Cocaine

The coca bush leaves has stimulant and appetite suppressant properties so many people use them in tea. Cocaine is used in various energy providing medicines, foods and drinks. Also it is used as a local anesthetic.

Cocaine is available in various forms, one of the most common form of cocaine is hydrochloride. This is a white powder having a bitter, numbing taste. Also it can be found as alkaloid form for smoking or in the form of small crystals called as crack.

Further processing on cocaine hydrochloride cocaine base is produced which is known as freebase. Freebase is a white powder, while crack is available in crystal form with different colors ranging from white or creamy color to transparent with a pink or yellow hue.

Cocaine is frequently cut with other substances like sucrose, lactose, glucose and talcum powder, when it is in the powder form to increase volume and reduce purity.

Cocaine is usually inhaled, sniffed or snorted through nose. It can also be injected or smoked in alkaloid form. People may rub it into their gums, from where it gets immersed into blood stream. Some people add it to their food and drinks. Freebase and crack are generally smoked.

Effects of cocaine

Cocaine is a stimulant which increases the speed of central nervous system activity. The effects of cocaine can last between minutes or hours depending on how it is taken and the person taking it.

Other immediate effects that can be experienced are enlarged pupils, anxiety, dry mouth, exhilaration, physiological arousal, increased body temperature and heart rates, feeling of wellbeing, paranoia, headache, high blood pressure and breathing rates, reduced appetite.

Long-term effects for heavy cocaine users experience:

• depression
• insomnia
• psychosis
• sexual dysfunction
• eating disorders, hence the weight loss
• sensitivity to light and sound
• hypertension and irregular heart beat
• cerebral atrophy (wasting of the brain)
• hallucinations - sensations of insects crawling under the skin
• impaired thinking

An overdose of cocaine can result in brain hemorrhage, heart attack, kidney failure, repeated convulsions and stroke. All these can lead to coma and death.

Street names for Cocaine

Common street names of cocaine are C, coke, crack, okey dokey, nose candy, snow, blow, white lady, marching powder, toot, ceci, candi, Charlie, blow, white dust and stardust. Crack is sometimes referred to as rock or wash and freebase is also known as base.