Cocaine Use among the College Age Group: Biological and Psychological Effects--Clinical and Laboratory Research Findings.

Abstract Though cocaine has been used by man for centuries for both medical and nonmedical reasons, a knowledge of its effect on the human mind and body remains limited and not yet clearly documented. Sources of information consist of myth, street knowledge, animal studies, and clinical and laboratory studies of man. This paper focuses on findings from the latter two sources. The biological effects of cocaine include the local effects of producing anesthesia and constriction of blood vessels in areas where it is applied topically. Solutions of the drug applied directly to the eye cause the pupils to dilate. Systemic effects include an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. In some individuals, an increase in alertness occurs, and in others a state of drowsiness. The drug also decreases total sleep, REM sleep, and appetite. The psychological effects of the drug vary with dosage, chronicity, and a host of other variables. Increasing doses over long periods of time appear to cause increasingly severe imp...