Drug Information

Cocaine

It's a fact…

Cocaine is a very powerful and highly addictive stimulant that comes from the coca plant that grows in Central and South America. The coca leaves are processed to extract small amounts of cocaine, which is made into a white powder known as cocaine hydrochloride. The cocaine is then smuggled into the United States by plane, boat or human carrier.

"Crack" is the street name given to tiny chunks of free-base cocaine. It is a smoke-able form of the drug extracted from cocaine hydrochloride powder. It is not a pure form of cocaine because the extraction process does not eliminate all the adulterants or "cuts". Its name comes from the crackling sound that is made when the drug is heated. Cocaine is both physically and psychologically addictive in any form.

Slang or Street Names for Cocaine:

Coke, Flake, Snow

Method of Ingestion:

Sniffed, Smoked, Injected

Short- and Long-Term Effects of Cocaine:

• Intense, euphoric feeling followed by an equally intense "crash" or depressed feeling
• Heart attacks
• Lung damage
• Chest pains
• Erratic heart beat
• Brain hemorrhage
• Seizure
• Death
• Psychosis
• Paranoia
• Violent behavior
• Heart attacks, strokes, respiratory failure
• Brain seizures
• Decreased ability of body to fight infection
• Violent, erratic, paranoid behavior
• Hallucinations and "coke bugs" (sensation of imaginary insects crawling over the skin)
• Hepatitis or AIDS through shared needles
• Confusion, anxiety, and depression
• "Cocaine psychosis"—losing touch with reality, loss of interest in friends, family, hobbies, sports, and other activities