Cocaine Use Increases

An article entitled “Cocaine Epidemic Feared As Cocaine Deaths Nearly Double In Florida Over Past 5 Years” was featured on the “Medical News Today” website on October 21, 2006. Not surprisingly, the information contained in this article was quite disconcerting. For instance, one of the key points in the article was that cocaine use is on the rise among college students with disposable income and also among high-profile celebrities. Perhaps of more importance, however, are two facts that are associated with the escalation in cocaine use: the increased cocaine-related emergency room visits and the rising cocaine-related fatalities. In fact, according to Florida drug authorities, cocaine-related deaths in Florida have almost doubled from 2000 to 2005.

Why People Use Cocaine

Why do various individuals use cocaine? Cocaine gives a person a feeling of euphoria, energy, and at times, an unbelievable, almost superhuman sense of control and mastery. For instance, some people who have taken cocaine have been known to leap out of windows or off rooftops, thinking that they could fly or that they could jump dozens of feet without getting injured. There is, however, a physiological reason why people continue to use cocaine after their first encounter. Cocaine exhausts the “feel-good” neurotransmitter dopamine, thus causing a need for even more use. In short, and from a physiological perspective, cocaine use perpetuates more cocaine use.

Fatalities and Cocaine Use

To gain a better understanding of the ultimate danger inherent in cocaine use, namely death, one needs to focus on the timeframe regarding its life-threatening effects. To accomplish this, cocaine use will be compared with prescription drug abuse.

The abuse of prescription drugs such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Adderall can trigger abrupt cardiac or respiratory arrest at the time of abuse. Thus the critical and fatal timeframe when abusing prescription drugs is mostly “short-term.” Conversely, due to the snowballing effects of cocaine, especially regarding the blood vessel damage that increases the risk of stroke or heart attack as a person ages, users can suddenly die years after their cocaine abuse started. Therefore, the critical and fatal timeframe for cocaine use, unlike the same measure for prescription drug abuse, is typically “long term.”

Why the Rise in Cocaine Use?

Why is cocaine use increasing? One of the reasons is that celebrities who are addicted to cocaine have become “walking cocaine advertisements” and, as a result, have been able to adversely influence others, such as students, who have access to relatively large amounts of disposable income.

The Need For Intervention and Education

Florida drug experts stress that additional drug education and intervention need to take place in schools, colleges, and in local communities nationwide to help prevent a full-blown cocaine epidemic. I agree, but to be effective, I assert that the intervention and educational strategy has to include facts that challenge the lifestyles of the cocaine-using celebrities. Let me explain. Students need to be aware that they are observing a “snapshot in time” that does not reveal “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would say. Stated differently, college students who are impressed by cocaine-using high rollers need to learn how to see through the VIPs’ facade and realize that they are getting “sold” faulty goods by the cocaine-using rich and famous.

Many celebrities are at or approaching middle age. As a result, most, if not all, of the high-profile chronic cocaine have learned first-hand about the consequences of their drug-related lifestyles. On the other hand, most “traditional” college students are either teenagers or very young adults. Due to the cumulative effects of cocaine use, however, college students who continue to use cocaine are essentially playing Russian roulette with their near and long-term future.

The Rest of the Story

College students must be made aware of the fact that the cocaine-using celebrities that they are impressed with are really loose cannons that may explode into oblivion at any time because of their drug-related lifestyles. This “ultimate” and fatal consequence, however, does not tell the whole story. Indeed, the “rest of the story” also focuses on both the short-term and the long-term health consequences of cocaine use.

Short and Long-Term Effects of Cocaine Use

What the impressionable students have not seen are the friends of celebrities who have died from cocaine-related cardiac arrest, seizures, strokes, and respiratory failure. In addition, the vulnerable students have not been told about the “coke crash” that certainly has left some of the rich and famous depressed, irritable, and fatigued.

Not only this, but the easily influenced students have not been informed about the loss of smell, problems with swallowing, and the nosebleeds experienced by some of the rich and famous who got their cocaine “buzz” via snorting. Moreover, the “receptive” students have not been notified about the bizarre, unpredictable, and at times violent behavior of many high rollers who took increasingly larger doses of cocaine in order to experience the desired high.

Additionally, the suggestible students were not informed about the abdominal pain and nausea experienced by some of the cocaine-using celebrities. In a similar manner, the impressionable students were not told about the paranoid psychosis and auditory hallucinations experienced by various VIPs who experimented with binge cocaine use, i.e., taking more frequent AND higher doses of the drug at the same time.

Moreover, the vulnerable students were not told about the fever, convulsions, blurred vision, muscle spasms, and comas experienced by some of the cocaine-using VIPs or by some of their friends who “party” with them. Similarly, the impressionable students were not told about the major weight loss, malnourishment, and loss of appetite experienced by numerous celebrities who have been chronic cocaine users. And finally, the susceptible students were not informed about the severe chest pains, coughing, shortness of breath, and bleeding in the lungs experienced by some of the celebrities who got their cocaine “buzz” via smoking.

Conclusion

College students need to become knowledgeable of the immediate and the long-term health problems that virtually all chronic cocaine users, even celebrities, eventually experience. In addition, they need to become aware of their vulnerability to cocaine use due to the fact that, statistically speaking, the 18 to 25-year-old age group currently has the highest rate of cocaine use compared to other age groups. Until college students can “see” the contradictions and damaging effects inherent in the questionable lifestyles of cocaine-using VIPs, however, some of them will continue to follow the destructive paths of the high-profile cocaine-using celebrities.

Every day across America, nearly a million American kids age 12 to 17 abuse a pain reliever for the very first time just to get high. If you do the math, that’s nearly a million kids a year risking their lives — or at the very least, risking a life interrupted or ruined by prescription drug addiction. Teenagers are abusing more prescription and over-the-counter drugs than all illegal and illicit drugs except marijuana, according to federal statistics. In 2006, more than 2.1 million teens ages 12 to 17 reported abusing prescription drugs. And kids as young as 12 and 13 told researchers that prescription drugs are their “drug of choice.” The drugs that lead to prescription drug addiction for thousands of these young people are powerful narcotic painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet. These are the heroin-in-a-pill type drugs that can cause breathing collapse and coma, that have led to tens of thousands of cases of prescription drug addiction across the country. OxyContins were responsible in part for the death of actor Heath Ledger, and literally thousands of other “just plain folks” across the country in recent years. Anti-anxiety drugs and depressants, especially the benzodiazepine drugs — Xanax is a popular brand, as are Valium, Librium and many others — are particularly dangerous. They rapidly create dependencies that can lead to prescription drug addiction — some people are hooked after just a day or two on Xanax — and they are really difficult to get off of safely. And benzos can cause death when mixed with other drugs or alcohol. Stimulants are another type of drug that kids are abusing to get a buzz, particularly the kinds prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Adderall and Ritalin are two of the most abused, and these, because of their side effects, are basically cocaine-in-a-pill. Kids are trading and selling their ADHD prescription drugs with other kids, and stupidly risking their friends’ lives. Speed drugs can cause seriously abnormal heart rhythms, seizures and death. Meanwhile, a recent University of Texas study showed conclusively that methylphenidate, the active ingredient in Ritalin, causes chromosomal damage — the organized structures of DNA in our cells. No one has a clue yet what damage that will do long-term, but messing with someone’s DNA can’t be harmless. But while that research continues, millions of parents keep feeding these drugs to children. It’s time for a reassessment. Teens are also abusing over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, such as cough and cold remedies, which contain dextromethorphan and other drugs which are, like those prescription drugs, extremely deadly when combined with other drugs or with alcohol. OTC drugs can cause blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, coma, and even death. And they’re a stepping stone to prescription drug addiction, too. Thousands of kids wind up in hospital emergency wards every year fighting for their lives because they overdosed on prescription or OTC drugs mixed with alcohol — all for fun! These drugs are readily available from home medicine cabinets or from friends, and even from on-line pharmacies. A lot of kids still think they’re a safer way to get high than street drugs, and many of them who wouldn’t touch cocaine or heroin don’t realize they are abusing almost identical drugs, and risking prescription drug addiction or death. What’s needed is for parents to start talking to their kids, and to clearly spell out all the very real dangers of prescription and OTC drugs. And they need to show strong disapproval of drug experimentation and abuse, and create and enforce anti-drug rules. Parents need to be firm, but they need their kids to understand that rules are to protect them — kids should be healthy, not in the morgue with a tag on their toe or in medical drug detox recovering from addiction.

What is ADHD and what are the normal symptoms of ADHD:The full form of ADHD is Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is a psychological disorder which is related to the hypersensitive psychological state of mind. The most common symptoms in an infant are extreme restlessness, crying, they also show a very poor sleep patterns. The older children have poor concentration they posses week memory, impulsiveness they are in a hurry to do everything, generally lacks self esteem. Weak short term memory and they suffer from some abnormal sleep and appetite problems. There are also different degrees of severity. To overcome this disease usually the relaxant drugs are provided to the children. There are many drugs available in the market for this disorder which is prescribed by the psychologists.What are the medications available against this disorder? There are mainly two types of treatment which is generally used to cure the ADHD types of treatment for ADHD; pharmacological and non-pharmacological. It is been found out in various studies that 70% to 80% children are benefited by the stimulant drugs. In the ADHD normally the psycho stimulants drugs are used; they are prescribed for both children and adults with severe ADHD but the dose of the psycho stimulants is different. The psycho stimulant drugs which are generally used are Ritalin. Concereta some non-stimulant drugs are also used with these stimulant drugs such as Starterra as well as amphetamines, such as Dexedrine and Adderall. Your doctor can advise a daily dosage which can be short or long acting. After this initial dosage your doctor may feel a need to increase or reduce the dosage for the drug to give you the desired effect. The side effects which generally occur due to this medication: Some adverse effects have been seen in the children after these medications. The most common side effect of these medications is change in the appetite, sleeplessness and anxiousness. The younger children may loose some weight from these therapies Other side effects of these psycho stimulants drugs includes irritability, stomach pain, hair loss, headache, depression, hallucinations, and lack of spontaneity.What are the drugs prescribed by psychologist for this disorder: There are mainly two types of treatment which is generally used to cure the ADHD types of treatment for ADHD; pharmacological and non-pharmacological. In the ADHD normally the psycho stimulants drugs are used; they are prescribed for both children and adults with severe ADHD but the dose of the psycho stimulants is different. These drugs have been intensively studied and used by the psychologists but there are serious concerns with long-term use of these drugs. The psycho stimulant drugs which are generally used are Ritalin. Concereta some non-stimulant drugs are also used with these stimulant drugs such as Starterra as well as amphetamines, such as Dexedrine and Adderall. Your doctor can advise a daily dosage which can be short or long acting. After this initial dosage your doctor may feel a need to increase or reduce the dosage for the drug to give you the desired effect.The possible side effects of the ADHD drugsAll stimulants have a number of side effects: The most common side effect of these therapies maybe the change in the appetite, sleeplessness and anxiousness. The younger children may loose some weight from these therapies Other side effects of these psycho stimulants drugs includes irritability, stomach pain, hair loss, headache, depression, hallucinations, , and lack of spontaneity.