Analyte

Cocaine, Benzoylecgonine, Cocaethylene, Norococaine

Street Names / Slang Terms

Blow, Coke, Big C, Flake, Snow, Rock, Nose Candy, Crack

Description

Cocaine is a drug extracted from the leaves of a coca plant. It is a potent brain stimulant and is one of the most powerfully addictive drugs. Cocaine is usually distributed as white powder, often diluted (“cut”) with a variety of substances, the most common being sugars and local anesthetics. This is done to stretch the amount of the product and increase profits for dealers.

What Does It Look Like?

Cocaine is distributed on the street in two main forms: cocaine hydrochloride is a white crystalline powder and “crack” is cocaine hydrochloride that has been processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water into a freebase cocaine — chips, chunks, or rocks.

How Is It Used?

Cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected. Crack can be smoked.

Short Term Effects

Short-term effects of cocaine / crack include constricted peripheral blood vessels, dilated pupils, increased temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, insomnia, loss of appetite, feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. Duration of cocaine’s immediate euphoric effects, which include energy, reduced fatigue, and mental clarity, depends on how it is used. The faster the absorption, the more intense the high. However, the faster the absorption, the shorter the high lasts. The high from snorting may last 15 to 30 minutes, while that from smoking crack cocaine may last 5 to 10 minutes. Cocaine’s effects are short lived, and once the drug leaves the brain, the user experiences a “coke crash” that includes depression, irritability, and fatigue.

Long Term Effects

High doses of cocaine and / or prolonged use can trigger paranoia. Smoking crack cocaine can produce a particularly aggressive paranoid behavior in users. When addicted individuals stop using cocaine, they often become depressed. Prolonged cocaine snorting can result in ulceration of the mucous membrane of the nose.

Overdose Effects

Hallucinations, convulsions, increased body temperature, agitation, possible death