Cocaine addiction & its treatment

Cocaine

Many people are affected with drug abuse. They need some rehab center for the proper treatment of drug addiction since in most of the cases it is not possible for them to recover by themselves. Thus they choose the rehab center as a treatment option.

Chemically Cocaine is called as Benzoylmethyl ecgonine. It is extracted from leaves of the coca plant. It is basically a crystalline tropane alkaloid. Cocaine is derived from the name Coca. It acts as both appetite suppressant and stimulant of central nervous system. Cocaine is addictive because of the way it affects mesolimbic reward pathway. Cocaine is also used as a topical anesthetic especially in eye, throat and nose surgery. The cultivation, possession and distribution of Cocaine are illegal for all non-government and non-medicinal authorized purposes all over the world. Its free commercialization is illegal. Despite this it is used worldwide in many personal, cultural and social things.

Cocaine is pearl white in color. It appears in powder form as a salt known as cocaine hydrochloride. Street market cocaine is cut and filled by some filler such as baking soda, lactose, dextrose, mannitol, inositol, local anesthetics (lidocaine, or benzocaine) and other stimulants such as methamphetamine. It is done so for increasing its weight. The adulterated cocaine is pinkish white or off-white powder. Crack cocaine ranges from white to yellowish or light brown in color. It depends upon many factors like its origin, method of preparation (with baking soda or ammonia) and presence of impurities. Its texture also depends upon on many factors and it ranges from crumbly (oily) to hard like crystals.

Cocaine exists in many forms such as: cocaine sulfate, freebase, crack cocaine, chewed/eaten, insufflation, injected, smoked, oral, coca leaf infusions and oral.

Harmful effects:
The cocaine causes mood disturbances, irritability, paranoia, restlessness, auditory hallucinations, twitching, impotence, etc. It can lead to heart attack or disturbance in heart rhythm, chest pains and respiratory failures. The heavy users of cocaine suffer from headaches, seizures and strokes. It also causes reduced food intake, weight loss, losing their appetite, malnutrition problems, etc.

99% of the cocaine is metabolized in the liver and only 1% is excreted in urine. The effect of cocaine last from 20 minutes to many hours depending upon the dosage and type of cocaine. It is second most popular illegal recreational drug in US. It is generally used by middle to upper class communities.

There are many rehab centers in U.S. People who are in search of drug rehab center always look for the best center they can get. Many of them are confused about which treatment center to choose. So, people should always look for different aspects while choosing a rehab center.