SPEAKING OF ADDICTION

A new animal study released October 23, 2009 confirms that cocaine users/abusers experience severe cognitive problems related to their cocaine use. The Science Daily article stated, "Cocaine users display a range of cognitive deficits, including problems with decision-making, planning, and memory. The greater these deficits, the more likely treatment will fail." The findings are compiled from cocaine-exposed rhesus monkeys who were part of a multiple year study.

Most people don't need a scientific study to tell them that cocaine has caused them to have either current or residual cognitive problems -- memory problems, trouble focusing and problem solving, distractibility, and difficulty focusing (just to mention a few). It seems that using cocaine can cause cognitive impairment similar to that of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

This article offers hope both for reducing stigma around addiction and creating adequate treatment for people who use, abuse, or become addicted to cocaine. Cocaine has been described as the drug that has the most potent physiological triggers associated with it therefore making it hard to quit and avoid. It's hooks are powerful beyond imagination.