ABSTRACT
Acute and chronic medical complications of cocaine abuse are dependent on cocaine's route of administration, purity and sterility. There is a predictable sequence of events which occur during cocaine withdrawal. Cocaine can cause or exacerbate psychiatric symptoms indistinguishable from a classical psychiatric disorder. IV and freebase abuse is more likely to precipitate psychiatric symptoms. Systematic medical and psychiatric evaluation in addition to detoxification allows the detection and treatment of relapse-causing conditions. This permits more intelligent treatment decisions. Possible points of pharmacological intervention are discussed and new treatments proposed.
