Destructing My World: Cocaine

Millions of American people suffer from some type of addiction. Whether an alcohol, internet, or a nicotine addiction the results could be sever. The addition that hits closest to home for me is a cocaine addiction. I have witnessed cocaine deteriorate a person over many years. Cocaine is a very harmful substance and can affect everyone around it. Other than being illegal, this narcotic has caused uproar in many neighborhoods around the country. The body and family become a thing of the past, and cocaine makes all the decision. This, I believe that cocaine is extremely detrimental to health and family.

To some, the health of their bodies is of the utmost importance. But, to cocaine addicts health becomes a very small matter. Short term effects include dilated pupils, increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and a temporary “high”. On the other hand there are long term effects such as heart attack, chest pain, and respiratory failure. My aunt, who was a cocaine addict, was in the hospital and she was as high as the ceiling, and the doctors have to do an emergency operation. Due to drug use a doctor has extreme difficulty inserting an IV into her arm due to scar tissue from needle use, and the patient cannot be put under anesthesia because the air ways are so small they would risk losing her. The air ways were so frail and withered away they had to stick a 3 foot airway hose down the throat to supply oxygen. This, to me is not the way to live.

My aunt became mentally ill; she didn’t care much about her family or children. When I was about 5 years old I remember my aunt being the most pleasant, creative, hilarious, intellectual sibling I had at the time. Soon I realized that my aunt wasn’t coming around as much as before. In the back of my head I knew something was wrong. I asked about her all the time, especially on the holidays. The biggest blow to me was that when she went to jail for cocaine possession and all 5 of her children were taken by the Department of Children & Family Services also known as DCFS. Over the years she had more children and every single one was tested for any drugs in their systems, and sure enough, they all had signs. After having 10 children, 5 of which had minor mental defects due to cocaine use while being pregnant, she never even got the chance to take care of children 6 through 10. I know the loss of so many in one generation would definitely reverberate throughout our family’s history. I sometimes ask myself is “crack” worth the deterioration of an entire generation. Sadly, due to complications of breathing my aunt died on August 4, 2008 at the age of 36. Extremely high humidity levels caused her to have an asthma attack, and extremely tight air ways only made the situation that much worse.

Cocaine has created pandemonium in many neighborhoods across America. Unfortunately, my aunt became a victim of this like so many others. This single narcotic ruined her life and the lives of many others to come. The uses of cocaine lead to deterioration of the body and family. This, I believe that crack is the worst drug ever created by man.