Cocaine is a powerful stimulant made from the leaves of the coca plant native to South America. The powdered form of cocaine is either
snorted through the nose where it attaches to nasal tissue or injected into the bloodstream. Crack – or “free-base” – a form of cocaine that has been processed to make a rock crystal, is smoked.Compared to other drugs, understanding how cocaine works is less complex. Cocaine disrupts the way the brain communicates with other parts of the body. Unlike alcohol, cocaine increases the level of dopamine to the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that reinforces or heightens certain behaviors, such as pleasure, movement, and arousal.The intensity and duration of this euphoria and added energy depend on how cocaine is used. Injection delivers cocaine quicker to the brain and bloodstream, but the change in feelings is shorter in duration than when inhaled through the nose, which may last 15 to 30 minutes. On the other hand, the effects from smoking cocaine may only last five to 10 minutes.To sustain a “high,” cocaine consumption is required more often. This repeated pattern – or binge – to satisfy changes in the brain can lead to addiction or an uncontrollable desire to seek and use more of the drug no matter what the consequences.Typically, cocaine withdrawal does not involve visible physical symptoms, such as the vomiting and shaking associated with heroin or alcohol. Daytime television talk-show host Wendy Williams said she was a functioning cocaine addict before she made a name for herself on New York City and Philadelphia radio. But understand this: cocaine withdrawal isn’t exactly a walk in the park either.