Why cocaine becomes addictive: Research with cocaine has shown that all laboratory animals can become compulsive cocaine users. Animals will work more persistently at pressing a bar for cocaine than for any drug, including opiates. An addicted monkey pressed the bar 12,800 times until it got a single dose of cocaine. If the animal survives, it will return to the task of obtaining more cocaine.
The human response is similar to that of the laboratory animal. The cocaine-dependent human prefers it to all other activities and will use the drug until the user or the supply is exhausted. These persons will exhibit behavior entirely different from their previous lifestyle.
Cocaine-driven humans will compel themselves to perform unusual acts compared with their former standards of conduct. For example, a cocaine user may sell her child to obtain more cocaine. There are many stories of professionals, such as lawyers, physicians, bankers, and athletes, with daily habits costing hundreds to thousands of dollars, with binges in the $20,000-$50,000 range. The result may be loss of job and profession, loss of family, bankruptcy, and death.
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