Cocaine

Injecting 3: Intravenous injection

When cocaine is injected intravenously, the hypodermic needle passes through the skin and into a vein. To be sure the needle is in a vein, users will usually slightly pull back the plunger of the syringe. If blood is drawn into the syringe, they know they have hit a vein. The plunger is then pushed in all the way to inject the entire cocaine solution directly into the bloodstream.

Most cocaine is ‘cut’ (diluted) with all sorts of other substances. This makes it seem as if there is more cocaine, so that dealers can make more money. If you shoot cocaine directly into a vein, you are therefore also injecting all the adulterants, dilutants and impurities it contains. Some of those substances can cause blood to coagulate or clot. The blood clots may then block blood vessels, causing emergencies such as heart attacks or strokes.