A person who takes cocaine repeatedly will develop tolerance to many of its behavioral effects. When the original dose no longer has much of an effect, the user must take increasingly larger amounts of cocaine to achieve the high. These larger doses present greater risks to the user's heart and blood vessels. Users of cocaine and other stimulant drugs claim that the drug improves their performance of many activities. No evidence exists to support this claim. In general, cocaine has little effect on performance except when a person is unable to perform up to usual standards because of fatigue. In this situation, cocaine can enable the person to perform as if he or she were not tired. But this effect lasts for only a short time.

In 1999, more than half of youths aged 12 to 17 reported that they could obtain marijuana fairly or very easily if they wanted it. Marijuana was available from a variety of sources. One in four youths agreed that there was a lot of drug selling in their neighborhood, and almost one in six had been approached by someone selling drugs in the month before the survey. Almost half of youths had friends who used marijuana, and more than one in four knew adults who used marijuana. Blacks and Hispanics were more likely than youths of other racial/ethnic groups to report exposure to several risk factors associated with marijuana use. The rate of past month marijuana use was significantly higher among youths who reported exposure to these risk factors than among those who were not exposed to these factors.

Specific indications of drug use: Because secrecy, a change of friends, and mood swings can result from normal adolescent experiences it is sometimes difficult to identify the signs of drug use. The physical clues are usually more obvious. They include exhaustion, weight loss or gain, bloodshot eyes, lethargy, and paleness. Parents or siblings may notice money or expensive items disappearing if the teen needs money for drugs. The most obvious sign of drug use is the appearance of drug paraphernalia. Items such as soda cans that smell like gasoline, plastic bags with a chemical odor, misplaced household chemicals, or hobby glue in the room of a kid who doesn't make model airplanes may indicate inhalant use; rolling papers, roach clips, and seeds or leaves that look like oregano could indicate marijuana use. Handheld mirrors, razor blades, and rolled-up bills may suggest cocaine use; small colored vials and spoons may mean crack or heroin use; pipes or handmade pipes made of paper towel rolls and aluminum foil may suggest marijuana, crack, or heroin use; stamps and blotter paper may indicate LSD use; and needles may mean a young person is using heroin or steroids.

Near half of all drug related emergency room visits are due to cocaine abuse.

More marijuana is cultivated in Kentucky than the local market can consume.

Mexican DTOs are the main source of cocaine in Kansas, from the Southwest Border via regional distribution networks in the Midwest and the southeast.

The primary suppliers of MDMA in Kentucky are middle-class Caucasian males from 25 to 35 years of age operating in a well-organized manner.

The abuse and diversion of prescription drugs, particularly hydrocodone and oxycodone, remain one of, if not the, largest drug problem in southeastern Kentucky.

GHB in Kentucky is obtained through the Internet and from local manufacturers.

The availability of Oxycontin in southeastern Kentucky has risen due to the increased availability of pills transported from Midwest cities.