Crack Cocaine Research Paper

Crack Cocaine

Crack is the name given to cocaine that has been transformed into a condensed, more pure, rock form that can be smoked. It is the most addictive form of cocaine due to a higher potency level than the typical batch of street cocaine. Crack cocaine has often been referred to as a ‘soul drug’ because it has a tendency to rob its victims of everything including money, family, morals, and even life itself. Furthermore, it is possible to become addicted to crack cocaine from the very first time it is used, creating a vortex of misery for those who come into contact with it. Compared to other drugs, crack cocaine has a rather short history in America since it was only introduced the 1980’s. However, within this short period, Crack cocaine

has managed to wreak havoc in the American population, claiming the lives of thousands and leaving its mark on America’s war on drugs. Fortunantly, there is now a public awareness concerning the detriments caused by crack cocaine and its users. By understanding the drug itself, the physical and psychological power that it holds on its victims, and the detrimental effects that it causes both emotionally, physically, and socially, opens a door to treatment and rehabilitation among its users, in a hopes that they are able to reclaim their life.
As mentioned previously, crack cocaine is the most potent form of the drug cocaine.

Cocaine itself is derived from the coca plant commonly found in South America. For centuries, the native people of South America have used the coca plant, its leaves in particular, as a stimulant for long work hours as well as for medical purposes. It was not until 1859 that modern cocaine was developed as a drug in Germany (Crack Cocaine History, n.d.). By the late 1800’s, the medical knowledge of cocaine had spread world-wide and many American doctors began to prescribe the use of cocaine as a medical drug to cure different illnesses and ease common pain. It wasn’t until the early 1900’s, however, that the negative side effects of cocaine became apparent; these side effects included addiction and death. With such detrimental side effects, cocaine was declared a threat to the nation and in 1914, cocaine became what’s known as a controlled substance that could only be obtained by a prescription from a doctor for medical reasons only (much like today’s ‘medical marijuana’). However, by controlling access and usage of cocaine, America inadvertently gave way to an entirely new drug cartel that they weren’t prepared to deal with. In the beginning of cocaine being a controlled substance, it became less popular and one of the lesser drugs to be abused in the United States. It wasn’t until the 1960’s and 70’s that the use of cocaine became popular again. This widespread ‘cocaine boom’ affected all

social and economic classes throughout America. During this time, and even still today, the most common form of assimilation was through snorting the cocaine in its powdered form. However, some users did in fact inject the cocaine into their blood stream and only some could afford to smoke the cocaine available because it smoking the drug required a larger quantity of the substance. (Crack Cocaine History, n.d.)
As a result of the continuous rise of cocaine usage, both shipping and dealing of the drug increased in the United States. However, “By the early 1980’s, the cocaine market became glutted with an excess of the drug, causing cocaine prices to drop sharply” (Crack Cocaine History, n.d.). Due to the influx in product and decrease in profit, cocaine dealers came up with a way to increase their profit once again by converting the powder into a smaller more potent form, giving birth to the notorious crack cocaine. The production of crack cocaine was simple and inexpensive, therefore, the profit margin was exceptional. Unlike typical cocaine, crack could be smoked by the user rather than snorted which produced an even more extreme high in a quicker manner. Crack cocaine was cheap, quick, and intense, making it extremely popular. Furthermore, crack cocaine did not discriminate; it affected people from all social and economic classes. With such popularity, it didn’t take long for crack to pervade most major cities throughout the nation, leading to a major drug epidemic and a nationwide crisis. Combining the fact that crack quickly became one of the most lucrative drugs in terms of dealing and that the drug was highly addictive to those who used it, the crime rate exploded in the United States. “Gangs fought over drug dealing territory, killing innocent victims who were caught in the crossfire, and crack cocaine addicts turned to criminal activity to support their habit” (Crack Cocaine History, n.d.). This high rise of crime resulted in a significant rise in jail sentences within the American population fueling the crisis even further. Unfortunately, crack cocaine had already gripped a large portion of society creating a proliferating demand for the drug, in which violence and illegalities continued to grow with the production and distribution of crack (Crack Cocaine History, n.d.).
Most cocaine that is delivered to the United States is in the form of hydrochloride powder derived from the coca plant. The extraction of the cocaine from the coca leafs is an extremely laborious task that involves mixing the leaves with a solvent (such as gasoline) and then drying it. Several chemicals and processes take place to produce and synthesize the solid form of cocaine hydrochloride that is delivered to the states. In the hydrochloride form of cocaine, the drug can only be snorted, ingested, or dissolved for injection; the powder is unable to be smoked due to the fact that the drug evaporates as such a high temperature that the cocaine simply burns away. However, through different chemical manipulations and processes, cocaine can be turned into a smokeable form known as ‘freebase’. Essentialy, freebase is a product of cocaine that through chemical reactions with a liquid base (such as ammonia, baking soda, etc.) removes the hydrochloric acid from the substance thus creating a solid, more pure, form of what originally was cocaine (Crack Cocaine History, n.d.).
The production and synthises of crack cocaine greatly resembles the chemical synthesis of freebase. During the cocaine boom, dealers of the drug searched for a quicker, cheaper way to crystalize the drug. It didn’t take long for them to figure it out.
“Cocaine hydrochloride is dissolved in water, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is added, and the mixture is heated and then dried into hard, smokeable pellets. These pellets contain not only alkaloidal cocaine, but sodium bicarbonate and whatever other fillers and adulterants had been added earlier to the powder; thus, crack is not as highly purified as freebase, and street samples tend to range from 10 to 40 percent cocaine by weight (Crack Cocaine History, n.d.).
When the crack is smoked, the vapor consists mostly of pure cocaine and is very similar to smoking freebase. However, crack cocaine is a much more simple process and is usually completed by the drug dealer. The dealers ‘cook up’ the crack and sell the crystalized form as crack, beginning the production and sales of the soul drug. Furthermore, the melting point of crack is substantially lower than that of Cocaine hydrochloride which is why crack is smokeable and cocaine is not (Agency, 2004).
“Crack cocaine is a strong central nervous stimulant that interferes with, and causes excess amounts of dopamine in the brain. A neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and movement, dopamine is the neurotransmitter released as part of the brain’s reward system” (Research, n.d.). This sudden increase in pleasure and ‘good-feeling’ provides the user with a feeling of euphoria which is what makes the drug highly addictive. However, the euphoric feeling that crack provides is only temporary, lasting only a few minutes. Because of this, crack users begin to crave the drug so that they can go back to the euphoric state that they were in. As one researcher put it, “the psychological effects can be extremely reinforcing: after having tried crack cocaine, the user will rapidly develop an intense craving for the drug since the chemistry of the brain’s reward system ahs been altered (Research, n.d.). This is why crack users, or avid drug users in general, are labeled as ‘feigns’; their brain is sending uncontrollable craving signals to the rest of their body. Furthermore, when a drug is smoked rather than snorted it is able to reach the brain more rapidly which gives the user a quicker and more intense high making it even more addictive. As with any drug, the more someone uses it, the more of a tolerance the body builds against the drug (as a defense mechanism), thus making it more and more difficult to experience the initial high that the drug produced. Unfortunantly, despite the build up tolerance, most crack users continue to smoke crack at alarming rates in hopes of achieving that euphoric high (Research, n.d.)
Crack cocaine produces a psychoactive effect by interacting with the central nervous system, stimulating it to perform its ordinary functions more intensely.

This system operates through the release of various neurochemical transmitters (from the nerve cells in which they are produced) and their binding to receptor sites on neighboring cells. The constant release and binding of these neurotransmitters forms a pathway of “messages” that travel throughout the body, sustaining life and making possible the organism’s response to environmental stimuli. The drug also has an impact in the autonomic (or involuntary) division of the central nervous system, which helps regulate a variety of bodily functions that are generally free of volitional impact, including respiration, circulation, digestion, and body temperature. Ordinarily, these functions are maintained at relatively stable levels throughout the day. But they are slowed down during periods of rest through diminished production, release, and binding of neurotransmitters and can be speeded up, as needed, through increased neurotransmitter activity. It operates in the system by increasing the concentration and binding activity of the body’s own neurotransmitters, particularly dopamine. Thus, what people experience as the stimulant effect is an intensification of the body’s normal stimulatory mechanisms. (Pharmacodynamics: Cocaines Interaction with the Human Organism,

n.d.)