How Long Does Cocaine Last?
Compared with other substances, the effects of cocaine don’t last very long. According to Healthline, a typical cocaine high only lasts for about 15 to 30 minutes, depending on how you ingest it. The effects usually come on hard and fast, which is part of why cocaine tends to have high substance abuse potential despite relatively short-lived effects. [1] Urine tests are the common methods to detect cocaine in your system but how long does cocaine stay in urine? Read to learn more.
How Long Does It Take To Feel Effects?
Cocaine’s effects appear almost immediately after a single dose and disappear within a few minutes to an hour. Small amounts of cocaine usually make the user feel euphoric, energetic, talkative, mentally alert, and hypersensitive to sight, sound, and touch. The drug can also temporarily decrease the need for food and sleep. Some users find that cocaine helps them perform simple physical and intellectual tasks more quickly, although others experience the opposite effect.
The duration of cocaine’s euphoric effects depends upon the route of administration. The faster the drug is absorbed, the more intense the resulting high, but also the shorter its duration. Snorting cocaine produces a relatively slow onset of the high, but it may last from 15 to 30 minutes. In contrast, the high from smoking is more immediate but may last only 5 to 10 minutes.
Short-term physiological effects of cocaine use include constricted blood vessels; dilated pupils; and increased body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Large amounts of cocaine may intensify the user’s high but can also lead to bizarre, erratic, and violent behavior. Some cocaine users report feelings of restlessness, irritability, anxiety, panic, and paranoia. Users may also experience tremors, vertigo, and muscle twitches.
Severe medical complications can occur with cocaine use. Some of the most frequent are cardiovascular effects, including disturbances in heart rhythm and heart attacks; neurological effects, including headaches, seizures, strokes, and coma; and gastrointestinal complications, including abdominal pain and nausea. In rare instances, sudden death can occur on the first use of cocaine or unexpectedly thereafter. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures.
Many cocaine users also use alcohol, and this combination can be particularly dangerous. The two substances react to produce cocaethylene, which may potentiate the toxic effects of cocaine and alcohol on the heart. The combination of cocaine and heroin is also very dangerous. Users combine these drugs because the stimulating effects of cocaine are offset by the sedating effects of heroin; however, this can lead to taking a high dose of heroin without initially realizing it. Because cocaine’s effects wear off sooner, this can lead to a heroin overdose, in which the user’s respiration dangerously slows down or stops, possibly fatally. [2]
How Is Cocaine Detected?
Anyone who is concerned about testing positive for cocaine should review the dangers of cocaine use and consider stopping use. If they find they are unable to stop using, they may have a cocaine use disorder.
Drug testing is a science that requires the guidance and oversight of appropriately trained forensic scientists. The effective operation of a drug court program is premised upon having the capacity to:
- Conduct frequent (often two to three times per week) and random drug tests on participants
- Obtain test results immediately
- Maintain a high degree of accuracy in test results [3]
Cocaine Drug Test
Enzymes in the blood and the liver metabolize cocaine, transforming it into various metabolites, including benzoylecgonine which leaves the body in your urine. Your blood also deposits cocaine and its metabolites in your hair as it grows. Drug tests can detect cocaine and its metabolites in your blood plasma, urine, and hair.
Cocaine Urine Test
You will probably either urinate in a cup or have saliva taken out of your mouth. Urine is the most common sample used. How long does cocaine stay in urine? A urine test can detect cocaine metabolites for two to three days after cocaine use. In heavy users, the test may be positive for up to two weeks after use.
One drawback is that people have found ways to cheat to get a false negative, meaning a negative result when the result should be positive because of cocaine use. Products promising to alter urine test results are advertised on the Internet, and cheating usually involves adding a substance to the urine to affect the test results. To keep people from cheating, some testers will insist on watching people while they urinate in the cup.
How long does cocaine stay in urine? If you provide a urine sample, the tester may test the sample right away. The result will be available in minutes. If the result is positive, the tester should send a sample to a lab for confirmation, because the rapid tests are not as accurate as a lab tests. [4]
Hair Drug Test Cocaine
Detecting the compound cocaine (COC) in hair is not sufficient to identify drug abuse because hair shafts may be contaminated by COC released into the air during smoking, and contaminated hands can transfer COC powder residue from surrounding surfaces where use occurred. For these reasons, other COC analytes and even parent drug-to-metabolite concentration ratios are evaluated in hair drug-testing programs to ensure that the hair test only identifies the illicit use of COC; however, the efficacy of established cut-off concentrations for COC in hair is still debated. [5]
Cocaine In Blood Test
How long does cocaine stay in urine? The length of time that a substance is detectable in your blood or urine depends on its half-life. The half-life of a substance is the amount of time it takes for the concentration of the drug to reduce by half. The average half-life of cocaine in blood plasma is around one and a half hours. You can usually test positive in a blood test for roughly two days after last use.
Cocaine Saliva Test
Cocaine or its metabolites typically show up in a blood or saliva test for up to two days after its last use.
Cocaine Addiction Rehab
National Center for Health Statistics data shows that drug overdose deaths from cocaine use are rising, with more than 16,000 people dying in 2019. [6] Cocaine addiction treatment is required as it is a complex illness. Cocaine addiction has a serious impact on your mental and physical health and can result in premature death.
Is Cocaine Addictive? Although health care providers can use it for valid medical purposes, such as local anesthesia for some surgeries, recreational cocaine use is illegal.
Early Symptoms of Cocaine Addiction
- Irritability or anxiety
- Psychosis and hallucinations
- Withdrawal symptoms when usage stops
- Spending excessive time and money looking for cocaine
- A tolerance for the drug, requiring large amounts to get high
- A desire to keep using even when health complications arise
- A negative impact on quality of life, relationships, and employment
Inpatient Drug Rehab Texas Can Help
Clearing cocaine from the body and overcoming withdrawal symptoms is the goal of cocaine detox, which is the first step of treatment for addiction. We Level Up TX has a comprehensive team prescribing medications that can alleviate your withdrawal pains while monitoring your health 24 hours during the detox. We prioritize your safety and comfort because this is a fragile and challenging time for you.
Once detox is complete, a new doorway in treatment opens up, which is referred to as a residential level of care. The residential care program slowly and effectively introduces the individual into an atmosphere of therapeutic growth, marked by master’s level therapists, clinicians, group counselors, psychiatrists, and a community of like-minded individuals with the same aim: to attain sobriety and live a great life.
Some of the many modalities applied and practiced within our residential treatment facility are:
- Alumni Support
- Stabilization
- Holistic Therapy
How We Can Help? Searched for “Texas inpatient consultants or drug and alcohol treatment centers in Houston TX” or are you seeking a national inpatient rehab destination?
We Level Up TX treatment tailors the program to the individual and the individual to the program of recovery. We begin by assessing our client’s history of mental health, drugs, and alcohol-related past. The needs of each patient are specific and personalized because we aim to provide comprehensive support for mental health, addiction, and dual diagnosis treatment.
The supportive environment is designed accordingly to give patients 24-hour care for sobriety. Most importantly, we hope to have our clients live comfortably within the facility during this crucial and fragile time.
We Level Up TX prioritizes removing temptations for relapse and applying an air of recovery into every component of the treatment timeline, including meth addiction treatment. We Level Up TX finds that when clients are living in a supportive community, especially during their early recovery process, they can truly focus on what matters most: their recovery.
If you or a loved one is struggling with cocaine addiction, reach out to We Level Up TX because we may be able to help you explore treatment options. Contact We Level Up TX today for any questions such as “How long does cocaine stay in urine?“.
Sources:
[1] How Long Does a Cocaine High Last? – https://www.healthline.com/health/how-long-does-cocaine-high-last
[2] What are the short-term effects of cocaine use? – https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/cocaine/what-are-short-term-effects-cocaine-use
[3] DRUG COURTS RESOURCE SERIES – https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/ojp/181103.pdf
[4] Cocaine Screen – https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=167&contentid=cocaine_screen
[5] Analysis of Cocaine Analytes in Human Hair – https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/225531.pdf
[6] https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/cocaine/what-cocaine – National Institute on Drug Abuse
