New research suggests recreational cocaine is more addictive than previously thought

The fact that cocaine is an addictive substance is hardly a revelation, but a new study has found that people who use the drug recreationally could be more likely to become addicted than you might think.

Researchers at McGill University found that non-dependent cocaine users released dopamine in the area of the brain which is thought to promote compulsive use – suggesting that casual users might easily become addicted.

Marco Leyton, a professor in McGill’s Department of Psychiatry, said: “The study provides evidence that some of the characteristic brain signals in people who have developed addictions are also present much earlier than most of us would have imagined.”

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which is involved in the brain’s reward and pleasure systems, and when it is released in people with addictions they experience cravings. In some instances, even just seeing cocaine can trigger the release of dopamine.

Leyton’s team used PET scans to look at what happens in the brains of recreational cocaine users. Participants were filmed taking cocaine with a friend (with whom they had taken cocaine before), and they then underwent a PET scan while watching the video of their friend taking cocaine. When seeing this visual trigger, dopamine was released and the participant experienced cravings.

“An accumulation of these brain triggers might bring people closer to the edge than they had realised,” Leyton said.

The research, published in Scientific Reports, will help understand the behavioural development between casual and addictive cocaine use.