Cocaine Abuse Information

Overview

When snorted, cocaine powder is inhaled through the nose where it is absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal tissues. When injected, the user uses a needle to release the drug directly into the bloodstream. Smoking involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke into the lungs where absorption into the bloodstream is as rapid as by injection. Each of these methods of administration pose great risks to the user.

Crack is cocaine that has been processed from cocaine hydrochloride to a free base for smoking. Crack cocaine is processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water. It is then heated to remove the hydrochloride producing a form of cocaine that can be smoked.

Extent of Use

According to the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 34.2 million Americans ages 12 and older had tried cocaine at least once in their lifetimes, representing 14.2% of the population ages 12 and older. Approximately 5.7 million (2.4%) has used cocaine in the past year and 2.0 million (0.8%) had used cocaine within the past month.

Among students surveyed as part of the 2005 Monitoring the Future study, 3.7% of eighth graders, 5.2% of tenth graders, and 8.0% of twelfth graders reported lifetime use of cocaine. In 2004, these percentages were 3.4%, 5.4%, and 8.1%, respectively.

Approximately 65% of eighth graders, 72.4% of tenth graders, and 60.8% of twelfth graders surveyed in 2005 reported that taking powder cocaine occasionally was a "great risk."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also conducts a survey of high school students throughout the United States, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). Among students surveyed in 2005, 7.6% reported using some form of cocaine at least one time during their life. 3.4% reported being current users of cocaine, meaning that they had used cocaine at least once during the past month.

During 2004, 9.5% of college students and 15.2% of young adults (ages 19–28) reported lifetime use of cocaine.

According to data from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program, a median of 30.1% of adult male arrestees and 35.3% of adult female arrestees tested positive for cocaine at arrest in 2003. The adult male samples were compiled from 39 U.S. sites and the adult female samples were compiled from 25 sites.

Health Effects

Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant. Physical effects of cocaine use include constricted blood vessels and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Users may also experience feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety.

Evidence suggests that users who smoke or inject cocaine may be at even greater risk of causing harm to themselves than those who snort the substance. For example, cocaine smokers also suffer from acute respiratory problems including coughing, shortness of breath, and severe chest pains with lung trauma and bleeding. A user who injects cocaine is at risk of transmitting or acquiring diseases if needles or other injection equipment are shared.

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug and compulsive cocaine use seems to develop more rapidly when the substance is smoked rather than snorted. A tolerance to the cocaine high may be developed and many addicts report that they fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did from their first cocaine exposure.

Smoking crack delivers large quantities of the drug to the lungs, producing effects comparable to intravenous injection. These effects are felt almost immediately after smoking, are very intense, but do not last long. For example, the high from smoking cocaine may last from 5 to 10 minutes. The high from snorting can last for 15 to 20 minutes.

Cocaine continues to be the most frequently mentioned illicit substance reported to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) by hospital emergency departments (ED) nationwide. During 2002, it was mentioned 199,198 times and was present in 30% of the ED drug episodes during the year. While cocaine ED mentions were statistically unchanged from 2001 to 2002, they have increased 47% since 1995 when there were 135,711 mentions.

Of an estimated 106 million emergency department (ED) visits in the U.S. during 2004, the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) estimates that 1,997,993 were drug-related. DAWN data indicate that cocaine was involved in 383,350 ED visits.

Treatment

From 1994 to 2004, the number of admissions to treatment for cocaine decreased from 297,408 in 1994 to 256,387 in 2004. Cocaine admissions represented 17.8% of the total drug/alcohol admissions to treatment during 1994 and 13.7% of the treatment admissions in 2004.

Broken down by type of cocaine, the number of treatment admissions for non-smoked cocaine decreased from 76,794 in 1994 to 71,438 in 2004 and admissions for smoked cocaine decreased from 220,614 in 1994 to 184,949 in 2004. The average age of those admitted to treatment for cocaine in 2004 was 38 years for smoked cocaine, compared with 34 years for non-smoked cocaine admissions.

Arrests & Sentencing

During FY 2003, cocaine was the primary drug involved in Federal arrests. There were 11,794 Federal drug arrests for cocaine in FY 2003. The DEA made 6,522 arrests for powder cocaine and 3,842 arrests for crack cocaine during FY 2003. Between October 1, 2004 and January 11, 2005, there were 1,314 Federal offenders sentenced for powder cocaine-related charges and 1,205 sentenced for crack cocaine charges in U.S. Courts. Approximately 98.2% of the powder cocaine cases and 95.2% of the crack cocaine cases involved trafficking. Between January 12, 2005 and September 30, 2005, there were 4,242 Federal offenders sentenced for powder cocaine-related charges and 4,077 sentenced for crack cocaine charges in U.S. Courts. Approximately 98.4% of the powder cocaine cases and 95.3% of the crack cocaine cases involved trafficking.

Production & Trafficking

Cocaine is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant, which is indigenous to the Andean highlands of South America. According to interagency estimates, potential cocaine production in the Andean region of South America (Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru) accounts for virtually all worldwide cocaine production.

Much of the cocaine available in the United States is transported from South American nations, particularly Colombia, through the Mexico-Central America Corridor. Recent data suggests that a rise in retail-level cocaine prices and a decrease in retail-level cocaine purity may have occurred during the period of February through September 2005, indicating a potential decrease in the availability of cocaine at the retail level in domestic drug markets.

Law enforcement, epidemiologic, and ethnographic Pulse Check sources indicate that prices for powder cocaine range from $25–$35 per gram in New York to $75–$150 in Detroit. One gram of powder cocaine usually sells for $100 in most cities reporting to Pulse Check. Crack cocaine tends to be sold in 0.1 and 0.2 gram rocks that generally sell for $10, but prices can range from $2–$40 depending on the size of the rock.

Most of the Pulse Check sources indicate that powder and crack cocaine are both sold in central city areas. Suburban areas are also frequently mentioned as areas for powder cocaine sales. Settings for cocaine sales include cars, parties, schools, college campuses, raves, supermarkets, and shopping malls.

Sources also indicate that adulterants are often found in powder cocaine. These adulterants include caffeine (in Miami), chalk, laundry detergent, and rat poison (in Memphis), meat tenderizer (in Boston), baby laxatives (in Baltimore and Memphis), and talcum or baby powder (in Billings, El Paso, and Washington, D.C.).

During FY 2003, Federal agencies seized 245,499 pounds of cocaine under the Federal-wide Drug Seizure System (FDSS). FDSS contains information about drug seizures made within the jurisdiction of the United States by the DEA, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Border Patrol, and U.S. Coast Guard.

Legislation

Cocaine was first Federally-regulated in December 1914 with the passage of the Harrison Act. This Act banned non-medical use of cocaine; prohibited its importation; imposed the same criminal penalties for cocaine users as for opium, morphine, and heroin users; and required a strict accounting of medical prescriptions for cocaine. As a result of the Harrison Act and the emergence of cheaper, legal substances such as amphetamines, cocaine became scarce in the U.S. However, use began to rise again in the 1960s, prompting Congress to classify it as a Schedule II substance in 1970. Schedule II substances have a high potential for abuse, a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States with severe restrictions, and may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. Cocaine can currently be administered by a doctor for legitimate medical uses, such as a local anesthetic for some eye, ear, and throat surgeries.

Street Terms