Cocaine is a white crystalline powder made from the dried leaves of the coca plant. Crack, named for its crackle when heated, is made from cocaine. It looks like white or tan pellets.

Street Names for Cocaine:

coke, snow, blow, nose candy, white, big C

Street Names for Crack:

freebase, rock

How It's Used:

Cocaine is inhaled through the nose or injected. Crack is smoked.

Effects & Dangers:

Cocaine is a stimulant that rocks the central nervous system, giving users a quick, intense feeling of power and energy. Snorting highs last between 15 and 30 minutes; smoking highs last between 5 and 10 minutes.

Cocaine also elevates heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and body temperature.
Injecting cocaine can give you hepatitis or AIDS if you share needles with other users. Snorting can also put a hole inside the lining of your nose.

First-time users - even teens - of both cocaine and crack can stop breathing or have fatal heart attacks. Using either of these drugs even one time can kill you.

Addictiveness:

These drugs are highly addictive, and as a result, the drug, not the user, calls the shots. Even after one use, cocaine and crack can create both physical and psychological cravings that make it very, very difficult for users to stop.

Reviewed by: Wes Bowman, PhD
Date reviewed: June 2002
Originally reviewed by: Jonathan Schneider, DO