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Cocaine hydrochloride is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant (Erythroxylon coca), which is ndigenous to the Andean highlands of South America. In its extracted and purified form, it is one of the most potent stimulants of natural origin (Drug Enforcement Agency [DEA], 1995). For thousands of years, the Native Americans in the Andean region have chewed coca leaves to relieve fatigue, much as present-day Americans chew tobacco. Just as tea and coffee are brewed as refreshments or “pick-me-ups,” the Andean natives brewed coca leaves into a tea. Furthermore, Andean groups have historically burned or smoked various parts of the coca plant as part of their religious and medicinal practices (Siegel, 1982). However, none of these other uses has had the same impact as purified cocaine hydrochloride.
German chemist Albert Niemann recognized the stimulant properties of the cocaine plant, and in the mid-1800s (ca. 1862) extracted the pure chemical, cocaine hydrochloride. In the early 1880s, the drug’s anesthetic properties were discovered, and it was soon used in eye, nose, and throat surgery. As physicians and other prescribers became aware of cocaine’s psychoactive properties, it was widely dispensed for anxiety, depression, and addiction treatment (primarily for morphine use).
Extravagant claims of its curative powers increased cocaine’s popularity; by the early 1900s, it was the main active ingredient in a wide range of patent medicines, tonics, elixirs, and fluid extracts. It is believed that the original formula of Coca-Cola® that was developed in 1886 by Georgia pharmacist John Pemberton contained approximately 2.5 mg of cocaine per 100 mL of fluid (Coca-Cola Bottling of Shreveport, Inc., et al., vs. The Coca-Cola Company, a Delaware Corporation, 769 F.Supp.671). This formula was sold as a headache cure and stimulant. Another pharmacist bought the rights and founded the Coca-Cola Company in 1892.
By the early 1900s, public health officials were becoming alarmed by the medical, psychiatric, and social problems associated with excessive cocaine use. These concerns from health officials and legal authorities played a major role in initiating and supporting the effort to pass the Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914. This Federal legislation severely restricted the legal uses for cocaine and, for all practical purposes, ended the extensive use and abuse of cocaine in the early part of the 20th century. Interestingly, cocaine hit a low during the 1930s when the advent of amphetamine almost eradicated demand.
From the time of the Harrison Narcotic Act until the 1970s, cocaine use was generally limited to groups on the periphery of society. Legal prohibitions and severely restricted supplies of the drug helped to maintain its low profile. But microcultures of cocaine snorters, swallowers, and shooters remained, and cultivation of coca plants continued in the South American countries that traditionally grew them–Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador.
As the cultural proscriptions against the use of drugs for recreational purposes weakened during the 1960s, cocaine again became part of the American drug scene. Its use increased along with the use of many other psychoactive substances. Snorting was the initial mode, and most experimenters were occasional consumers. They experienced the cocaine euphoria and generally went back to their “normal” lives. Because of this casual use, the fictitious notion arose that cocaine was harmless.
In the 1960s, limited supplies and high prices combined to restrict the use of cocaine to relatively small amounts used by a small number of individuals. Although serious clinical problems were being connected with the use of hallucinogens, barbiturates, and amphetamines, little attention was given to the problems associated with cocaine use because they were rarely seen.
As recently as the late 1970s, many experts and public health officials believed that cocaine was a relatively benign substance and primarily of interest as a “recreational” drug. It was thought that only those who had access to very large supplies of the drug and/or those who were somewhat mentally unstable were at risk for developing problems with cocaine. A notable exception among these experts was the voice of two San Francisco addiction experts who sounded a prophetic warning about cocaine:
In summary, cocaine is a central nervous system stimulant of moderately high abuse potential. At the present time the preferred route of administration is intranasal and the dosage patterns are relatively low. The social rituals surrounding the drug endorse primarily recreational use while the high cost and low availability of the drug produce the current low rate of cocaine abuse in the United States…Most users now use cocaine by the intranasal route at moderately low dosages, while a relatively small percentage use cocaine intranasally or intravenously at high dosages. However, if the drug were more readily available at a substantially lower cost, or if certain socio-cultural rituals endorsed and supported the higher dose patterns, more destructive patterns of abuse could develop. (Wesson and Smith, 1977, pp. 149-150)
Within 5 years of the observation by Wesson and Smith, both essential developments they predicted had occurred. The production of coca in South America expanded from a cottage industry of small groups of subsistence farmers into a major agricultural business that was financed by organized families or “cartels.” The manufacture and trafficking of cocaine became a multibillion dollar industry, with profit margins high enough that governments and entire legal systems became corrupted by the influx of cocaine industry money. Supplies of cocaine into the United States increased exponentially. During the early to mid-1980s, according to DEA reports, the estimated amounts of cocaine entering the United States doubled and tripled year after year. These supplies of cocaine made the drug available in purer form and at a more affordable cost to consumers.
Cocaine hydrochloride is generally distributed as a white crystalline powder or as an off-white chunky material. The powder form is usually snorted intranasally. As cocaine became plentiful and less expensive in the early 1980s, its users began to experiment with its various forms and with different routes of administration. Some users began to smoke the powder form by mixing it with tobacco or marijuana. However, those who smoked the powder reported little if any intoxication.
At the same time, users in South America began to smoke base (coca paste), which is one of the products from which cocaine powder is derived (Siegel, 1987). Coca paste is more concentrated than the powder form. Paste smokers report immediate intoxication, with effects similar to those reported by intravenous users. The first hospital admissions for adverse effects of coca paste smoking were in Peru in 1972 (Jeri, 1984). The practice of smoking coca paste appears to have traveled to other countries via illicit cocaine trafficking corridors.'
Drug traffickers in the United States learned of the effects of smoking base, but they confused its preparation with that of cocaine freebase, in which the cocaine alkaloid in cocaine hydrochloride is “freed” from the other components (Siegel, 1982). So it was quite by accident that this new process of “freebase” cocaine was discovered. However, its properties were quite unlike those of either coca paste or cocaine powder. Freebase cocaine does not dissolve easily in the blood or mucous membranes of the nasal passages, but it is readily volatilized and can be effectively smoked. The phenomenon of smoking this freebase form was first reported in California in 1974, and by 1980, its use was reported throughout the United States (Siegel, 1982). Today, chunks of the freebase form are most often known as “rock” or “crack.”
The next phase in the American cocaine epidemic came when cocaine traffickers saw an opportunity to expand the retail market by delivering to the consumer smaller, more affordable packages of the drug. Chunks of rock cocaine were soon being sold in small glass vials or plastic containers at a cost of $10 to $20. This new retailing effort made a product that was extremely desirable and inexpensive readily available to a much wider user base. The strategy worked extraordinarily well for the cocaine industry.
By late 1985 and early 1986, the retailing of freebase cocaine had swept through most urban centers of the United States. This form was introduced into new markets by highly organized and sophisticated distribution networks. In an effort to make the product distinctive, it was marketed under the new name “crack.” There are numerous versions of the origin of the term “crack,” but the most likely is that as the freebase cocaine is being heated and volatilized into its smokable form, it makes a characteristic crackling or popping sound.
The crack epidemic was at its worst from 1985 through the end of the decade, although it still remains a serious health and social problem. The introduction of crack into urban communities produced devastating consequences. Health-related problems, rapidly escalating rates of addiction, and an extraordinary wave of street crime and property crime swept through most major American cities. In many areas, street gangs of young males were central to the distribution and sales of crack. Warfare between street gangs battling over turf resulted in many fatalities among gang members as well as innocent bystanders in the community. As drug-related crime escalated dramatically, legal penalties for sales of cocaine and crack were increased, and U.S. jails and prisons rapidly filled with crack users, dealers, distributors, and those involved in the violence associated with the crack trade.
At the peak of the cocaine epidemic, a conservative estimate in the mid-1980s suggested that as many as 8 million Americans used cocaine regularly and that 5 to 8 percent of them had developed a serious cocaine dependence (Cregler and Mark, 1986). The 1988 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) found that the number of heavy crack and cocaine users rose significantly from 1985 to 1988 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 1988). During this period, there was a 33 percent increase among those using crack or cocaine once a week or more; for those using crack or cocaine on a daily or near-daily basis, the rate rose by 19 percent (SAMHSA, 1989).
By the mid 1980s, the use of crack cocaine had replaced heroin use as the main illicit drug problem in the United States. According to the 1997 NHSDA, the number of Americans who used cocaine within the preceding month of the survey numbered about 1.5 million; occasional users (those who used cocaine less often than monthly) numbered approximately 2.6 million, down from 7.1 million in 1985 (SAMHSA, 1998). Only recently have researchers been able to demonstrate a clear decline or stabilization in the use of crack cocaine in U.S. cities (Golub and Johnson, 1997).
Crack Cocaine
Profile
"Crack" is the name given to cocaine that has been processed with baking soda or ammonia, and transformed into a more potent, smokable, "rock" form. The name refers to the crackling sound heard when the rock is heated and smoked. Cocaine is a stimulant that has been abused for ages; however, crack cocaine is the most potent form in which the drug has ever appeared. There is great risk when using any form of cocaine, but crack cocaine is the riskiest form of the substance. Smoking a substance allows it to reach the brain more quickly than other routes of administration, and compulsive cocaine use will develop even more rapidly if the substance is smoked rather than snorted. Smoking crack cocaine brings an intense and immediate, but very short-lived high that lasts about fifteen minutes. A person can become addicted after his or her first time trying crack cocaine.
History
Crack cocaine was first developed during the cocaine boom of the 1970's, and its use became enormously popular in the mid-1980s, particularly in urban areas. Today it remains a very problematic and popular drug, as it is inexpensive to produce, and is much cheaper to purchase than powder cocaine.
Methods of Use
Crack cocaine, once processed from cocaine powder, appears as a yellowish-white rock. It is cut or broken into smaller rocks weighing a few tenths of a gram. Crack cocaine is generally smoked through a glass handpipe or waterpipe. Also, there have been reports of the drug being injected intravenously or even snorted, but these methods are less common. In many areas of the country, users report combining crack cocaine with heroin, marijuana, and other types of drugs in order to create different, more intense effects.
Crack Cocaine's Effects on the Brain
Crack cocaine is a strong central nervous stimulant that interferes with, and causes excess amounts of, dopamine in the brain. A neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and movement, dopamine is the neurotransmitter released as part of the brain's reward system. As a result, the psychological effects can be extremely reinforcing; after having tried crack cocaine, the user will rapidly develop an intense craving for the drug since the chemistry of the brain's reward system has been altered.
Short-Term Effects
The high from crack cocaine begins almost immediately after the vapors are inhaled and lasts about 5 to 15 minutes. After the initial 'rush' subsides, the user experiences an intense desire for more of the drug - this is how users can become addicted after just their first hit. Other short-term effects include:
Increased blood pressure and heart rate
Constricted peripheral blood vessels
Increased rate of breathing
Dilated pupils
Hyper-stimulation
Intense euphoria
Decreased appetite
Anxiety and paranoia
Aggressive, paranoid behavior
Depression
Intense drug craving
Sudden death - even one use can cause overdose or death
It is important to note that with any drug, effects may vary greatly due to the uncertainty of the drug's content.
Long-Term Effects
Prolonged crack cocaine abuse causes a number of problems, including:
Severe depression
Irritability and mood disturbances
Aggressive, paranoid behavior
Delirium or psychosis
Tolerance and addiction, even after just one use
Auditory and tactile hallucinations
Heart attack and heart disease
Stroke
Respiratory failure
Brain seizures
Sexual dysfunction (for both men and women)
Reproductive damage and infertility (for both men and women)
Increased frequency of risky behavior
Death
Addiction and withdrawal
Cocaine is a highly addictive substance, and crack cocaine is substantially more addicting, as the drug is far more potent and is smoked.6 Users quickly develop a tolerance to crack cocaine, needing more of the substance to achieve the desired effects. Because the high from crack cocaine is so short-lived, users commonly smoke it repeatedly in order to sustain the high. This can lead to an even faster onset of addiction. Also, because crack cocaine works on the brain's system of reward and punishment, withdrawal symptoms occur when the drug's effects wear off. These symptoms can include depression, irritability, extreme fatigue, anxiety, an intense craving for the drug, and sometimes even psychosis. Users will often keep using crack cocaine simply to avoid the negative effects of withdrawal.
Terminology
Slang Terms for Crack Cocaine:
Rock, Hard Rock, Base, Kryptonite, Sugar Block, Topo (Spanish), Apple Jacks
Use & Users:
Crackhead - heavy crack user
Crack house - place where crack is used or sold
Crack spot - place where crack is sold
Crackpipe - Pipe used to smoke crack; usually made of glass
Crack baby - Child born to cocaine or crack-using mother, often with abnormalitites
Chronic - marijuana laced with cocaine or crack
Dusting - sprinkling cocaine powder on other smokable drugs or on cigarettes
Speedballing - using cocaine and heroin together
Snowcapping - Cocaine sprinkled over marijuana
Effects of Crack Cocaine Use:
Coke Bugs - tactile hallucination after using cocaine that creates the illusion of bugs burrowing under the skin