Cocaine

Cocaine causes a rapid and very high peak in dopamine release, making it highly addictive. The short time between the stimulus (cocaine use) and the subsequent dopamine surge results in a steep rise of dopamine levels, causing euphoria and energy 1. After using cocaine, dopamine levels fall below baseline, leading to a desire for more to regain that dopamine peak, creating a vicious addiction loop 1.

Another critical aspect is the rate of dopamine release, which plays a key role in a substance's addictive properties, as much as the amount of dopamine released 2. Faster onsets of dopamine release make a substance more reinforcing, habit-forming, and potentially more addictive, as seen with cocaine 2 3.

Furthermore, the rapid increase in dopamine release can also contribute to the strong addictive potential of modern nicotine delivery methods like vaping, which can be parallelled with the delivery mechanisms of cocaine 4. The immediate and powerful reward properties of a quick spike in dopamine, such as that from vaping and cocaine, make both nicotine and cocaine highly addictive substances 4.