Cocaine-Based DUI Defense Lawyers

Urinary excretion is less than 2% for unchanged cocaine, 26-39% for benzoylecgonine, and 18-22% for ecgonine methyl ester. 64-69% of the initial dose is recovered after 3 days. Very low concentrations of cocaine may be detected in urine during the initial few hours, however, benzoylecgonine persists in urine at detectable concentrations from 2-4 days. Chronic, heavy use of cocaine can result in detectable amounts of benzoylecgonine in urine for up to 10 days following a binge.

Early phase – Psychological: Euphoria, excitation, feelings of well-being, general arousal, increased sexual excitement, dizziness, self-absorbed, increased focus and alertness, mental clarity, increased talkativeness, motor restlessness, offsets fatigue, improved performance in some simple tasks, and loss of appetite. Higher doses may exhibit a pattern of psychosis with confused and disoriented behavior, delusions, hallucinations, irritability, fear, paranoia, antisocial behavior, and aggressiveness. Physiological: Increased heart rate and blood pressure, increased body temperature, dilated pupils, increased light sensitivity, constriction of peripheral blood vessels, rapid speech, dyskinesia, nausea, and vomiting. Late phase - Psychological: Dysphoria, depression, agitation, nervousness, drug craving, general CNS depression, fatigue, insomnia. Physiological: Itching/picking/scratching, normal heart rate, normal pupils.

Nervousness, restlessness, tremors, anxiety, and irritability. Chronic use may lead to personality changes, hyperactivity, psychosis, paranoia, and fear. Cocaine overdose can be characterized by agitation, enhanced reflexes, hostility, headache, tachycardia, irregular respiration, chills, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, rise in body temperature, hallucinations, convulsions, delirium, unconsciousness, seizures, stroke, cerebral hemorrhage, heart failure, and death from respiratory failure. Cocaine excited delirium is a syndrome often caused by excessive cocaine use, and is associated with a dissociative state, violence to persons and property, exaggerated strength, hyperthermia, cardiorespiratory arrest and sudden death.

Burnt lips and fingers from crack pipes are frequently seen, as are rashes and skin reddening from scratching. Smokers may suffer from acute respiratory problems including cough, shortness of breath, and severe chest pains with lung trauma and bleeding. Prolonged cocaine snorting can result in ulceration of the mucous membrane of the nose. The injecting drug user is at risk for transmitting or acquiring HIV infection/AIDS if needles or other injection equipment are shared.

The faster the absorption the more intense and rapid the high, but the shorter the duration of action. Injecting cocaine produces an effect within 15-30 seconds. A hit of smoked crack produces an almost immediate intense experience and will typically produce effects lasting 5-15 minutes. Similarly, snorting cocaine produces effects almost immediately and the resulting high may last 15-30 minutes. The effects onset more slowly after oral ingestion (~1 hour). General effects will persist for 1-2 hours depending on the dose and late phase effects following binge use may last several days.

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug of abuse and an appreciable initial tolerance to the euphoric high may develop. Cocaine is psychologically addicting, particularly with heavy or frequent use, and possibly physically addicting as well. The short duration of effects is one reason leading to probability of addition. As effects wear off, more drug is frequently administered and a pattern of repeated use occurs. Following binge use of cocaine, the “crash” can last from 9 hours to 4 days and may consist of agitation, depressed moods, insomnia to hypersomnolence, and initial drug craving. Withdrawal symptoms can typically last from 1-3 weeks and may consist of alternating low and high drug craving, low to high anxiety, paranoia, dysphoria, depression, apathy, irritability, disorientation, hunger, fatigue, bradycardia, and long periods of sleep.

The combined use of cocaine and ethanol forms cocaethylene in the body, a substance which intensifies cocaine’s euphoric effects while possibly increasing the risk of sudden death. In laboratory studies, cocaine has been shown to partially reverse some of the adverse effects of alcohol, but may contribute to the detrimental effects of marijuana.

Most laboratory-based studies have been limited by the low doses of cocaine that were allowed. At these single low doses, studies have shown performance enhancement in attentional abilities and increased behavioral and cortical arousal, but have no enhancement of effects on learning, memory, and other cognitive processes. Faster reaction times and diminished effects of fatigue have been observed. Improvements were greatest in behaviorally impaired subjects (e.g. sleep deprived, fatigued, or concurrent use of ethanol) and least improvements were observed in well-rested, healthy subjects. More deleterious effects are expected after higher doses, chronic ingestion and during drug withdrawal, and include agitation, anxiety, distress, inability to focus on divided attention tasks, inability to follow directions, confusion, hostility, time distortion, and poor balance and coordination. Laboratory studies have also demonstrated increased risk taking (rapid braking or steering) and deleterious effects on vision related to mydriasis. Self-reported increases in sensitivity to light, seeing halos around bright objects, flashes or movement of light in peripheral field, difficulty focusing, blurred vision, and glare recovery problems have been reported.

Observed signs of impairment in driving performance have included subjects speeding, losing control of their vehicle, causing collisions, turning in front of other vehicles, high-risk behavior, inattentive driving, and poor impulse control. As the effects of cocaine wear off subjects may suffer from fatigue, depression, sleepiness, and inattention. In epidemiology studies of driving under the influence cases, accidents, and fatally injured drivers, between 8-23% of subjects have had cocaine and/or metabolites detected in their blood. An examination of 253 fatally injured drivers in Wayne County, Michigan between 1996-1998, found that 10% of cases were positive for blood cocaine and/or metabolites. On review of accident and witness reports, aggressive driving (high speed and loss of vehicle control) was revealed as the most common finding. Ethanol was detected in 56% of these cases, and all of these drivers lost control of their vehicles. In Memphis, Tennessee in 1993, 13% of 150 drivers stopped for reckless driving were determined to be driving under the influence of cocaine based on observations of behavior and appearance, performance on field sobriety tests, and positive urine cocaine tests.

A 25 year-old male driver, who made an improper turn against oncoming traffic, had a blood cocaine concentration of 0.04 mg/L and 0.06 mg/L of benzoylecgonine, 2 hours after the collision. A 30 year-old female caused an accident after failing to stop at a traffic light; the driver admitted to ingesting a large amount of cocaine ~ 2.5 hours prior to the collision, and 0.32 mg/L cocaine was detected in her blood 1 hour post accident.

CNS stimulant

Horizontal gaze nystagmus not present; vertical gaze nystagmus not present; lack of convergence not present; pupil size dilated; reaction to light slow; pulse rate elevated; blood pressure elevated; body temperature elevated. Other characteristic indicators may include excessive activity, increased alertness, talkativeness, irritability, argumentativeness, nervousness, body tremors, anxiety, redness to nasal area and runny nose.

Single low doses of cocaine may improve mental and motor performance in persons who are fatigued or sleep deprived, however, cocaine does not necessarily enhance the performance of otherwise normal individuals. Cocaine may enhance performance of simple tasks but not complex, divided-attention tasks such as driving. Most laboratory studies have been limited by the low single doses of cocaine administered to subjects. At these low doses, most studies showed performance enhancement in attentional abilities but no effect on cognitive abilities. Significant deleterious effects are expected after higher doses, chronic ingestion, and during the crash or withdrawal phase.

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