Crack Cocaine                Powder Cocaine

"Crave" New World?

"If we could sniff or swallow something that would, for five or six hours each day, abolish our solitude as individuals, atone us with our fellows in a glowing exaltation of affection and make life in all its aspects seem not only worth living, but divinely beautiful and significant, and if this heavenly, world-transfiguring drug were of such a kind that we could wake up next morning with a clear head and an undamaged constitution-then, it seems to me, all our problems (and not merely the one small problem of discovering a novel pleasure) would be wholly solved and earth would become paradise."

An excerpt from "Brave New World," by Aldous Huxley - written in 1932

Before we begin our discussion of cocaine, you might want to click on the Mouse Party picture below.  This will take you a great presentation from the University Of Utah on how cocaine and other drugs actually affect the brain.  Even if you've never liked science, you're going to love this!

By The Ton

There was quite a bit of discussion during the towards the end of 2005 about how authorities were " stemming the flow of cocaine coming into North America" by using the indicators of price against purity.  We're not exactly sure how that "formula" works, so all we can do here at All Positive Options.com is go by what our own eyes and ears tell us.  That's because on a daily basis, we monitor every news item on cocaine from well over 5000 news sources.

And judging by that, there are literally tons and tons of cocaine moving around the world at any given moment, and it would seem that a great deal of that coke is ending up in North America.  Another notable area is Ireland, where coke is only second to marijuana in popularity and seizures there have doubled over the last year.

So if we accept the commonly held belief that 10% of what's actually being smuggled is even detected by authorities, let alone intercepted, we have no less than massive amounts of cocaine being distributed throughout the world every week.

Despite the "spin" that might be put on it by various sources, the "war" on cocaine is an unqualified failure.  Setting crops on fire, using defoliation agents, and applying stiffer sentences for cocaine-related offences is neither deterring the offenders, or curbing the appetite of the consumer market.  Maybe we're wrong, and if someone has documented, verifiable evidence to the contrary, we'd love to see it, because the picture we see is a problem that's just getting bigger, or at the very least, is not diminishing.

Some Recent Examples

For example, here's just one seizure from early 2006 to think about, and bear in mind, this is only one, there are many.  In February 2006, two British Navy vessels seized more than 3 tons of cocaine from a freighter in the Caribbean.  The Times of London estimated the street value of that seizure at 350 million pounds, or $617 million U.S. 

But let's take it down to something a little closer to home here in North America.  In September 2006, near Valencia, California, a man is stopped on a Thursday afternoon for not wearing his seat belt.  And he just happens to be carrying about 880 pounds of cocaine in the back of his pickup.  (Street value - about 40 million dollars.)  Or here are some other recent (April 2007) headlines.

2,400 pounds of cocaine worth 400 million lands at Mayport Navla Station

$ 100,000 in cocaine confiscated from man's home in Fayette County PA

'Operation Gotcha' nabs 6 in $1M cocaine, heroin ring in area (Sentinel Online)

$ 600,000 in cocaine seized in airport arrest

$1.2 million in cocaine seized on I-459

Federal and local police seized 36 kilograms of cocaine

Well here we are now in 2008 and after these massive busts, has anything changed?  Even a little bit?  Of course not.  Clearly, there was, and still is enough cocaine floating around the globe to cover some countries in a three inch blanket.  And that's got to say something about demand.

Or better yet, don't take our word for it, find out for yourself.  Set up a "Google Alert" to have all news stories with the words "cocaine seized" emailed to you once a day as they're posted on the Net.  Within any given week, your Inbox will be overflowing with alerts.  Cocaine is everywhere.  That's not necessarily a "scientific" analysis of the problem, but it's also pure information, unfiltered and "unspun" by anyone with an agenda.  

A Short History Of Cocaine

Cocaine is categorized as an alkaloid and is extracted from the leaves of the South American coca plant.  From the leaves of this plant a "paste" is formulated which is in turn mixed with chemicals to produce a pure white powder.  As the cocaine goes further along the distribution channel, it's often "cut" repeatedly with various agents which lowers the purity, but obviously, increases the profit margin.

Pure cocaine was first used in the 1880s as a local anesthetic in eye, nose, and throat surgeries because of its ability to provide anesthesia as well as to constrict blood vessels and limit bleeding.   Its properties as a stimulant have led people in the past to use it in a number of patent medicines and even in soft drinks. As far as medicinal use, it’s now been replaced by more effective and less addictive medications.

How It's Used

Cocaine is one of the most potent stimulants of natural origin.   Cocaine can be snorted, smoked, or injected. When snorted, cocaine powder is inhaled through the nose where it's 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 potential risks to the user.

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug and compulsive cocaine use seems to develop more rapidly when the substance is smoked (see below) rather than snorted. A tolerance to the cocaine high may be developed and virtually every addict will agree that after a while, you're chasing a "buzz" that you used to get, but can no longer fully achieve.

Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory arrest. An added danger of cocaine use is when cocaine and alcohol are consumed at the same time. Some users use alcohol to mellow down a high, and then use cocaine again to lift out of the depression caused by alcohol.  (It's kind of a vicious cycle.) 

When cocaine and alcohol are mixed, the human liver combines them and manufactures a third substance, cocaethylene. This intensifies cocaine's euphoric effects, while also possibly increasing the risk of sudden death.  A gram of cocaine will cost you anywhere from $ 20.00 to $ 150.00 depending on where you buy it and who you buy it from.  There really are no standardized prices - just rough "neighborhoods" of price.

On the next page, we'll take a look at "freebasing," "crack cocaine," symptoms of use and  treatment options for addiction to coke.

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