Cocaine
=Cocaine.=--Any dose above 1/2 grain applied to a mucous membrane or
injected hypodermically may give rise to alarming symptoms. These are
intense pallor, faintness, giddiness, dilatation of pupils, paroxysmal
dyspnoea, rapid, intermittent, and weak pulse, nausea and vomiting,
intense prostration verging on collapse, and convulsions. The patient
may recover if allowed to remain in a recumbent position, but stimulants
by mouth--e.g., ammonia--and the hypodermic injection of brandy or
ether may be necessary, with the inhalation of nitrite of amyl.
For care in the prescribing of cocaine see under the 'Dangerous Drugs
Act, 1920' (p. 82).
The =Cocaine Habit= consists in the self-administration of the drug
hypodermically. It induces excitement, which is followed by prostration.
In time melancholia or mania develops, with great irritation of the skin
('cocaine bugs').
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Abortifacients
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