This Is What Cocaine and Crack Cocaine Really Look Like (2023)

Addiction

Drug Use

Cocaine

What to Know About Cocaine Use

Coca Leaves

Cocaine is astrong stimulantthat affects the body's central nervous system that is extracted from the leaves of the South American coca plant. People in South America have chewed the leaves or drank tea brewed from the leaves for a mild stimulant effect, much like the effect of caffeine in coffee, for thousands of years.

This photo shows bright green coca leaves from the Erythroxylum coca plant before they are harvested and dried.

To produce cocaine, the dried leaves are soaked in solvents like gasoline to extract the cocaine chemicals. The leaves are then drained and the liquid is mixed with sodium bicarbonate or ammonia to make a cocaine base.

Raw Cocaine

Once cocaine is extracted from the coca leaves and formed into cocaine base, the base is filtered and dried before it is dissolved again with added chemicals and heated, a process that results in crystallization. This raw cocaine is known as cocaine hydrochloride crystal and is the key ingredient in both powdered cocaine and crack cocaine.

Because it has not gone through further processing, this raw cocaine is stronger, which means it poses a higher risk of causing heart damage if used in this pure form.

Powdered Cocaine

A common form of cocaine is a fine, white, crystalline powder. Powdered cocaine is the result of taking raw cocaine hydrochloride through additional purification and drying processes to remove excess solvents and create the fine white powder.

After the powder cocaine is produced, it's commonly cut with other substances such as sugar, cornstarch, vitamins, or even flour to stretch the product further. This dilution can occur as often as each time it changes hands along the illicit supply chain.

Powdered cocaine is often wrapped in plastic bags or condoms for ease of transport. When sold by street dealers, it is typically packaged in tiny baggies in the amount of the drug that the buyer can afford. Such baggies can be discretely exchanged and easily discarded.

Powdered cocaine can be snorted, but it can also be dissolved in water and injected, which is the most common method of use. Injecting the drug leads to an almost instantaneous high that produces a euphoric rush. Snorting cocaine produces a less intense high.

Cocaine is also often mixed with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin. It is also extremely dangerous and is a major cause of both fatal and non-fatal overdoses.

Crack Cocaine

Crack cocaine, which became popular in the 1980s, looks like a small rock, chunk, or chip and it's sometimes off-white or pink in color. While it's the same drug as powdered cocaine with virtually the same effects, it can be smoked, which provides an immediate high. It is known as "crack" because of the crackling sound it makes when it's heated and smoked.

Crack cocaine results from dissolving raw cocaine hydrochloride in a mixture of baking soda and water and heating it until the cocaine forms an oily substance, which is then cooled into the rock-like substance.

Like powdered cocaine, crack creates a strong sense of exhilaration. People generally feel invincible, carefree, alert, euphoric, and energized.

Crack cocaine is often packaged in small baggies when it is sold by street dealers. The rocks are placed in a pipe and smoked. Like powdered cocaine, crack cocaine might be cut or diluted with other substances like ammonia or baking soda.