Cocaine usage within the US
Cocaine in the US has been accounted for 505,224 of nearly 1.3 million visits to the hospital for drugs misuse or abuse. This equates to around 40% of all of the accounts of drug misuse within the US from 2011. This data was collected by Drugs Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). (2)
Cocaine deaths in the US
In 2016, a total of 63,632 persons died from drug overdoses in the United States. Drug overdose deaths involving cocaine, psychostimulants with abuse potential (psychostimulants), or both substances combined increased 42.4% from 12,122 in 2015 to 17,258 in 2016. (3)
Cocaine usage within the UK
Cocaine usage in the UK is only second to that of cannabis. 78% of the drug users in the UK take cannabis and 70% take cocaine as well. Addaction obtained this data by questioning 8,500 drug users in Scotland. They were found by targeting them with social media adverts. This data was obtained June 14th, 2019. (4)
Cocaine deaths in the UK
Cocaine or cocaine poisoning has led to deaths quadrupling in Wales over the past 5 years. In 2014 there were only 7 recorded deaths attributed to cocaine but in 2019 there was 31. (5)
There were 2,197 deaths that occurred due to the taking of illicit drugs within 2018 in the UK. Cocaine deaths have doubled in the past three years. (6)
Research done into the mental effects of the drug
Cocaine is one of the most reinforced drugs known in both, humans and animals. With repetitive use of the substance it will cause the users actions to change and have the consequences that excessive use of the drug is irreversible and could lead to a decreased life span. This process is known as addiction (Johanson and Fischman 1989). (1)
The result of fMRI scanning (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. This is a scanning device that measures and maps the brain’s activity.) has allowed the human brain to be scanned along with that of animals that was only previously available. This non-invasive procedure has been an advantage as it has allowed the brains patterns to be observed and analysed. It also allows for the information of a subjective nature to be correlated and for emotional and cognitive responses to be observed through the brain's activity.
There have been a number of human studies using cocaine infusions and withdrawing subjects. These studies have led to issues with craving.
Cocaine causes high levels of dopamine (this is a type of neurotransmitter. It is naturally made within the body. It is mainly used within the nervous system, which uses it to send messages to nerve cells. This is what gives it the name the chemical messenger.) to parts of the brain that control pleasure. These areas of pleasure can be found within the nucleus accumbens, this is a cluster of nerves that are located beneath the cerebral cortex (this is a thin layer of around 1.5mm to 5 mm of the brain that covers the outer of the cerebrum.
The more dependant that you become on the drug can result in the user being unable to sleep as easily as they previously could do and can also struggle to recall events that have happened to them or that they have been through. (8)
Treatment of addiction
The ways that have been used to decrease the usage of cocaine in the US, have been counselling and rehab. However, there are disadvantages to both of these treatments. Counselling is an expensive process; it also means that the user must be self-motivated to attend these meetings and as the user is still able to return to their home environment can easily restart their addiction. Rehab is also not certain to work as it is seen by some who have attended them to be similar to that of a prison. They can leave users worse off than when they had entered at the first instance. They can be seen more likely to do the drugs then they did when they first took them. (7)
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