Cocaine is produced as a white chunky powder. It is sold most often in aluminum foil, plastic or paper packets, or small vials. Cocaine is usually chopped into a fine powder with a razor blade on a small mirror or some other hard surface, arranged into small rows called "lines," then quickly inhaled (or "snorted") through the nose with a short straw or rolled up paper money. It can also be injected into the blood stream.

Cocaine, the most potent stimulant of natural origin, is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant (Erythroxylon coca), which is indigenous to the Andean highlands of South America. It is a potent brain stimulant and one of the most powerfully addictive drugs. In ancient times, South American natives used coca for religious and medicinal purposes. They used its stimulant properties to fight fatigue and hunger, and to enhance endurance. The Spanish conquistador banned coca at first, but when they discovered that the addicted natives could barely work the fields in the gold mines without it, they began to distribute it to the workers three or four times a day.

Cocaine produces its pleasurable high by interfering with the brain’s pleasure centers where such chemicals as dopamine are produced. The drug traps an excess amount of dopamine in the brain, causing an elevated sense of well being. Cocaine acts as a stimulant to the body. In turn, the drug cause blood vessels to restrict, increases the body’s temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure, and cause the pupils to dilate. Cocaine also increases one’s breathing rate. Cocaine causes such pleasurable effects as reduced fatigue, increased mental clarity, and a rush of energy. However, the more one takes cocaine, the less one feels its pleasurable effects, which causes the addict to take higher and higher doses of cocaine in an attempt to recapture the intensity of that initial high.

In any case, a cocaine high does not last very long. The average high a user gets from snorting cocaine only lasts for 15-30 minutes. These highs are less intense, as it takes longer for the drug to be absorbed into the bloodstream when snorted. A smoking high, although more intense due to the rapidity in which the drug is absorbed into the bloodstream, lasts for an even shorter period of only about five to ten minutes. After the euphoric high comes the crashing low, in which the addict craves more of the drug and in larger doses.

There are serious health risks associated with cocaine use. These include but are not limited to:

• Changes in blood pressure
• Heart rates
• Breathing rates
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Anxiety
• Convulsions
• Insomnia
• Loss of appetite leading to malnutrition and weight loss
• Cold sweats
• Swelling and bleeding of mucous membranes
• Restlessness and anxiety
• Damage to nasal cavities
• Damage to lungs
• Possible heart attacks, strokes, or convulsions

Here are the most predominate signs of cocaine use:

• Red, bloodshot eyes
• Runny nose or frequent sniffing
• Change in eating or sleeping patterns
• Change in groups of friends
• Change in school grades or behavior
• Withdrawn, depressed, tired, or careless about personal appearance
• Loss of interest in school, family, or activities
• Frequently in need of money