10 Scary Facts About Cocaine

This is part of a new drug series, loosely framed around this time of the year (Halloween). In honor of Halloween, we’re going to scare you – with some very real facts about drugs. First up – facts about cocaine.

1. Sharing straws used to snort cocaine can spread blood diseases like Hepatitis C.

Cocaine can be found on a home drug test.

Cocaine - a scary substance all year round.

2. Mixture of cocaine with heroin creates one of the deadliest forms of cocaine, a speedball.

3. Prolonged cocaine can cause damage to the nose, to the point where abusers get plastic surgery to fix damage.

4. Cocaine, especially crack cocaine, often contains adulterants, some of which can be highly toxic.

5. In the first hour after cocaine use, the user’s heart attack risk is almost 24 times greater.

6. Cocaine can be extremely addictive, and very hard to quit, so much so that they are developing a vaccine so that people cannot feel its effects.

7. According to a “rational scale to assess the harm of drugs potential misuse,” cocaine is second only to heroin (and not by much) in its possible danger in terms of dependence and physical harm.

8. Simple possession of crack cocaine will trigger a mandatory sentence: 5 grams of crack will trigger a 5 year mandatory minimum sentence.

9. Extended cocaine use can reduce one’s sense of smell. This is called anosmia.

10. Cocaine can lead to sudden death, particularly if you have a preexisting heart condition and combine its use with alcohol and/or cigarettes.

Stay clean!  For more info, please see our home drug test page.

Differences Between Cocaine And Crack Cocaine

Cocaine and crack cocaine are treated very differently in our society.  Although they can both be tested for by the same test, they are treated quite differently by the criminal justice system.  We take a look below at why this is so.

Difference Number One: What They Look Like

Cocaine and crack cocaine can generally be differentiated pretty easily just by what they look like. Crack cocaine is seen in “rock” form and looks like rocks or little nuggets. Cocaine is a white powder. Crack cocaine is more frequently off-white, while cocaine is white (although color can vary depending on if and what it’s mixed with).

Difference Number Two:  What They’re Made Of

Crack cocaine and cocaine are fundamentally the same.  Cocaine is generally in a salt form, known as “cocaine hydrochloride.” It is also mixed with other substances in many cases, such as baking soda, so that the quantity of cocaine being sold seems more substantial. Sometimes it is mixed (or “cut”) with methamphetamine.

Crack is freebase cocaine that you can smoke. People make it with baking soda and water. Interestingly, cocaine hydrochloride (the most common form of powder cocaine) cannot be smoked at all as its melting point is too high. If smoked it burns up without effect (see the “Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment“).

Difference Number Three: How They Affect You

The effects of cocaine and crack cocaine are similar but they vary in intensity. They give users a feeling of euphoria or power, and energy. A crack cocaine high lasts about five to fifteen minutes but feels much more intense than a cocaine high. A powder cocaine high lasts somewhat longer. Both highs are very addictive and dangerous. People have died after trying cocaine only one time.

The side effects of cocaine and crack cocaine are similar and again vary only in intensity. These include high blood pressure, increased heart rate, rapid breathing, nausea, reduced appetite and sleep, convulsions and even heart attacks. The rapid effect of crack cocaine increases the chances of overdosing too. As the high disappears, a feeling of depression is also likely to set in. Frequent and extended use of cocaine can result in psychosis, hallucinations and extreme irritability. Crack cocaine is extra dangerous due to the various other chemicals that can be added in with it.

Detecting Cocaine

The one way in which crack cocaine and cocaine abuse can be thwarted is by ensuring that parents speak to their teens specifically about the problems that each form of the drug can create. This is just an introduction – there are other variations of cocaine, like freebase cocaine, out there too. You can cocaine drug test in a few different ways – hair, urine, and saliva can all be used as samples. We carry a substance detection kit for cocaine too. With that kit you can determine if the powder you see or little “nugget” you see is actually cocaine.

It’s very important to know some information about how you can tell drugs are being used or what they are, and it’s important to keep in touch with your kids about drugs. They may not be the easiest conversations but they can be very very important ones to have.

Article by Anne Hamilton

The History of Cocaine

Cocaine is today a widely used drug in the United States. It comes from the leaf of the coca plant and has a history that spans years and cultures both.

The coca plant was associated with the sacred goddess in the Andean Indian culture. It was believed that coca goddess had to be pleased and satisfied to get a good harvest and this was something that the people did by chewing coca or coca mixtures so that they could connect with the spiritual powers. So exclusive were these coca mixtures that they were permitted to be chewed only by royalty or leaders. This exclusivity declined later as the lower classes were also encouraged to chew it to experience the various advantages.

During this period in South America, it was felt that the coca leaves produced a mild stimulating effect like coffee and could be used to heal asthma, malaria, ulcers and indigestion. It was also given by the ancient physicians to help in blood clotting. Interestingly, the drug was also considered to increase longevity and improve performance in sexual activities.

The Spanish tried to ban coca chewing but when they discovered that the Incas worked better when allowed to chew the leaves, the leaves were then given freely to boost their energy. It was also discovered that coca leaves (as cocaine was known at that time) were good for increase in stamina, mood stabilization, prevention of hunger and less fatigue.

Brought to Europe by the Spanish, it was soon discovered that the coca leaves lost a large part of their potency during the long travel. And this is when people started looking at ways and means of extracting the active ingredient in leaf.

Cocaine's Effects on the Body

The Effects of Cocaine

Cocaine was isolated scientifically for the first time in 1855 by Friedrich Gaedcke. Further purification processes were developed by Albert Niemann, who gave cocaine its name. This form was used as an anesthetic drug and could be found in various hospitals in powder form. At this point in time you could find cocaine in popular beverages, wine and in cigarettes. It was also used to treat depression and even alcohol and morphine addiction.

Cocaine consumption was promoted by cocaine users like Sigmund Freud and authors like Arthur Conan Doyle. He had inspirational and excessively intelligent characters like Sherlock Holmes consume cocaine in a large number of stories. At the height of its legal/social acceptance, cocaine was added in cough tinctures, pain killers and mood elevators, in addition to the products that already contained it. It was added in wines that were praised by the Pope himself. Cocaine was even used in the secret recipe that Coca Cola used and was only removed in 1903 when it was confirmed that cocaine had serious side effects on the brain as well. But before the adverse effects were known, it was touted as having all the virtues of alcohol without the negatives.

It was soon seen how consumers of cocaine would be obsessed with themselves, neither eat nor sleep and even if they did, they would get up craving more cocaine. Stigma about cocaine use began at the beginning of the 20th Century, although it was not listed as a “controlled substance” until 1970.

Cocaine is now part of the well known “War on Drugs” that was started by President Nixon due to the continued popularity of this and other drugs despite the negatives being known. And the war continues to this date, against the recreational use of cocaine and crack cocaine.

You can detect the use of cocaine with any one of our drug tests, including the hair drug test, which can go back up to 90 days after use. Saliva and urine drug tests will also detect cocaine, with varying detection times (in saliva – 5 to 10 minutes after use up to 24 hours after use; in urine, 2-5 hours after use up to 2 to 4 days after use).

Article by Anne Hamilton