WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT... COCAINE

Cocaine is an extremely addicting drug made from coca plant leaves.

What does it do to your mind/body?

Cocaine is a powerful central nervous system stimulant ( an "upper") that can cause aggressive behavior and personality changes. It causes a surge of euphoria, excitement as well as a sense of expanded mental alertness and physical power. Fatigue disappears, and mental acuity is enhanced. Within 30 to 60 minutes of feeling "up" you "crash" into a feeling of depression and dullness.

Mentally, cocaine can cause you to experience:

• anxiety
• depression
• confusion
• hallucinations
• paranoid delusions

These symptoms often require hospitalization in a psychiatric ward.

Physically, cocaine can:

• burn the membranes which line the inside of your nose
• cause cold sweats, paleness, uncontrolled tremors, heaviness of the limbs
• increase pulse rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure
• cause dilated pupils, insomnia, and weight loss
• KILL YOU! Death can occur when cocaine is injected, smoked or even snorted. It's a result of multiple seizures followed by respiratory and cardiac arrest.

IS IT ADDICTIVE?

Yes, cocaine is addictive. In fact, cocaine has been called the "Great Addictor" because of the profound craving it creates in the user's brain.

Find out more about cocaine.