COCAINE AND AMPHETAMINE

Cocaine and amphetamine are similar in their chemical structures as well as in their chemical actions.  The main difference is that amphetamine is not quite as powerful as cocaine, but what we say of one is usually true of the other.

Cocaine and amphetamine are powerful stimulants, and their effects are complicated.  For this reason, their actions require more description than some of the other drugs of abuse.

It does not really matter whether we speak of cocaine addiction or cocaine dependence.  The bottom line is that cocaine use results in a rapidly established and powerful addiction (dependence) and produces one of the most intense cravings known.

A 1908 New York Times article referred to cocaine use as "the most terrible vice ever acquired by a civilized people."

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