BACKGROUND Little is known about the relationship of gender with cocaine use in rural areas. This study describes these relationships among stimulant users residing in rural areas of Arkansas, Kentucky, and Ohio. OBJECTIVES Understanding the characteristics of crack and powder cocaine users in rural areas may help inform prevention, education, and treatment efforts to address rural stimulant ...

Cocaine and heroin are psychoactive substances frequently used by woman abusers of childbearing age. In this study, we used in utero electroporation labeling technique and novelty recognition models to evaluate the effects of prenatal exposure of mice to cocaine or heroin on the morphological development of cortical neurons and postnatal cognitive functions. Our results showed that prenatal coc...

AIMS The study investigates patterns of cocaine use and alcohol use when these substances were taken on their own, the order of administration of alcohol and of cocaine when the two substances were taken together, and changes in the doses of alcohol and of cocaine when the two substances were taken together. The study further investigates differences in the combined use of the two substances by...

Recreational use of alkaloid free-base cocaine, also known as crack cocaine, has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Inhalation of crack cocaine is known to cause a variety of pulmonary complications. Herein we present a case of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) and particulate foreign matter deposition in the setting of crack cocaine inhalation.

BACKGROUND Several studies indicate a specific relationship between bipolar disorder and stimulant use and abuse. It has generally been assumed that cocaine use represents self-enhancement or attempts to optimize one's level of hypomania, cyclothymia or hyperthymia. This topic required further examination among heroin abusers because cocaine abuse is commonly comorbid with heroin abuse. METHO...

Female inner-city substance users evidence greater crack/cocaine use and are more likely to be dependent on this drug than on any other drug. Additionally, female inner-city substance users evidence greater crack/cocaine use and are more likely to be dependent on this drug than their male counterparts, despite no consistent difference demonstrated in use and dependence across other drugs. Becau...

Renal disease in cocaine and heroin users is associated with the nephrotic syndrome, acute glomerulonephritis, amyloidosis, interstitial nephritis, and rhabdomyolysis. The pathophysiologic basis of cocaine-related renal injury involves renal hemodynamic changes, glomerular matrix synthesis and degradation, and oxidative stress and induction of renal atherogenesis. Heroin is the most commonly ab...

This paper estimates the empirical relationship between cocaine and heroin prices and drug-related hospital ED admissions for 21 U.S. cities. These outcomes bypass some of the problems with self-reports and directly measure a component of healthcare costs associated with heavy drug usage. The price elasticity of the probability of a cocaine and heroin episode is estimated at -0.27 and -0.10, re...

OBJECTIVE To review and discuss the differences and similarities between the use of crack cocaine and cocaine hydrochloride; and to determine how these findings might affect policies on the imprisonment and treatment of cocaine users. DATA SOURCES English-language publications were identified through a computerized search (using MEDLINE) between 1976 and 1996 using the search terms "smoked co...

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of voluntary wheel running on the positive reinforcing effects of heroin in rats with an established history of drug self-administration. Methods: Rats were assigned to sedentary (no wheel) and exercise (wheel) conditions and trained to self-administer cocaine under positive reinforcement contingencies. Rats acquiring cocaine self...