Dangers Of Cocaine

plz give me information about cocaine:

what cocaine does to the brain and body?
how it is tolerated, and how long will she?
what are the effects of the longstanding use?
combinations with other drugs? (Alcohol, MDMA, amphetamines?)
Is there a physical addiction or mental or both?

Plz no links to wikipedia.

What, you do not like wikipedia? But it is so useful and accurate to 100%. ;-) (The following is the Encyclopedia Britannica)

cocaine
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cocaine alkaloid drug derived from leaves of the coca bush. A drug commonly abused illegal, cocaine has limited medical uses, most often in surgical applications that take advantage of the fact that, in addition to its anesthetic effect, it constricts small arteries, which reduces bleeding. There are many street names for cocaine, including coke, C, Toot, flake, and snow.

Effects and Addictive Nature

blocks pain sensation and cocaine stimulates the central nervous system, producing a sudden increase in heart rate, temperature and blood pressure. In the brain, it blocks the synaptic reabsorption of neurotransmitters (especially dopamine). The resultant buildup of neurotransmitters causes pleasurable sensations to pass along the neural pathways over and over again, creating a feeling of profound well-being, self confidence, and alertness. It is accompanied by lack of hunger. The effect lasts 10-30 minutes and the user begins to seek more immediately as the neurotransmitter supply is exhausted. This trend has led to cocaine being described as "neuropsychology addicting" in recognition that traditional definitions of physical vs. psychological addiction do not neatly fit in this case. Most cocaine addicts in treatment report some control over their use for two to four years, giving the illusion that addiction will not develop.

Addiction is characterized by binge eating (usually 4-24 hours, one to seven times per week), movement to intravenous use, or smoking, extreme euphoria, and disregard for anything other than drugs , including food, sleep, sex, family and survival. The behavior is limited only by the high cost of drugs and limited availability. Abstinence after a binge of cocaine leads to crashing (anxiety, depression, distrust, envy of sleep) and withdrawal (absence of pleasure in all things, lack of motivation, and boredom). Many users of other drugs (alcohol, marijuana, heroin) to attenuate these effects. A dangerous combination of cocaine and heroin, known as a "speedball," is used by some. Withdrawal usually results in further use, often stimulated by a signal conditioning as a specific smell or location linked with cocaine use. If the drug is not taken there is a gradual decrease of envy, even if the indices can exercise conditioning effect after one year. The long-term use can cause digestive disorders, weight loss, general physical deterioration, and a marked deterioration of the nervous system. The majority of drug-related ED visits are related to cocaine.

Modes of administration; crack

Cocaine is either snorted (sniffed), swallowed, injected or smoked. habitual sniffing can cause serious damage to the nasal mucosa sharing needles put the user at increased risk of HIV infection. The street drug comes in the form of a white powder, cocaine hydrochloride. The hydrochloride salt and the cutting agents are removed to create the pure base product "freebase." Freebase is smoked and reaches the brain within seconds. "Crack", also called "rock" is a form of free base which comes in small pieces and made a cracking sound when heated. It is relatively inexpensive, but must be repeated often.

Crack cocaine magnifies the.