Using cocaine is one of the most commonly known drug abuse trends. That is why people often question how long does coke stay in your system. This is rather a tricky question as the effects of coke vary from person to person. Some people might get affected by minor irritation while others can have extremely complicated after-effects.
Despite its highly addictive nature and various health hazards that it provides, cocaine is one of the most popular high school drugs. It causes more than half a million emergency visits to the hospital a year and is the highest ranked among illicit drugs. In this article besides discussing how long does coke stay in your system various other cocaine-related facts are also mentioned.
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Facts related to cocaine
Before directly jumping towards the question of how long does coke stay in your system we should look at some basic facts related to cocaine. Some of the facts are quite interesting and some are surprising, but all of them will help you to gain an idea about what coke is.
A drug used in parties
One of the facts related to cocaine is that it is mainly a drug used in parties. A lot of coke users had their first share of cocaine is some social gatherings. This is mainly because when one uses cocaine, he/she feels confident, highly euphoric as well as social. These cocaine-induced effects help the person to open up better and talk to people, overcoming social anxiety.
Scientific name
‘Benzoylmethylecgonine’ is the scientific name of cocaine. This drug is essentially a stimulant that works by stimulating various nerves and making them excited.
Addictive in nature
Cocaine is extremely addictive in nature. The results and symptoms of cocaine overdose are that is why so complicated and dangerous. The level of cocaine addiction often depends on the dose and the method it is taken. But the fact remains the same about it being highly addictive. Using cocaine even once can push you towards a lifetime psychological and physical problem.
Side effects
Using cocaine on a regular basis has various side effects. Some of the side effects include weight and appetite loss, agitation, sexual incompetence, convulsions, reproductive damage, and seizures. It can damage the sperm count of a man and thus affect the ability to reproduce. Moreover, if a cocaine user male has a baby then that child can be born with abnormalities related to cocaine abuse.
Fast-acting in nature
Cocaine affects the central nervous system directly and thus produces a short but intense feeling of euphoria. This generally lasts for fifteen minutes or so is followed by feeling dull and depressed.
Detecting cocaine in the system
There are various ways of detecting cocaine in the system as some of the ways are mentioned below.
Blood test
Blood test is used seldom to detect cocaine in the system. This is primarily because the process is time-consuming. It requires blood to be drawn and then examined with special equipment. The testing procedure is also quite expensive. Moreover, with the help of blood test, only the shortest time of cocaine metabolites can be detected.
Saliva test
A saliva test is the second most common method of detecting cocaine in the system. It does not require any kind of advanced technology and thus can be done by using at-home test packages. Saliva test helps to detect cocaine metabolites better than a blood test, but not by severe margins.
Hair test
Hair testing is used more than blood testing. However, this method is generally kept for jobs that require the use of heavy machinery or government jobs. Other jobs that use hair testing to detect cocaine in the system are childcare, lifeguards, etc. The most interesting fact about this method is that half an inch of hair can give out information worth of thirty days.
Urine test
This is the most popular form of testing the system for cocaine. This is used for both at-home kits as well as screenings that are processed in the laboratory. The wide use of urine test is because of the fast, cheap and easy to do the nature of the test.
How long does coke stay in your system
Now we come to the main point of discussing how long does coke stay in your system. There is no definite answer to this question as it varies from people to people and depends on various factors. However, below is provided a general timeline of various situations that you might expect after using coke.
12-24 hours after using
Some users can be free of any trace of coke after 12-24 hours since their last dose. However, this is only true when you are undergoing a blood or saliva test. However, sometimes even the urine test might fail to find any cocaine in your system is you used a limited amount.
A heavy user of coke is very likely to fail a drug test conducted after 24 hours of his last use. This remains the same irrespective of any method of consumption.
 1-4 days since the last usage
For the majority of coke users, one to four days is the range within which a urine test can detect cocaine metabolites in the system. However, this too varies, mainly depending on the drug usage history of that particular user.
Another thing to keep in mind here is that in a urine test, a user can easily cheat. They might have detox drinks or simply use fake urine. Such cases mostly happen while using at-home devices as there remains no authority to find one cheating.
In such situations, mainly hair tests are relied on. They generally do not show a falsely negative result.
4-90 days since the last usage
Only one type of screening can find cocaine in the system after four days of the last use and it is the hair test. However, if one is a regular user of coke then even urine tests can find the traces of the drug after two weeks or so.
Given the fact that half an inch of hair gives away information of 30 days, normally one-and-a-half-inch long hair is required for drug testing. This is because coke can be detected in the hair for up to three months. However, it is mainly with regular users that coke can be found in the hair even after months of the last usage.
One problem with a hair tests is that the test results often show falsely positive results.
Over 90 days of last use
If someone has used coke for over 90 days ago then it is quite difficult to detect it via any type of testing. But with heave or chronic users, a trace of the drug can be found in the body even after 6 months or beyond.
Short-term effects of cocaine use
Besides knowing how long does coke stay in your system it is also important to know about the short-term effects of cocaine use.
Irritability
One of the most common effects of using coke is getting irritated frequently. You will always be in a bad mood and your mood will degrade when you cannot get your dosage.
Paranoia
Paranoia is another short-term effect induced by coke usage. You will find yourself constantly paranoid. This can be caused due to the fear of getting caught using illegal drugs. Gradually the paranoia will spread in the other aspects of your life as well and create problems.
Anxiety
With paranoia, you are also very likely to get anxious at situations that can be managed easily. Paranoia is related with anxiety and using coke on a regular basis will induce both of them.
Sleeplessness
Constant use of coke often makes it difficult for people to have a peaceful sleep. If you have been using coke for a long time and on a daily basis then you might find it difficult to sleep. Your sleep is very likely to be interrupted at hours of intervals and cause other health hazards.
High blood pressure
Though there are various other reasons behind the rise in blood pressure, using coke is one of them. Chronic users of cocaine are more likely to be affected by high blood pressure than people who do never use it.
Long-term effects of cocaine
People who have been using cocaine for a long time can face the long-term effects of cocaine. These effects are discussed below.
Cognitive impairments
Chronic usage of the coke can cause various cognitive impairments like deficits in attention, loss of memory and defected working memory.
Risk of infection
The risk of infection is bigger in cocaine users as they often use injections to inject the drug in to the body. Besides, people lose their ability to judge after taking coke and that might lead to various situations inducing infection.
Malnourishment
Constant use of coke often causes malnourishment in different individuals. Given the fact that coke causes loss of appetite, using it on a regular basis will naturally malnourish the user. Chronic cocaine users gradually lessen their portions of eating and that harms their body and reduces their weight.
Mental health issues
Long term use of cocaine can cause mental health-related problems like hallucinations or paranoia. It also makes the user depressed as after a state of a user, most of the users delve into a state of dullness and feel extremely depressed.
There are various other possible effects of coke usage that depends on the way the drug is used. Such cases include:
Oral usage
Oral usage of coke causes severe decay of the bowel. The bowel movements are hampered and the entire body is affected because of that.
Smoking
Inhaling the coke might cause coughing, asthma, infections in the respiratory tracks along with other related problems.
Snorting
Snorting the drug might lead to nose bleeding, losing the ability to smell, trouble in swallowing and runny nose.
Injection:
Injecting the drug into the body often cause blood-related infections, skin diseases and collapsed and damaged veins.
Treatment for getting rid of the addiction
If you find yourself misusing cocaine and want to get rid of the habit then you should consider the treatments that are available in drug and alcohol rehab centers that would help you to cut cocaine from your life. There are various options available and you can select the one you are most comfortable with. Some of the types of treatment are mentioned below.
Recovery groups
This is one very popular method of treating coke addiction. In such groups, people who suffer from drug abuse symptoms meet and tell their stories. It is a form of therapy and people talk about how they are fighting the addiction or how they have got rid of it. Such stories inspire other addicts to break free of their addiction.
Therapy
Another way of dealing with coke addiction is by taking the help of therapy. A therapist will understand the root cause of your addiction and will guide you towards quitting it. There are also rehab centers available and there you will be sticking to a routine and receive important medical care to quit your addiction. Therapy is quite impactful if you can follow the guidelines provided by your therapist. However, for extreme addicts often medicines are prescribed to get them out of this addiction.
These are the main things related to how long does coke stay in your system. If you find anyone among your family and friends to be gripped by drug abuse then you should immediately send them to help. This is not a habit that should be encouraged and the earlier you start taking care of it, the easier it would be to quit it.
People often take coke just for knowing what the hype is all about it and then become addicts. It is therefore not very wise to try it simply because all of your friends are. Many people have higher resistance and they do not get addicted to the drug easily. But for others, the case is often not the same and that creates addiction along with further complications.
