Cocaine: what is it?
Cocaine belongs to a group of drugs known as ‘stimulants’. Stimulants speed up the messages going between the body and the brain.
Cocaine is extracted from the leaves of the coca bush (Erythroxylum coca), which is native to South America. The coca leaf extract is then processed to create cocaine hydrochloride, freebase and crack.
The leaves of the coca bush have long been chewed and brewed into tea by indigenous people in South America for its stimulant and appetite suppressant properties. Cocaine has been used in a range of energy providing medicines, foods and drinks. It has also been used as a local anaesthetic.
What does it look like?
The most common from of cocaine is cocaine hydrochloride. This is a white, crystalline powder with a bitter, numbing taste.
Cocaine hydrochloride can be further processed to produce cocaine base, known as ‘freebase’ and ‘crack’. Freebase is a white powder, while crack generally comes in the form of crystals that range in colour from white or creamy colour to transparent with a pink or yellow hue.
Cocaine hydrochloride is often mixed, or ‘cut’, with other substances such as lactose and glucose, to dilute it before being sold.
How is it used?
Cocaine hydrochloride is most commonly ‘snorted’ (sniffed through the nose). It can also be injected. Some people rub it into their gums, where it is absorbed into the bloodstream. Others add it to a drink or food. Freebase and crack are usually smoked.
Street names
C, coke, nose candy, snow, white lady, toot, Charlie, blow, white dust and stardust. Freebase is also known as base, and crack is sometimes referred to as rock or wash.
For more information, please click on the Australian Drug Foundation's DrugInfo Clearinghouse web site link below.
Last Reviewed: 21 March 2007
