Cocaine – a medicine first, drug later

Understanding the medical benefits of cocaine can be difficult if all we hear about is the use of cocaine as an addictive drug. Cocaine has other uses as well.

Cocaine is a substance with two fold applications – it can be used as an impressive brain stimulant that can increase brain function, and it can also be used as a means to quench one’s substance abuse addiction. It has extremely addictive features and is derived from the leaves of a plant known as Coca, which can be found in the southern part of the United States of America. The material is available in the form of a powder that is similar to a powdered form of hydrochloride salt, usually sniffed in through the nose. This powder can also be diluted and used with a syringe as an injection.

As shown by our social surveys and research, the crystalline form of cocaine is usually known as crack. This form has not been mixed with any form of acids to transform it into a powdery material. This variant of crack cocaine is usually heated and the vapor is inhaled to get a wonderful but short term high. This is probably the most used version of cocaine, and is always high in demand in the market among regular users and abusers.

As we have explained on www.newspsychology.com, similar to other stimulants, cocaine affects the central nervous system and boosts the production of dopamine in our brain. This dopamine is what causes the high that we feel if we use cocaine. The brain normally produces dopamine and the reabsorbs it, but the main effect of cocaine is to stop this reabsorption process, which increases the amount of pleasure signals created in our brain by dopamine. This is what a high is.

Abusive use of cocaine affects the body in a detrimental way. It dilutes the pupils, constricts the blood vessels, and increase in the size of the heart. The affect also increases an addict’s body temperature and blood pressure. Certain digestive issues may also arise if one uses cocaine abusively, leading to regular stomach pains.

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