I’ve never gotten a real euphoric feeling from any other stimulant that was even in the ballpark of the kind cocaine gives. I mentioned opiates (which I’ve never done) because for me cocaine was a combination of the ‘everything is awesome’ stimulant high but also with a very strong ‘everything is gonna be just fine’ euphoric opiate high as well.
All this gets at another important aspect of coke. It can and will effect different people in different ways. Some can take it or leave it, most will generally really enjoy it, but some cannot help but become slaves to it. I’ve known otherwise decent, totally normal people who found it 100% impossible to resist (and kind of ruined their lives to various degrees in the process). If you’ve never done it, the best thing is to stay that way. No matter how you measure it, it will be a net sum loss…
Link
In 2005, levamisole was found in almost two percent of the cocaine seized by the DEA. In 2007, the frequency went up to 15 percent, and by 2011 a staggering 73 percent of all cocaine seized by the DEA had been cut with levamisole. The same tendency is seen in Europe and in the samples I have analysed myself. In 2008-2009, the frequency was around 66 percent, and in 2011-2012 it had gone up to 90 percent in Danish cocaine. The side effects from levamisole are not necessarily something the average user should worry about since their exposure is not on a daily basis. However, the more habitual consumer should definitely take it into consideration.
I can’t deny the numbers, but I wonder why on earth drug dealers would go out of their way to obtain a poisonous and hard to find substance to cut their coke with. Powdered baby formula sounds like a decent choice to me, it must look right and it’s not going to kill anyone.
The brain’s reward system is what gives you that thrilling feeling when you’ve achieved a goal (solving a problem, scoring the winning touchdown, closing a big deal, whatever). This is one of the mechanisms that helps us learn.
Cocaine works by juicing that reward system via dopamine, so you get that amazing feeling basically for free (well, for the cost of the coke and the effort of snorting the powder). That’s why cocaine use is such a powerful self-reinforcing behavior for some people.
I only did it once, about 20 years ago. It left quite an impression. Even now I’ll occasionally dream that I’m running naked through a field in the summertime, and then it starts snowing…
Being Autistic I am prone to addictions – I am addicted to arguing online. If I had tried anything like cocaine I would have been addicted 100%. I had a few drinks, but since I live with my parents I did not become an alcoholic.
Autism and addictive behavior are related? That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that. Is it possible that you’re simply autistic and prone to addictions?
I was aware that the rate of substance abuse among high-functioning autistic people is higher than that of the general population, but I thought it was due to self-medication, or that it gives them some semblance of a social life when other people may not accept them.
Or it could be that autism and ADHD are comorbid often enough, so perhaps it’s the ADHD side and not necessarily the autism but it also may not be mutually exclusive. It’s well recognized that substance abuse is higher in those with ADHD or had it as a kid.
Well, from what I lived through (So Cal in the '70s and eighties) I can say the lyrics to “Life in the Fast Lane” are hackneyed , but certainly not fictitious.
