cocaine-addiction-solutions

2008-10-07T15:42:00.022+07:00

All About Cocaine

Cocaine is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant, indigenous to the Andean highlands of South America. Nearly 75% of the Andean coca is grown in Colombia. The second and third ranked producers of cocaine are Peru and Bolivia South America. The Mexican border is the primary point of entry for cocaine shipments being smuggled into the United States. Sources indicate approximately 65% of the cocaine entering the U.S. crosses over the Southwestern borders. Initially, when cocaine is processed from leaves down into powder, it is done in combination with a form of hydrochloride salt. Street dealers usually dilute it, known as stepping on or cutting, before it gets resold. This, of course, greatly increases the profit margin. Dealers use a variety of ingredients to dilute or cut the cocaine including cornstarch, talcum powder, baby laxative, sugar or procaine. Cocaine is usually sold on the street as a white, crystalline powder. Cocaine has a variety of street names including coke, C, snow, flake, nose candy or blow.
The principal methods of doing cocaine are snorting, smoking, injecting and swallowing it. Crack and other forms of cocaine are considered party drugs. All too often the party turns into a more and more frequent event and the person gradually feels like they need to do it to feel good again. Using cocaine in any form can trigger sexual stimulation. Cocaine is considered the most potent stimulant of natural origin. Cocaine is a powerfully addictive substance which directly impacts the brain. Today, cocaine is classified as a Schedule II drug, meaning it has a very high potential for abuse and may lead to severe psychological, physical dependence or addiction. Using cocaine makes a person feel euphoric, confident, bold and full of energy.

Using Cocaine

The crystalline, powdery type is used mainly for snorting up the nose. When snorted, cocaine powder is inhaled far up the nasal passages where it is readily absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal membranes. Various items are used to snort cocaine including plastic straws, tubes and tightly rolled dollar bills. There is usually an extensive ritual of chopping, or grinding, the cocaine before snorting it. This is usually done with a razor blade. A screened grinder designed specifically for this purpose is also used. This minimizes the burning effects of the hydrochloric acid on sensitive nasal membranes. Crack, in small rock form is used for smoking. The smoking of crack is usually done in small glass or metal pipes. Crack is also referred to as freebase because it is cocaine which has not been neutralized by an acid which is a base substance. Smoking is also known as freebasing. Smoking of crack cocaine is done by inhaling cocaine smoke into the lungs, holding there, where it is readily absorbed into the bloodstream. Smoking crack cocaine affects the brain as rapidly as by injecting it. The powdered, hydrochloride form of cocaine can be taken intravenously by first dissolving it in water. Once in liquid form, it is then injected into the bloodstream using a hypodermic needle. Injecting heightens the intensity of its effects. It is also referred to as mainlining.

How cocaine affects the brain

Once cocaine reaches the brain, dopamine is released by a neuron into the synapse, where it can bind with dopamine receptors on neighboring neurons. Normally, dopamine is then recycled back into the transmitting neuron by a specialized protein called the dopamine transporter. If cocaine is present, it attaches to the dopamine transporter and blocks the normal recycling process, resulting in a buildup of dopamine in the synapse, which contributes to the pleasurable effects of cocaine.

A great amount of research has been devoted to understanding the way cocaine produces its pleasurable effects, and the reasons it is so addictive. One mechanism is through its effects on structures deep in the brain. Scientists have discovered regions within the brain that are stimulated by rewards. One neural system that appears to be most affected by cocaine originates in a region located deep within the brain called the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Nerve cells originating in the VTA extend to the region of the brain known as the nucleus acumens, one of the brain’s key areas involved in reward. In studies using animals, for example, all types of rewarding stimuli, such as food, water, sex, and many drugs of abuse, cause increased activity in the nucleus acumens. Researchers have discovered when a rewarding event is occurs, it is accompanied by a large increase in the amounts of dopamine released in the nucleus acumens by neurons originating in the VTA. In the normal communication process, dopamine is released by a neuron into the synapse (the small gap between two neurons), where it binds with specialized proteins, called dopamine receptors, on the neighboring neuron, thereby sending a signal to that neuron. Drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, are able to interfere with this normal communication process. For example, scientists have discovered that cocaine blocks the removal of dopamine from the synapse, resulting in an accumulation of dopamine. This buildup of dopamine causes continuous stimulation of receiving neurons, which is associated with the euphoria commonly reported by cocaine abusers.

History of Cocaine

Pure cocaine was first used in the 1880s as a local anesthetic in eye, nose, and throat surgeries because of its ability to provide anesthesia as well as to constrict blood vessels and limit bleeding. Cocaine quickly became a stimulant used in many tonics and elixirs developed to treat a wide variety of illnesses.

Cocaine Addiction Treatment

2008-09-15T13:54:00.011+07:00

Cocaine addiction is a very serious desease that affect all sorts of people from the society. Is does not only affect the poor and uneducated people.

It is a "curable" disease and there are many successful cases of people who were addictied to cocaine that no longer uses it.

See the bottom of this page for a list of some of cocaine addiction rehab centers that you might find useful.

A Look at cocaine addiction treatment options.

The history of Cocaine:

Cocaine is a highly addictive central nervous system stimulant extracted from the leaves of the coca plant, Erythroxylon coca.
In its most common form, cocaine is a whitish crystalline powder that produces feelings of euphoria when ingested.

Now classified as a Schedule II drug, cocaine has legitimate medical uses as well as a long history of recreational abuse. Administered by a licensed physician, the drug can be used as a local anesthetic for certain eye and ear problems and in some kinds of surgery.

Cocaine is one of the oldest known psychoactive drugs. Coca leaves, the source of cocaine, were used by the Incas and other inhabitants of the Andean region of South America for thousands of years, both as a stimulant and to depress appetite and combat apoxia (altitude sickness).

Despite the long history of coca leaf use, it was not until the latter part of the nineteenth century that the active ingredient of the plant, cocaine hydrochloride, was first extracted from those leaves. The new drug soon became a common ingredient in patent medicines and other popular products (including the original formula for Coca-Cola). This widespread use quickly raised concerns about the drug's negative effects. In the early 1900s, several legislative steps were taken to address those concerns; the Harrison Act of 1914 banned the use of cocaine and other substances in non-prescription products. In the wake of those actions, cocaine use declined substantially.

The drug culture of the 1960s sparked renewed interest in cocaine. With the advent of crack in the 1980s, use of the drug had once again become a national problem. Cocaine use declined significantly during the early 1990s, but it remains a significant problem and is on the increase in certain geographic areas and among certain age groups.

Cocaine Addiction Causes and Symptoms:

As with other forms of addiction , cocaine abuse is the result of a complex combination of internal and external factors. Genetic predisposition, family history, and immediate environment can all affect a person's probability of becoming addicted.

As many as three to four million people are estimated to be chronic cocaine users. The 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported an estimated 600,000 current crack users, showing no significant change since the late 1980s.

How Cocaine is used today:

cocaine addiction - pictureThe major routes of administration of cocaine are sniffing or snorting, injecting, and smoking (including free-base and crack cocaine). Snorting is the process of inhaling cocaine powder through the nose where it is absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal tissues. Injecting is the act of using a needle to release the drug directly into the bloodstream. Smoking involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke into the lungs where absorption into the bloodstream is as rapid as by injection.

"Crack" is the street name given to cocaine that has been

processed from cocaine hydrochloride to a free base for smoking. Rather than requiring the more volatile method of processing cocaine using ether, crack cocaine is processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water and heated to remove the hydrochloride, thus producing a form of cocaine that can be smoked. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound heard when the mixture is smoked (heated), presumably from the sodium bicarbonate.

There is great risk whether cocaine is ingested by inhalation (snorting), injection, or smoking. It appears that compulsive cocaine use may develop even more rapidly if the substance is smoked rather than snorted. Smoking allows extremely high doses of cocaine to reach the brain very quickly and brings an intense and immediate high. The injecting drug user is at risk for transmitting or acquiring HIV infection/AIDS if needles or other injection equipment are shared.

Dangers of using cocaine

High doses of cocaine and/or prolonged use can trigger paranoia. Smoking crack cocaine can produce a particularly aggressive paranoid behavior in users. When addicted individuals stop using cocaine, they often become depressed. This also may lead to further cocaine use to alleviate depression. Prolonged cocaine snorting can result in ulceration of the mucous membrane of the nose and can damage the nasal septum enough to cause it to collapse. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory arrest.

Added Danger of using Cocaine

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 euphoric effects, while possibly increasing the risk of sudden death.
Cocaine Addiction Treatment

There are various forms of cocaine addiction treatment available for people addicted to cocaine.

Some cocain addiction treatments include:
Pharmacological treatments
Behavioral approaches
Alternative treatment
Accupuncture
EEG
BioFeedback

Other Common Drug Addictions

2008-09-15T13:52:00.001+07:00

Signs of Cocaine Abuse include and are not limited to:
Change in apitite, sleep an mood cycles, depression, running / sniffing nose, regular absence at work / school...

Other common substance addictions.
An addiction does not always have to involve drugs or alcohol; there are many people who are overcoming addictions that simply deal with overindulgence in a particular activity, such as gambling or sex.
Overcoming gambling additions is difficult for those it affects because many see gambling as a recreational outlet with the prospects of making extra money.

Although a gambling addiction does not physically harm an individual, the financial consequences for those who are unlucky in their gambling actions have resulted in a loss of family, friends, job, home and trust.
Other substances that lead to a desire in overcoming addictions include:
Heroin, morphine, amphetamine, cocaine addictions, including tranquilizers
Addiction to nicotine and caffeine
Steroid addiction
Addiction to sugar
Addiction to acts, such as theft, working, as well as exercising
Sex addiction
Drug abuse, involves the excessive and repeated use of a substance
to escape reality to produce pleasure despite its destructive effects. The substances abused can be illegal ........

When somebody needs help in overcoming their addictions, they may turn to the help of professionals, such as psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, doctors, therapists, as well as medication, group or family therapy, hypnosis and meditation.
Sometimes it takes a process of tough love for someone to overcome the addiction they are battling.
A distinct desire to beat the evil demon within themselfs is a must when overcoming addictions.
If you have the desire you CAN overcome your addiction. You may need help and support but that is nothing to be ashamed of and if you acknowledge you have a problem with addictions and are prepared to seek help ( whatever the addiction may be ) you are on the road to recovery and a happier and more fulfilling life.

Help for Alcoholics and Drug Addicts

2008-09-15T13:51:00.002+07:00

Maybe you have looked at the wreck your drug / alcohol abuse has made of what used to be your great life, and realized that it is time for you to seek profesional drug addiction help. The nature of your addiction, be it to crack, alcohol, heroin, crack or cocaine, or even to your prescription meds, does not matter at all. Drug addiction is drug addiction, and those who are enslaved by it need drug addiction help.
Drug addiction help is widely available through drug treatment centers, but they are not going to come looking for you; so the first move has to be yours. Step back for a moment and look at what your substance addiction has done to your relationships, you finances, and your career. Then decide if you want to remain as you are, or are willing to change back to the fully functioning person you were before your substance abuse hijacked your life.
Drug abuse, involves the excessive and repeated use of a substance
to escape reality to produce pleasure despite its destructive effects. The substances abused can be illegal ........

Taking The Risk
Admitting that you have a problem and seeking drug addiction help will be one of the most difficult things you ever have to do. It requires you to open yourself up to strangers and ask for help from people in whom you have never met before. Not an easy task at all, but very necessary if you are serious in curing your drug addiction problem.

And surely the most scariest thing of all is that you will have to do all of it without having the cumfort of your drink or drug of choice to fall back on.

Kicking a drug habit, even with drug addiction help, is more than just getting clean. It will require you to do a life inventory and get at the issues which led you to abuse alcohol or drugs in the first place. If your problem stems from overuse of prescription meds, you will have to find other ways of dealing with the physical pain which originally necessitated them.

Getting drug addiction help from qualified professionals and mental health counselors is the only way to make sure that you not only root out your drug addictions, but also eliminate their underlying causes.

Drug Addiction Treatment

2008-09-15T13:49:00.001+07:00

Some time ago alcohol and drug abuse were thought to be problems of loosers, no-hopers, who had nothing to live for, and people who would never reach anything. Thankfully, to an ever-increasing drug addiction awareness about these issues and the sharing of their personal drug addiction stories by some very brave and proud individual people have led us to become much less judgmental of the people who asked for drug addiction help and went to attend alcohol drug abuse treatment. Because of the fact that these substance addictions say nothing about the person they are - unfortunately, almost any person can fall prey to these drug related problems. And seeking drug addiction treatment and help should not be something that is avoided due to real or imangined social stigma, because asking for alcohol drug abuse treatment is one of the bravest acts of hope and self belief there is.
Drug abuse, involves the excessive and repeated use of a substance
to escape reality to produce pleasure despite its destructive effects. The substances abused can be illegal ........

There are people amongst us that choose drugs or alcohol as our escape mechanism of choice, There are feelings of an underlying guilt, a shame that the harder, but more rewarding path, was not taken amongst people hooked on drugs. Naturaly quick fixes feel good, but there is a far more long lasting happiness and personal satisfaction that arises from working through your problems without the use of drugs. Many drug addicts fear asking for help because they believe they don't deserve anything in life. Asking for help in the form of alcohol drug abuse treatment is a positive step in personal development. Seeking drug and alcohol abuse treatment is never a failure, but rather is the first in a long line of future victories.

Beating your alcohol / drug abuse problem

2008-09-15T13:47:00.001+07:00

Overcoming drug / alcohol addictions can be a hard task to accomplish for anyone battling various personal problems.
Most addictions are very common and ruin people's lives particularly to illegal substances and recreational drugs from drinking alcohol to snorting cocaine.

It is a fact - Drugs ruin lives.

Drug addictions are a strong and damaging evil force that tears apart the professional and personal lives of those who uses it. Overcoming addictions are essential for the welfare of the people involved in it, because it will destroy all of the things that are important in their lives.
Substance addictions (alcohol or drugs) evolve into this demand within the person's life where they may do anything to satisfy the urge to "feed" and satisfy the craving for drugs that has taken over their life.
An individual may resist overcoming their substance addictions because they find pleasure in whatever relief the addiction provides for them during the time used.
The (almost always negative) consequences of their actions are not taken into consideration at all until after the damage is done and they never achieve true happiness and their drug addition causes them to be miserable.
Why You need to overcome additions
Drug abuse, involves the excessive and repeated use of a substance
to escape reality to produce pleasure despite its destructive effects. The substances abused can be illegal ........

Overcoming any addiction is important because it drains a person of the energy that they once used to accomplish normal and necessary tasks within their everyday life.
A substance addiction can absorb the mental, as well as physical energy that a person possesses, as well as ravish their resources, time and bonds between family, friends and co-workers.
Once this powerful negative drug related lifestyle change has entered ones life, it is quite difficult to spend time and energy overcoming the addictions that influence the way they think, act and live.
Overcoming addictions also involves an understanding and recognition that someone is exhibiting a compulsive behavior involving the need for or ongoing use of a substance or engagement of a particular activity.
One of the most common addictions that is the hardest in overcoming is the use of drugs and/or alcohol.
The emotional and physical factors regarding a continued use of a drug is quite hard to shake. There are many resources and agencies created to help those who are overcoming these addictions, such as drug DETOX centers and drug treatment support groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

Signs of Cocaine Addiction

2008-09-15T13:43:00.006+07:00

Signs of cocaine addiction include: change in appitite, mood, and sleep cycles, absence at work and home, depression, running/ sniffly nose, a drop in school grades and a new group of friends. Lack of interest in hobbys and other personal activities are also common signs of cocaine usage.

Teenagers may also have a sudden and frequent need for money, without a valid reason. Directly confronting the suspected cocaine user is the best plan of action. Cocaine addiction's should not go overlooked and should be treated ASAP.
Long term effects of cocaine abuse include: mood swings, restlessness, irritability, paranoia, possible auditory hallucinations and the number one long-term effect is the substance addiction itself.
Drug abuse, involves the excessive and repeated use of a substance
to escape reality to produce pleasure despite its destructive effects. The substances abused can be illegal ...

The more the cocaine usage begins to control and affect a person's life, the more likely it is that she / he has a drug addiction problem. Drug abusers often try to hide their symptoms. However, there are a number of drug abuse warning signs you can look for like:

Making inappropriate remarks or talking incoherently.
Talking about drugs all the time.
Mood swings, Angry outbursts, Manic Behaviour etc.
Expressing feelings of depression and hopelesness.
Frequently selling posessions, borrowing money.
Stealing other people's belongings.

The drug addiction path begins with the act of taking drugs. Compulsive, seeking, drug craving, and the use of drugs persist even in the face of negative consequences ususally characterize drug addiction. It is much easier to stop and prevent drug addiction during the first stages of drug addiction, than when a person becomes compulsive drug addict.