Chemical Difference Between Crack And Cocaine Differences
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However, there is a difference in the way that the drugs are taken. Powder cocaine is snorted, injected or swallowed, while crack cocaine is smoked. Thus crack cocaine tends to be cheaper, faster acting, and the high lasts for a shorter period of time, compared to inhaling powder cocaine. How quickly the effects are felt differs based on how it is taken, as do the ways in which the associated harms can be reduced.
Despite the fact that the chemical structure of powder cocaine and crack cocaine is nearly identical, the punishment for crack possession or sales is far greater than that of cocaine. Until 2010, this sentencing disparity was 100 to 1, which means that while just 5 grams of crack would carry a 5-year mandatory minimum, it would take 500 grams of cocaine to trigger the same 5-year sentence. While the law was changed in 2010, there continues to be a disparity of 18 to 1.
This sentencing disparity has had a disproportionate impact on poor people and people of color. Statistics show that Black people are more likely to be convicted of crack cocaine offenses (even though the majority of crack cocaine users are white) and white people are more likely to be convicted of powder cocaine offenses. This means that Black people continue to receive far harsher drug sentences than white people even though powder and crack cocaine are nearly identical substances.
Objective: To review and discuss the differences and similarities between the use of crack cocaine and cocaine hydrochloride; and to determine how these findings might affect policies on the imprisonment and treatment of cocaine users.
Data sources: English-language publications were identified through a computerized search (using MEDLINE) between 1976 and 1996 using the search terms \"smoked cocaine,\" \"crack cocaine,\" \"freebase,\" and \"cocaine-base.\" In addition, manual searches were conducted on references cited in original research articles, reviews, and an annotated bibliography, and on selected journals.
Conclusion: Cocaine hydrochloride is readily converted to base prior to use. The physiological and psychoactive effects of cocaine are similar regardless of whether it is in the form of cocaine hydrochloride or crack cocaine (cocaine base). However, evidence exists showing a greater abuse liability, greater propensity for dependence, and more severe consequences when cocaine is smoked (cocaine-base) or injected intravenously (cocaine hydrochloride) compared with intranasal use (cocaine hydrochloride). The crucial variables appear to be the immediacy, duration, and magnitude of cocaine's effect, as well as the frequency and amount of cocaine used rather than the form of the cocaine. Furthermore, cocaine hydrochloride used intranasally may be a gateway drug or behavior to using crack cocaine. Based on these findings, the federal sentencing guidelines allowing possession of 100 times more cocaine hydrochloride than crack cocaine to trigger mandatory minimum penalties is deemed excessive. Although crack cocaine has been linked with crime to a greater extent than cocaine hydrochloride, many of these crimes are associated with the addiction to cocaine. Therefore, those addicted individuals who are incarcerated for the sale or possession of cocaine are better served by treatment than prison.
Cocaine and crack certainly differ in appearance. Cocaine is generally found in white powder form, and crack is found in a rock form that is generally white, cream, tan, or light brown. Crack and cocaine also differ in the manner in which they are used. Cocaine is typically snorted, and crack is typically smoked.
Another difference between crack and cocaine relates to the high produced. The intensity and duration of the high largely relate to how the drug is taken, per the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Generally, when cocaine is injected or smoked, the drug takes effect more quickly, resulting in a more intense but shorter high. When cocaine is snorted, it takes longer to feel its effects but the resulting high lasts longer.
According to a clinical pharmacist, cocaine and crack produce very different effects in the body, largely related to how they are usually administered. When cocaine is snorted, its effects occur in about 1-5 minutes; they peak within 20-30 minutes; and they dissipate within 1-2 hours. The effects of crack take hold in under a minute, peak in 3-5 minutes, and last 30-60 minutes. If cocaine is injected, however, the effects begin, peak, and last for about as long as crack. While injection is not the most common method of cocaine consumption, it is used by some people.
The effects of crack can be variable due to the uncertainty of the purity of the cocaine used to manufacture it. This only adds to the seriousness and unpredictability of smoking crack. The effects of crack use are similar to cocaine use although often more intense. They include:
Smoking crack causes these effects to take hold more quickly and intensely than cocaine because crack is absorbed through the membranes of the lungs, entering the bloodstream and the brain within 10-15 seconds. As such, the risk of overdosing is extremely high, leading to convulsions, coma, and death. Symptoms of crack overdose are rapid heart rate and hyperventilation.
A 1/8 ounce of cocaine (3.5 grams), or 8-ball, may cost between $120-150, while a 1/10th gram of crack, or a rock, may cost between $10-25. Cocaine is expensive to buy on the streets. Crack was developed as a cheaper alternative to cocaine, making it more easily affordable to users. As a less expensive alternative, it became more accessible to those in the lower socioeconomic demographic. These people had less disposable income available to spend on drugs, but they were seeking options to get high. This brought crack use to low-income and minority communities. By the 1980s, there was an epidemic of crack use in these communities.
As a result, there is a public perception that cocaine is associated with more affluent drug users, whereas crack use is associated with those in lower income brackets and minorities. Despite this widespread belief, information from the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed that in 1991, the majority of crack users were Caucasian.
Generally, those who want a more intense, faster, cheaper high are attracted to crack. Some people begin with cocaine use and then transition to crack use when the habit of cocaine use is too expensive to maintain.
African Americans became the criminal targets of the crack epidemic. Most defendants in crack trials were African American while those in powdered cocaine trials tended to be Caucasian or Hispanic. In 2002, African Americans represented more than 80 percent of those charged with crack offenses.
The Act also changed the crack-to-powder-cocaine ratio regarding the amount required to impose an equal sentence from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1. While the disparity in sentencing is still great at 18:1, it is significantly reduced.
Crack and cocaine are both highly addictive, illegal drugs. They both derive from the coca plant, which is indigenous to South America. The chemical in the plant, benzoylmethylecgonine, is a powerful central nervous system stimulant and has a strong potential for abuse.
People tend to lump crack and cocaine into a single basket, as if they are the same drug. However, while the two substances are similar, they do have some important differences. This article explores the differences between crack and cocaine.
Crack and cocaine are almost identical in terms of their chemical composition. The two also have the same risks of dependency, overdose and death, and both are extremely dangerous. So why do people talk about each of them in such different ways
Crack has the same chemical makeup as cocaine, but it comes in a distinct form. To make crack cocaine, producers dissolve cocaine in water, mix it with baking soda, and heat it. This process removes the hydrochloride, a non-psychoactive substance, completely.
The way crack affects the brain is exactly the same as cocaine. And, just like with cocaine, because the high is so short-lived, users will often keep using to stave off the comedown. This makes both crack and cocaine extremely dangerous drugs, as people may use so much just to avoid the crash and depression that follows.
Crack and cocaine have identical effects, but crack produces a much shorter high than pure powder cocaine. When a user snorts or rubs cocaine on the gums, it takes longer for the high to kick in, and then it lasts up to 30 minutes. Crack produces an immediate high when smoked, but it rarely lasts more than 10 minutes.
Cocaine is more popular, even though it is much more expensive. A 2017 SAMHSA report1 -reports/NSDUHDetailedTabs2017/NSDUHDetailedTabs2017.pdf stated that 40.6 million individuals admitted to using cocaine at least one time, while only 9.6 million individuals admitted to using crack at least once. Possession penalties are also much more severe for crack than cocaine, a difference that is often attributed to racial and economic prejudice.
Fact: Crack and cocaine are almost identical. There are only minor differences between crack and cocaine. The major difference is that people smoke crack but they ingest cocaine in other ways. For this reason, many people assume they have different effects and that one is more addictive than the other.
Users get the same immediacy and duration of effects as crack when mixing cocaine in water and injecting it. When snorting cocaine, people get the same psychoactive effects as smoking crack, just at a slightly slower rate. Smoking the drug causes the intensity to hit all at once and the effects to wear off more quickly. For this reason, many people think it must be more addictive than cocaine. It is not.
Fact: There is no evidence to show that crack causes more violent behavior than cocaine. Violence and aggression have many other root causes that have nothing to do with the differences between crack and cocaine. 153554b96e