The Effects of Cocaine - Research Paper Example

Daniel Hadden Nora Kabaji English 100 Research Topic 25 February The Effects of Cocaine Purpose ment The aim of this paper is todescribe how cocaine has grown to be a threat to families irrespective of ethnicity or income bracket. In the past, the abuse of cocaine was presumed to be a past time of the disenfranchised. At present, there are many respectable doctors, pastors, lawyers, and politicians who are addicted to cocaine. Fighting this drug remains a challenge because its closeted addicts are embarrassed about their addiction and will not admit their failings to others. Statement of the Problem In order to effectively fight cocaine addiction among various members of the population, nongovernmental as well as governmental organizations have to comprehend the different reasons why people in different economic brackets choose to abuse the drug. In addition, they have to find ways of gaining the trust of drug users in order to influence their choices. Hypothesis Crack cocaine, which comes in the form of rock crystals, is considered to be the most addictive of all types of cocaine. It has become easily accessible to individuals in all socioeconomic brackets. Crack is a variety of cocaine that is currently more widely abused. Crack has more intense as well as swift effects than do the other varieties of cocaine which are injected or snorted. Crack is also cheaper to produce and thus has become accessible to people in all socioeconomic brackets. In most cases, people use crack to boost their abilities in a competitive world in which there is the constant race to be the best. While imbuing them with the strength to keep performing, cocaine also gives its users an abnormal feeling of pleasure. In the past three decades since it first emerged in the 80s, crack cocaine has left many destroyed communities in its wake all over the world. Research Questions 1. How does cocaine affect the physical body? 2. How does cocaine affect a person psychologically? 3. What are the economic impacts of cocaine? 4. What are the medicinal uses of cocaine? 5. Who are the largest producers of cocaine? 6. What are the programs that can help a person addicted to cocaine? Theoretical Framework Crack is more pure and therefore considerably more addictive than cocaine which is mixed with impurities. Addicts who smoke crack experience a feeling of happiness in about 10 to 15 seconds while those addicted to cocaine who experience a rush 10 to 15 minutes after smoking. This feeling is then followed by a feeling of desperation when the drop into depressed feelings follows the “high.” This crash then compels the addict to seek for more cocaine so that he or she may experience the feeling of happiness once more. Consuming any amount of cocaine that is more than 100 milligrams can result in erratic, bizarre, or violent behavior. The addict will experience physical symptoms such as chest pain, blurred vision, fever, nausea, convulsions, muscle spasms, and finally death from brain or heart failure which causes the addict to stop breathing (Lennard-Browne 65). Crack cocaine addiction is an extremely difficult habit to stop and may actually require the hospitalization of the addict who experiences adverse withdrawal symptoms upon stopping to use the drug. Psychological Effects Crack cocaine triggers major pleasure centers in the brain and brings about an extremely heightened feeling of ecstasy. People who wish to start using cocaine merely do so in order to stimulate themselves to be at their best so that they can work harder and longer. While the results of the pleasant and invincible feelings appear to give the addict an almost supernatural experience at first, repeated cocaine use soon dominates his or her life to the extent that he or she cannot function without it. Depression is the result of long term abuse of cocaine. The addicted person takes crack in order not to feel depressed. The drug reduces a person’s mental capacities to psychosis and auditory hallucinations. Crack cocaine brings about a severe mental dependency in the addict; causing them to actually experience great sadness when the drug is out of stock. This is the reason why crack addicts simply cannot beat their habit without seeking specialized help. People Who Abuse Cocaine At present, crack cocaine constitutes a global, multibillion-dollar enterprise. Crack addicts encompass all occupations, ages, and economic levels. It has been established that approximately 2.8% of Americans between teenage, young and middle age adulthood regularly use cocaine. Studies have revealed that half of the global consumption of cocaine takes place in the United States. This means Americans consume about 300 metric tons of cocaine on an annual basis. In 2010, it was reported that approximately 33.9 million Americans of more than 16 years reported having used cocaine at one time or another (Hecht and Triggle 74). The number of crack users is bound to increase across the world as users find it so hard to abandon all thoughts of smoking the drug after their first experience with it. Economic Impacts of Cocaine Across the world, and particularly in some South and Latin American nations, cocaine has effectively depressed the development of the economy’s formal sector. In addition, high levels of corruption as well as violence in this region have resulted in increased risk and insecurity. This has lessened the attractiveness of Central and South American nations to foreign investors. Cocaine addicts will leave their jobs to maintain their drug habits without considering the consequences of their actions. They start to view cocaine as the most important thing in their lives, valuing it even above their jobs and the sustenance of their families. It is also true that employers refuse to hire workers that are known to have drug addictions. This means that the addicts have to resort to stealing to sustain their habits. Unless the developed nations, and to a smaller extent, the rest of the world, reduces its insatiable appetite for crack cocaine, there will be little progress in the endeavors to control and eliminate the global economic impact of crack. Medicinal Uses of Cocaine Cocaine, when administered by specialists in a controlled environment, can actually function as a medicine. It is sometimes used as an anesthetic for particular types of surgery such as eye surgery. Cocaine also deadens the gums when applied prior to any intensive treatment of the teeth. Apart from being a general anesthetic, cocaine can also contract the blood vessels surrounding the area where a patient is injected. The vasoconstriction assists by reducing any bleeding. Many medical specialists believe that it would be safer to use less addictive drugs as painkillers. However, cocaine is still used all over the world in measured amounts as a pain reliever. The Largest Producers of Cocaine Cocaine is grown as a plant all over the world, but it is mainly in South America where large hectares of land are given over to its cultivation. At present, Colombia is the largest producer of cocaine, with 154,200 hectares in the country dedicated to the production of the coca plant. Peru follows with approximately 61,200 hectares of the coca plant, while Bolivia has 31,000 hectares. From South America, the larger percentage of the processed drug is transported by water and air to North America, which forms the world’s principal drug market. The drugs are then trafficked through Mexico to the U. S. Moreover, pressure from the Mexican government has recently compelled many drug syndicates to shift their operations to nations such as Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Washton and Zweben 42). At present, many developed nations are trying to find ways of stopping South American countries from dedicating any more land to the cultivation of drugs such as the coca plant. Programs of Recovery from Cocaine There are different recovery programs from which cocaine addicts can choose their preferred rehabilitation program. The detox programs usually depend on the progress of the addict and can be two weeks long, or even two years long if the patient proves to be severely addicted to the drug. This detox option is accessible for outpatient or inpatient addicts; moreover, it has been established that addicts who attempt to detox themselves are rarely successful. Cocaine addicts constantly experience a feeling of not being in control of their own lives, and so cannot be trusted to rule over their instincts. Cocaine support programs such as Narcotics Anonymous and Cocaine Anonymous offer an opportunity of using the 12-step program to recover from drug abuse. Another important component of recovery from drugs involves behavioral therapy, which incorporates cognitive therapy and counseling, with medication. Recovery is usually created to suit the person being treated. Most of the above mentioned government endorsed rehabilitation programs have a 75% success rate in treating addicts. Significance of the Study This research aims to find out why people who seem to have respectable jobs and adequate financial provision have begun to abuse cocaine in larger numbers. Specifically, the research seeks to investigate the considerable effect of variables that are associated to the reasons of abusing cocaine, to establish the needs of the wealthy users and to discover if any measures are being instituted by the government to deal with this more hidden aspect of cocaine abuse. Research Design and Methodology Sample and Sampling Technique The participants in this research came from a cocaine rehabilitation centre in New York. As a result of time constraints, and for the researcher’s convenience, only 30 participants were selected for the research. The convenience sampling method was used in the research to select the thirty contributors. The availability of the research respondents was the main principle used for this selection. Data Collection Method to Be Used In accumulating evidence needed for this research, the questionnaire system was used. The researcher created a questionnaire and distributed its copies to the respondents. The respondents were then asked to answer the questions, with each grading the questionnaire’s statements according to the Likert scale. Validation of the Instrument For the purposes of validation, the research associate pre-tested a model of the set questionnaires. This was performed by carrying out an initial survey with at least five participants from New York. After the five contributors were finished, the research associate then asked them to name the sections of the questionnaire that required some improvement. The researcher even requested for proposals and corrections from the research participants to make sure that the questionnaire was effectual. These five respondents were not a part of the final thirty individuals who were chosen as respondents for the research. Works Cited Hecht, Alan, and David Triggle. Cocaine and Crack- Understanding Drugs. New York: Facts on File, 2011. Print. This perceptive book provides many statistics in terms of cocaine use among Americans and also details the main producers of the drug. It tackles the problems that drug abuse can cause in families as well as in the wider society. Lennard-Browne, Sarah. Cocaine. New York: Raintree, 2004. Print. This book describes the origins of “crack” cocaine and details statistics on its usage. It also describes the effects of the long term abuse of cocaine on the human body and mind. It also addresses the problem of cocaine use among affluent members of society. Washton, Arnold, and Joan Ellen Zweben. Cocaine & Methamphetamine Addiction: Treatment, Recovery, and Relapse Prevention. New York: W. W. Norton Limited, 2009. Print. This book includes an overview of cocaine use in America and offers practical information to the family members as well as counselors that are dealing with cocaine addicts on the best yet simplest ways to assist the user in riding him or her of the cocaine habit. Read More