Text File | 1992-01-24 | 1.2 KB | 5 lines | [04] ASCII Text (0x0000)
Cocaine is a narcotic and local anesthetic extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. In its processed form as a crystalline alkaloid, it appears as a white powder.
Cocaine delivers a powerful jolt to the body and is extremely habit forming; one use and you can be helplessly hooked on the drug. It stimulates the heart and nervous systems producing an incredible euphoria (hence its popularity). One dose may outright kill you if your heart cannot withstand its effects. If taken continually, cocaine will ruin your mental and physical health, as well as cause insomnia, twitching, weakness, and eventually death.
Cocaine can be inhaled (snorted), smoked (in its potent form as Crack), or injected. With injection, not only are the effects of the drug felt almost instantly, but there are other risks associated with injection. Dirty needles can result in septicemia (blood poisoning), which can cause the loss of a limb or death. Repeated injections into the same area cause veins to collapse or become permanently damaged, and if air bubbles are accidently injected, the person dies when those bubbles reach the brain. And, of course, injecting with dirty needles may put you at risk for acquiring AIDS.
