Cocaine - Causes and Effects.

Some Cocaine Facts are:

1-tenth of the population - over 22 million people have tried cocaine; Each day 5,000 more people will experiment with it; It is a $35 billion illicit industry now exceeding Columbia's No 1 coffee export; 1 in 10 workers say they know someone who uses drugs on the job.

Some nicknames of Cocaine are:

Coke, snow, C, flake, blow and lady.

Some Signs of Cocaine use are:

Dilation of the pupils; Runny or stuffed-up nose; Inflammation of the nasal membranes; Have a less need for food or rest; Will be more talkative and sociable.

Cocaine use, researchers have found, can both cause, and aggravate, the following symptoms:

Anxiety; Irritability; Undue excitability; Aggressiveness; Paranoia; Feelings of bugs crawling under the skin; Seeing, hearing and smelling things that are not there; Violence; Apathy, laziness, lethargy; Compulsive, repetitive behavior; Concentration Problems; Confusion; Memory problems, and Nervousness and restlessness (jitters associated with both the use and withdrawal from the drug); Complications with pregnancy including: low birth weight; miscarriage, deformed babies, babies with brain damage and internal organ damage, and can even attribute to SIDS.

Chronic, high-dosage abuse of the drug can produce in some cases:

Disinterest in relationships with family and friends; Extreme agitation; Panic attacks; Paranoia; Personal neglect; Extreme depression; Suspiciousness of friends, relatives, and business associates - and - a psychotic state almost indistinguishable from paranoid schizophrenia, complete with delusions and hallucinations; For some individuals with heart disease a rupture of a blood vessel can occur triggering possible death; Seizures and heart failure can result from prolonged use.

Some toxic effects can be:

Heavy sweating; Pale skin; aggressiveness, and insomnia.