WHAT IS CRACK COCAINE
Crack cocaine is a highly addictive and powerful stimulant that is derived from powdered cocaine using a simple conversion process. The powdered cocaine is dissolved in a mixture of water and either ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). However, baking soda is now most often used as a base rather than ammonia for reasons of lowered odor and toxicity. The mixture is boiled to separate out the solid, and then it's cooled. The solid is then dried and cut up into small nuggets, or "rocks." Crack rocks are white or tan in color and typically range in size from .1 to .5 grams. When it is commonly cooked the ratios is 3:4 parts cocaine per bicarbonate. This acts as a filler which extends the overall profitability of illicit sales. Crack cocaine may also be reprocessed in small quantities with water (users refer to the resultant product as “cookback”). This removes the residual bicarbonate, and any adulterants or cuts that have been used in the previous handling of the cocaine and leaves a relatively pure, anhydrous cocaine base. Crack cocaine when processed in the correct manner, may contain almost 75% of the original cocaine alkaloid as it did before being what is called on the streets as buffed. Buffing cocaine is the process by which different substances usually chemicals closely related to the original alkaloid are added in attempts of increasing the yield of the product. Most forms of additives can be easily boiled off while cooking, i.e. baking soda, Inositol (vitamin b8) and even forms of baby laxatives (that have been used to add additional weight to the cocaine). Crack cocaine is usually purchased in rock form, although it is not uncommon for some users to “cook” the cocaine into crack themselves.
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HOW IS IT PROCESSED The process, as mentioned above, is done with baking soda, water and a spoon. Once mixed and heated the bicarbonate breaks down into carbon dioxide and sodium carbonate, which then reacts with the hydrochloride from the cocaine molecule, leaving cocaine as an oily free base. Once separated from the hydrochloride the cocaine alkaloid floats to the top of the now leftover liquid. It is at this point that the oil is picked rapidly, usually with a pin or long thin object. This pulls the oil up and spins it, allowing air to set and dry the oil, and allows the user and or maker to roll the oil into the rock like shape. Unlike cocaine hydrochloride, “crack cocaine” is considered more potent than cocaine and hydrochloride users obtain an intense high a lot quicker than the normal method of inhaling it. Quick Menu BRIEF HISTORY In pre-Columbian times, the coca leaf was officially reserved for Inca royalty, and the natives used coca for mystical, religious, social, nutritional and medicinal purposes, and its stimulant properties were exploited to lessen fatigue and hunger, enhance endurance, and to promote a benign sense of well-being. This plant was originally banned by the Spanish, and in 1551 the Bishop Cuzco outlawed coca use on pain of death because it was “an evil agent of the Devil”. The noted 16th century orthodox Catholic artist Don Diego De Robles declared that “coca is a plant that the Devil invented for the total destruction of the natives” But they soon discovered that without the Incan “gift of the Gods”, the natives could barely work the fields—or mine gold, so it came to be cultivated even by the Catholic Church. Coca leaves were distributed three or four times a day to the workers during brief rest-breaks. Returning Spanish conquistadores introduced coca to Europe, and it was touted as “an elixir of life”. In 18l4, an editorial in Gentleman’s Magazine urged researchers to begin experimentation, so that coca could be used as “a substitute for food so that people could live a month, now and then, without eating.” However old-fashioned cocaine hydrochloride still wasn’t good enough. Sensation-hungry thrill –seekers have long sought the ultimate high from the ultimate “rush”. They weren’t satisfied with the enhanced mood, sexual interest, self-confidence, conversational prowess and intensified consciousness to be derived from just snorting cocaine. Normally, only the intravenous route of administration could be expected to deliver the more potent and rapid hit they have been seeking. Yet there are very strong cultural prejudices against injecting recreational drugs. So a smoke-able form was developed. Crack is usually always smoked. Smoking crack cocaine delivers large quantities of the drug to the lungs, producing an immediate and intense euphoric effect. Smoking freebase or crack cocaine is most often accomplished using a pipe made from a small glass tube, often taken from "Love roses," small glass tubes with a paper rose that are promoted as romantic gifts. These are sometimes called "stems", "horns", "blasters" and "straight shooters". A small piece of clean heavy copper or occasionally stainless steel scouring pad – often called a "brillo" (actual Brillo pads contain soap, and are not used), or "chore", named for Chore Boy brand copper scouring pads, – serves as a reduction base and flow modulator in which the "rock" can be melted and boiled to vapor. In a pinch, crack smokers sometimes smoke through a soda can with small holes in the bottom instead of a crack pipe. Also, the bottoms of small glass liquor bottles can be removed, and the bottle’s neck can then be stuffed with chore to use as a makeshift crack pipe. Crack is smoked by placing it at the end of the pipe; a flame held close to it produces vapor, which is then inhaled by the smoker. The effects, felt almost immediately after smoking, are very intense and do not last long – usually five to fifteen minutes. In a study performed on crack cocaine users, the average time taken for them to reach their peak subjective "high" was 1.4 minutes. Most (especially frequent) users crave more immediately after the peak. "Crack houses" depend on these cravings by providing a place for smoking crack to its users, and a ready supply of small bags for sale. When smoked, cocaine is sometimes combined with other drugs, such as cannabis, often rolled into a joint or blunt. Powdered cocaine is also sometimes smoked, though heat destroys much of the chemical; smokers often sprinkle it on marijuana. The language referring to paraphernalia and practices of smoking cocaine vary across the United States, as do the packaging methods in the street level sale.
LEGAL STATUS Crack Cocaine is listed as a Schedule I drug in the United Nations 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, making it illegal for non-state sanctioned production, manufacture, export, import, distribution, trade, use and possession. Under the Controlled Substances Act it is a Schedule II drug in the US since cocaine has high abuse potential, but also carries a medicinal purpose. Under the DEA listing of Schedule I substances, crack is not considered separate from cocaine since they are essentially the same drug compound in different forms. In the United Kingdom it is a class A drug. In the Netherlands it is a List I drug of the Opium Law. In Iran, the term crack refers to heroin rather than crack cocaine and is a major problem in healthcare.
WHO USES CRACK Individuals of all ages use crack cocaine--data reported in the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse indicate that an estimated 6,222,000 U.S. residents aged 12 and older used crack at least once in their lifetime. The survey also revealed that hundreds of thousands of teenagers and young adults use crack cocaine--150,000 individuals aged 12 to 17 and 1,003,000 individuals aged 18 to 25 used the drug at least once. Crack cocaine use among high school students is a particular problem. Nearly 4 percent of high school seniors in the United States used the drug at least once in their lifetime, and more than 1 percent used the drug in the past month, according to the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Survey. SHORT-TERM EFFECTS Short-term effects of cocaine include constricted peripheral blood vessels, dilated pupils, increased temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, insomnia, loss of appetite, feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety, and risk of cardiac arrest and seizure. Duration of cocaine's immediate euphoric effects, which include energy, reduced fatigue, and mental clarity, depends on how cocaine is used. The high from snorting cocaine may last 15 to 30 minutes, while that from smoking cocaine may last 5 to 10 minutes. 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 ARE THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS High doses of cocaine and/or prolonged use can trigger paranoia. Smoking crack cocaine can produce a particularly aggressive paranoid behavior in users. When addicted individuals stop using cocaine, they often become depressed. Prolonged cocaine snorting can result in ulceration of the mucous membrane of the nose. WORD OF CAUTION Crack emerged as a drug of abuse in the mid-1980s. Cocaine is abused because it produces an immediate high and because it is easy and inexpensive to produce--rendering it readily available and affordable. However, just because it is available and inexpensive, you should consider the risks factors mentioned above and you should also remember that cocaine is an illegal substance, and failure to adhere to this, could not only result in a severe monetary loss to defend oneself, but also a steep prison sentence together with all the problems that will surely follow!
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