By Hannah Pettersson

Powerfully addictive stimulant drug

Made from the coca plant native to South America.
Illegal drug
 Fine, white, pure powder
Crystal
 Coca plants are weeded by a weed eater
Cement is sprinkled over the mulched leaves
Mixed with big vats of gasoline
Ammonia, sulfuric acid, sodium permanganate, caustic soda
Put into press so moisture gets squeezed out
Place in water and heat up (fry-up)
Later made into cocaine
 Snort the powder through the nose
Rub into gums
Dissolve powder and inject it into the bloodstream
Speedball
Smoking (crack)
Binges- taking the drug repeatedly within a short time, at increasingly higher
doses
 Cocaine increases levels of the natural chemical messenger dopamine in the brain
circuits controlling pleasure and movement
The brain releases dopamine. It then recycles back into the cells the released it,
shutting off the signal between nerve cells.
Cocaine prevents dopamine from recycling
 Extreme happiness and energy
Mental alertness
Hypersensitivity to sight, sound, and touch
Irritability
Paranoia-extreme and unreasonale distrust of thers
 Constricted blood vessels
Dilated pupils
Nausea
Raised body temperature and blood pressure
Faster heartrate
Tremors and muscle twitches
restlessness
 Snorting: loss of smell, nosebleeds, runny nose, problem with swallowing
Consuming by mouth: bowel decay from reduced blood flow
Needle injection: HIV, hepatitis C, blood borne disease
 Blow
Coke
Crack
Rock
Snow
 An overdose occurs when the person uses too much of a drug and has a toxic
reaction that results in serious, harmful symptoms or death.
Death can occur the first use or unexpectedly thereafter
heart attack, stroke, seizure
 Restoring blood flow to the heart (heart attack)
Restoring oxygen-rich blood supply to the affected part of the brain (stroke)
Stopping the seizure
 Repeated use of cocaine can lead to addiction.
Causes long-term changes to the brain
Withdrawals: depression, fatigue, increased appetite, unpleasant dreams and
insomnia, slowed thinking
 Cognitive-behavior therapy
Contingency management or motivational incentives- reward to patients who
remain substance free
Therapeutic communities- drug-free residences in which people in recovery from
substance use disorders help each other to understand and change their behaviors
 Cocaine causes the user to have an increased sex drive which leads to unwated
pregnancy
Miscarriages, low birth rate, premature labor, placental abruption, and maternal
birth.
The child could be born with an addiction to the drug
1980s-1990s
 Tremors
Irritability
Sleep problems
High-pitched crying
Tight muscle tone
Hyperactive reflexes
Seizures
Yawning, stuffy nose, and sneezing
Poor feeding and suck
 Vomiting
Diarrhea
Dehydration
Sweating
Fever or unstable temperature
 http://www.businessinsider.com/how-cocaine-is-made-2017-10/#coca-plants-
grow-just-two-months-a-year-amid-the-lush-greenery-of-the-colombian-
countryside-below-a-coca-field-owned-by-edgar-and-his-father-gonzalo-stands-
ready-for-harvest-in-the-mountain-region-of-antioquia-colombia-january-7-2016-
NIDA. "Cocaine." National Institute on Drug Abuse, 6 Jun. 2016,
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/cocaine. Accessed 19 Nov.
2017.
Default - Stanford Children's Health. Stanford Children's Health - Lucile Packard
Children's Hospital Stanford,
www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=neonatal-abstinence-syndrome-
90-P02387.