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Effects of cocaine
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The effects of any drug vary from person to person. It depends on many factors including an individual's size, weight and health, how the drug is taken, how much is taken, whether the person is used to taking it, the person's mood and whether other drugs are taken. The effects also depend on the environment in which the drug is used - for example, whether the person is alone, with others, or in a social setting. The quality and purity of the drug used will also influence its effects.
Immediate Effects
Many people have experienced the following effects shortly after taking cocaine:
- physiological arousal, including increased body temperature and heart rate
- feelings of well-being, exhilaration
- decreased hunger
- panic and anxiety
- poor concentration and judgement
- indifference to pain and fatigue
- feelings of great physical strength and mental capacity
- enlarged pupils
- sexual arousal
- unpredictable and/or violent behaviour.
However it's used, the effects of cocaine peak after 15 to 30 minutes, and then diminish.
In greater quantities
Using large quantities of cocaine repeatedly over a period of hours can lead to:
- extreme agitation, anxiety
- paranoia and hallucinations
- dizziness, tremors
- nausea and vomiting
- unpredictable violent/aggressive behaviour
- loss of concentration and coordination
- loss of interest in sex
- loss of ambition and motivation
- heart pain / heart attack
- paranoid psychosis
- increased body temperature
- rapid, irregular and shallow breathing.
Long-term effects
People who have used cocaine over longer periods tend to take cocaine in high quantities - 'binges' interrupted by 'crashes'.
A 'binge' is where the drug is taken repeatedly over several hours or days. The person may attempt to end the binge by taking a depressant drug such as alcohol, benzodiazepines or heroin. The binge is followed by the 'crash' - a period characterised by intense depression, lethargy and hunger.
The unpleasant effects of cocaine increase with more frequent, long-term use. This often results in the person discontinuing their use for a period of time. Most of the symptoms will dissipate once cocaine use ceases.
