Cocaine - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

# Cocaine

### From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cocaine is a type of drug that comes from the leaves of a plant called coca. It is a white crystalline powder. Most cocaine is used as an illegal drug (illegal means "against the law"), by people who want to feel a happy feeling of having energy, called "being high." Sometimes, doctors or dentists use cocaine as a legal drug.

## [edit] Cocaine as an illegal drug

Cocaine is illegal to produce, sell, and use recreationally (for fun) in most countries. When cocaine is used as an Illegal drug, it stimulates the nervous system of the body and make a person feel excited, full of energy, and happy, a feeling called "being high." Cocaine can be chewed or eaten, injected, inhaled through the nose (also known as "snorting"), or smoked in a cigarette.

Another form of cocaine is "crack" or "crack cocaine." This is a cocaine which is turned into little crystals or "rocks." Both cocaine and crack are very addictive. This means that if a person starts taking the drug, they will want to keep taking it, and it will be hard to stop.

### [edit] Effects of cocaine

When a person uses cocaine by inhaling it into their nose (called "snorting"), smoking it, or injecting it into their veins, they feel euphoria (happy) and alert, and full of energy. This feeling is called "being high". Some people who take cocaine begin to feel worried or anxious, or even paranoid (worried that something bad will happen).

### [edit] Dangers of using cocaine

If people use cocaine, they may take too much and get sick or even die. This is called an "overdose" (taking too much). As well, when people take cocaine, they get intoxicated. When a person is intoxicated, they can get hurt if they drive a car or a boat. As well, when a person is intoxicated, they may do dangerous things, such as have unsafe sex with a person that they do not know, or get into a violent fight with a person.

Cocaine is a very addictive drug. This means that if a person starts taking the drug, they will want to keep taking it, and it will be hard to stop, even if the drug is making a person sick (ill). When a person is addicted to a drug, they do bad or criminal acts to get money for more drugs, such as crimes (for example theft, robbery, fraud, or prostitution).

Another danger from using cocaine is infection with dangerous diseases such as AIDS or Hepatitis C. When a person is smoking cocaine or injecting cocaine with other people, a person can get an AIDS or Hepatitis C infection from another person if they are sharing the same pipe or syringe (needle). As well, if a person is "high" on cocaine, they could get an AIDS or Hepatitis C infection from having unsafe sex with a person that they do not know.

## [edit] Cocaine as a legal medicine

Cocaine is also occasionally used as a legal medicine in Australia and some parts of Europe, if a person has a prescription from a doctor. Doctors sometimes prescribe cocaine as an appetite suppressant, for people who want to lose weight.

Dentists sometimes use cocaine in dental operations, as an anaesthetic. Anaesthetics are medicines or drugs which stop a person from having feelings in their body. Doctors, surgeons, and dentists use anaesthetics when they are doing operations, so that the patient will not feel pain. Dentists put the cocaine on the patient's mouth so that the patient will not feel pain in their mouth during the operation.

## [edit] See also

- Crack, a form of cocaine that comes in little crystals or "rocks."
- Illegal drugs, the drugs which are not legal to use in most countries.

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Category: Illegal drugs

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