Cocaine: Effects Of Substance Abuse And Addiction

Cocaine is a highly addictive illegal stimulant. It has many effects such as, a high, change in attitude, mental impairment, and severe brain damage is abused. More than likely, when a highly addictive drug such as cocaine is abused, it will lead to addiction. The substance abuse and mental health services estimate that of the 1.1 million people that used cocaine in 2013, “850,000 of these people met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for dependence or abuse of cocaine.” (Cummings 152). Not only isn 't a dangerous drug, but it is also costly when you include incarceration, treatment, and other things. Substance abuse can cost our nation up to 600 billion dollars a year. This has proven to be a huge problem in our nation today. It is important that we do all that we can to reduce the amount of individuals abusing and addicted to cocaine in our nation. …show more content…
One of these things include genetics. If a member of a family has substance abuse and addiction problems, it puts other members of the family, such as the offspring at higher risk of abuse and addiction once exposed to the drug (“Cocaine Abuse”). Aside from genetics, there are also certain chemicals in the brain that trigger addiction. There has been evidence that “repeated exposure to cocaine causes changes in certain genes that lead to altered levels of a certain brain chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is associated with the rush that is experienced when an individual takes cocaine” (“Cocaine Abuse”). Though there isn’t a single one cause for cocaine abuse and addiction, there are countless proven effects of the drug and the problems it brings to