Final answer:
The half-life of cocaine is about 0.7 to 1.5 hours, while amphetamines have variable half-lives, with methamphetamine being around 10 to 12 hours. These figures are important for understanding the duration of their effects and implications for treatment.
Step-by-step explanation:
The half-life of a substance is the time it takes for half of the substance to be eliminated or decayed from the body or system. For drugs like cocaine and amphetamines, understanding the half-life is crucial to comprehend their duration of action and potential for abuse or overdose.Cocaine is a potent stimulant drug with psychoactive properties. The half-life of cocaine is relatively short, generally around 0.7 to 1.5 hours, but can be variable depending on individual metabolic factors and the mode of administration. This means that within this period, cocaine's concentration in the bloodstream is reduced by half, leading to a decrease in its psychoactive effects.
Amphetamines, which include a range of compounds such as methamphetamine and MDMA, also act as stimulants and similarly block reuptake of dopamine, increasing the neurotransmitter's effects. Amphetamines can have variable half-lives depending on their formulation, but a common example is methamphetamine, which has a half-life of about 10 to 12 hours. This longer half-life means that amphetamines remain active in the body for a more extended period compared to cocaine.Understanding the half-lives of these substances is essential in contexts such as medical treatment for overdose or addiction, where timing for administering certain treatments can depend on how long the drug remains active in the system.