Is it Possible to Use Cocaine in Moderation?

It’s a question in the back of the mind of many recreational cocaine users: is it possible to do coke without the risk of addiction?

If you use cocaine on weekends, at parties, at clubs or on occasions, you may not classify yourself as an addict, but you may be wondering at what point your cocaine use becomes problematic.  What are the risks of your level of cocaine use?

Recovery specialist Roland Williams addresses this in a recent issue of The Fix.  “As a matter of fact,” says Williams, “many addicts spend years of their lives trying to moderate, control or cut back on their use. It’s common that they try to cut down, switch brands, avoid the hard stuff, limit the amount of money they spend, only use on certain days, avoid hanging out with certain people, staying away from different places, etc.”

Essentially, attempting to moderate hard drug use is playing with fire, and the longer you go about doing this, the more likely it becomes that you will develop (or have already developed) an addiction.

Using cocaine on weekends is in fact considered heavy use, which is defined as more than 50 times a year.  At this rate, you still put yourself at significantly higher risk of stroke, coronary vasospasm, nasal septal perforation, derangement of your opioid and dopamine receptors and increased impulsivity.  Cardiovascular risks persist for the week after you do coke, meaning even if you are only using once a week, you are at high risk for stroke all the time (this increases if you’re combining coke and alcohol, which is likely).

In short, the answer to the question of whether it’s possible to use cocaine in moderation is: cocaine in any amount is not a good idea.

See the full article here: Ask an Expert: Can I Use Cocaine in Moderation?