FAQs on cocaine.1. WHAT IS COCAINE? Cocaine is a very addictive stimulant that is generally sold on the street in the form of a fine, white, crystalline powder. This drug's many street names include coke, snow, blow, toot, and rock. 2. WHERE DOES IT COME FROM? Cocaine is made from the leaves of the coca plant. 3. HOW IS IT USED? Cocaine is generally snorted through the nostrils in powder form. It may also be injected into the veins in a liquid form. 4. HOW IS CRACK DIFFERENT FROM COCAINE? Crack is the crystallized or freebase free·base or free-base v. free·based, free·bas·ing, free·bas·es v.tr. 1. To purify (cocaine) by dissolving it in a heated solvent and separating and drying the precipitate. 2. form of cocaine, which is usually smoked in a pipe. 5. WHY IS COCAINE DANGEROUS? Cocaine is a stimulant that speeds up your heart and causes your blood vessels Blood vessels Tubular channels for blood transport, of which there are three principal types: arteries, capillaries, and veins. Only the larger arteries and veins in the body bear distinct names. to narrow. Cocaine use can cause irregular heart rhythms, heart attacks, chest pain, breathing problems, dangerous overheating Overheating An economy that is growing very quickly, with the risk of high inflation. called hyperthermia hyperthermia /hy·per·ther·mia/ (-ther´me-ah) hyperpyrexia; greatly increased body temperature.hyperther´malhyperther´mic malignant hyperthermia , strokes, seizures, headaches, abdominal pain, and nausea. It is also addictive. 6. CAN IT KILL YOU? Yes. Cocaine-induced heart attacks, stroke, hyperthermia, and a breathing problem known as respiratory arrest can be fatal. They can happen even to young, healthy people. 7. WHAT DOES COCAINE DO TO YOUR BRAIN? Dopamine dopamine (dōp`əmēn), one of the intermediate substances in the biosynthesis of epinephrine and norepinephrine. See catecholamine. dopamine One of the catecholamines, widely distributed in the central nervous system. is one brain chemical or neurotransmitter that stimulates the brain reward pathway. Without drugs, dopamine attaches to a receptor site on the surface of a neuron. Then it is pumped back into the neuron that released it. When cocaine gets into the brain, it blocks this dopamine pump, and there's a buildup of dopamine in the space between neurons called the synapse synapse (sĭn`ăps), junction between various signal-transmitter cells, either between two neurons or between a neuron and a muscle or gland. A nerve impulse reaches the synapse through the axon, or transmitting end, of a nerve cell, or neuron. . This produces overactivity o·ver·ac·tive adj. Active to an excessive or abnormal degree: an overactive child. o in the brain reward pathway. 8. WHAT'S WRONG WITH A BUILDUP OF DOPAMINE? The buildup of dopamine is bad because it causes an extra sense of pleasure for a short time. This leads to two problems. First, your brain is wired to want to repeat pleasurable activities. Second, research shows long-term use may reduce the amount of dopamine or the number of dopamine receptors in the brain. If that happens, the user may lose the ability to experience pleasure without cocaine--and may also need more and more of the drug just to keep from feeling bad. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion