Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin Tiktok
Rolling Hills Recovery Center combination logo

Our Location

855-559-8550

Get Help Now
Get Help Now
855-559-8550
Rolling hills recovery center combination logo
Take The First Step Now
Contact Us
Check Insurance
Take The First Step Now
Contact Us
Check Insurance

Cocaine Abuse and Addiction

  • Reviewed by: Dr. Carl Williams, Ph.D., LCADC
  • Modified:
  • Reading Time: 8 minutes
  • Reviewed by: Dr. Carl Williams, Ph.D., LCADC
  • Last Update:
  • Reading Time: 8 minutes

Discover key facts about cocaine and crack addiction, their impact on the brain, and overdose risks.

Start With a Phone Call
Check Insurance

Exploring the Scope of Cocaine and Crack Usage

Cocaine and Crack Abuse

Cocaine is illegally trafficked globally and ranks second place on illegal drugs in America today. International seizures of cocaine continue to increase each year, totaling 42,000 metric tons. The most significant quantities of cocaine happen in South America, with North America coming after.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health Reports, 6.9% of Americans aged 12 and above have used cocaine and crack at one time in their life. Most teenagers report that cocaine is easy to buy and has contributed to drug use. The following are some peculiar statistics surrounding cocaine and crack abuse in the U.S.

Table of Contents

Main enterance at rolling hills recovery center
large group room at rolling hills recovery center.
rolling hills recovery center front desk and logo on the wall.
Levels of Care
Popular Topics
More About Cocaine

Usage Trends and Impacts

Cocaine and Crack Statistics

The below are Monitoring the Future Study in 2020 and 2021 reports:

  • In 2020, 14% of high school students reported using cocaine once, with 17% saying that cocaine is easy to get.

  • Deaths involving cocaine overdose are more common in men than in women.

  • 9.4 Million Americans used crack in their life (2021).

  • 54% of cocaine users contribute to drug-related cases in prisons and federal jails.

  • 0.5% of 8th graders report using cocaine, while 0.2% use crack.

  • 2.9% of 12th graders report using cocaine, while 1.2% use crack.

  • In 2021, almost 1.3 million people struggled with cocaine use disorders.

A Caucasian brunette girl reading a book in a city park, smiling sitting on a bench

From Medical Use to Recreational Abuse

What is Cocaine?

Cocaine is an illegal drug native to South America since it is manufactured from the coca plant in that region of the world. Healthcare providers can use cocaine for valid medical interventions such as local anesthetic for various surgeries. However, many people use the drug for recreational purposes and have found that it is addictive from its stimulating effects and is illegal in most countries.

Cocaine increases its dangerous effects once added with other drugs like synthetic opioids, stimulant amphetamine, cornstarch, etc. For instance, people using cocaine mixed with synthetic opioids or alcohol become quickly addicted because of increased additives. Tolerance to the drug is quick; they have more significant side effects and experience severe withdrawal symptoms if they try to quit.

They are also in danger of facing side effects from opioids and cocaine. The speed at which you feel defects of cocaine is highly dependent on how you choose to use the drug. Some people may snort it through their noses, rub it into their gums, or dissolve and inject it into their bloodstream.

How intense cocaine is or how long its effects last depends on the method used. For instance, smoking or injecting cocaine produces a much more robust and quicker high than snorting the drug. However, smoking and injecting have a shorter-lasting high than snorting cocaine.

Others may heat cocaine already processed into a rock crystal and inhale the vapors from the substance. This form of cocaine is called crack, where other people sprinkle it on marijuana or tobacco before smoking its vapor like a cigarette.

Most people who use cocaine take the drug by increasing higher doses quickly to maintain the “high” feeling.

Did You KNow?

Most Major Insurance Will Help Cover the Cost of Treatment
anthem-white
cigna-1
mcr-aetna-white
mcr-beacon-white
med-mutual-white
prc-magellan
TRICARE_Logo_png
Call Today (855) 559-8550
Check Your Coverage
You Could Be Covered
100% for Treatment

Altering the Reward Pathway

Cocaine and Your Brain

Your brain has a natural substance called dopamine. Dopamine is in charge of controlling your reward system and movements. Your reward system gives you a satisfying feeling when you do a rewarding activity like winning a job proposal, the feeling you get after a morning exercise, etc.

Cocaine increases the level of dopamine and tops the rewarding feeling such that nothing you do ever matches the sense of using cocaine.

Under normal circumstances, dopamine recycles back to the cell that produced it and shuts off the signal connecting nerve cells. In contrast, cocaine prevents this process, causing large amounts of dopamine between nerve cells and avoiding communication between the two nerve cells.

These large amounts of dopamine highly reinforce behaviors associated with drug-taking, such as cocaine. When you continue using cocaine, your brain adapts and becomes tolerant to the drug. As a result, you continue using higher and stronger doses to achieve the previous “high” feeling.

Rolling Hills Recovery Center Offers Help For Cocaine Abuse.

A patient navigator is ready to help. Our team of dedicated professionals are here to help 24 hours a day.

Call (855) 559-8550

Cocaine's Impact on Health

Effects of Cocaine Abuse

Some people report that cocaine helps them perform simple mental and physical tasks more quickly; others report experiencing the opposite side effects. Large quantities of cocaine may lead to unpredictable, bizarre, and violent behaviors. It is risky to abuse cocaine since its effects happen almost immediately and disappears between a few minutes and one hour.

Short-Term Effects

Some short-term effects of abusing cocaine include:

  • High blood pressure.

  • Nausea.

  • Irregular or fast heartbeats.

  • Raised body temperature.

  • Constricted blood vessels.

  • Muscle cramps and tremors.

  • Hypersensitivity to touch, sound, and sight.

  • Mental alertness.

  • Paranoia, unreasonable and extreme distrust.

  • Irritability.

  • Extreme energy and happiness.

  • Dilated pupils.

Long-Term Health Effects

Long-term health effects of using cocaine before depends on the methods of using the drug;

General long-term effects of cocaine include:

  • Collapsed veins.

  • Scarring.

  • Movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease.

  • Malnutrition due to decreased appetite.

  • Cocaine binges cause extreme restlessness and irritability.

  • Severe paranoia leading to auditory hallucinations.

Snorting cocaine leads to:

  • Nose bleeds.

  • Loss of smell.

  • Problems with swallowing.

  • A frequent running nose.

Smoking cocaine may cause:

  • Coughs.

  • Asthma.

  • Higher risk of developing infections like pneumonia.

  • Distress.

Putting cocaine into your gums may:

  • Cause severe bowel decay.

  • Reduce blood flow.

Injecting cocaine into your bloodstream:

  • Poses a high risk of developing blood-borne diseases like Hepatitis C.

  • Causes soft tissues or skin infections.

  • Increases the chances of contracting sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.

Our Patient Navigators Are Here When You Need Them

Our experienced staff is available 24/7 to answer any questions you may have. Call today and change your tomorrow.

We're Here When You're Ready

Find Out Why We Have a 4.9 Rating on Google

Testimonials & Stories of Hope

Cocaine Dependence and Overdose Risks

Cocaine Addiction and Overdose

As soon as cocaine changes your brain into tolerance to the drug, you are on your way to addiction. As the reward circuit adapts to cocaine, it becomes tolerant and demands higher and stronger doses; this is addiction. Skipping or quitting cocaine leads to withdrawal symptoms because your brain has reached a point where it can’t properly function without the drug.

Withdrawal symptoms may include:

  • Slowed thinking.

  • Depression.

  • Fatigue.

  • Insomnia or unpleasant dreams.

  • Decreased appetite.

When you overdose on cocaine, you have used enough of the drug to cause life-threatening symptoms, adverse effects, or even death. Remember that can occur either unintentionally without knowing or as you continue to consume a higher dosage. An overdose of cocaine may end as soon as you take the first dose or unexpectedly a while later.

Using cocaine while drinking alcohol or mixing it with other drugs like heroin is risky because it forms a quicker pathway to overdose.

The most severe and common health effects of cocaine overdose may include:

  • Strokes.

  • Irregular heart rhythm.

  • Heart attacks.

  • Difficulty in breathing.

  • High blood pressure.

  • Extreme anxiety or agitation.

  • High body temperature.

  • Seizures.

  • Hallucinations.

Master bedroom at grandview estates inpatient alcohol rehab
Grand staircase at grandview estates drug rehab

Your Path to Freedom Begins Today

Don't Wait Any Longer. Transform Your Life Today.

Our caring treatment navigators are standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ready to help you or your loved one. When you call Rolling Hills Recovery Center you can trust that you will find the help you need – at no cost or obligation to choose our program. Get started right now.

Call Today (855) 559-8550
Get a Callback Now
Request a Confidential 100% Confidential Callback

We Make Getting Help Easy

Our Simple Admissions Process

Treatment Planning
Assessment

Our clinical and medical teams review your personal history and circumstances in order to determine the best treatment plan based on your needs.

Schedule Admission Date
Intake

During intake you will be asked some more questions about your background & medical history. This allows us to fully formulate your treatment plan.

Tour the Facilities
Personal Tour

One of our caring team members will take you around the clinical facilities and introduce you to the rest of our team and current community. 

Settle In
Unwind & Relax

We know that the first day of treatment can be overwhelming for anyone. We work with you to ensure you ease yourself into the treatment process.

Our Admissions Process

Get the Help You Need Right Now

Request a Confidential Callback

Forms and Methods of Use

Crack vs. Cocaine

Cocaine is derived from the coca plant and is found in rock and powder forms. The powdered form of cocaine is called cook or cocaine; its rock form makes up crack or crack cocaine. While cocaine may be injected, snorted, or placed into the gums, crack is mainly smoked.

Smoking crack cocaine produces high quantities of the drug into the lungs; hence has intense and immediate euphoric effects.

Need Help Finding Care?

Let us point you in the right direction.

Call (855) 559-8550

The Dangers of Crack

Risks Involved with Abusing Crack

Do not be disillusioned; cocaine in any form is just as lethal. However, studies show that smoking crack leads to a quicker addiction and extreme withdrawal symptoms. In addition to the typical side effects of using cocaine, crack users may experience:

  • Lung bleeding.

  • Lung trauma.

  • Acute respiratory problems.

  • Coughing.

  • Shortness of breath.

  • Paranoid behavior.

  • Aggression.

Conclusion

Seeking Help for Cocaine Addiction

While it is hard to quit cocaine and achieve sobriety, it is not entirely impossible. If you notice you have started taking more doses than before, seeking medical assistance is essential. Though the journey to recovery might be challenging, it never does hurt anyone to try. You can do it!

Facebook Linkedin X-twitter Pinterest Instagram

Written By:

Angel Alexander

Angel alexander pic edited
Rolling Hills Recovery Center

Mental Health Writer

About Author:

Angel Alexander is certified in mental health studies and mental health coaching. Angel has over nine years of freelance writing experience and seven years in mental health and substance abuse writing. Angel is currently in her 2nd year of studies at Wallace Community College for the study of psychology.

Medically Reviewed By:

Dr. Carl Williams Ph.D., LCADC

Carl Williams, medical content reviewer at rolling hills recovery center
Rolling Hills Recovery Center

Expert Contributor

About Reviewer:

Dr. Williams presently serves on the board of Directors for two non-profit service organizations. He holds a Master’s degree in Human Services from Lincoln University, Philadelphia, Pa, and a Ph.D. with a concentration in Clinical Psychology from Union Institute and University. In Cincinnati, Ohio. He is licensed to practice addictions counseling in both New Jersey and Connecticut and has a pending application as a practicing Psychologist in New Jersey.

Start Your Journey

Stay Informed & Up-to-Date

Related Cocaine Articles & Topics