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I love a bit of Charlie, me. Makes me feel like a million dollars.It can also make you look like a total wanker. The quick euphoric cocaine high can make you feel intensely confident, wittier, stronger, faster, cooler and just… better than anyone else in the room. You're so smart! So horny! So sociable! With so much clever, witty stuff to say to anyone that'll listen! Suddenly you're James Bond! You're Britney Spears! You're a superbeing! Well, for half an hour, anyway. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, to anyone who hasn't taken coke you come across like a self-centred, egotistical gobshite boring the room to death talking nineteen to the dozen about you, you, how great you are, you, your film script idea etc, etc ad nauseam. You're wired, wide-eyed and over-intense - and then it wears off and suddenly you switch to feeling tired, dull, irritable and restless, panting for the next line & staring flinty-eyed at your mates disappearing into the loo in pairs, probably about to do a line that's, like, at least one centimetre thicker than yours was…it's SO unfair. Is your idea of a good time spending half the night closeted in a grubby toilet cubicle talking about superficial bollocks? Think about it… I used to do the odd line at parties, now I do it most times I go out but it doesn't give the same effect - how can I make it work like it used to?It is remarkably easy to get dependent (i.e you need to take more just to get the same effect) and then hooked on cocaine. The more you take, the more you need to take, and once-manageable comedowns morph into crashing lows. Perhaps the most dangerous thing about coke is that it actually seems like a fairly mild drug when you first try it - contrary to the way it's portrayed in most films and TV, a single line doesn't turn people into coke and lust-crazed ego-maniacs. But it's this illusion of control that makes it such an easy drug to get into problems with. The combination of a quick, very pleasurable high followed almost immediately by an extended low makes cocaine extremely addictive and habit forming. One line of Charlie inevitably leads to another, and another, and another, as you try to keep the high going and avoid the comedown. The temptation to take it again the next time you go out is very hard to resist, and before you know it you can find yourself taking it whenever you can, just to feel 'normal' - in lab experiments, rat prefer cocaine to food, literally starving themselves to death rather than stop taking it (mind you, when you consider a lab rat's diet…). Combine this with the high price of cocaine when compared to most drugs, and you have a recipe for disaster. Extended cocaine use, as well as emptying your bank balance, can lead to severe mental problems including paranoia, depression, delusions, hallucinations and, in extreme cases, a condition known as cocaine psychosis, as well as malnutrition, exhaustion and seizures. Heavy use can cause convulsions, heart problems and chest pain. Users have died from overdose - and since coke is of extremely variable purity overdose can be quite easy. Continued long term use can lead to paranoia, hallucinations and psychosis & malnutrition as it suppresses the appetite. Injection carries risk of vein damage, abscesses, catching HIV & Hep C. Snorting off toilet cubicles can also lead to very nasty infections. Snorting coke regularly can damage the membranes lining the nose, leading to constant sniffing and, over time, eating away at the septum dividing the nostrils (think Daniella Westbrook). Breaking a cocaine addition is an extremely long, difficult and painful process, so if you're going to take coke, keep it special and avoid taking it more than once a month at most. My boyfriend is really into coke and I want to put him off - what can I do?He may well do it anyway but talk to him about the risks. Large and/or frequent doses often lead to tension, anxiety and paranoia, and in some cases aggressive or violent outbursts. Physically it may make him feel shaky, short of breath with a tight jaw. The comedown begins almost immediately and will make him feel tired, irritable, anxious and depressed. After an extended coke 'session', these feelings can last for days afterwards, often resulting in mood swings and problems sleeping and concentrating. Physically the drug increases your body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure, all of which can be dangerous to people with existing medical conditions and, in large doses, can be fatal even to otherwise healthy people, although this is fairly rare. At least tell him to avoid getting coke for his mates, if they're into it. Cocaine is a Class A and supply (even giving a line to a friend for free) is punishable by up to life imprisonment. I want to keep doing it occasionally - how can I make sure I'm safe?You can't. But you can take the following precautions:
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