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Cocaine:

• D.E.A. Classification: Schedule I
• Drug Category: Stimulant
• Availability: Highly Available
• Cost per dose: $100 per gram (average purchase) / $15 per dose
• M.T.F. Report: 3.5% of High School Seniors Used in 2008
• Geographic Predominance: Omnipresent
• Method of Ingestion: Snorted, Smoked, Injected
• D.A.W.N. Report: 482,188 Emergency Room Visits in 2008
• Duration of High: Up to 30 minutes
• Detectable in Urine: 2 to 3 days depending on dose

Background: Cocaine comes in a powder form, and rock form. The powder form can be snorted or injected, while the rock portion is smoked from a glass pipe. The powder form is most commonly packaged in small folded envelopes of magazine paper or wax paper. It can also be sold in small glass vials or even little twists of plastic wrap. The rock form of cocaine is often sold in small plastic baggies.

(Above: Powdered Cocaine / Right: Rock Cocaine) Powdered cocaine is most commonly chopped up and separated into lines by a razor. It is then snorted off of a hard surface such as a table, mirror or glass picture frame. It can also be reduced in water, and injected. When snorted, its effects appear in about two minutes, and last for fifteen to thirty minutes. When rock cocaine is smoked, its effects appear almost immediately in a quick rush. They are gone in five to ten minutes. It can be detectable by drug tests for 48 to 72 hours.

Common paraphernalia associated with cocaine use, includes: straight edge razors, and 3″ long pieces of straw or rolled pieces of paper. Dollar bills are very often rolled into snorting straws. Crack cocaine users commonly use small glass pipes. These pipes sometimes have a bowl on the end. Otherwise, they are small straight pipes. The user will place a wind of stainless steel or foil inside the straight pipe, to hold the rock. Crack pipes are readily available in smoke shops, gas stations and convenience stores. Sometimes they are sold as “Love Roses”, as pictured right.

Signs of Use: The most common sign of cocaine use is the discarded snorting straw. Users typically toss the straw away after use. Three inch pieces of rolled paper or cut drinking straws can be found on the floor boards or alongside the center console of cars. Look for them in trash cans or on the floor behind desks and under tables in areas where people socialize. Rolled dollar bills in purses or wallets are also a key sign, as are straight razors. Some cocaine users carry a “quill” or small snorting spoon on their key chain. Also check key chains for small capsules that are sometimes used to store powdered cocaine. Table tops or small mirrors can be found to be coated in white powder. Finally, the underside of a woman’s fingernails can be checked for signs of white powder (the nails are commonly used to snort cocaine from). Some chronic male users will be known to grow their single pinky nail conspicuously long, for the purpose of snorting cocaine from it.