What they are
Cocaine is a stimulant drug made from the leaves of the coca plant, which grows mainly in South America especially in Peru, Columbia and Bolivia. The most common form is a white crystalline powder. Crack is a form of cocaine that is made into small lumps or 'rocks'.
Street Names
Names for cocaine include C, candy, charlie, coke, dust, gold dust, snow and toot. Names for crack include base, freebase, rock, stones and wash.
How they are taken
Cocaine powder is usually chopped with a blade or credit card, arranged in lines and snorted up the nose, often using a rolled banknote or straw. It is also occasionally prepared in liquid form for injection, sometimes mixed with heroin. Crack is usually smoked in a pipe, tube, bottle or foil.
Extent Of Use
Until recently cocaine powder was very expensive and mainly used by people who had lots of money. Crack has been mainly used by people in poor, inner-city areas. However, cocaine powder has now become cheaper and more available in clubs, and crack use has spread beyond poor areas. While few under 16s have ever used them, recent surveys have shown an increase in cocaine use among young people aged 18 plus. One big survey found 6% of 16 to 19 year olds and 14 % of 20 to 24 year olds said they had used cocaine powder at least once. Far fewer had ever used crack - between 1% and 2%.
Effects of Use
- they are both strong, but short acting, stimulant drugs. Effects begin almost immediately. With cocaine they last up to 40 minutes without repeating the dose. Crack effects begin more quickly but are more short-lived.
- They make people feel very alert, energetic, confident and talkative.
- Users may be very self-centred and not be very attentive to other people.
- With high doses users may become very anxious and panicky and possibly very aggressive.
- After using people may feel very tired and possibly depressed.
Risks Of Use
- Regular users may develop a strong dependence on the powerful feeling of mental and physical well-being. They may also be tempted to keep using to avoid feeling tired or low. This is possibly more likely with crack than cocaine powder.
- Regular users may become very restless and irritable. They may become very hyperactive, find difficulty with sleeping and experience weight loss as appetite diminishes. They can become very run down.
- Some users become very aggressive and 'wired' and feel that everyone is out to get them.
- Very high doses can lead to heart or respiratory failure.
- Taking cocaine or crack together with some medicines - such as some anti-depressants - can raise blood pressure to dangerous levels.
- Repeated snorting of cocaine can damage the nose membranes.
- Repeated crack smoking can lead to breathing problems and partial loss of voice.
- Pregnant women who regularly use cocaine or crack may find that their babies are affected, although the extent to which this happens has often been exaggerated, especially in America.
- Injecting cocaine, especially with heroin, can be particularly dangerous and has led to a number of deaths.
The Law
It is an offence to be in possession of cocaine or crack or to supply them to other people. They are class A drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
