Cocaine

drug-info-cocaine
Friday, August 28, 2009

  1. What it is

    Cocaine is a highly addictive stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant. It provides increased energy and a euphoric sense of wellbeing.

  2. Health effects

    Short term effects
    Cocaine’s effects can last from 20 minutes to several hours depending on the dosage, method of administration and purity. Common initial signs are an intense sense of euphoria, hyperactivity, restlessness and increased blood pressure and heart rate.

  3. Dependence, addiction and overdose risk

    The high from cocaine can be intensely rewarding but the experience is very short lived. The euphoria initially experienced produces an intense craving which can develop quickly into an addiction. Addiction rates are high for smoking and much higher for injecting.

  4. Law and penalties

    Cocaine is illegal in New Zealand and is classified as a Class A drug scheduled under the Misuse of Drugs Act. This means it attracts the highest penalties possible for manufacture, sale and use.

  5. Drug trends

    The cocaine market in New Zealand is not big and has rarely been the focus of media attention or the cause of a significant number of hospital admissions in recent years. The cocaine market has remained stable with high prices and low availability.

  6. Reducing the harm

    The Drug Foundation’s message is clear: no drug use is the safest drug use. But we realise there will be occasions when people ignore warnings and use drugs. In order to limit the harm from their drug use, we provide information about effective methods of drug harm minimisation. Such information directly benefits the person using drugs, and also protects the wider community.

  7. How to get help

    There are a number of treatment organisations that can help. If you feel that you or anyone you know needs help, then you can call these services in strict confidence.

  8. Links

    www.shore.ac.nz/publications/publications_8.html A report from Shore Drug Use in New Zealand National Surveys Comparison 1998 & 2001.

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