NCJ Number
127567
Date Published
1989
Length
19 pages
Annotation
The increase in the incidence of cocaine use in the United States, accompanied by an increase in cocaine-related deaths, highlights the urgent necessity to confront the physical and psychological effects of cocaine use as well as the potential for treatment and recovery.
Abstract
This monograph describes the physiological effects of cocaine use as related to the routes of administration and the medical consequences. The impact cocaine has on the body's neurotransmitters makes it physically, as well as psychologically, addictive. Cocaine addiction brings with it psychological aspects and, in many cases, psychiatric manifestations. Recovery, which can be undertaken only with an addict's complete commitment to sobriety, is a long process; treatment programs now recognize that cocaine addiction is almost always accompanied by other types of substance abuse. A treatment team should consist of the patient, counselor, physician, clergyman, psychologist, nurse, social worker, and family members. 1 figure and 28 references