What is the Difference Between Cocaine And Crack?
It can be very difficult to understand what is the difference between cocaine and crack. This is because these drugs are almost identical. In fact, the official name of crack is crack cocaine. It is also known as cocaine base. Crack is cocaine that has had a hydrochloride salt removed. By taking out this molecule, the cocaine can be smoked. This leads to a higher purity of cocaine. The greater purity creates a more intense high. It also leads to addiction more easily. There are also different dangers for each drug.
What is Cocaine?
Cocaine comes from the Erythroxylon coca plant. These grow mostly in South America. People have been using leaves from these plants for thousands of years. Here is a basic timeline of the evolution of cocaine:
- 3000 B.C.E. – Indigenous people find chewing the leaves of the coca plant produce a mild high.
- 1859 C.E. – Physician Paolo Mantegazza publishes a personal account of the energizing effects of chewing coca leaves. He shows it to be a painkiller.
- 1860 C.E. – Chemist Albert Niemann isolates the drug within the coca plant that creates intoxicating effects. This drug is cocaine. It is officially named cocaine hydrochloride.
- 1860 – 1898 C.E. – Doctors use cocaine in surgical procedures. It helps reduce pain and bleeding during surgery.
- 1884 C.E. – Psychologist Sigmund Freud Writes “Uber Coca.” His praise of the drug helps create a frenzy of use.
- 1886 C.E. – John Pemberton invents Coca-Cola. A beverage containing cocaine, sugar and extracts from the Cola plant.
- 1902 C.E. – 200,000 cocaine addicts are identified.
- 1907 C.E. – Cocaine imports to the United States triple between 1900 and 1907.
- 1914 C.E. – Politicians pass the Harrison Narcotic Act. This outlaws importation of coca leaves to the United States. It also outlaws the import or manufacture of cocaine for non-medical purposes.
- 1980’s C.E. – Crack cocaine begins appearing as an alternative street drug.
Clearly, there is a huge gap between when coca leaves were first discovered and the invention of cocaine. That is because science hadn’t progressed far enough to understand how coca leaves work. When scientists began to discover the benefits of cocaine, it