Cocaine
Nicknames:
Charlie, charge, chang, chaz, coke, coca paste, draw, snow, toot, etc.
What does it look like?
Most street cocaine comes as a white powder that looks like fine salt.
How it is used:
Most users divide the cocaine into "fine lines" using a razor blade or credit card, and then snort it up one nostril through a small tube, or through a rolled-up card or bank note. Some people rub cocaine on their gums, causing the gums to go numb. As cocaine is very expensive, and dealers are trying to push up their profits, they have been known to mix it with anything else that is white and powdery.
The highs:
Cocaine is a stimulant. You feel a rush of excitement, a sense of well-being and confidence. You feel as if you notice more clearly the things that are happening around you. If you feel hungry or tired, or in pain, it will gradually ease.
The lows:
Later you feel tired and depressed, then anxious or panicky. The high lasts for about 30 minutes, but one line of cocaine soon needs to be followed by another. A lot of doses make you restless and paranoid, and you might even have hallucinations. When you are a regular user of cocaine you become very dependent on its effects.
You can be mentally dependant on the drug, and have to take bigger doses to get the same effect from it. You feel constantly restless, sick, can't sleep properly and lose weight. Repeated sniffing damages your nostrils, as well as too many doses possibly leading to breathing problems or even heart failure. If you inject cocaine with a needle that's already been used by somebody else, you run the risk of catching diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B & C.
The law:
Cocaine is a Class A drug which carries the highest penalties for possession, use and supply. (See Drugs - The Law for more information.)
Contacts
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Other drugs:
- alcohol
- amphetamines
- anabolic steroids
- cannabis
- cocaine
- crack
- ecstasy
- GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate)
- heroin
- ketamine
- khat
- LSD
- mushrooms
- poppers
- rohypnol
- solvents
- tobacco
- tranquillisers
Reproduced with kind permission of NHS Direct Wales - www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk/theroom
