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Definition of cocaine
Last reviewed: 05.07.2025
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Cocaine is an alkaloid obtained from the Erythroxylon coca shrub, which grows in Bolivia and Peru. There are currently two known ways to use cocaine. The first is to inhale the drug. The second is to smoke the cocaine base. When smoking cocaine, the active ingredient enters the blood almost as quickly as when administered intravenously, so the effects of the drug are stronger than when inhaled through the nose. Intravenous administration is especially dangerous due to the high risk of overdose. Cocaine causes strong euphoria. Psychological dependence on cocaine can develop after the first dose. The duration of cocaine's effects is usually from 30 minutes to 1 hour after intravenous or intranasal administration (due to the short half-life of 2-5 hours), so addicts can repeat the administration many times during the day and night to achieve euphoric experiences. Clinical manifestations of withdrawal syndrome reach their maximum on the 2nd-4th day after stopping taking the drug.
Cocaine overdoses usually result in death (arrhythmia, respiratory depression, or seizures). Survivors recover fully within 3 hours.
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