Trading a short term euphoria for a lifetime of drug treatment and therapy is just one of the devastating outcomes of cocaine use, a substance-abuse specialist said Wednesday.

Cocaine, an addictive drug derived from coca or prepared synthetically, used as an illegal stimulant and sometimes medicinally as a local anesthetic, is a drug and a problem that has been around forever, said Cary Quashen, founder of Action Family Counseling.

It’s taken a back seat to methamphetamine in recent years — but it’s still around.

The high from cocaine lasts for a short period of time, about 15- 30 minutes, Quashen said, so the user will go on a “binge” and use it continually to keep up the effects of the drug.

“I’ve seen users who were up for days, even weeks,” Quashen said.

Although the high only lasts for a short time, the drug still exists in the user’s system, so when the user continues to use cocaine, there is a buildup in the body that can cause an overdose.

Using cocaine can cause the user to exhibit paranoia, psychosis, wild outbursts and a rapid heartbeat that can lead to a heart attack, Quashen said.

The come down from a cocaine high is intense due to a usual lack of sleep and eating for long amounts of time, Quashen said.

“I know a 19-year-old user of cocaine that had a full-on heart attack,” Quashen said. “He survived — but he did a lot of damage.”

Cocaine is a stimulant, so the withdrawals are less physical and more emotional, Quashen said. Unfortunately, emotional withdrawals are much harder to treat.

Emotional withdrawals can last a lifetime, and require intense therapy from multiple sources.

Everyone should know that all drug abuse starts out innocently, Quashen said. No one intends to be a drug addict.

If you or anyone you know has an addiction, contact Action Family Counseling here. 

About Action Family Counseling

Action Family Counseling has drug and alcohol residential treatment locations in Santa Clarita, Piru, and Bakersfield; Intensive Drug and Alcohol Outpatient in Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Ventura, Pasadena, and Bakersfield, Action Family Counseling is here to help you.

Action Family Counseling’s primary goals are to maintain abstinence, stabilize co-occurring illnesses, and increase quality of life. We support and reinforce change in behavior patterns so that adolescents and adults, or clients and their families can fully indoctrinate the philosophies and principles needed to remain abstinent and stabilized for life.

Action Family Counseling accomplishes this by providing an effective treatment approach developed by the Department of Health and Human Services that includes a multi-disciplinarian personalized approach by a treatment team. Once a patient is identified, we provide an initial screening and assessment, which allows us to properly diagnose and place patients in the appropriate treatment setting. 

Once a patient completes our intake process to our residential program he or she receives 24-hour crisis management, individual counseling, group therapy, family education and counseling, treatment planning, routine and random toxicology screening, pharmacotherapy and medication management, education about Alcohol and Other Drugs and mental health issues, self-help and support group orientation, case management services, and discharge service planning with a transitional service plan to our Intensive Outpatient treatment program to ensure a continuum of care.

Photo courtesy of CNN.