Risks+and+Effects+of+Using+Cocaine

Risks and Effects of Using Cocaine

There are a range of risks to users of cocaine and/or crack-cocaine. These risks include, stroke, heart attack, cerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain), and death from respiratory failure. The long and short term effects of cocaine are also factored risks. In addition, cocaine is a highly addictive drug, users can become addicted after their first use.

Effects of using cocaine: - Leads to heart attacks, strokes and death || (Foundation of a Drug-Free World, 2013)
 * ** Short Term Effects ** || ** Long Term Effects ** ||
 * - Loss of appetite || - Permanent damage to blood vessels of the heart and brain ||
 * - Increased heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature || - High blood pressure
 * - Increased rate of breathing || - Liver, kidney and lung damage ||
 * - Contracted blood vessels || - Destruction of tissues in nose (if sniffed) ||
 * - Dilated pupils || - Respiratory failure (if smoked) ||
 * - Disturbed sleep patterns || - Infectious diseases and abcesses (if injected) ||
 * - Nausea || - Malnutrition and weight loss ||
 * - Hyper stimulation || - Severe tooth decay ||
 * - Bizarre, erratic and sometimes violent behaviour || - Auditory and tactily hallucinations ||
 * - Hallucinations, hyper excitability, irratibility || - Reproductive damage and infertility (both men and women) ||
 * - Tactile hallucination (illusion of bugs under the skin) || - Disorientation, apathy, confusion, exhaustion ||
 * - Intense euphoria || - Irriatability and mood disturbances ||
 * - Anxiety and paranoria || - Increased frequency of risky behaviour ||
 * - Depression || - Delirium or psychosis ||
 * - Intense drug craving(s) || - Addiction ||
 * - Panic and Psychosis || - Tolerance ||
 * Convulsions, seizures and sudden death (high doeses) ||  ||