Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug made from the leaves of the coca plant, which is native to South America. Cocaine speeds up the whole body. It makes its user feel full of energy, excited, and happy. But, when the drugs high wears off, users come down in what is referred to as a “crash.” The user will feel exhausted, sad, angry, nervous, and sometimes paranoid. Typically, cocaine users will have a strong craving to use cocaine again in order to feel right or better.
As with other drugs, repeated use of cocaine causes long-term changes in the brain’s reward system, which may lead to addiction. Since cocaine allows excess dopamine to flood the brain, the brain’s reward system adapts to this excess dopamine brought on by the drug. As a result, people take stronger and more frequent doses of cocaine in order to attain the same high they originally experienced.
Cocaine abuse frequently results in severe health consequences such as overdose, irregular heart rhythms, heart attacks, seizures, and strokes.
Common street names for Cocaine:
- Coke
- Blow
- Dust
- Snow
- Powder
- Line
- Bump