How addictive is cocaine?

[iriedub]

Cocaine's one hell of a drug! (I felt that was obligatory).

 

[pofacedhoe]

My addiction lasted 24 years and:

A. No I wasn't hooked from the first blow. It took a couple years before it became daily thing.

B. It wasn't a binge addiction. it leveled-off and stayed at about 1/2 gram/day.

It was finally interrupted with the assistance of ibogaine a little over two years ago.

so what is the effect on your health etc.?as it would be interesting to hear from you due to your long period of addiction and moderate (within reason) usage

 

[jsnake]

Mate, tobacco is a drug of addiction, just like coke, and look how many people get hooked from the first smoke that they don't even really enjoy. You could probably pull off one or 2 lines without ever going out of your way to get it. But cocaine is one of the most reinforcing drugs out there. Will make it a lot harder to turn down next time you get offered at a club once you hit that age, and trust me, any mates you make through the consumption of drugs will eventually turn to shit. If you really want stimulants, stick to X or speed, stuff that isn't incredibly addictive, although that's different between people. Not soul sucking "SHUGAAAAAAAAAAAAR".
And have you seen how that shit is made? Ew...

 

[paranoid android]

If you really want stimulants, stick to X or speed, stuff that isn't incredibly addictive, although that's different between people.

Are you serious? Do you know how addictive and overall horrible speed is? Also excessive use of E can cause all sorts of mental problems so i wouldnt recomend that either.

 

[Lights0ut]

I personally find MDMA way more addicting....... I don't know why.

off topic but mdma is not a addictive drug from my research and self experience. Maybe you should start testing your stash? You might be getting addicted to the amphetamines mixed in with your pills or molly.

 

[crOOk]

Are you serious? Do you know how addictive and overall horrible speed is? Also excessive use of E can cause all sorts of mental problems so i wouldnt recomend that either.

I've always found amphetamine faaar less "reinforcing" than cocaine eventhough it's a lot more enjoyable to me. Now methamphetamine might be a different story, not sure what "speed" is referring to. I know a whole lot of speed and coke users over here in Germany and looking at both groups, I'd much rather be on the side of an amphetamine habit myself. Forget that, I wouldn't wanna be on either side! :D I've actually used amphetamine daily over periods of 3-4 months twice before and it never caused me any problems whatsoever to lay it off and never do I feel any desire to do amphetamine unless I'm really freaking tired and haven't slept (but I still wouldn't go out of my way to acquire some, never ever happened before).

Now coke on the other hand seems to be a lot different in that every single time I use it seems to reenforce the desire to repeat it eventhough it's one of the crappiest highs out there (imho).

That being said, getting addicted to either one will probably suck big time. And besides, I haven't met anyone who's tried one and not the other lol. It's just a matter of which one people get stuck with, which one they enjoy more.
It also usually sneaks up on people over years. I've seen soooo many people claim they'd NEVA get addicted to uppers. Fast forward four or five years and well, you get the idea.

On a side note: My whole impression of the difference in risk to slip into a habit with either amphetamine or cocaine might just be based on the fact that amphetamine is a lot cheaper over here than cocaine is (per dose/per day) so that might explain why the coke users I know all put a lot more effort into acquiring their drug of choice (and into keeping it for themselves).

There remains a risk of doing the cocaine ONCE and then another once and another and many times after that. That risk would be cancelled out if you just skip it. You'll be fine without.

I've seen a guy try pot for the first time with 32 years of age (no other drugs before that besides alcohol which he didn't enjoy at all) and that was the beginning of his downfall. Within what was barely a year he had lost his wife (and along with her the two kids) and his house. LOL quite an extreme example, but you never know how it's gonna turn out for you.

off topic but mdma is not a addictive drug from my research and self experience. Maybe you should start testing your stash? You might be getting addicted to the amphetamines mixed in with your pills or molly.

Really depends on how you define addictive. Imho, every drug can be reinforcing and I've seen people do a lot of mdma to the point where they were not gaining any insights or enjoying themselves anymore. I love that stuff, but how could anything that feels that fucking good not turn into a habit for anyone out there?! And btw, MDMA is often referred to as molly, so you might want to clear up what the term molly is referring to in your post.


In the end though, the whole discussion about how addictive a substance is can be skipped for the most part when a guy at 15 tells me he's tried benzos before and wants to try cocaine. You most likely won't get addicted to either one within a short period of time, but you'll get addicted to doing drugs in general. And that can of course focus on a certain class of substances or even just a single substance eventually, but by then most people have already put a whole lot of work into conditioning themselves to believe substance intake leads to pleasure and without consuming substances there won't be pleasure or a lot less anyway.

 

[adam7050]

no one ever asks, "when's the fun part?"

 

[Georgie25]

Cocaine's so addictive that you'll spend all your money on it when you don't even enjoy it

 

[crOOk]

Cocaine's so addictive that you'll spend all your money on it when you don't even enjoy it

!!!

 

[fatstep]

off topic but mdma is not a addictive drug from my research and self experience. Maybe you should start testing your stash? You might be getting addicted to the amphetamines mixed in with your pills or molly.

MDMA is addictive, but to a point. It's kind of self-limiting because once your serotonin's gone it doesnt work right so you can't keep redosing or it'd probably be just as addictive as anything else

 

[crOOk]

Has anyone ever read that case report about the guy who took like 20,000 e's? LOL! sorry ot...

EDIT: not really a case report, but a crappy newspaper article:

Doctors from London University have revealed details of what they believe is the largest amount of ecstasy ever consumed by a single person. Consultants from the addiction centre at St George's Medical School, London, have published a case report of a British man estimated to have taken around 40,000 pills of MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, over nine years. The heaviest previous lifetime intake on record is 2,000 pills.

Though the man, who is now 37, stopped taking the drug seven years ago, he still suffers from severe physical and mental health side-effects, including extreme memory problems, paranoia, hallucinations and depression. He also suffers from painful muscle rigidity around his neck and jaw which often prevents him from opening his mouth. The doctors believe many of these symptoms may be permanent.

The man, known as Mr A in the report in the scientific journal Psychosomatics, started using ecstasy at 21. For the first two years his use was an average of five pills per weekend. Gradually this escalated until he was taking around three and a half pills a day. At the peak, the man was taking an estimated 25 pills every day for four years. After several severe collapses at parties, Mr A decided to stop taking ecstasy. For several months, he still felt he was under the influence of the drug, despite being bedridden.

Hallucinations

His condition deteriorated and he began to experience recurrent tunnel vision and other problems including hallucinations, paranoia and muscle rigidity. "He came to us after deciding that he couldn't go on any more," said Dr Christos Kouimtsidis, the consultant psychiatrist at St George's Medical School in Tooting who treated him for five months. "He was having trouble functioning in everyday life."

The doctors discovered that the man was suffering from severe short-term memory problems of a type usually only seen in lifetime alcoholics. But evaluating the full extent of his condition was difficult as his concentration and attention was so impaired he was unable to follow the simple tasks involved in the test.

"This was an exceptional case. His long- term memory was fine but he could not remember day to day things - the time, the day, what was in his supermarket trolley," said Dr Kouimtsidis. "More worryingly, he did not seem aware himself that he had these memory problems."

With no mental illness in his family and no prior psychiatric history, the doctors concluded that his unique condition was direct result of his intense ecstasy use.

"This is obviously an extreme case so we should not blow any observations out of proportion," says Dr Kouimtsidis. "But if this is what is happening to very heavy users, it might be an indication that daily use of ecstasy over a long period of time can lead to irreversible memory problems and other cognitive deficits."

For 10 years, MDMA has been suspected of causing these kinds of effects in heavy users. It is thought to be due to its disruption of the regulation of serotonin, a brain chemical believed to play a role in mood and memory. It remains unclear whether these effects are the result of permanent neurotoxic damage or just temporary reversible alterations in the brain.

A special two-part MDMA study in recent issues of the Journal of Psychopharmacology (available online at sagepub), suggests long-term side-effects may be temporary. The researchers from the University Of Louisiana could find no significant relationship between depression and recreational ecstasy use.

In the case of Mr A, a structural MRI brain scan failed to show any obvious damage or atrophy in his brain. However, these results, says Dr Kouimtsidis, are difficult to interpret. "A scan of this type is not sensitive enough," he said.

Such limitations in brain scanning technology, along with ethical and legal barriers to giving MDMA to human test subjects, have limited direct observation of the drug's effects in humans.

Instead, scientists have had to use recreational drug users as subjects in their studies. Conclusions from this are often flawed because few, if any, drugs users use ecstasy in isolation.

Cannabis user

Mr A was also a heavy cannabis user, and when he was encouraged to decrease his use, his paranoia and hallucinations disappeared and his anxiety abated. But his memory and concentration problems remained, leading the doctors to suspect that these may be permanent disabilities.

When he was admitted to a specialist brain injury unit and put on anti-psychotic medication, he did start to show some improvement. "Unfortunately, he discharged himself before we were able to complete the assessment," says Dr Kouimtsidis. "We continued to support him. But he started to use cannabis again and he dropped out. We tried to re-engage him but we lost him about a year ago."

The Guardian made several attempts to find the man without success.

Effects of ecstasy

MDMA is one of the most intensely studied recreational drugs in history. But despite thousands of research papers and studies, scientific evidence on the side-effects remains inconclusive.

Death by overdose

Undoubtedly, large amounts of ecstasy can lead to over-heating which in turn, in rare cases, can trigger fatal heat stroke. Many factors contribute: number and strength of pills taken, environment, alcohol-consumption, body weight - but women seem more at risk. The bulk of ecstasy-related deaths around the world have been young women.

Water-poisoning

Panicking users, fearing they are overdosing, drink too much water and provoke hyponaetraemia (water-poisoning). Leah Betts died after drinking 14 pints in just 90 minutes. The recommended amount of water to drink per hour is one pint.

Toxic reactions

Much of the reports of toxic reactions are muddled with overdose or water-poisoning deaths. There is no clear evidence that some people suffer allergic reactions to ecstasy. However, around 10% of Western users do lack a key liver enzyme CYP2D6 needed to break down MDMA. This may make them more sensitive to the effects and more prone to accidental overdose.

Depression

Many weekend users report a mid-week mood dip. This is suspected to be related MDMA's effect on serotonin, but hard evidence is lacking. In heavy users, dips can turn to crashes and depression. However studies suggest this effect reverses after a 2-3 month abstinence.

Positive effects

Users still claim "long lasting improvements in self-awareness, self-esteem, openness and insight into personal problems", reports the study from the University Of Louisiana. In the US, research continues into the use of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2006/apr/04/drugsandalcohol.drugs1

Not addictice MY ASS!

And lol at "it might be an indication that daily use of ecstasy over a long period of time can lead to irreversible memory problems and other cognitive deficits."

 

[hyroller]

MDMA is addictive, but to a point. It's kind of self-limiting because once your serotonin's gone it doesnt work right so you can't keep redosing or it'd probably be just as addictive as anything else

Exactly. It's a waste of MD if you continue dosing once you're flying high enough....

Coke has never been my DOC, it actually affects womens brains differently to mens. Apparently it's very moreish for the blokes... I've seen this happen quite a bit...

IV coke is the bomb :D

 

[ThaiDie4]

Everyone is different. I tried coke 4-5 times when I was 18, and haven't touched it since, for 4 years. I enjoyed it, but it was never something I was like, "OMG I NEED THIS AGAIN!"

But for the sake of harm reduction, obviously the best way to prevent addiction is to never try it.

 

[Unbreakable]

im way to hyper for stims

 

[paranoid android]

Speed where i live (which would be the east coast of canada) is a general term for amphetamines which would also include meth but meth is usually just reffered to as meth. Prescription amphetamines (usually dextroamphetamine only here) are often reffered to as speed and ive jokingly slagged off many a pill popper by calling them a speed freak. In which cause the usual response from them was atleast im not a junkie .

As for which is worse i find dextroamphetamine to be easier on the body and has less reinforcing effects then cocaine. Atleast while im on it that is but wheras i can take dexedrine the next day after a binge the look of coke or smell of crack after a binge sometimes makes me gag. Coke is one drug that really does me in both mentally and physically if i overdo the stuff.

I have never done meth but it seems like alot worse addiction then coke from what ive seen of people who use it. In the end though both of these drugs will fuck you up worse then your worst nightmares could ever think of if you become addicted to them. Ive just been damn lucky so far that i never got hooked on crack (i prefer it over powder) because if you ever wanna see in action the reinforcing aspects of a drug sit down and watch abunch of crackheads get high for a hour. I once smoked taco shell after there was no crack left. I was fucking convinced that was crack but no i was just cracked out

 

[onetwonine]

If you are 15 the "coke" you are buying will likely be some very expensive baby laxative cut with a bit of lidocaine.

That being said if you happen to be an exceptionally well connected 15 year old who can get good coke you will have yourself a pretty addictive substance. A few lines aren't going to kill you, but you will be taking the chance of beginning a very serious drug habit. One which i doubt a 15 year old can afford, as far as expense goes, coke has to be one of the costliest habits to maintain.

 

[panic in paradise]

no no no.

the lower you go, the cheaper it gets, coke becomes very inexpensive the more into it you become, but you start paying in other ways: morals, respect, friendships, love, family, valued unique possessions, time, freedom, & so much more.


8)

<--- why'o'why - guy

 

[lleno]

Isn't this a harm reduction site??? Let me tell you unequivicallly you are taking your life, any hope of a future, or any semblance of happiness if you try cocaine. Despite what some folks say on here about being able to do coke and control it, I have NEVER met a social coke user, and I 've been around the block way too many times. You guys who are suggesting tht this 15YEAR OLD CHILD, WITH NO PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE OR LIFE EXPERIENCE could possibly use coke w/o any ill effects need to STFU, apparently youdo not have a child of your own[I hope]. to the OP-you have no idea what you are potentially letting your self in for, it cannot be explained with words. You are a special someone to someone[mom, dad , or maybe just yourself]that is what you need to remember. You do not need to try this shit to validate anything, find a girl and fall in love. If you have already started w/other drugs, go talk to a counselor of some type to find out why you feel the need. There is a reason, somewhere inside you, talking things out is the best therapy. I'm not trying to preach to you, just trying to give you some wisdom it took me many years of horrible pain to figure out. You can still be cool w/o drugs....peace....

 

[adder]

I got addicted to opioids when I wasn't even 15 then, my interest in chemistry in general came handy later, I tried many drugs and as I hate stimulants, cocaine is the only one I can take from time to time. Anyway, I stay by depressants all the way. Not that they are not addictive, never mind. Given how strong coke works and how short it's going to most certainly addict you. It's completely different from some 'a lot of nasty side effects' amphetamine. And trust me, you don't want to become a junkie at the age of 15. I don't know where you live and how much cocaine costs there but here if you want to buy cocaine and have regular contacts with some dealers it's terribly expensive and the stuff isn't clean always. I never bought from these idiots.

 

[opiatemonstr]

is coke addictive?? lol

well, easyiest answer to the question "is coke addictive?"...YES. Coke is very addictive. Gotta say its fun as hell to do, the most ive ever done in one day was an entire 8-ball to myself. started at 8 in the morning (i worked overnight an had just got out of work) an sniffed away all day untill about 7:30 that night when it was alll gone. tell you what the next 2 days after that sucked i felt like a regurgitated butt hole constantly lol. But im sure your not gunna do that lol, a few times ive felt serious withdrawls as early as 30 mins after doing some lines and im not really a coke user i prefer downers. the above mentioned expierience was a fluke i guess lol. Even after sniffing just a few lines make sure you have like some xanax or something because coming down from coke really really sucks but i guess everyones differant. hey you never know, maybe you wont feel any bad withdrawls from it at all, you wont ever really know untill you try. happy highs to all