Cocaine - What Is It Made Of?

What Is It Made Of?

Cocaine is the most powerful naturally occurring stimulant known. It is found as an alkaloid in the leaves of the Erythroxylon coca trees native to the Andes Mountains. Coca leaves contain 0.5–1.8 percent cocaine, which can be refined to nearly 100 percent purity. The chemical formula for cocaine is C17H21NO4.

Cocaine in Its Various Forms: Leaves, Paste, Powder, and Freebase

"Drugs and Chemicals of Concern: Cocaine," part of the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Diversion Control Program Web site, states that "all mucous membranes readily absorb cocaine." That is why it can be taken in so many different forms. Cocaine is ingested in its mildest form by chewing coca leaves. In addition to cocaine, the leaves contain protein, minerals, vitamins, and more than a dozen alkaloids. Instead of experiencing a rushA feeling of euphoria or extreme happiness and well-being. or a high, chewers first notice numbness of the mouth followed by increased alertness and a general sense of well-being. This form of cocaine use is completely legal and socially acceptable in the mountain regions of South America. Chewing coca leaves is part of the people's religious tradition as well. The leaves can also be made into tea. Coca leaves are not smoked because the temperature needed to burn them destroys the cocaine alkaloid before it can be inhaled.

coco pasteAn impure freebase made from coca leaves and used mainly in South America; coca paste is smoked and is highly addictive. is a psychoactive drug that produces a rush followed by a high in those who smoke it. (Psychoactive drugs alter the user's mental state or change behavior.) To make the paste, lime water, kerosene (a type of fuel), and sulfuric acid are added to coca leaves. After the bulky leaf matter is removed, an unpleasant-smelling residue remains. This residue, called coca paste, is usually added to tobacco or marijuana cigarettes and smoked.

With additional processing, coca paste can be converted into powder cocaine (cocaine hydrochloride), which can be more than a hundred times more powerful than coca leaves. This powder is diluted with fillers before it is sold on the street in the United States. Common fillers include cheaper drugs such as amphetaminesPronounced am-FETT-uh-meens; stimulant drugs that increase mental alertness, reduce appetite, and help keep users awake. or sugars such as lactose. Average street powder cocaine is about 60 percent pure.

The most common way to use powder is to snort it into the nose, but it can also be dissolved in water and injected into the veins. Powder cocaine cannot be smoked, but it can be turned into another substance called freebaseTerm referring to the three highly addictive forms of cocaine that can be smoked: 1) coca paste, which is made from processed coca leaves, 2) freebase, which is made with powder cocaine, ammonia, and ether, and 3) crack, which is made with powder cocaine and sodium bicarbonate., which is smokable. Powder cocaine is addictive regardless of the way it is taken.

There are three freebase forms of cocaine, and all of them are highly addictive. The first, coca paste, has already been mentioned. It is made directly from coca leaves and is usually mixed with tobacco or marijuana before being smoked. The second form, simply called freebase, was developed in the mid-1970s. In this process, powder cocaine is converted into freebase by using water, ammonia, and a liquid anesthetic called ether.

Freebasing is a dangerous process because the chemicals are highly explosive and may ignite. Comedian Richard Pryor was badly burned while freebasing. The third and by far the most common form of freebase is crack. Crack forms when cocaine, water, and sodium bicarbonateA fizzy, liquid, over-the-counter antacid taken by mouth to relieve upset stomachs. are combined.

Crack Cocaine: The Drug of the Eighties

Crack is a form of freebase cocaine made from powder cocaine combined with water and sodium bicarbonate. After the resulting mixture is allowed to dry, it is cut into "rocks" weighing between one-tenth and one-half a gram. These rocks resemble human teeth in size, shape, and color. Ten grams of powder cocaine will convert to 8.9 grams of nearly pure crack.

A U.S.-trained Jungle Commando, a member of the National Police, takes part in an anti-drug operation on a coca plantation in Colombia in 2000. The soldier is shown here among the coca plants. Reuters/Corbis.
A U.S.-trained "Jungle Commando," a member of the National Police, takes part in an anti-drug operation on a coca plantation in Colombia in 2000. The soldier is shown here among the coca plants. © Reuters/Corbis.

A rock of crack is smoked in a glass pipe. As the crack heats up, the vapors are released and inhaled through the pipe. Sodium bicarbonate is the ingredient that gave crack its name, since it makes a crackling sound when lit. Because crack is inexpensive and delivers large amounts of cocaine to the lungs, it became the most popular form of cocaine shortly after its creation in the 1980s. Although all forms of cocaine are addictive, crack is known as the most highly addictive.