Cocaine Addiction & Drug Rehabilitation

Cocaine, the most potent stimulant of natural origin, is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant (Erythroxylon coca), which is indigenous to the Andean highlands of South America. It is a potent brain stimulant and one of the most powerfully addictive drugs. Addiction studies have shown that laboratory rats will choose cocaine over food and water. Rats will also take huge electric shocks or press a lever over 10,000 times to get a dose of cocaine. Left on their own, they will inject themselves to death. Humans are different from rats, right? Yes. Rather than electric shocks, human addicts empty their bank accounts, sell their possessions, commit crimes, sell their bodies, and betray their loved ones.

The cycle of cocaine addiction begins with a problem, discomfort or some form of emotional or physical pain a person is experiencing. The person finds this very difficult to deal with.

Here is an individual who, like most people in our society, is basically good. He has encountered a problem or discomfort that he does not have the ability to resolve. This could include problems such as difficulty “fitting in” as a child or teenager, anxiety due to peer pressure, identity problems or divorce as an adult. It could also include physical discomfort, such as a broken arm or a bad back.

The person experiencing the discomfort has a real problem. He feels this problem is a major situation that persists and he can see no immediate resolution or relief from it.

We have all experienced this in our lives to a greater or lesser degree. The difference between which one of us forms a cocaine addiction and which one does not depends on whether or not, at the time of this traumatic experience, we are subjected to pro-drug or alcohol influences via some sort of significant peer pressure when the problem is manifesting itself. The painkilling effects of cocaine becomes a solution to the discomfort because the person experiences relief from the negative feeling associated with the problem. As soon as the addict experiences relief from the discomfort, he inadvertently attaches value to cocaine, because it helped him feel better. Even though the relief is only temporary, it is adopted as a solution to the problem and this assigned value is the only reason the person ever uses cocaine a second, third or more times. At this point, it is just a matter of time before the person forms a cocaine addiction and loses the ability to control their cocaine use.