Cocaine Intoxication

Cocaine intoxication, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), is defined as stimulant overuse with significant psychological or behavioral changes and physical symptoms. Cocaine is known to act on the dopaminergic system by increasing the levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin by blocking the presynaptic reuptake of these neurotransmitters. Recent evidence suggests that people who use cocaine chronically have enhanced receptor signaling during intoxication, leading to imbalance and increased incentive salience that further drives compulsive cocaine intake.

Cocaine has been known since the early centuries for its stimulating effects. Indigenous to South America, its active chemical in alkaloid form was sequestered in the late 1800s. In the United States, cocaine was commonly used and prescribed by doctors in the late ...