WHAT WE KNOW
Cocaine negatively affects how your brain works.
- Cocaine causes a short-lived “high” that is immediately followed by opposite, intense feelings of depression and edginess and a craving for more of the drug.
- Cocaine can make you feel paranoid, angry, hostile, and anxious, even when you’re not high.
- Cocaine is addictive. It interferes with the way your brain processes chemicals that create feelings of pleasure, so you need more and more of the drug just to feel normal. People who become addicted to cocaine start to lose interest in other areas of their life, such as school, friends, and sports.
- Cocaine may give users a temporary illusion of power and energy but often leaves them unable to function emotionally, physically, and sexually.
- Cocaine impairs your judgment, which may lead to unwise decisions. For example, you may make unsafe decisions about sexual activity that can increase your risk for HIV/AIDS and other diseases, rape, or unplanned pregnancy.
Cocaine can negatively affect your health.
- Cocaine can alter how much you eat and sleep.
- Cocaine users can experience increased heart rate, muscle spasms, and convulsions.
- If you snort cocaine, you can permanently damage your nasal tissue.
- Cocaine users who share needles can also contract hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases.
It’s a myth that crack is less addictive than cocaine because it stays in the body a shorter amount of time. Both cocaine and crack are powerfully addictive. The length of time the drug stays in your body doesn’t affect that.
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