Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

10 Consequences of Cocaine Abuse

About Cocaine

According to the Center for Substance Abuse Research, cocaine is a highly addictive and a commonly abused illegal drug. Cocaine is a stimulant, and is currently a Schedule II substance. Stimulant drugs heighten a user’s body’s activity, including increasing their energy, alertness, heart rate, and blood pressure.

The most commonly used form of cocaine is a white powder that comes from the leaves of the Erythroxylon Coca plant. The white powder is typically delivered into a person’s body by snorting it through their nostrils, although cocaine can be smoked or injected.

Cocaine is also defined as a club drug since many people abuse this stimulant while they are at clubs or at parties. Although most people first begin to abuse cocaine as a one-time event, cocaine is addictive and prolonged use of the drug can lead to many health problems including brain damage, stroke and heart attack. In addition, cocaine abuse not only affects the user’s physical health but also their behavior and their mental health.

Ten Consequences of Cocaine Abuse

cocaine addiction effects and consequences

Abusing cocaine can strain your relationships, cause anxiety and depression, and have a number of other consequences.

There are numerous consequences that stem form cocaine abuse, and every person will suffer from different negative consequences from their drug use. Below is a list of the ten most common consequences that occur from cocaine abuse…

1. Chances of Heart Attack Increase: A person who abuses cocaine risks the chance of having cardiac arrest due to their heart rate increasing. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, people who use cocaine can suffer from heart attacks, which may cause sudden death. Deaths related to cocaine are often a result of the heart stopping followed by an arrest of breathing.

2. Increased Blood Pressure: When it is in a person’s body, cocaine will increase their blood pressure, which can result in other health problems.

3. Stroke: Cocaine also increases the risk of a user having a stroke, which can be fatal.

4. Anxiety: Cocaine is a stimulant, so anxiety is a common side effect of the drug.

5. Depression: After cocaine leaves a person’s system, their dopamine will be depleted resulting in them feeling sad, fatigued, and depressed.

6. Seizures: Unexpected seizures occur from a person’s body temperature rising when they are on cocaine.

7. Financial Loss: Cocaine is expensive and a person who abuses the drug frequently will experience some type of financial loss.

8. Addiction: Cocaine is addictive and if a person continues to abuse the drug, the may develop the chronic brain disease of addiction, which they will battle with of the rest of their life.

9. Loss of Friends and Family: Many people who abuse cocaine pull away from their close friends and family.

10. Permanent Brain Damage: Prolonged use of cocaine can permanently damage a person’s brain chemicals.

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Bill seeks proof of rehab home compliance

Senate Health Committee expected to consider bill that would cause facilities to prove they meet certain licensing requirements. A bill that would create more hurdles for drug and alcohol programs seeking licenses from the state is making its way through the California State Assembly. Assembly Bill 2903 would make recovery homes offer proof to the….

Young Europeans Drink To Increase Chance of Sex

A new study of young adults in nine European countries found that nearly one in four women and one in three men deliberately engage in binge drinking and drug use to improve their chances of sex. The study also found that young people were more at risk of unsafe sex while under the influence of….

An entirely different life

Alcoholics Anonymous helps local man find sobriety, happiness Tom has been sober for 27 years, but the road to recovery was far from easy. “It’s still one day at a time,” he said. “The only person that can say you’re an alcoholic is the person themselves.” Every day is a struggle. “I will always been….

Women Still Drinking During Pregnancy

Despite the Surgeon General’s warning that alcohol can affect unborn children, pregnant women haven’t changed their drinking habits much over the past two decades, the CDC said. The average annual percentage of pregnant women who drank remained relatively stable at about 12% for any alcohol use and 2% for binge drinking, C. H. Denny, Ph.D.,….

Alcohol Dangerous Mix

Increasingly young children and binge drinking are a difficult combination for parents to handle — but we can’t ignore it The dreaded birds-and-bees talk looks easy compared to this new rite of modern parenthood. Among issues parents are encouraged to talk to their teenage and pre-teen children about is how to identify a case of….