- A powerful stimulant drug made from the cocoa plant.
- Local anaesthetic, vasoconstrictor, and stimulant properties.
- A Schedule II drug, which means that it has high potential for abuse but can be administered by a physician for legitimate medical uses.
Cocaine salt is an acidic, water-soluble powder with a high melting point, used by snorting or sniffing intranasally or by dissolving it in water and injecting it intravenously. Freebase cocaine can be vaporized and inhaled, or crystallized and sold as crack or rock, which is also smoked or inhaled. Street dealers often dilute (or “cut”) cocaine with nonpsychoactive substances such as cornstarch, talcum powder, flour, or baking soda, or adulterate it to increase profits.
Smoked or inhaled cocaine reaches the brain quickly and produces a rapid and intense (yet transient) high, which enhances its addictive potential. Cocaine binds to the dopamine (DA) transporter and blocks DA reuptake, which increases synaptic levels of the monoamine neurotransmitters DA, norepinephrine (NE), and serotonin.
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), in 2015 estimated that 1.9 million people (approximately 0.7% of the population) were current users of cocaine.
- A stimulant drug usually used as a white, bitter-tasting powder or a pill.
- Crystal methamphetamine can be inhaled/smoked, swallowed (pill), snorted, or injected after being dissolved in water or alcohol.
Methamphetamine has a similar structure to the DA, NE, serotonin, and vesicular monoamine transporters and reverses their endogenous function, resulting in release of monoamines from storage vesicles into the synapse.
Methamphetamine is more potent and more efficacious than amphetamine; pharmacokinetics and low cost often result in a chronic and continuous, high dose self-administered use pattern.
According to the NSDUH, approximately 897,000 people (0.3% of the population) aged ≥12 were current users of methamphetamine in 2015.
- MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is an illegal drug that has stimulant and psychedelic effects.
- Individuals experience increased physical and mental energy, distortions in time and perception, emotional warmth, empathy toward others, a general sense of well-being, decreased anxiety, and an enhanced enjoyment of tactile experience.
- Binds to serotonin transporters, increasing release of serotonin, NE, and DA
- Usually taken orally in a tablet, capsule, or liquid form; effects last approximately 3-6 h
- MDMA is a Schedule I drug, along with other substances, with no proven therapeutic value.
Adulteration of MDMA tablets with methamphetamine, ketamine, caffeine, the over-the-counter cough suppressant dextromethorphan, the diet drug ephedrine, and cocaine is common. MDMA is rarely used alone and is often mixed with other substances, such as alcohol and marijuana.
Cathinone is an alkaloid psychostimulant found in the khât (Catha edulis) plant. Actions are similar to amphetamines, and misusers are at increased risk for acute myocardial infarction and stroke, due to inotropic and chronotropic effects on the heart, vasospasm of coronary arteries, and catecholamine-induced platelet aggregation.
Methylphenidate, amphetamine, and methamphetamine are psychostimulants approved in the United States for treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), weight control, and narcolepsy. Phenylpropanolamine, a psychostimulant used primarily for weight control, was found to be related to hemorrhagic stroke in women and removed from the market in 2005.
Increased use of nonprescribed amphetamines or methylphenidate as a study aid among college students, and an energy and productivity booster for so-called “supermoms.” According to the NSDUH, of the 7.7 million people, aged ≥12, who had a past year stimulant-use disorder (SUD) related to their use of illicit drugs, 0.4 million misused prescription stimulants.