Associated names
Cocaine, Coke, Charlie, Snow, White Lady, Crack, Rock, Bones, Stones, Freebase.

 

Appearance
Cocaine is a white crystalline powder. Crack-white or off-white comes in the form of hard, raisin-sized pellets.

 

Legal status
Class A.

 

Cost
Cocaine is sold by weight at around £60 - £120 a gram. Crack is sold by the pellet or 'rock' at about £5 to £20 each depending on the size.

 

Quality
Purity of cocaine does tend to be higher than that of other street powders such as amphetamine but again is readily cut with glucose and the like. Crack is a much purer form of cocaine having undergone a process to make it such.

 

Methods of Use
The popular way to use cocaine is to place it on a mirror, cut it into a finer powder with a razor blade and snort it up the nose in 'lines' with a rolled up banknote. It can be injected or rubbed on the gums.

The primary advantage of crack is that it can be smoked, typically through a homemade pipe. Empty bottles, coke cans and other similar receptacles are easily made into smoking paraphernalia.

 

Effects
Cocaine is probably the most powerful stimulant, offering the user an intense feeling of power and control and a heightening of energy and awareness. Heart rate and blood pressure increase and the pupils dilate.

The effects of crack are even more intense and the onset is immediate. However the effects last for only a short time (snorted cocaine about 30mins, crack about 10-15mins) and this encourages the user to keep repeating the use. The eventual comedown is such cases can be severe.

 

Health Implications
Cocaine is not physically addictive but the intense highs and lows can create a powerful psychological dependence. Even recreational users can quickly develop anxiety, paranoia and disrupted sleep. This may bring general fatigue and restlessness.

Habitual crack users will be almost certain to experience bronchial problems, and those that snort regularly can end up with a damaged nose. Deaths have occurred from cocaine use, predominantly from heart failure or haemorrhaging.