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There are 100 regional consortia of campus drug prevention programs in the United States. |
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Addiction
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Cocaine
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Cocaine
In the so called war against drugs, cocaine is considered to be the top
contender and the top priority for the eradication of addictive and abused
substances in the United States. From 1978 to 1987, the United States
experienced the largest cocaine epidemic, producing widely publicized
and highly visible antisocial and criminal activities related to the effects
of this substance of abuse. As recently as the 1980s, cocaine was believed
to not cause dependency since it did not cause gross withdrawal effects
such as those experienced by abusers of alcohol and narcotics. In 1982,
to exemplify this perception toward cocaine, Scientific American stated
that cocaine was "no more habit forming than potato chips." However, this
perception of the drug is clearly false as cocaine is so highly addictive
that it is readily self administered by human as well as laboratory animals.
In fact, surveys claim that 1.5 million Americans are chronic cocaine
users. Cocaine is derived from the coca plant, which is primarily grown
in the Andean countries. America's problem with cocaine addiction has
had profound effects on several South American countries, such as Bolivia,
which according to National Geographic, can bring in between $500 million
to $1 billion from coca plant exports annually. In U.S. terms this number
is very small, but for a poor country like Bolivia this money can mean
the difference between life and death for many impoverished families.
The fact that 1 kilogram of cocaine can bring a farmer $1000 combined
with the traditional thought that cocaine is the desired substance in
Latin American countries, it is difficult to persuade farmers to change
crops in these countries. Cocaine is one of several ingredients from the
leaves of Erythroxylon coca. Its leaves are harvest two to three times
a year, processed into a paste in clandestine labs to form a pure, white
hydrochloride salt. This form of purified cocaine is often adulterated,
in which contaminating substances are mixed in to dilute the drugs. The
adverse responses to administering street cocaine are sometimes caused
by the additives, rather than the cocaine itself. Cocaine abusers can
use different administrative methods such as oral administration, inhalation
into the nasal passageways, injection intravenously or smoking the drug
all of which in response produce different levels of potent effects on
the individual with oral administration causing the least effects. Sometimes
cocaine is "freebased" or converted into its alkaline form to reduce the
impurities of processing for the purpose of smoking. This is the case
for "Crack" or an already processed and inexpensive "freebased" cocaine.
Modern technology has allowed scientists to better understand how the
different vital systems of the body are effected by cocaine. Cocaine profoundly
effects the body through enhanced activation of catecholamine and serotonin
transmitters, blocking the uptake and inactivation of the these substances
following their release from neurons, consequently prolonging the effects
of these transmitters. The combination of cocaine's effects on these transmitters
result in CNS stimulation.
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Central Nervous System
Cocaine is often used by individuals suffering from severe depression
or the negative effects of schizophrenia, however the abuse potential
and the short-term action of the drug make it an unsatisfying treatment
for depression. High doses of cocaine, based on the form of administration,
can create feelings of euphoria, enhance the sense of strength, energy
and performance of the body, all of which encourage continual use and
dependence. Cocaine addicts identify their experiences as two stage phenomena.
First comes the "rush," characterized by increased heart rate, sweating
and feelings of "being out of control." This is usually followed by the
second stage, which is a combination of feelings of sociability, euphoria
and self-confidence. However, the exhilaration and confidence caused by
cocaine can turn into irritable restlessness and confused hyperactivity,
especially in high doses when an individual's personality may resemble
paranoid schizophrenia. After even 12 minutes of administration, drug
craving is evident as certain regions of the limbic system become associated
with these drugs. Other side effects of cocaine usage include headaches,
temporary loss of consciousness, seizures and death.
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Cardiovascular System
Cocaine can profoundly effect the cardiovascular system as it enhances
the sympathetic nervous system, increases levels of adrenaline in the
body, and causes vasoconstriction. The effects of cocaine cause the heart
to beat harder and faster, while the veins are constricting, which in
turn limits blood flow and raises blood pressure. Such a combination can
lead to severe heart arrhythmia, an irregular contraction pattern, or
heart attack. Depending of the form of administration, cocaine can also
damage other tissues in the body, prompting a stroke, lung damage in those
that smoke it, destruction of nasal cartilage for those that snort it
and injury to the gastrointestinal tract.
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Local Anesthetic Effect
Cocaine is a preferred local anesthetic for minor pharyngeal surgery
due to its vasoconstriction and topical, local numbing effects. Cocaine
remains relatively safe if applied topically, as along as the dosage is
small enough that sensitive people due not experience CNS stimulation,
toxic psychosis from cocaine entering the bloodstream and even causing
death. Withdrawal symptoms resulting from cocaine use have always been
a question until recently after an epidemic of high instances of chronic
usage has lead to the discovery that the CNS develops tolerance to cocaine
and that cocaine usage is less likely to stop voluntarily than with any
other illicit drug. Research has concluded that after rigorous study,
the extent of cocaine withdrawal if proportional to the duration and intensity
of use. Though the physical withdrawal symptoms are relatively minor compared
to CNS depressants, a cocaine user is 60 times more likely to commit suicide
within the initial hours of usage than a normal person. Short-term withdrawal
symptoms also include sleep abnormalities, craving for the drug, agitation,
and anhedonia (the inability to experience pleasure). Long-term withdrawal
effects include a return to normal pleasures, accompanied by mood swings,
and occasional craving triggered by cues in the surroundings. According
to the American Psychiatric Association, cocaine dependency is classified
as a psychiatric disorder and no one treatment technique has been found
to be significantly superior to other s or universally effects because
treatment programs often do not take into account the patients that drop
out of treatment when they are assessed. However, most treatments focus
on relieving craving rather than extinguishing it. The major differences
in cocaine treatment programs are whether outpatient or inpatient status
is appropriate, which drugs and what dosages should be used to treat patients
during various stages of abstinence, and what length of time the patient
should be isolated from cocaine-accessible environments. The most important
thing is that patients should acquire treatment according to their individual
needs. One of the biggest problems of cocaine use has to do with miscarriages,
premature infants and cocaine babies or children exposed to cocaine while
in the womb. The United States alone spend over $1 billion dollars annually
for maternal care of cocaine using women during their pregnancies, however
most of these babies a born prematurely with birth defects and are abandoned
by their mothers and left to the welfare system for care.
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