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Cocaine
Street terms for
cocaine: blow, nose candy, snowball, tornado, wicky stick1
What are the different
forms of cocaine?
- White crystalline
powder
- "Crack"
or "rock" cocaine is an off-white chunky material.
How is cocaine used?
- Powder cocaine
is generally snorted or dissolved in water and injected.
- Crack cocaine
is usually smoked.2
Who uses cocaine?
- Cocaine is the
second most commonly used illicit drug in the United States.
- About 10 percent
of Americans over the age of 12 have tried cocaine at least once in
their lifetime, about 2 percent have tried crack, and nearly one percent
is currently using cocaine.3
How does cocaine
get to the United States?
- The United States-Mexico
border is the primary point of entry for cocaine shipments being smuggled
into the United States.
- Organized crime
groups based in Colombia control the worldwide supply of cocaine.4
How much does cocaine
cost?
- Cocaine prices
depend upon the purity of the product.
- In 2001, cocaine
purity declined by 8 percent, from 86 percent pure in 1998 to a 78 percent
pure in 2001. The decrease in purity indicates a decrease in the supply
of cocaine in the United States.5
- Cocaine remained
low and stable, which suggests a steady supply to the United States.
- Nationwide, prices
ranged from $12,000 to $35,000 per kilogram.6
What are some consequences
of cocaine use?
- Cocaine is powerfully
addictive.7
- Smoking crack
can cause severe chest pains with lung trauma and bleeding.8
- The mixing of
cocaine and alcohol create cocaethylene while increasing risk of sudden
death.9
- Cocaine-related
deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures followed by
respiratory arrest.10
1Office
of National Drug Control Policy, Street Terms: Drugs and the Drug
Trade.
2National Institute on Drug Abuse, Infofax:
Crack and Cocaine, October 2001.
3Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, Summary of Findings from the
2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, September 2001.
4Drug Enforcement Administration, Drug
Trafficking in the United States, September 2001.
5Drug Enforcement Administration, STRIDE
Report, August 2002.
6Office of National Drug Control Policy, Pulse
Check: Trends in Drug Abuse, November 2001.
7Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drug
Facts: Cocaine, May 2002.
8Drug Enforcement Administration, Drug
Descriptions: Cocaine.
9National Institute on Drug Abuse, Infofax:
Crack and Cocaine, October 2001.
10Office of National Drug Control Policy,
Drug Facts: Cocaine, May 2002.
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