Derived from the "innocent" cocoa plant, it is considered the "champagne" of drugs, one of its street names. There is an array of street names describing the different uses.



There are various ways that an addict will use this drug, amongst them being snorting, smoking one of the derivatives known as crack or rock. Historically, cocaine was known as the rich man's drug. This is changing rapidly as teenagers have found a new sensation in mixing it with marijuana.

The highly addictive nature of cocaine makes it an extremely dangerous drug and many a user will tell you that they're not addicted. This is so far from the truth to be ridiculous. If cocaine abuse isn't a problem to the addict, how come they are still using it?

No-one would willingly remain addicted. The penalties are extreme. Deprive someone who is abusing cocaine of his "fix" for long enough and you will get all kinds of mental phenomena occurring as their "need" increases.

It leads to a life of misery as cocaine abuse will lead to crime, first within the immediate family circle, then to friends and then out into society, the consequences of which can result in being incarcerated without any real hope of a full cocaine abuse treatment program as they become subjected to the "court system".

As with any drug abuse situation, cocaine abuse is no different. There is a minefield of information on the 'net, with many diverse solutions. Just trying to unscramble the true facts from misinformation can create such indecision in one trying to get help for cocaine abuse that new problems arise. How do you decide what will work and what won't? How do you know what is fact and what is fiction?

Although cocaine abuse is considered to be a "mental" addiction and not a physical one, the fact remains those residuals of cocaine or crack lodge in the fatty tissue of the body. If these are not dealt with, the person can experience cravings weeks, days, months or even decades later and revert to cocaine abuse or some other replacement abuse because they basically get "reminded" of the earlier "pleasures".

Once the physical aspects have been dealt with and are no longer having an affect on them, the next thing would be to help them get to the bottom of the reason they did it in the first place. Whatever those reasons are, they are known only to him and him alone. No-one can assume to know for anyone else what their problems are, no matter how much we observe them. You cannot see inside the person and it is very harmful to tell them what is wrong and what to think.

The only real road to full rehabilitation is for them to find their own reason and, once known, they can then be helped to resolve it and work on their recovery. They have to do it themselves and with the right tools and the properly trained folks ready and willing to do it, you will have your loved one back in the family fold, not as a liability to society but as a contributing member shouldering his share.