A Quick Look At Crack Cocaine

Crack is a solid form of the drug cocaine.

Cocaine is a powerful stimulant alkaloid extracted from the Coca bush of South America. The leaves of the coca bush have been used by the indigenous people of Peru and Bolivia since before recorded European history. Pure cocaine was first extracted from the Erythroxylon coca bush in the mid nineteenth century and became popular in tonics and elixirs thereafter. Cocaine was the initial stimulant in Coca-Cola before a switch to caffeine was made. Today cocaine is a Schedule II drug with legitimate medical uses as a local anesthetic for surgeries of the eye and sinuses.

There are two typical chemical forms of the drug: the hydrochloride salt (powdered cocaine) and the “freebase” (crack). Cocaine hydrochloride is water soluble and may be used intranasally (snorting) or by intravenous injection. Freebase cocaine (crack) may be smoked.

Effects of crack

Euphoria, increased level of activity, and increases in blood pressure are typical effects of cocaine. It was cocaine’s stimulant effect that was the reason for it’s prior use in elixirs. Cocaine use is associated with activation of primary pleasure centers in the brain as well as increased dopamine buildup in some of these same areas. These effects probably lead to the very high addiction potential of cocaine.

Side effects include hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding into the brain), headache, nasal septal erosion, heart attack and cerebral vasculitis (which can cause strokes and brain damage). Chronic overuse can result in irritability and psychosis.