Regardless, if you do choose to use cocaine, a few harm reduction strategies will help reduce your risks. Keep in mind, however, that harm reduction will only better your chances of coming through cocaine use unscathed, it will not make it safe to keep using. You can reduce the severity of the crash you will get afterward by not repeatedly dosing in the same session. For the best chance at a painless recovery, and to reduce the risk of addiction, let the drug wear off, get some rest, and don’t use again the next day. The crash is part of the drug’s rebound effect and the worst part of it only lasts for 45 minutes to an hour. Using more cocaine, alcohol, or other drugs to avoid withdrawal will simply increase the intensity of the symptoms when they catch up with you. A better approach is to get some sleep or planning a day of rest ahead of time if you know you’re likely to binge. Also, be sure to drink plenty of water or juice and eat some food, even if you don’t feel like it. Some people recommend diluting cocaine with water before snorting to reduce the damage to your nose. You can also insert the straw deeper into your nasal passage so the cocaine doesn’t get stuck in the nose hairs. Alternating nostrils and ensuring the cocaine is chopped into a fine powder will also help. Take a break from cocaine if you develop tissue damage in your nose. It will give your body a chance to recover. If you smoke cocaine, be cautious about burning yourself. Avoid using makeshift pipes or foil from bottles, cans, or other sources as you may be inhaling harmful chemicals. These can damage your lungs even more than the cocaine. If you have never injected cocaine, it’s best not to start. The risks of abscesses from using the same injection site and missing a vein are too great. You’ll also want to avoid skin popping because cocaine is not well absorbed this way, so it’s really not worth it. It’s also never wise to inject any drug with needles that you are not 100% certain are sterile or that have been used by someone else. Speedballing—using an opiate and cocaine at the same time—can lead to an overdose as well. Your body may respond unpredictably to both a stimulant and a sedative simultaneously. It’s best to avoid it, as well as using cocaine with alcohol or any other drugs. Signs of a cocaine overdose include the user’s face turning blue or extremely pale. You may find it hard to breathe or go limp, even find that it’s impossible to talk. Vomiting, foaming at the mouth, seizure, chest pain, or unconsciousness are also signs that you need to call for emergency help immediately. Using cocaine to cope emotionally is a form of self-medication. Instead, talk to your doctor about medications and other treatments that may help with these conditions. Cocaine can induce or trigger psychosis—problems with perceiving things realistically—and this is treatable. It is possible to stay healthy when using cocaine on an occasional basis. However, your physical health can easily slip if you use it frequently, particularly if you are using every day. Letting your physical health slip can affect your work and relationships. For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.
