Assignment 1

Assignment 1

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Assignment 1

Drug abuse has been one of the most important issues of modern times, which not only impact the mind and body of the drug abusers but also their social and economic status. The way of administration of the drug, in addition to the quantity administered, play an important role in making some individual addicted to it. Cocaine is one of the drugs of abuse which can be administered in different ways. The various methods of administration of this drug also affect the body of human beings in different ways. Various ways of administration and their impact on the human body will be discussed in detail in this paper.

There are a number of ways of administrating some drug in the body of human beings, depending on the required impact in some specific period of time. In the case of drugs of abuse, most of the abusers use four common ways of administering the drug, which include the oral, intranasal, intravenous and smoking. Oral and intranasal routes might take a little more time in depicting their impact over the body of the abusers. However, the drugs administered through the routes of smoking and intravenous readily react and provide the desired effect and satisfaction to the abusers (Broséus, Gentile, & Esseiva, 2016).

Cocaine is one of the most commonly used drugs of abuse across the globe. It can be administered in the human body in a number of different ways. The most common ways used by the abusers are oral, nasal, veins and smoking. In the case of the oral route, it can be used by chewing or simply by swallowing. Most of the drug abusers use the coca leaves for the purpose of chewing. By chewing, cocaine reaches and reacts with the system of the human body in a slower manner, as it takes five to minutes in showing its impact. However, once it has become activated in the body, it keeps the abuser in a state of high for about forty-five to ninety minutes. In the case of swallowing cocaine, it becomes even slower and the initial onset of action takes ten to thirty minutes. After getting activated, it keeps the abuser in a state of high for forty-five to ninety minutes. One of the most common and convenient ways of administering cocaine in the human body is through the nasal route. It is quite effective as well due to the fact that a little dosage provides more satisfaction as it quickly reaches the system and reacts with it. The average time required for the initial onset of action of cocaine through the nasal route is two to three minutes and it also keeps the abuser in the high state for about half an hour to forty-five minutes (Advokat, Comaty, & Julien, 2014).

The most dangerous way of administering cocaine in the human body is through veins. This type of administration is mostly used by chronic drug addicts because it is one of the fastest ways of adding drugs to the system. The least time required in the initial onset of cocaine when administered through the veins is only thirty to forty-five seconds, which also keep the abuser high for ten to twenty minutes. The duration of being high is less in the case of intravenous administration because of the low dose which can be contained in a single injection. Intravenous administration is dangerous because of the fact that syringes are used for administering the drug and most of the addicts use one syringe multiple times or in some cases, a single syringe is used by many addicts. This can lead them to contract diseases from each other, which can ultimately cause their death. The last common way of administering cocaine in the system of the human body is through smoke, which is also the fastest ways. The initial onset of action is only eight to ten seconds, which keeps the abuser high for five to ten minutes. The abusers use cocaine in smoke in the form of paste, free base and crack as well (Dinis-Oliveira, 2015).

The various ways of administration of cocaine affect the body differently. In the case of oral administration, it reaches the stomach and then becomes a part of the bloodstream. In the case of nasal administration, it passes through the mucous membrane, narrowing the blood vessels which takes the drug a little longer time in becoming a part of the bloodstream and reaching the brain cells. The intravenous administration is the most effective and dangerous as well because the drug is directly administered to the bloodstream. It can result in the death of the abuser on the spot if a high dosage of the drug is administered to the bloodstream. In the case of administration through smoking, the drug is transported through the lungs, becoming a part of the bloodstream to reach the brain (Advokat, Comaty, & Julien, 2014).

Cocaine is one of the most commonly abused drugs across the world. It is administered through the oral, nasal, venous routes, in addition to being smoked. The various ways of administration impact the body of human beings differently as the drug reach the system in varied time and keeps the abuser high for the different time period. The intravenous administration is the fastest yet most dangerous, while the oral administration is the slowest. The administration of drug impacts the functioning of the human body, having the chances of killing the abusers according to the level of drug in the bloodstream.

References

Advokat, C. D., Comaty, J. E., & Julien, R. M. (2014). Julien's Primer of Drug Action. Macmillan Higher Education.

Broséus, J., Gentile, N., & Esseiva, P. (2016). The cutting of cocaine and heroin: a critical review. Forensic science international, 262, 73-83.

Dinis-Oliveira, R. J. (2015). Metabolomics of cocaine: implications in toxicity. Toxicology mechanisms and methods, 25(6), 494-500.