Kylee Gore

Life, Society, and Drugs

Research Paper
August 6, 2016

Cocaine Abuse in Todays Society

Our society today faces multiple drug issues, ranging from drugs that are legal in some
states, but illegal in others, such as Marijuana, to prescription drugs, all the way to the abuse of
illicit drugs. Because there are so many drugs out there that work as gateway drugs, the risk of
people abusing more dangerous, illicit drugs has highly increased. Yes, there has been advances
in medicine and other educational programs, but what is it that still brings people to using or
abusing these illicit drugs? Is it just for fun? For the sensation? No, it has become a whole new
battle we are forced to face when trying to help those cope with their addiction.
At the beginning, the feeling might be what it was about, but once addiction has set in,
there is no simple way of turning back because it is too late. It then becomes a compulsive at that
cant be controlled. The drug then takes over the body and mind, making it so the abusers feel
like they cant live without it. Since the law, the War On Drugs was created, it has helped
reduce the abuse of drugs by a huge amount, but not completely. The numbers related to violence
and crimes due to drug abuse only increases, endangering those who are addicted, but even more,
the innocent people. The battle society faces today with the abuse of drugs will never go away
completely. With the negative behaviors that keep arising from drug abuse, its never going to be

something that we have complete control of. People will continue to do drugs behind closed
doors regardless of if its illegal or not.
According to the article, Drug Addictions in the United States, 1.5 million people are
current users of Cocaine. Just that 1.5 million represents 0.6% of our population. Not only is the
amount of users at a dangerous risk in todays society, but the amount of money substance abuse
is costing our nation is more than $434 billion per year (Drug Addictions in the United States).
Society today is also facing major effects on our community due to drug abuse of Cocaine.
Cocaine users account for 31% of homelessness and even 60% of crime and violence
(Drug Addictions in the United States). Childrens education is also being crippled due to having
parents or family members who use Cocaine. In a recent survey, children whose parents abuse
Cocaine are 1.5 times more likely for special needs classes and education (Drug Addiction in the
United States). Cocaine users are also known for suffering in the workplace. Those who abuse
are known for missing more than four or more work days in the last month, or have had three or
more different employers within the last year.
Cocaine is a drug that originates from a Coca plant that is native to South America.
According to the article, The Truth About Cocaine, Cocaine is one of the oldest, most potent and
most dangerous stimulants of its natural origin. Cocaine was first used by ancient Incas in the
Andes. They used to chew the Coca plant leaves to reverse the side-effects the dealt with when
breathing in the high altitude air of the mountains where they lived. Another use for chewing the
Coca leaves was just a religious use at ceremonies. The use of Cocaine didnt start spreading
until Spanish Soldiers came over and invaded their land (The Truth About Cocaine).

A man by the name of Sigmund Freud was the first person to promote the use of Cocaine.
Although he believed that it cured depression and sexual impotence, he didnt quite take the
other symptoms into account. He prescribed Cocaine to his girlfriend and close friends and
thought that the amount of Cocaine someone could ingest was so high, that there was no way for
there to be a lethal dose (The Truth About Cocaine). It was only when his closest friends died
from his high dosages he prescribed that he stopped prescribing Cocaine.
The Coca plant leaves were then used as a key ingredient in the popular soda, Coca-Cola
by John Pemberton (The Truth About Cocaine). The energizing effects that the Coca plant
produced was one of the key factors that made the Coca-Cola product sky rocket in sales. By
1903, the dangerous effects that Cocaine had on people finally became apparent and the Coca
plant leaves had been removed from the product.
but has become a highly abused and lethal drug In the United States today. Cocaine
comes in all different forms and is usually considered to be a street drug. There are multiple
names it goes by, but the most common are blow, coke, crack, rock, and snow. The affects this
drug has on humans can vary, but it mostly depends on what method is used. Cocaine can be
injected into the bloodstream by users dissolving the powder in water, or it can be rubbed straight
onto peoples gums and dissolved orally, it can be snorted through the nose, or even smoked and
inhaled through the lungs.
Cocaine abusers are known for using the drug in binges, or repeatedly over short amounts
of time so they can continue to maintain their high. Because after a certain amount of time, the
drug wont have the same amount of affects as it did the first time users began to experiment
with it, the users with usually increases the amount being consumed in higher doses, creating a
greater high.

Over the years, Cocaine abusers have been known for injecting a drug called speedball.
This drug consists of a combination of Cocaine and Heroin, which is injected through the
bloodstream. This combination is known for having some of the same effects on the body, as
Cocaine or Heroin would, but them working together pretty much just intensifies the high and
affect it has.
According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, Cocaine increases the levels of
Dopamine in someones brain. Increased levels of Dopamine causes it to no longer be recycled
between nerve cells, making it so there is an excessive buildup of Dopamine throughout the
body. Cocaine has many short term effects, but the long-term effects are what the abusers needs
to be more careful of. Looking at the effects short term, they consist of extreme happiness,
combined with energy, mental alertness, hypersensitivity to sight, sound, and touch, major
irritability, and paranoia.
The interesting thing about the effects of Cocaine is that they appear almost immediately,
but can disappear within just a few minutes to an hour of consuming the drug (National Institute
of Drug Abuse). When someone is experiencing the high from Cocaine, they might also get
symptoms like dilated pupils, nausea, constricted blood vessels, increase in body temperature
and blood pressure, a faster heartbeat, tremors, muscle twitches, and restlessness.
People with a severe addiction to Cocaine may suffer from heart attack, strokes, and even
seizures. Although Cocaine is sometimes used in medical purposes, such as anesthesia, it is still a
very illegal drug (National Institute of Drug Abuse). Cocaine actually began being used in
medical history in the year of 1880, but is strictly limited to its use (The Truth About Cocaine).

Today, a huge majority of accidents that are reported from Emergency Rooms are drug
overdoses. Before medical professionals can help with the addiction side and controlling the
overdose symptoms, they are mainly focused on getting the medical condition under control,
such as stopping the seizures or returning blood levels back to normal before they can deal with
the other side-effects the overdose has caused.
Over the past few years, a connection between Heart Disease has been found with
Cocaine. Cocaine isnt the only drug that can cause Heart Disease. Tobacco, ecstasy,
amphetamines, and steroids are also drugs that put people at risk, but Cocaine abuse accounts for
30% of Heart Disease (National Institute of Drug Abuse). Just in the year 2000, approximately
460,000 deaths were from illicit drug use (Drug Addictions in the United States). The number of
deaths per year has decreased to approximately 200,000, but as we can see, something is still
posing as a problem in the battle against drug abuse.
People who pose the highest risk experimenting with drugs are adolescents and people
with mental illnesses. This is most likely due to their vulnerability and how easily accessible
drugs can be now a days. As discussed earlier on in this paper, the sensation that drugs gives
people was considered to be a reason why people continue going back for the drug, but how
easily adolescents are exposed to drugs makes it extremely easy to access them.
No matter what neighborhood people live in, where kids go to school, or how you were
raised doesnt always stop how exposed they are to drugs. Our education programs and lectures
are no longer becoming enough to mask the idea that drugs ruin lives. More needs to be taken
into account and something else has to be done in order to fix these out breaks in drugs. Society
is now just presenting adolescents with more and more gateway drugs, which only leads to the
use of more serious and dangerous drugs, such as Heroin, Meth, and Cocaine. We may never be

able to control the outcomes of drugs, but what we can control is the precautions we present to
our society and things that they can avoid.

Works Cited
Drug Addiction in the United States. (2010, January). Retrieved August 06, 2016, from
cocainerehab.org
National Institute of Drug Abuse. (2013, May 18). Retrieved August 06, 2016, from
www.drugabuse.gov
The Truth About Cocaine. (2013, February 21). Retrieved August 06, 2016, from
www.drugfreeworld.org