Until recently, cocaine had the reputation of being a "safe drug." It was considered non-addicting and many people who had never taken any kind of illegal drug, started taking cocaine for "recreation." Today cocaine is the third most widespread of all of the abused drugs.(Hughes 44) To fully understand cocaine addictions one must first know the causes, the effects, and the available treatments for the drug.

The most popular cause for cocaine addictions is stress. (Landau 33) A lot of young people find it hard to deal with the everyday stresses of life, so they begin looking for something to make them forget their problems and make them feel better. The drug makes people feel rushed and anxious, therefore they feel like they can get a lot done, but in reality they are too disorganized to accomplish a whole lot of anything. (Landau 26) Another cause of cocaine addictions is...