How Cocaine Is Made and Its Dangers

The article stated that drinking two cups of the tea per day gave a mild stimulation, increased heart rate, and mood elevation, and the tea was essentially harmless. Coca leaves are typically mixed with an alkaline substance (such as slaked lime) and chewed into a wad that is retained in the buccal pouch (mouth between gum and cheek, much the same as chewing tobacco is chewed) and sucked of its juices. Since 1961, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs has required countries to make recreational use of cocaine a crime.

What to Know About Cocaine

It’s possible to die from an overdose of crack or any other type of cocaine. If you or someone you know has problems with cocaine use, seek help from a doctor or mental health professional. The vaccine activates your immune system to create antibodies that attach to cocaine and stop it from making its way into your brain.

Cocaine Overdose

An overdose often leads to a stroke or heart attack. Withdrawal can be difficult, so it may be best to do it with the help of a medical professional. That means it takes less of it to cause negative effects like anxiety and convulsions. At the same time, you might develop what’s called sensitization to the drug. That means you have to use more and more of the drug to get high.

Researchers are evaluating drug treatments that help people stop using cocaine.
The rate and extent of absorption from inhalation of cocaine is similar or greater than with intravenous injection, as inhalation provides access directly to the capillary bed.
A cocaine binge is when someone uses cocaine repeatedly in higher and higher doses.
Others dissolve the drug in water and inject it with a needle.
Cocaine hydrochloride (Numbrino) was approved for medical use in the United States in January 2020.

Cocaine Withdrawal

Regardless of the specific type of substance use disorder treatment, it is important that patients receive services that match all of their treatment needs. Food and Drug Administration to treat cocaine use disorder. Babies exposed to cocaine during pregnancy are often prematurely delivered, have low birth weights and smaller head circumferences, and are shorter in length than babies who are not exposed to cocaine during pregnancy.30-32 Snorting cocaine produces a relatively slow onset of the high, but it may last from 15 to 30 minutes.

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) should not be combined with other psychoactive substances (antidepressants, painkillers, stimulants, including prescribed, OTC and illegally acquired drugs, etc.) except under expert care.citation needed This elevated risk is largely attributed to the formation of cocaethylene, a unique and toxic metabolite produced only when both substances are consumed together. Use of cocaine causes abnormally fast heart rhythms and a marked elevation of blood pressure (hypertension), which can be life-threatening. For people with cocaine abuse, mild symptoms may resolve completely with total abstinence from cocaine, making early involvement of addiction services essential. The short half-life of cocaine, combined with binge use, may expose the nasal tissues to this acidic environment more frequently, increasing the risk of irritation and damage. As cocaine is absorbed through the nasal mucosa, the remaining hydrochloride component forms a dilute hydrochloric acid.

Psychiatric symptoms

The delay in absorption after oral ingestion may account for the popular belief that cocaine bioavailability from the stomach is lower than after insufflation. The rate and extent of absorption from inhalation of cocaine is similar or greater than with intravenous injection, as inhalation provides access directly to the capillary bed. The opioid epidemic now involves more overdose deaths with both opioids and cocaine, especially among non-Hispanic Blacks who are twice as likely to die from combined opioid-stimulant overdoses compared to non-Hispanic whites. The cause of «cocaine nose» can be traced to the chemical process that occurs when cocaine hydrochloride is insufflated (snorted).

Overdose

Seek treatment to reduce these risks. Using cocaine during pregnancy can cause problems for both the parent and the developing baby. There are about 750,000 cocaine-exposed pregnancies each year. Some research has suggested that cocaine damages the way immune cells work in your body, which could make HIV worse.

Cocaine Addiction Treatment

Cocaine binds tightly at the dopamine transporter forming a complex that blocks the transporter’s function. Cocaine increases levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine in the synaptic cleft, leading to heightened post-synaptic activation, with dopamine contributing to euphoria and arousal, and the other monoamines enhancing additional effects. Hair analysis can detect cocaine metabolites in regular users until after the sections of hair grown during the period of cocaine use are cut or fall out. In urine from heavy cocaine users, benzoylecgonine can be detected within four hours after intake Cocaine vs Heroin and in concentrations greater than 150 ng/mL for up to eight days later. Depending on liver and kidney functions, cocaine metabolites are detectable in urine between three and eight days. Cocaine crosses the blood–brain barrier via both a proton-coupled organic cation antiporter and (to a lesser extent) via passive diffusion across cell membranes.

The two substances react to produce cocaethylene, which may increase the toxic effects of cocaine and alcohol on the heart.21 The combination of cocaine and opioids like heroin or fentanyl is also very dangerous.
Cocaine produces a spectrum of psychiatric symptoms including agitation, paranoia, anxiety, irritability, psychosis, hallucinations, delusions, violence, as well as suicidal and homicidal thinking.
Mexican cartels formerly operated as junior partners for the Colombian cartels.
Because cocaine’s effects wear off sooner, this can lead to an opioid overdose.22,23

Coca herbal infusion (also referred to as coca tea) is used in coca-leaf producing countries much as any herbal medicinal infusion would elsewhere in the world. Coca cultivation and its subsequent processes occur primarily in Latin America, especially in the Andes of Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia, though cultivation is expanding into Central America, including Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize. Cocaine also produces a spectrum of psychiatric symptoms including agitation, paranoia, anxiety, irritability, psychosis, hallucinations, delusions, violence, as well as suicidal and homicidal thinking. Acute use can cause vasoconstriction, tachycardia, hypertension, hyperthermia, or seizures, while overdose may lead to stroke, heart attack, or sudden cardiac death. Cocaine was once a standard topical medication as a local anesthetic with intrinsic vasoconstrictor activity, but its high abuse potential, adverse effects, and cost have limited its use and led to its replacement by other medicines.

Withdrawal symptoms include disrupted sleep, irritability, depression, and reduced ability to experience pleasure (anhedonia). Cocaine can induce tolerance after a single dose, and repeated use frequently leads to the development of addiction and prolonged craving. With excessive dosage, tremors, convulsions, and increased body temperature are observed. Acute exposure may induce arrhythmia, including atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular tachycardia, and ventricular fibrillation.

Cocaine is known to suppress hunger and appetite by increasing co-localization of sigma σ1R receptors and ghrelin GHS-R1a cell surface receptors, thereby increasing ghrelin-mediated signaling of satiety and possibly via other effects on appetitive hormones. Further specific receptors it has been demonstrated to function on are NMDA and the D1 dopamine receptor. Cocaine has been demonstrated to bind as to directly stabilize the DAT transporter on the open outward-facing conformation.

Assessment tools like the Obsessive Compulsive Cocaine Use Scale (OCCUS) may be employed to quantify obsessive and compulsive thoughts related to cocaine consumption. Additionally, stimulants like cocaine, methamphetamine, and even caffeine cause dehydration and dry mouth. A 2018 review found little evidence that chronic cocaine use causes widespread cognitive impairment. These findings suggest that some cocaine-related cognitive deficits are reversible, especially if use begins later in life. Cocaine constricts blood vessels, dilates pupils, and increases body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure.

These conditions involve immune activation through NETosis and ANCA formation, leading to tissue damage. Clinical studies have shown that taking levamisole at doses of 50–200 mg per day can lead to agranulocytosis in approximately 0.08–5% of patients. Levamisole-induced necrosis syndrome (LINES) is a complication characterized by necrosis resulting from exposure to levamisole, a medication with immunomodulatory properties. Cocaine use can cause serious heart problems like sudden death, heart inflammation, arrhythmias, and heart attacks. Cocaine also may cause an unborn baby to have a stroke, irreversible brain injury, or a myocardial infarction.

Detection in the body

We believe everyone deserves access to accurate, unbiased information about mental health and recovery. Cocaine addiction has a serious impact on your brain chemistry. People who stop using cocaine will likely experience cocaine withdrawal. If you or a loved one is struggling with a cocaine use disorder, getting help is an important start to your recovery journey. They have expanded their cocaine distribution efforts to Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe.12

Some countries, such as Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, permit the cultivation of coca leaf for traditional consumption by the local indigenous population, but nevertheless, prohibit the production, sale, and consumption of cocaine. In the United States the manufacture, importation, possession, and distribution of cocaine are additionally regulated by the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. Fishscale cocaine, from fish + scale, is named for its shiny, yellowish flakes that resemble fish scales—distinct from the dull white appearance of standard cocaine powder. Both the pharmaceutical supply chain and the illicit supply chain obtain cocaine from coca cultivated in Latin America, but they operate under very different controls and oversight.

While there are some core ingredients that must be included in the production of cocaine, there are several that can be used interchangeably.17 Manufacturers may utilize different chemicals than one another based on factors such as availability, financial limitations, and personal preferences. Also known by street names such as coke, blow, or snow, cocaine is derived from the leaves of the coca plant, which are processed with a variety of different chemicals to create powdered cocaine.1 Researched, fact-checked and transparent articles and guides that offer addiction and mental health insight from experts and treatment professionals. Join our global mission of connecting patients with addiction and mental health treatment. Recovery.com combines independent research with expert guidance on addiction and mental health treatment. Long-term cocaine use dulls thinking processes and the ability to remember information.