It produces a euphoric high that lasts several hours, making it a popular party or social drug. Cocaine in its powder form can be expensive and therefore associated with use among more affluent groups however, it by people across all socioeconomic levels. According to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 2.2 million Americans currently use cocaine, nearly a quarter of which use crack.Īlthough they are made from the same basic chemical, cocaine and crack addiction are often very different problems.

Modern forms of the drug are most often sold as a fine white powder or in a rock form called crack. Isolated cocaine is significantly more potent and more dangerous than chewing a simple coca leaf. Over the next several decades, the drug faded in and out of popularity and eventually became a Schedule II controlled substance - it has a high potential to be abused but can be administered by a doctor in specific medical applications (notably, it is an active ingredient in some topical anesthetics). He named the chemical cocaine, and it became widely used in medical and pseudo-medical applications throughout Western cultures.

Then, in the mid-1800s, a German chemist discovered and isolated the chemical in the plant that produces its intoxicating effects. Indigenous societies often used it as an anesthetic and stimulant, effects that could be produced by chewing the plant’s leaves. Although cocaine (or “coke”) is often associated with its popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, the drug has in fact been around for hundreds of years via the South American coca plant.

Crack addiction recovery process