Cocaine comes from the leaves of the coca plant that grows in the Andes Mountains in South America. Many indigenous tribes in this region continue to chew coca leaves to produce a mild, stimulating feeling.

Scientists isolated cocaine from coca leaves shortly before 1860. Until the start of the 20th century, this new "wonder drug" could be found in countless medicines to treat a variety of ailments. It was also included in many of the popular health tonics of the day, including Coca-Cola.

Cocaine hydrochloride (HCL) is a fine white powder, bitter to the taste. When inhaled or injected, it causes a numbing effect. "Crack" is a smokeable form of cocaine made into small lumps or "rocks." Crack is made by processing cocaine HCL with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water and heated to free the cocaine alkaloid "base" from the salt (hydrochloride). This process enables the drug to burn efficiently, providing more cocaine-containing smoke. The term "crack" refers to the cracking sound when the mixture is smoked.

Cocaine increases stamina, alertness, heart rate, and energy, and temporarily decreases fatigue, causing users to feel exhilarated, euphoric, and confident. The duration of cocaine’s effects depends on the route of administration. The high from snorting may last 15-30 minutes. Smoking crack delivers large quantities of the drug to the lungs, producing effects comparable to intravenous injection. These effects are felt almost immediately after smoking, are very intense, and last 5-10 minutes.

Over time, many people who use cocaine on a daily basis develop a tolerance to the drug, meaning they will need more and more to get the same initial effect. This, combined with the fact that cocaine and crack are so short acting, often leads the user to compulsively chase after the initial high.

Strokes, seizures, and heart attacks, although rare, have been reported. Individuals with a known (or unknown) heart condition are most at risk. Chronic, heavy use of cocaine/crack can result in weight loss, sexual problems, disordered thinking, extreme mood swings, paranoia, aggression, and psychosis. Many such chronic, heavy users become physically run down, which leaves them susceptible to illness and depression.

Although snorting cocaine poses less risk than smoking or injecting, repeated sniffing may still damage the membranes of the nose. Smoking cocaine/crack can damage the lungs, as well as leading to more compulsive use, due to its faster absorption. Injecting cocaine poses a number of serious risks. In addition to impuri-ties delivered directly into the blood stream, if needles or other injection materials are shared, users are at greater risk for transmitting or acquiring HIV infection, AIDS or Hepatitis B and C.

Many myths surround crack use. Despite media reports claiming crack to be addictive with a single use, the best data, from government-sponsored surveys, have consistently shown that less than one out of four people who ever tried the drug used it more than once.

Media stories of a "crack baby" epidemic, which began to appear in the late 1980s, are now considered greatly exaggerated. Research now indicates that other factors, such as poverty, are responsible for many of the ills previously thought to be associated with crack use. Criminal penalties for possession and sale of powder cocaine are severe. Much higher penalties exist for possession and sale of crack, despite the fact that, pharmacologically, they are the same drug. Simple possession of five grams of crack cocaine yields a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for a first offense; it takes 500 grams of powder cocaine to prompt the same sentence.