing, hoarseness, and a
chronically runny nose. Ingesting cocaine can cause severe bowel gangrene due
to reduced blood flow. People who inject cocaine can experience severe allergic
reactions and, as with any injecting drug user, are at increased risk for
contracting HIV and other blood-borne diseases.
When people mix cocaine
and alcohol consumption, they are compounding the danger each drug poses and
unknowingly forming a complex chemical experiment within their bodies.
NIDA-funded researchers have found that the human liver combines cocaine and
alcohol and manufactures a third substance, cocaethylene, that intensifies
cocaine's effects, while potentially increasing the risk of sudden death.
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant drug that is chemically
related to amphetamine, but the central nervous system effects of
methamphetamine are greater.
Methamphetamine is made in illegal
laboratories and has a high potential for abuse and addiction. Street
methamphetamine is referred to by many names, such as "speed," "meth," and
"crank." Methamphetamine hydrochloride, clear chunky crystals resembling ice,
which can be inhaled by smoking, is referred to as "ice" or "crystal."
Methamphetamine is taken orally or intranasally (snorting the powder),
by intravenous injection, and by smoking. The effects of meth on the Central
Nervous System include irritability, insomnia, confusion, tremors, convulsions,
anxiety, paranoia, and aggressiveness. Hyperthermia and convulsions can result
in death.
Methamphetamine causes increased heart rate and blood pressure
and can cause irreversible damage to blood vessels in the brain, producing
strokes. Other effects of methamphetamine include respiratory problems,
irregular heartbeat, and extreme anorexia. Its use can result in cardiovascular
collapse and death.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and
Health, approximately 12 million Americans age 12 and older had tried
methamphetamine at least once in their lifetimes, with the majority of
past-year users between 18 and 34 years of age. Total current meth users is
estamated to be around 600,000 people. Significant decreases in past year use
were seen among 12- to 17-year-olds.
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