Cocaine

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General

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. Cocaine was labeled the drug of the 1980s and ‘90s, because of its extensive popularity and use during this period. However, cocaine is not a new drug. In fact, it is one of the oldest known drugs. The pure chemical, cocaine hydrochloride, has been an abused substance for more than 100 years, and coca leaves, the source of cocaine, have been ingested for thousands of years.

Pure cocaine was first extracted from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia, in the mid-19th century. In the early 1900s, it became the main stimulant drug used in most of the tonics/elixirs that were developed to treat a wide variety of illnesses. Today, cocaine is a Schedule II drug, meaning that it has high potential for abuse, but can be administered by a doctor for legitimate medical uses, such as local anesthesia for some eye, ear, and throat surgeries.

There are basically two chemical forms of cocaine: the hydrochloride salt and the “freebase.” The hydrochloride salt, or powdered form of cocaine, dissolves in water and, when abused, can be taken intravenously (by vein) or intranasally (in the nose). Freebase refers to a compound that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. The freebase form of cocaine is smokable.

Cocaine is generally sold on the street as a fine, white, crystalline powder, known as “coke,” “C,” “snow,” “flake,” or “blow.” Street dealers generally dilute it with such inert substances as cornstarch, talcum powder, and/or sugar, or with such active drugs as procaine (a chemically related local anesthetic) or with such other stimulants as amphetamines.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2002, February 18). NIDA Research Report - Cocaine Abuse and Addiction (PHD813, NIH Publication No. 99-4342)Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved October 03, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Cocaine/cocaine2.html#what

Statistics

• Beginning in 1965, the estimated incidence of cocaine use rose steadily to its 1983 peak (1.5 million new users). Subsequently, the number of new users per year declined steadily until 1992 (0.5 million new users) and then began a steady increase to 0.9 million new users in 2000.
• Age-specific incidence rates generally have mirrored the overall incidence rate. The number of new users aged 18 to 25 reached a peak of 0.9 million in 1983, while the most recent low point for this group was 0.3 million from 1991 to 1994. Incidence among 12 to 17 year olds has not varied as greatly over the years, but peaked in 1980 at 0.3 million new users and reached a recent low point in 1991 with 90,000 new users.
• The 2000 estimates of the number of cocaine initiates and age-specific incidence rates were slightly larger than their 1999 counterparts, but none of the increases was statistically significant.
• The average age of cocaine initiates rose from 17.2 years in 1967 to 23.8 years in 1991 and subsequently declined to approximately 20 years from 1997 to 2000.
• The annual number of new cocaine users has generally increased over time. In 1975, there were 30,000 new users. The number increased from 300,000 in 1986 to 361,000 in 2000.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2002, September 4). Results from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Volume I. Summary of National Findings (Office of Applied Studies, NHSDA Series H-17 ed.)  (BKD461, SMA 02-3758)Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved September 26, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda/2k1nhsda/vol1/chapter5.htm#5.coc