Cocaine is an intense, euphoria-producing stimulant drug with strong addictive potential.

What is Cocaine?

Cocaine is a stimulant derived from coca leaves grown in Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia. The cocaine manufacturing process takes place in remote jungle labs where the raw product undergoes a series of chemical transformations.

  • Production: Colombia produces about 90 percent of the cocaine powder reaching the United States.
  • Distribution: Most of the cocaine entering the United States comes through Mexico.

Common Street Names

Common street names include:

  • Blow, Coca, Coke, Crack, Flake, Snow, and Soda Cot

Appearance

Cocaine is usually distributed as a white, crystalline powder. It is often diluted (“cut”) with a variety of substances, the most common of which are sugars and local anesthetics. It is “cut” to stretch the amount of the product and increase profits for dealers.

In contrast, cocaine base (crack) looks like small, irregularly shaped chunks (or “rocks”) of a whitish solid.

How is it abused?

  • Snorting/Injection: Powdered cocaine can be snorted or injected into the veins after dissolving in water.
  • Smoking: Cocaine base (crack) is smoked, either alone or on marijuana or tobacco.
  • Speedballing: Cocaine is also used in combination with an opiate, like heroin.

Injecting into veins or muscles, snorting, or smoking all move the drug into the bloodstream and to the brain. The faster the drug reaches the brain, the more intense the high.

Effects of Use

Effect on the Mind

Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant that increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in brain circuits regulating pleasure and movement.

  • The High: Users report an intense “rush” or euphoria.
  • The Crash: The high is often followed by a “crash” characterized by mental and physical exhaustion, sleepiness, and depression that can last several days.
  • Cravings: Following the crash, users experience a craving to use cocaine again.

Effect on the Body

Physiological effects of cocaine include:

  • Increased blood pressure and heart rate.
  • Dilated pupils.
  • Insomnia and loss of appetite.

Severe Health Consequences: The widespread abuse of highly pure street cocaine has led to many severe adverse health consequences, such as:

  • Irregular heartbeat, ischemic heart conditions, sudden cardiac arrest, convulsions, strokes, and death.
  • Long-term effects: In some users, the long-term use of inhaled cocaine has led to a unique respiratory syndrome, and chronic snorting of cocaine has led to the erosion of the upper nasal cavity.

Which Drugs Cause Similar Effects?

Other stimulants, such as amphetamine and methamphetamine, cause effects similar to cocaine that vary mainly in degree.

Legal Status in the United States

Cocaine is a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it has a high potential for abuse but has an accepted medical use for treatment in the United States.

  • Medical Use: Cocaine hydrochloride solution (4 percent and 10 percent) is used primarily as a topical local anesthetic for the upper respiratory tract. It is also used to reduce bleeding of the mucous membranes in the mouth, throat, and nasal cavities.
  • Current Usage: Because more effective products have been developed for these purposes, cocaine is now rarely used medically in the United States.