How Cocaine Is Used by Addicts and First Time Users

Getting High with Cocaine

Cocaine is an illegal mood altering drug which can be harmful to one's health in many ways. Among the most detrimental health risks is the fact that it can cause an elevated heart rate, which can lead to heart attack. Mental issues are also prevalent among cocaine users, as individuals tend to hallucinate when under the influence.

How Cocaine is Used

Cocaine can be used in various ways depending on one's preference, but make no mistake- there is no "better" way to do cocaine. Individuals who use the drug may:

• 1. Lace Cigarettes or Marijuana
• 2. Smoke Through a Pipe
• 3. Snort Up their nose
• 4. Combine it with heroin
• 5. Shoot it up their veins

Lacing Cigarettes and Marijuana

Cocaine can be used by adding the powdered form to cigarettes or marijuana. When smoked this way, cocaine gives a more relaxed mood compared to the "speediness" which is experienced when used in other ways. Individuals who smoke cocaine this way are often those who are just starting out with the drug. Eventually, their taste graduates to more potent ways of experiencing its effects. When cigarettes are laced with cocaine, the term "primo" may be used. This suggests that the high presented is the ultimate cigarette sensation. Little does the user know that things could get really ugly once their use increases. Cocaine mixed with marijuana provides what has been considered the ultimate relaxation drug. With marijuana having properties of numbing the senses, cocaine intensifies its effect, by balancing one's mood out.

Crack, The Wack Form of Cocaine

"Crack" is a slang term used for cocaine which is smoked on a pipe. Taken from its powdered form, and cooked with chemicals which usually include baking soda, this type of cocaine can be lethal. When smoked on a pipe, cocaine goes directly to the brain, and can lead to an instant aneurysm if the hit is an unlucky one. Crack causes the user to see things which are not present, heart palpitations, and a physical tendency to speed. Some users simply sit with a fixed face, in a daze. Crack became popular in the late eighties, and has been ruining households all over the U.S An ever since.

Snorting Coke

Cocaine in its original form is that of a white powder. When used this way, it is snorted up the nose, or used in lacing. However when snorted, the user tends to go into a daze, sometimes speeding. People are known to clean and remain awake for long periods of time due to snorting large amounts of this drug. Normally, this form of use is common among those individuals who consider it as a social high. Some even believe it to be a "cool" and "relaxing" high, believing nothing to be wrong with what they are doing.

Intravenous Use

As with many other drugs, cocaine can be shot directly into one's bloodstream with a hypodermic needle. This form of the drug is done by mixing the powder with a bit of water, and injecting it into a vein. When considering the various ways to use cocaine, this is among the most dangerous. The use of needles can cause germs and diseases among those who share. Diseases such as hepatitis and HIV can be spread through intravenous drug use. Shooting cocaine isn't as popular as it once was, however there are still many who use the drug in this way.

Mixing Cocaine with Heroin

Speedballing is a form of use which depicts cocaine being mixed with heroin. What this mixture of drugs does to one's brain is quite dangerous. Imagine telling your brain to act two totally different ways at once- this is exactly what happens. Individuals use cocaine as an "upper" and follow it with heroin to calm them down. This can be reversed as well. However, the mixture of both drugs is simply not a good idea. Whether it is someone smoking "crack" then snorting heroin behind it, or shooting both drugs into their veins- this is a lethal mixture.

There Is Harmless Way to Use Cocaine

No matter how a cocaine user chooses to use the drug, there are consequences one can expect. Cocaine is one of the most dangerous mood altering drugs, just as PCP and other hallucinating narcotics. It does not matter if one laces a cigarette, or shoots it into their vein- the use of cocaine should never be an option. Although there are no real physical withdrawals from cocaine- like the ones experienced by heroin addicts, a single use of cocaine can kill you. Addicts and first time users alike, have died as a result of sudden heart attacks and stroke. Yes, all it takes is just one time, and a cocaine user could very well take a trip to the county morgue.