Cocaine is an alkaloid found in the leaves of the coca plant, a South American shrub, Erythroxylon coca. The shrub is mainly cultivated at altitudes ranging from 500 to 1 500 metres in the tropical forests along the eastern slopes of the Andes. The coca plant lives up to 50 years and grows to a height of up to three metres. The leaves are harvested throughout the year. The bushes are stripped thoroughly by hand. Once the leaves have been harvested, they are immediately dried in the sun until they are almost brittle. The dried leaves are directly transferred to a coca market or an illicit drug laboratory, where it goes through various manufacturing phases. The final step of the process is to convert the base into ‘crystal’, the South American term for cocaine hydrochloride. The base is dissolved in ether, and hydrochloric acid is added to separate out the cocaine hydrochloride crystals. Once the crystals have been collected by means of filtration, they are dried resulting in a powder form.

The coca leaf and all its byproducts are listed as Dangerous Dependence-Producing Substances in Part II of Schedule 2 of the South African Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act, 1992 (Act No 140 of 1992).

How Is Cocaine Abused?

Three routes of administration are commonly used for cocaine: sniffing, injecting, and smoking. Sniffing is the process of inhaling cocaine powder through the nose, where it is absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal tissues. Injecting is the use of a needle to insert the drug directly into the bloodstream after dissolving it in water. Smoking involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke into the lungs, where absorption into the bloodstream is as rapid as by injection. All three methods of cocaine abuse can lead to addiction and other severe health problems, including increasing the risk of contracting HIV and other infectious diseases.

What is Crack Cocaine?

To obtain crack-cocaine, ordinary cocaine hydrochloride is concentrated by heating the drug in a solution of baking soda until the water evaporates. This type of base-cocaine makes a cracking sound when heated; hence the name "crack". Base-cocaine vaporises at a low temperature, so it can be easily inhaled via a heated pipe.

Crack cocaine is the most potent, and therefore riskiest, form of cocaine. It comes in solid blocks or crystals, in colours from yellow to pale rose or white. People have been known to become addicted after using the drug just once.

SHORT-TERM EFFECTS

Poor eating and sleeping
Increased heart rate and breathing
Muscle spasms and convulsions
Paranoia, anxiety and hallucinations
Severe depression and hostility

ONLINE RESOURCES

http://www.saps.gov.za/drugs

http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/cocaine.html

http://www.cocaine.org/

LONG-TERM EFFECTS

Severe tooth decay
Destruction of tissues in nose if sniffed
Infectious diseases and abscesses if injected
Respiratory failure if smoked
Irreversible damage to blood vessels in the brain and heart, leading to strokes, heart attacks and death
Sleep deprivation, liver, kidney and lung damage, loss of appetite.
Sexual dysfunction and reproductive damage and inferility.
Frequency of risky behavior
Delirium or psychosis