Psychadelic_Paisly
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Report shatters cocaine 'candy' myth
By Ruth Pollard
December 27, 2003
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/26/1072308681297.html
Cocaine's reputation as non-toxic "nose-candy" for the beautiful set has been destroyed.
New research shows that it has been responsible for almost 150 deaths and countless overdoses over the past decade in NSW alone.
Unlike deaths from heroin, half of those who fatally overdosed were employed, and 25 per cent were in a professional or managerial role, according to the study by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.
Authors Shane Darke and Sharlene Kaye said most of deaths occurred at weekends in inner-city suburbs.
The study, based on NSW coronial records from 1993 to 2002, found that the average age at death was 34, and that 84 per cent of overdoses were by men.
"The image of cocaine as a safe, fluffy drug, with names like nose candy is just rubbish," Associate Professor Darke said. "It is an incredibly dangerous drug. It has serious side effects."
The harm is not confined to the way people took the drug, although those who injected were more likely to have hepatitis C or HIV, and those who snorted cocaine tended to have problems with nasal bleeding, or in some cases, wearing out the septum.
"With cocaine there is cumulative damage to the cardiovascular system," Professor Darke said. "It is cardio-toxic, literally poisonous to the heart, and is associated strongly with blockages of the coronary arteries and severe enlargement of the heart."
Signs of an overdose included heart palpitations, intense sweating, high temperature, seizures, chest pain, tremors and severe nausea and vomiting, he said.
Then there were the psychological side effects, such as anxiety, paranoia, panic, severe agitation and a condition known as excited delirium.
"I would be very surprised if the average middle-class person who has snorted cocaine had any idea of the immediate damage it can cause," Professor Darke said.
Toxic reactions could occur irrespective of the dose, frequency of use or the way it was taken, and had been reported with small amounts of cocaine, and on the first time it was used.
The main method before death was injecting (86 per cent). Nasal administration counted for 8 per cent of deaths, and smoking 3 per cent.
From 1998, cocaine increased in popularity, partly because of the so-called heroin drought. Its use had since fallen off, but was still high, Professor Darke said.
"Fatalities are the tip of the iceberg. How many people out there are getting heart pain?"
Along with its effect on the heart and evidence that cocaine could also increase the risk of stroke, Professor Darke's study also found that the drug's powerful disinhibiting effect also led people to take unnecessary risks. They crashed cars, fell off balconies, and got into fights.
His co-author, Dr Kaye, examined non-fatal overdoses, surveying 200 cocaine users, among them 120 injectors and 80 non-injectors.
She found that 13 per cent had overdosed, and more than half had experienced some kind of adverse physical or psychological symptom from cocaine. But many did not recognise those symptoms as a potential overdose.
"There was a group who did not know that you could overdose on cocaine," Dr Kaye said.
By Ruth Pollard
December 27, 2003
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/26/1072308681297.html
Cocaine's reputation as non-toxic "nose-candy" for the beautiful set has been destroyed.
New research shows that it has been responsible for almost 150 deaths and countless overdoses over the past decade in NSW alone.
Unlike deaths from heroin, half of those who fatally overdosed were employed, and 25 per cent were in a professional or managerial role, according to the study by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.
Authors Shane Darke and Sharlene Kaye said most of deaths occurred at weekends in inner-city suburbs.
The study, based on NSW coronial records from 1993 to 2002, found that the average age at death was 34, and that 84 per cent of overdoses were by men.
"The image of cocaine as a safe, fluffy drug, with names like nose candy is just rubbish," Associate Professor Darke said. "It is an incredibly dangerous drug. It has serious side effects."
The harm is not confined to the way people took the drug, although those who injected were more likely to have hepatitis C or HIV, and those who snorted cocaine tended to have problems with nasal bleeding, or in some cases, wearing out the septum.
"With cocaine there is cumulative damage to the cardiovascular system," Professor Darke said. "It is cardio-toxic, literally poisonous to the heart, and is associated strongly with blockages of the coronary arteries and severe enlargement of the heart."
Signs of an overdose included heart palpitations, intense sweating, high temperature, seizures, chest pain, tremors and severe nausea and vomiting, he said.
Then there were the psychological side effects, such as anxiety, paranoia, panic, severe agitation and a condition known as excited delirium.
"I would be very surprised if the average middle-class person who has snorted cocaine had any idea of the immediate damage it can cause," Professor Darke said.
Toxic reactions could occur irrespective of the dose, frequency of use or the way it was taken, and had been reported with small amounts of cocaine, and on the first time it was used.
The main method before death was injecting (86 per cent). Nasal administration counted for 8 per cent of deaths, and smoking 3 per cent.
From 1998, cocaine increased in popularity, partly because of the so-called heroin drought. Its use had since fallen off, but was still high, Professor Darke said.
"Fatalities are the tip of the iceberg. How many people out there are getting heart pain?"
Along with its effect on the heart and evidence that cocaine could also increase the risk of stroke, Professor Darke's study also found that the drug's powerful disinhibiting effect also led people to take unnecessary risks. They crashed cars, fell off balconies, and got into fights.
His co-author, Dr Kaye, examined non-fatal overdoses, surveying 200 cocaine users, among them 120 injectors and 80 non-injectors.
She found that 13 per cent had overdosed, and more than half had experienced some kind of adverse physical or psychological symptom from cocaine. But many did not recognise those symptoms as a potential overdose.
"There was a group who did not know that you could overdose on cocaine," Dr Kaye said.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
