Addictive Disorders

Cocaine and Crack

Cocaine affects your brain. The word "cocaine" refers to the drug in both a powder (cocaine) and crystal (crack) form; the word cocaine will be used here to refer to both forms. It is made from the coca plant and causes a short-lived high that is immediately followed by opposite, intense feelings of depression, edginess, and a craving for more of the drug. Cocaine may be snorted as a powder, converted to a liquid form for injection with a needle, or processed into a crystal form to be smoked.

Cocaine affects your body. People who use cocaine often don't eat or sleep regularly. They can experience increased heart rate, muscle spasms, and convulsions. If they snort cocaine, they can also permanently damage their nasal tissue.

Cocaine affects your emotions. Using cocaine can make you feel paranoid, angry, hostile, and anxious, even when you are not high.

Cocaine is addictive. Cocaine interferes with the way your brain processes chemicals that create feelings of pleasure, so you need more and more of the drug just to feel normal. People who become addicted start to lose interest in other areas of life, like school, friends, and sports.

Cocaine can kill you. Cocaine use can cause heart attacks, seizures, strokes, and respiratory failure. People who share needles can also contract Hepatitis, HIV/AIDS or other diseases.

Before You Risk It

Know the law. Cocaine in any form is illegal.

Stay informed. Even first time cocaine users can have seizures or fatal heart attacks.

Know the risks. Combining cocaine with other drugs or alcohol is extremely dangerous. The effects of one drug can magnify the effects of another and mixing substances can be deadly.

Be aware. Cocaine is expensive. Regular users can spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on cocaine each week. Crack is cheaper but the cost can add up fast. In both cases, it can bring desperation and some people will do anything to support their addiction.

Stay in control. Cocaine impairs your judgment which may lead to unwise decisions around sexual activity. This can increase your risk for HIV/AIDS and other diseases, as well as rape and unplanned pregnancy.

Look around you. The vast majority of teens are not using cocaine. According to a 1998 study, less than one percent of teens are regular cocaine users. In fact, 98 percent of teens have never even tried cocaine.

Know the Signs

How can you tell if a friend is using cocaine? Sometimes it's tough to tell. But there are signs you can look for. If your friend has one or more of the following warning signs, he or she may be using cocaine or other illicit drugs:

• Red, bloodshot eyes.
• A runny nose or frequently sniffing.
• A change in eating or sleeping patterns.
• A change in groups of friends.
• A change in school grades or behavior.
• Acting withdrawn, depressed, tired, or careless about personal appearance.
• Losing interest in school, family or activities he or she used to enjoy.
• Frequently needing money.

What can you do to help someone who is using cocaine? Be a real friend. Save a life. Encourage your friend to stop or seek professional help.

Q&A

Q. Is cocaine really still a problem?
A. Yes. While the number of cocaine users has decreased from what was witnessed in the mid 1980's, there have been nearly 1 to 2 million cocaine users every year since 1992. In 2000, an estimated 1.2 million Americans were current cocaine users. This represents 0.5 percent of the population aged 12 and older. The estimated number of current crack users in 2000 was 265,000.

Q. Isn't crack less addictive than cocaine because it doesn't stay in your body very long?
A. No. Both cocaine and crack are powerfully addictive. Because crack is smoked, the user experiences a high in less than 10 seconds. This rather immediate and euphoric effect is one of the reasons that crack became enormously popular in the mid 1980s.

Q. Don't some people use cocaine to feel good?
A. Any positive feelings are fleeting and are usually followed by some very bad feelings, like paranoia and intense cravings. Cocaine may give users a temporary illusion of power and energy, but it often leaves them unable to function emotionally, physically, and sexually.

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. Cocaine was labeled the drug of the 1980s and 1990s, because of its extensive popularity and use during this period. However, cocaine is not a new drug. In fact, it is one of the oldest known drugs. The pure chemical, cocaine hydrochloride, has been an abused substance for more than 100 years, and coca leaves, the source of cocaine, have been ingested for thousands of years.

Pure cocaine was first extracted from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia, in the mid 19th century. In the early 1900s, it became the main stimulant drug used in most of the tonics/elixirs that were developed to treat a wide variety of illnesses. Today, cocaine is a Schedule II drug, meaning that it has high potential for abuse, but can be administered by a doctor for legitimate medical uses, such as local anesthesia for some eye, ear, and throat surgeries.

There are basically two chemical forms of cocaine: the hydrochloride salt and the “freebase”. The hydrochloride salt or powder form of cocaine, dissolves in water and when abused, can be taken intravenously (by vein) or intranasally (by nose). The freebase form has been processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water, then heated to remove the hydrochloride from the powder cocaine to form a smokable substance. Crack is the street name given to the freebase form of cocaine. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound heard when the mixture is smoked.

Cocaine is generally sold on the street as a fine, white, crystalline powder, known as "coke", "C", "snow", "flake" or "blow". Street dealers generally dilute it with such inert substances as cornstarch, talcum powder and/or sugar, with such active drugs as procaine (a chemically related local anesthetic) or with such other stimulants as amphetamines. Crack is usually sold on the street as irregularly-shaped off-white or white rocks. Some other street names for crack are "24/7", "candy", "ice cube" or "rock".