What is cocaine?
The drug cocaine is extracted from the South American Coca plant. It is a powerfully addictive stimulant.
Crack is cocaine cooked in baking soda and water, sometimes a solvent is used to form a chunk. It is broken into pieces resembling small rocks.
Cocaine is a white powder and crack is an off white solid. The name crack comes from a cracking sound made when it is smoked.
How is it used?
Cocaine is most commonly snorted or sniffed into the nose where it is absorbed through the membranes, it can also be injected. It produces a high that lasts about a half hour
Crack is most commonly smoked. Smoking crack is called freebasing, it produces a faster more intense and shorter high.
It is the short term high that results in binges of repeated use that become more frequent and the dosage increases to achieve a similar high.
Street Names
Some street names for cocaine are coke, snow, blow, nose candy and others. Names for crack are crack, rock, freebase.
Signs of Cocaine and Crack Usage
If as a parent or spouse suspecting drug abuse here are some things to be aware of.
Cocaine and crack both come in small plastic bags that are twisted or tied off. If they have traces of white, crystalline powder it is probably cocaine.
Discarded syringes, spoons with burn marks or residue in them are evidence of intravenous drug use, cocaine can be injected.
Glass stems, brillo pads and stripped wires are used to smoke crack. Soda cans bent with indentations can be a homemade pipe. Baking soda is used to make crack, small mirrors or smooth surfaces are used to snort cocaine, traces of white powder on them can be looked for,
Someone sniffing a lot, has a red, raw or scabby nose, is possibly from cocaine snorting. Injection marks in the arms, knees, toes from intravenous use.
Smoking crack can result in burns on the lips, face and hands and a callus will form on the thumb from lighting the lighter repeatedly.
Usually a person on cocaine or crack will have glassy eyes with large pupils and might wear dark glasses even indoors to hide this. They will have a hard time relaxing, they might be nervous, anxious, irritable even aggressive. They may appear hyper and not be able to sleep for extended periods while high and then crash and sleep for days. Lack of appetite and weight loss can occur, excessive thirst, cotton mouth are also frequent. They usually have bad skin tone and a lot of blemishes.
The person will be short of money even if employed. Might spend an entire paycheck on a binge and be asking for money, loans and sell off possessions to get money.
The down hill slide is very fast.
There are devastating effects of long term usage. The addict has to take more and more of the drug to achieve the same high. He can experience enormous mood swings, paranoia, hallucinations.
If you are concerned that someone you love is using cocaine or crack, don’t wait, get help now.