Types of Drugs

Cocaine

Cocaine is a drug extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. It is a potent brain stimulant and one of the most powerfully addictive drugs.

Cocaine is distributed on the street in two main forms: cocaine hydrochloride is a white crystalline powder that can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected; and "crack" is cocaine hydrochloride that has been processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water into a freebase cocaine. These chips, chunks, or rocks can be smoked.

Cocaine may be used occasionally, daily, or in a variety of compulsive, repeated-use "binges". Regardless of how it is used, cocaine is highly addictive. Crack cocaine and injected cocaine reach the brain quickly and bring an intense and immediate high. Snorted cocaine produces a high more slowly.

Cocaine can produce a surge in energy, a feeling of intense pleasure, and increased confidence. The effects of powder cocaine last about 20 minutes, while the effects of "crack" last about 12 minutes. Heavy use of cocaine may produce hallucinations, paranoia, aggression, insomnia, and depression.

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

What is Crack Cocaine?

Powder cocaine cannot be smoked unless chemically altered using the dangerous freebasing technique. Late summer of 1985, New York City drug dealers put an end to the need for freebasing powder cocaine. These same drug entrepreneurs would revolutionize the sale of cocaine and bring terror to the streets of America.

The exact inventor of crack cocaine is unknown, but the lasting effects of their discovery is well documented. The benefits of cocaine base (crack) for the drug dealers have only been surpassed by the problems it has created for society in general. In many ways crack is the perfect drug. As we will see, crack cocaine was a stroke of marketing genius.

Powder cocaine is messy and hard to handle, crack however is a hard rock-like substance easy to handle and conceal. Powder cocaine has to be inhaled or injected. Inhaling cocaine creates a variety of sinus and nasal problems. Inhaling also takes longer for the drug to take affect. Injecting powder cocaine to get a better and faster high became very unpopular with advent of the A.I.D.S. crisis. Powder cocaine is frequently cut or mixed with a variety of substances in order to raise profit margins of drug dealers. This has made purchasing powder cocaine more hazardous for the drug abuser as they cannot be sure of the content of the drug they are buying. Finally, freebasing was thought too dangerous a prospect for most cocaine users. Crack cocaine overcame all these detractors to cocaine usage.

Crack cocaine is easily manufactured from powder cocaine without dangerous solvents, using common household ingredients. Crack is smokeable, creating an intense and immediate high. There is no need for needles, nor is there the damage to nasal and sinus passages associated with "snorting" cocaine.

Crack is nearly pure cocaine. Dosages of crack are smaller, meaning there is no need for diluting the cocaine with various substances. Because of the smaller dosages, crack is more profitable for the dealer. The smaller dosage units also mean it is cheaper for the user to purchase a small amount and get high. The cheaper price per unit also makes it available to broader market. But there is a greater asset crack provides for the dealer. Crack cocaine can be instantly addictive.

The symptoms of abuse are consistent to those of powder cocaine, except crack provides a more intense high. Heavy perspiration and ear ringing are also not uncommon when smoking crack. Again, the intense addictive properties of crack often cause the abuser to go on binges during which they continuously smoke crack until they drop from fatigue or run out of money to purchase more.

Fighting the war on drugs is a highly sophisticated function of police work. Drug dealers will go to great lengths to guard or fortify the "pump houses". 

Marijuana

Marijuana is one of many words used to describe a preparation of the leaves and flowering tops of the common hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. Various preparations of the leaves and flowers of this ubiquitous plant have been used in folk medicines since ancient times. It seems to have been widely used as a recreational or ceremonial drug in many social orders. Only one other drug, alcohol, is more commonly used in the United States today. About 20 million people are estimated to use marijuana regularly.

In preparing marijuana, although rare today, the leaves and flowers and sometimes the entire plant are dried, chopped, and then incorporated into a cigarette or folded into cookie or "brownie" dough. Hashish, a preparation of the dried resin of the tops of the plant, is the most commonly used form of cannabis in North Africa and the Near East. It is also widely used in the United States.