Home Directory FRAMED?

Latin American natives considered cocaine a gift from the gods. Cocaine was used 5,000 years ago for religious services, burials and special purposes. Indians buried coca leaves with the dead. Incas used cocaine to achieve euphoria, hyperactivity and hallucinations. Lacking horses, runners carrying messages between distant highland districts chewed coca leaves to travel rapidly without tiring or stopping for food or water. Spanish Conquistadors at first condemned cocaine as a barrier to Christian conversion of the natives, then used it to make slaves work harder, giving it as wages to reduce effects of exhaustion and malnutrition especially at high altitudes.

Cocaine, first isolated in 1822 and purified in 1855, was widely used in the late 1800s for "whatever ails you." Sigmund Freud prescribed cocaine to cure alcohol or morphine addiction. Cocaine was an ingredient of Coca Cola until 1903, advertised as curing headaches and fatigue. Coca was used in tonics, wine and tea until outlawed in 1922. Cocaine, less bulky than marijuana and easier to smuggle, can be cut to increase profits. Coca leaves are dissolved in kerosene to convert them to paste, cooked with other substances to concentrate it, then treated with hydrochloric acid and acetone.

Most of the world's cocaine is shipped to the United States. Recreational cocaine, outlawed in 1914, was used mostly by jazz musicians until the 1960s when its high price gave it "chic." In the 1980s increased, cheaper cocaine due to increased cultivation led to epidemic use. Cocaine and crack are often diluted with aspirin, soap and other household cleaners, cornstarch, talcum powder and heroin. Alcohol or heroin between cocaine or crack binges creates up and down cycles. Cocaine symptoms also include chronic sniffles and inflamed nasal mucosa. Chronic cocaine inhalation leads to nasal septum destruction. Cocaine injection leads to HIV infection. Cocaine inhaled, chewed, injected or smoked produces different effects. Cocaine remains in the blood 3 - 5 days after discontinuing use, depending on how much was used. A single, small dose of cocaine triggers a weeklong surge of brain activity priming users for addiction. Exposure to cocaine accelerates a molecular process important to formation of memories and underlies addiction.

** CRACK **

In the 1980s crack changed cocaine use. Only $5 and highly addictive, inner city youths were hooked. Crack is cocaine mixed with bicarbonate of soda and water, boiled to a paste and allowed to harden. Crack is originally made with ether. More dangerous drugs than ether are also used. Crack gets cut with sugar, quinine, baby laxatives, amphetamines or other drugs to increase profits. Crack is popular because it's cheaper to make and sell. Because crack can be made in any kitchen, production and trade are not centrally located. Crack house raids yield only small portions of the total amount of crack produced.

Crack is a seller's dream - a high followed by depression so deep users want it again and again for relief. Crack is 10 times as powerful as powdered cocaine. Cocaine takes 3 - 4 minutes to enter the bloodstream. Crack, entering the bloodstream in 4 seconds, is totally unpredictable. Even heroin addicts fear crack. Heroin is used once or twice a day. Crack is used many times a day, needing more within minutes. Cocaine takes 1 - 2 years to become addicted. Crack users become addicted immediately. Alcohol depresses the central nervous system. Crack stimulates it. Crack highs are so short and intense users develop constant $500 a day cravings. Crack highs arrive faster, more intensely than cocaine. Crack highs start in seconds, lasting a few minutes. Crack and alcohol produce opposing effects because the body receives mixed signals. Crack users turn to other drugs if crack is unavailable. Indictment for possessing crack, even without conviction, forever ruins your life.

Heat-resistant and smokeable, crack is often added to cigarettes. Crack gets its name because it crackles when smoked. Crack sells for 1/8 - 1/4 as much as cocaine.