Teen Substance Abuse - Cocaine
The National Center for Disease Control reported in a 2000 study of over fifteen thousand adolescents in grades nine to twelve that four percent reported cocaine use within the previous month. This represents a doubling of the number reporting such use nine years earlier.
Additionally, about ten percent of those reporting occasional use eventually become heavy users of cocaine.
Powder Cocaine Facts:
* Very fine in texture, like flour.
* Often mixed with other drugs or substances (amphetamine, caffeine, strychnine, talcum powder, etc.,) making it more toxic.
* Is sniffed up the nose; may be rubbed on gums or other tissues.
* Takes 15-30 minutes to have an effect.
* Has a "high" that lasts 15-30 minutes.
* Is very expensive per dose.
* U.S. MANDATORY MINIMUM prison sentence for possession = 5 years for 4 ounces (500 g.)
Approximately fifty million people in the United States have used cocaine at least once and currently between six and seven hundred thousand Americans report regular cocaine use.
Cocaine's preferred method of administration is "snorting" it through a straw. Other methods include smoking and injecting. The initial effect is a rapid gbphoria and tendency towards excessive talkativeness. The sense of well -being and freedom from stress is very attractive to regular users.
Other short-term effects include surges in energy level, increased mental alertness and elevations in blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. Appetite decreases, blood vessel constriction and dilated pupils also occur with some regularity.
With the ingestion of large doses of this substance bizarre behavioral reactions may occur, including violent eruptions, paranoid behavior and severe restlessness.
Cocaine may also cause disruptions in heart rhythm and in a number of instances has led to heart attacks and strokes.
It is a powerfully addictive substance and with prolonged use requires increasing amounts to obtain the "high". Adolescents and young adult users who develop an addictive cocaine habit tend to complicate their clinical situations by using barbiturates and alcohol to ease the discomforts associated with cocaine dissipation in the system. This often leads to "poly substance abuse" disorder and increases the risk for additional medical problems and accidents associated with disrupted personal functioning.
Parents whose teens may begin manifesting sudden periods of excessive talkativeness, high energy, restlessness, and sleep disturbances need to be alerted to the possibility of cocaine use.
When cocaine use is suspected, parents can obtain confirmation through urine analysis. As with any urine analysis for suspected substance abuse the results are optimally trustworthy only when the provision of the urine sample is witnessed by professional staff.
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