Cocaine addiction is the psychological and physical
dependency on the regular abuse of cocaine. It can result in cardiovascular and
brain damage, specifically in the central nervous system. Cocaine addiction
causes mood swings, paranoia, insomnia, psychosis, high blood pressure, panic
attacks, cognitive impairments and drastic changes in the personality that can
lead to aggressive, compulsive, criminal and/or erratic behaviors. The symptoms
of cocaine drug addiction and withdrawal (also know as comedown or crash) range
from moderate to severe: anguish, depression, anxiety, psychological and
physical weakness, pain and compulsive craving.
For over a thousand years South American indigenous
peoples have chewed the leaves of coca, a plant that contains vital nutrients
as well as numerous alkaloids, including cocaine. The coca leaf was, and still
is, chewed almost universally by some indigenous communities. The remains of
coca leaves have been found with ancient Peruvian mummies, and pottery from the
time period depicts humans with bulged cheeks, indicating the presence of
something on which they are chewing.
In the mid 19th century German scientist synthesized
Cocaine from the coca plant which was then introduced into Western medicine and
exploited for profit. Also wine makers like Angelo Mariani and soft drink
developer John Styth Pemberton used "pinch of coca leaves" original 1886 recipe
for Coca-Cola. Cocaine was also used as a remedy for Morphine addiction. By the
turn of the 20th cocaine addiction was rampant and soon prohibited.
Cocaine Addiction in Texas
Cocaine shipments from South America transported through
Mexico or Central America are generally moved over land or by air to staging
sites in northern Mexico. The cocaine is then broken down into smaller loads
for smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border. The primary cocaine importation
points in the United States are in Arizona, southern California, southern
Florida, and Texas.
The price of cocaine in lower Texas is drastically cheaper
than anywhere else making cocaine addiction significantly higher in this
region. Trends in cocaine use have varied over time, but the indicators
declined in 2009 (exhibit 1). New terms for powder cocaine include "soft",
"snow seal," and "her," with new terms for crack cocaine including "hard,"
"cookie," and "biscuit."
Between 1987 and 2009, the percentage of Hispanic cocaine
addiction treatment admissions using powder cocaine increased from 23 percent
to 49 percent, while for Whites and Blacks, the percentages dropped from 48
percent to 27 percent and from 28 percent to 23 percent, respectively. The
proportion of Blacks among crack cocaine admissions fell from 75 percent in
1993 to 51 percent in 2009, while the proportion of Whites increased from 20
percent in 1993 to 32 percent in 2009. Hispanic crack cocaine addiction
admissions rose from 5 percent to 16 percent in the same time period. There
were nearly 2,000 admissions to Drug rehabs in Texas for cocaine in 2010; the
percentages were evenly split male and female. Cocaine addiction has slightly
decreased over the last few years all due to the Mexican drug wars per law
enforcement officials. With the decrease in price an increase with cocaine
addiction is on the horizon.
