Cocaine
The Facts
Cocaine
The Facts
Cocaine is made from the leaves
of the coca plant, which grows mainly
in South America. In Ireland it comes
in two forms – cocaine powder and
crack cocaine.
Cocaine powder is usually used
by snorting through the nose.
It is sometimes injected and has
also been eaten.
Crack cocaine, also called ‘rock’,
‘stone’ or ‘free-base’, is a more
addictive form of cocaine and
is usually smoked.
Effects
Cocaine is a powerful stimulant. It makes you
feel more alert and energetic and also less
hungry or thirsty. It can also give you headaches,
chest pain, stomach pain, nausea or sickness,
tremors, irritability, paranoia and hallucinations.
The effects can last for up to 20 minutes for each
use. When the drug wears off you often feel low,
exhausted, intensely irritable and restless.
Due to its powerful effects, you are left craving
more, and as the body gets used to the drug,
larger amounts are need to achieve the same
‘high’ effect. Long term heavy use of cocaine can
be followed by a ‘crash’ when stopped.
The after effects include fatigue, depression,
restlessness, nausea, hyperactivity, insomnia
and weight loss.
Using cocaine puts your physical
and mental health at risk.
• Cocaine use can cause chest pain, raised
blood pressure, heart attack, respiratory
(breathing) problems, strokes, seizures,
kidney failure.
• Snorting cocaine damages the membranes
which line the nose.
• Smoking crack can cause breathing
problems and loss of voice.
• Injecting cocaine can cause abscesses
and infections such as Hepatitis C and
HIV if equipment is shared.
• Anxiety and panic attacks are common.
These can continue after cocaine use
has stopped.
• Erratic behaviour, agitation, irritability
and paranoia can lead to aggressive
behaviour and irrational violence.
• Paranoid thinking can lead to anxiety
and progress to psychotic illness.
• You may experience ‘grandiosity’ – where
you have an exaggerated belief in your
importance and abilities, sometimes
reaching delusional proportions. This
can lead you to take risks, particularly
when driving, leading to accidents.
Using cocaine – You risk addiction!
Overall about one in seven people who try
cocaine become dependent. About one in
20 become dependent in the first year of use.
Research shows that women are three to
four times more likely to become cocaine
dependent in the first year of use than men.
People who have stopped using cocaine
stopped for the following reasons:*
• 42% - because they couldn’t afford it;
• 32% - because of health concerns; and
• 32% - were influenced by family and
friends.
* Figures from ‘An Overview of Cocaine Use in Ireland: II
– The National Advisory Committee on Drugs, 2007’.
Cocaine and other drugs.
Cocaine overdoses are unpredictable.
Using cocaine with other drugs, particularly
alcohol is even more risky. Cocaine and
alcohol combine in the body to form
another drug – cocaethylene – which is
more toxic than either drug on its own.
Nine out of ten people who reported cocaine
as their main drug also used other drugs most
commonly alcohol, cannabis and ecstasy.
Cocaine is less than 25% pure. You cannot
tell the difference by looking at it. The most
common additions found in cocaine include:
• Lignocaine - a local anaesthetic which
numbs the gums like cocaine does and
fools you into thinking the drug is purer
than it actually is. This drug also affects
the heart.
• Phenacetin – a painkiller which is no longer
available for human use because of the
kidney damage it causes.
• Caffeine
• Mannitol – a sugar based substance.
For more information on drugs
and drug services contact:
HSE infoline 1850 24 1850
www.drugs.ie
Text ‘drugs’ to 51900
This leaflet can be ordered from your
local health promotion department
or www.healthinfo.ie
Publication date: February 2008
Review date: February 2010
Order code: HPM00495
