Cocaine
As we approach the 21st century, cocaine abuse remains a major health problem in the United States. Most people today are aware of the dangers of cocaine addiction, but still more individuals are using cocaine frequently and in greater amounts. The physical addiction, often overlooked as an issue in a cocaine addicts attempt to stop the use of this drug, presents an equal amount of problems as does the mental addiction. "Cocaine is a stimulant drug derived from the South American coca plant, Erythroxylon coca. Its most important actions include stimulation of the central nervous system and its ability to produce local anesthesia. Cocaine hydrochloride is the scientific name for the powdery white form of cocaine that is used intranasally or intravenously" (Weiss 169).In discussing the effects of cocaine on the body, it is important to keep in mind that street preparations of cocaine have been adulterated with a variety of "cuts", all of which are designed to dilute the amount of pure cocaine being sold thus increase the profit to the seller. Because the product advertised as "cocaine" may contain as little as 10% pure drug, the potential physical problems resulting from street cocai
When these dopamine neurons are highly active, the pleasure center receives a message that something very good is going on (Flynn 98). When this happens, the brain moves rapidly from a highly stimulated condition to a depressed condition. Within some peer groups, cocaine use is a socailly sanctioned behavior, much the same way alcohol use is for other segments of our society. When cocaine is absorbed into the bloodstream, it is carried rapidly to the brain by the ample blood supply that serves that organ. Since cocaine is a physically addictive substance, withdrawal produces a readily observable set of behaviors. This action of cocaine appears to be crucial to the drug's ability to produce the strong craving experienced by the cocaine user (Flynn 101). Your ability to think, to plan, to see, to touch, to experience pain or to experience emotion is a consequence of this variation in the activity level of your neurons (Flynn 84). Some individuals stop on their own, some go to self-help groups, some seek individual psychotherapy, and others require hospitalization. It is clear that many cocaine users do lose control over their use and that they often use the drug despite adverse consequences. Most important, some of the drug finds its way into the vicinity of the dopamine neurons. Withdrawal from cocaine looks almost like people getting a little stuporous from taking too many central nervous system depressants. Dopamine is not widely distributed in the brain, but is concentrated in three or four specific brain areas (Flynn 98). After two to four days you start to see profound depression which is often accompanied by headaches, irritability and sleep disturbances (Nuckols 52). With this information, I think that one can determine that cocaine addiction is not only a mental addiction but a physical one as well. The physical addiction, often overlooked as an issue in a drug addicts attempt to stop the use of drugs, presents an equal amount of problems as does the mental addiction.
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