Study highlights dangers of cocaine abuse

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by Change | 5 Feb 2010

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The "reinforcing effects" of cocaine and ecstasy could lead to young users requiring drug addiction support in later life.

Young people who take cocaine or ecstasy recreationally can develop "reinforcing effects" that make them more likely to develop an addiction.

This is according to researchers at the University of Valencia, who wanted to examine the short and long-term consequences of taking the drugs.

Their findings, published in the Addiction Biology journal, show that cocaine and ecstasy lead to long-lasting changes that increase the drugs' reinforcing powers, something that can last into adulthood.

Such effects mean that drug-using teenagers are more likely to need cocaine addiction support when they reach their 20s.

Lead researcher Dr Jose Minarro said that, despite both cocaine and ecstasy being widely used by young people, "very few studies" have looked at their effects in detail.

His team's study involved administering MDMA, cocaine and saline solution to mice during a period of eight days.

"The animals exhibited an increase in vulnerability to re-establishing behaviour (relapse), showing a preference for certain environments previously associated with the pleasant effects of the drug," Dr Minarro explained.

According to the NHS, approximately ten per cent of people in Britain receiving drug addiction support are doing so because of cocaine, crack and amphetamines.

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