Withdrawal can produce extreme anxiety, insomnia, convulsions, and death. Narcotics include opium, morphine, heroin, codeine and synthetic substances that can be taken orally, snorted, smoked, or injected into the skin or a vein. They relax the central nervous system and appear to be able to reduce anxiety levels, promote drowsiness, and allow sleep in spite of severe pain. Short-term physical effects include pinpoint pupils, lethargy, skin abscesses, chronic constipation, nausea, and respiratory depression. Psychological effects include anxiety, irritability, mood swings, depression, drug seeking, and antisocial behavior.
Cocaine is a white crystalline powder, often diluted with other ingredients.
Crack cocaine is a light brown or beige pellet or crystalline rock that resembles coagulated soap. Cocaine speeds up physical and mental processes, creates a sense of heightened energy and confidence and alters the pleasure centers in the brain. Physical short-term effects include headache, exhaustion, shaking, dilated pupils, blurred vision, nausea, loss of appetite, palpitations, and arrhythmias. Psychological effects include impaired judgment, hyperactivity, suspicion, acute anxiety, paranoid ideation, and violence. Repeated use or use of high dosages causes long-term effects.