Cocaine

Cocaine usually appears as a white crystal like powder. It tastes a bit bitter. Cocaine is in the leaves of the coca plant that mostly grows in South-America. Cocaine is taken from the leaves through a chemical process and then made into powder.

When we say cocaine, we usually mean cocaine powder for snorting. Crack is a processed version of cocaine that can be smoked. You can read more about crack here.

The effect of alcohol and drugs can be different every time. This has to do with how you feel mentally and physically (set) and where and with who you are at that moment (setting). How much you take and what exactly is in your drugs also matters for the effect. We call this drug, set, setting’

What does cocaine do to you?

Cocaine makes you feel energetic and stops you from feeling tired. It's a stimulating drug, also called an 'upper'.

• You feel happy and alert
• You feel less tired and have more energy
• You feel like you can think fast and clearly
• You feel more confident and want to talk a lot
• You feel less hungry
• Your nose, your mouth and your gums can feel numbed

Because of these effects, most people use cocaine at a party. Like at a club, festival, bar or at home with friends for example.

The effects of cocaine are short. If you snort cocaine, you'll feel the effects after only a few minutes. After 30-60 minutes the effects will have faded again.

If you smoke or inject cocaine, you'll feel the effects after 10-30 seconds. After 5-10 minutes the effects will have gone again.

After the effects have worn off, you could feel sad or disappointed. You could feel like taking more cocaine.

Cocaine powder can be snorted or injected. Crack can be smoked. The leaves of the coca plant van be chewed. Cocaine is usually snorted.

Cocaine powder is hard to smoke as it is very resistant to burning. Cocaine can also be processed into a form that's better for smoking. This is called 'crack' or cocaine base.

Injecting cocaine is more uncommon. In countries where the coca plant grows, the leaves are chewed on. The cocaine then enters the bloodstream through the stomach. The chewed out leaves are spat out.

The risks of injecting and smoking are much larger than with snorting. But the risks of snorting cocaine are bigger than with chewing coca leaves.

The use of cocaine also has risks. Some risks you'll notice right away, like a heart attack. Other risks you'll only notice later, when the drug has already worn off, like depression or addiction.

What are the short-term risks?

• During use, people often experience cravings. This is the (strong) urge to take more. This could cause someone to stay awake for far longer than originally planned.
• You could get problems with your heart and blood vessels. The blood vessels get narrower. This could cause internal bleeding or a blood clot in the brain. Or it could cause a heart attack. This is more likely if you often use cocaine together with alcohol.
• Your nose mucus membrane could get infected. You could get a nasal cold (stuffed nose) that won't go away.
• You could get 'excited delirium syndrome' - you suddenly act very aggressive without noticing it. This is very uncommon, but it can be very dangerous for yourself and the people around you.
• You could get a hangover. The days after use you can feel tired, sad or fearful.
• You could get mental problems like feeling depressed or having a hard time focusing.
• You could get overly exhausted after using cocaine.
• If you inject cocaine, there are extra risks. Like infections at the spot you inject. You also face the extra risk of getting a virus like hiv or hepatitis if you share needles with other users.

What are the long-term risks?

• If you use a lot of cocaine often, your personality could change. You could become unfriendly, arrogant and selfish. Some people might become more sensitive and more easily irritated or angered.
• You can get completely exhausted and depressed
• If you use a lot of cocaine you can become aggressive or distrustful. You might trust people and your environment less and less.
• If you smoke cocaine powder, burnt bits can end up in your lungs, causing damage.
• Addiction: feeling like you can't live without cocaine.

Safe cocaine use doesn't exist. You can however make the risks of using cocaine smaller with the following tips:

• Make sure to get your drugs tested before use. Then you'll know how strong they are and whether there's other dangerous substances in there.
• Only use if you feel good mentally and physically
• Only use every now and then on special occasions.
• Don't use because you feel sad or tired after you used cocaine
• Eat and rest well before and after using cocaine
• Don't combine cocaine with alcohol or other drugs
• Don''t participate in traffic
• Don't use cocaine if you have diabetes, a weak heart, high blood pressure, are pregnant or epileptic, if you have mental problems or if you're taking medication (especially MAO inhibitors or asthma medication)
• Use a clean sniffing tube that you don't share with others and don't use cash money for snorting. This way you prevent transmitting diseases.
• Don't use if you're pregnant or breastfeeding
• Remember that cocaine is tough on your heart and blood vessels - even if you're completely healthy. As you get older, the risk of heart problems becomes larger if you use cocaine.
• Injecting or smoking cocaine carries extra risks, so it's better not to use cocaine this way.

You can read more about minimizing risks on Unity.nl

Cocaine is on list (schedule) 1 of the Opiumwet. According to the law it's a hard drug. That means you are not allowed to carry, make or sell it.

If you carry a little bit of cocaine with you (1 gram or less) you usually aren't punished. Police could however take (confiscate) your cocaine. You can also be rejected or kicked out of a party if you are seen carrying cocaine. If you have more than 1 gram  with you, security or the police could think that you're selling drugs (dealing). You can get a fine or prison sentence for this.

There is a lot of research into drug usage in the Netherlands. Some research is about all people above 18 years old. Other research is about smaller groups. Like people who go out a lot, students, or citizens of a specific city. This research gives us a good overview of drug usage in the Netherlands.

2,4% of Dutch people aged 18 and over had in 2022 used cocaine in the last year (NDM). If we look only at 18-29 year olds the percentage is a bit higher at 7.6%. When we look at people who go out between the ages of 16-35, the percentage is a lot higher at 33,5%

• Bij een groot deel van de incidenten met cocaïne in 2022 ging het om patiënten die cocaïne hadden gecombineerd met alcohol (MDI). 
• A large part of the incidents reported to the MDI involved cases where the patients combined cocaine with alcohol
• The LADIS keeps track of how many people need help with a certain substance in addiction care organizations. In 2023 of all the people looking for help, 12% was looking for help with cocaine addiction.

If you want to use alcohol or other drugs it's important you feel good physically and mentally. If you're sick, sad or fearful for example, then alcohol and drugs can make it worse.

Some drugs in combination with certain medicine can make you very sick. Some combinations can even be deadly.

Are you using medicine and do you still want to use alcohol or other drugs? Then carefully research if you can beforehand. You can ask your doctor or pharmacy. Or check our overview. Do you still feel uncertain? Then make sure to message us at our Question & Answer service.

Do not use alcohol or other drugs if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Drugs are harmful for the baby and can cause your baby to be born sick.

More info about the influence of cocaine on sex, pregnancy and breastfeeding can be found in this overview.

Do you use cocaine in large amounts and often? Then it can be addictive. You could lose control over your use and you have a hard time using less or quitting.

You'll quickly start needing more cocaine to get the same effect. We call this 'tolerance'.

You can get addicted to cocaine mentally - this means that you constantly think about it and want to use it. Physical addiction or dependence is more rare. This means that if you quit using cocaine, you shouldn't become sick or feel physical pain.

Quitting cocaine is different for everyone. You'll also go through different phases when you stop using cocaine:

• The first week you can have very strong mood swings
• Often this is followed up by a period of 10 weeks or so in which you feel very confident and feel like you have everything under control. You feel like you can live without cocaine just fine.
• After this, a period in which you can feel very depressed comes. It might feel like you're an outsider, looking at life through a glass wall and as if you can't enjoy anything. This period can take up to a half year.

Sometimes these phases are shorter and follow each other up more quickly. They can also repeat.

In general you can feel depressed and tired. You might struggle sleeping or feel very hungry.

Is the depression you feel after quitting too hard to deal with? Then make sure to reach out to your doctor.

Relapse

When transitioning between phases, there's the danger of relapse. You should be prepared for this.

Relapse is often seen as proof that someone's 'once an addict, always an addict'. But this is not true at all. You can also learn from relapse. Think about the situation that caused you to relapse and what you could do differently if you end up in the same situation. Or how you can avoid this situation.

Do you have questions about your usage or someone else's? Or are you looking for help with reducing your use or quitting? Then please reach out to Jellinek for a free, non-binding talk for advice.