When the dose of cocaine is low, set and setting interact with the drug to produce the drug experience. Higher doses of cocaine can drown out an unpleasant environment or bad feelings. However, drug users who increase the dose of cocaine run a high risk of cocaine overdose. Everything seems more intense. Social interactions are increased, and productivity at work temporarily goes up.
Dopamine is a natural chemical in the brain that is usually released only in small amounts.
It is part of the reason that we feel good when good things happen to us. When a person uses cocaine over and over again, the body's supply of dopamine gets lower and lower. It takes more and more cocaine to squeeze out the last bit of dopamine. When the cocaine wears off, the drug user feels worse and worse. Frequent users of cocaine eventually get to the point where even cocaine can't squeeze any more dopamine into the brain.