Talk:Cocaine/Archive 1

Crack and Cocaine

If Crack is so much cheaper, i suppose there is a good reason why people still buy cocaine. Unfortunately, that is not made clear in the according part of the article.--84.172.246.69 21:16, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Wasabi

Many people say that Cocaine smells somewhat like wasabi and it tastes really awful like a cough medicine and it also makes your face go numb.

Wasabi? it doesn't smell anything really (freebase). And it tastes pretty bad but nothing near to speed (amphetamine). The taste is short-lasting and is kinda "acidy". The face doesn't go numb but when snorting, some of is going down the throat so it gets numb down there.. creating a minor difficulty/akwardness when swallowing.

Actually if you put it on your gums, and your gums go numb, then its a way to know if its coke or not. Not a 100% accurate test in any case.

Smoking cocaine

Maybe I missed it but is it possible to smoke cocaine the 'chasing the dragon' way?

It is possible to smoke cocaine hydrochloride ("powder" cocaine) but very inefficient as the high temperature destroys most of the active ingredient: this is why cocaine is freebased to free it from its sodium base in order to render it more suitable for smoking.

Alternative method of cocain administration

I have heard that some people will take cocaine anally. This makes sense for the same reason that the drug is insufflated: both the large intestine/rectum and the nasal passages are lined with mucous membrane which facilitates the absorption of water soluable chemicals directly into the bloodstream. Does anyone have any info on this?

Crack means...

The disambiguation page for crack indicates that crack cocaine gets its name from the chemical process of "cracking" molecules to get the drug; however, the crack section of the cocaine page indicates that the drug gets its name from the Rice-Krispies-esque cracking noise it makes when it is smoked.

Any firm conclusions here?

Hi there, according the "The Book of Useless Information" crack gets its name because it crackles when you smoke it. Thanks, 12:17, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

It seems to me that any attempt actually find and validate the original reason why crack was called crack is nothing more than ghost hunt. Most likely it was coined by some random dealer who was high up in the black market drug culture and who was also one of the first to start pushing the substance on a big scale. Freebasing coke was never considered 'crack' before the 80's if I'm not mistaken. The Way 05:15, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

leaf-chewing

I've heard that chewing the coca leaf also supresses the appetite, not necesarily satiates it. Also, I've heard that it is used to make a soothing tea. Can anyone verify this?

I thought that General Motors had revenues higher than 35 billion dollars. Am I correct? The term 'crack' does not come from the sound of the mixture when it is combined with baking soda. It does come from the sound made when smoking it. Any futher questions can be answered by me at beyerangelic@comcast.net

• Yes, originally the coca leaf was chewed on. But as man learned chemistry it was refined into the active chemical. I dont know approxomate dates of when this occured however. JedOs 09:43, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

list of notable cocaine users?

uhm, c'mon wouldnt it be easier to list who HASN'T used cocaine? it's like making a list f people who have smoked pot... i feel some deserve to be there.. but if we have whitney houston and the singer from linking park we might as well just say "an estimated 80% of the music industry" freud deserves to be there.. because he was a real head, same ith the pope and other people who wouldnt have been expected to be users.. but rock musicians?

Potential side effects of cocaine usage are aggression, depression, and paranoia, which are all rarely seen.

"which are all rarely seen" is a pretty broad statement. This need info to back it up. - Efghij 03:34 23 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Shouldn't there be something about cocaine addiction here, or in the linked stub I just created? --Uncle Ed 16:37, 8 Sep 2003 (UTC)

---

Sam (and others, just checked the history), NPOV would dictate "possibly because the charge is seen as too extreme to dignify with a response, or possibly because he just couldn't get enough of it." Just leave the whole thing out. - Hephaestos|§ 03:41, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Possible plagiarised paragraph?

The following paragraph in the article (as it exists today) looks like it could have been lifted.

"Crack" is the street name given to cocaine that has been processed from cocaine hydrochloride to a ready-to-use free base for smoking. Rather than requiring the more volatile method of processing cocaine using ether, crack cocaine is processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water and heated to remove the hydrochloride, thus producing a form of cocaine that can be smoked. What this does is that it removes the impurities from the cocaine and allows one to see how much pure cocaine is actually there. This is why people started mixing it with ammonia in the first place, to test the purity of their product. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound heard when the mixture is heated.

Compare to this article on the NIH website. The above paragraph seems to be include the entirety of a paragraph in the NIH document, with the addtion of a couple of sentences and the phrase "ready-to-use" . Maybe the use is permitted as it is a publication from a government agency, but does it need to be attributed?

FelineAvenger 21:08, 17 May 2004 (UTC)

---

Why is freebase redirected here? Isn't this a general chemical term? I was trying to find out exactly what it means.

cocaine abuse, a history

I've removed the history from the article as it reads more like a history of the usage of all recreational drugs. I doubt there is need for such a thing as a "history of cocaine abuse". porge 07:13, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)

"Many substances in nature have medicinal qualities. Leaves, seeds, and roots of plants have very active alkaloids (toxins) that primarily have protective functions for the valuable parts of the plant. Often, the most valuable part has more toxins (for example: seeds). These toxins are lethal for small animals but in small doses they produce some euphoric effects in big mammals like humans. When people discovered these pleasurable effects, they had discovered the recreational drugs. People in South American had long ago discovered the pleasurable effects of chewing coca leaves. The effects of this drug on the brain kept the user coming back for more. Many recreational drug users argue that pure natural products will not cause addiction in severe forms. Partially they are right; the quantities of active substances in this products are relatively small to compare with designer drugs, but often the user's desire for more increases their usage of the drug with a corresponding increase in tolerance to the drug. Consequently they use the drug in bigger quantities and in purer forms. Severer forms of drug addiction has been observed as technology improves and purer forms of the drugs have been synthesized with plants that have higher concentration of alkaloids. When cocaine was extracted from the coca plant in 1859 by Albert Neiman, cocaine was highly regarded in 1880's and 1890's and many prominent figures advocated it's therapeutic use. Amongst these people were Pope Leo XII, Sigmund Freud, Jules Verne, and Thomas Edison. Although the use of the drug has been prohibited in the United States since 1914, both in patient medicine and for recreational use, the abuse of cocaine was largely non-existent there until the 1960's. Notable names in cocaine smuggling are Pablo Escobar, Carlos Lehder, George Jung and the Ochoa Brothers, as well as the Medellin Cartel, and Cali Cartel." fuck anyone does cocaine

Equation subscripts

There seems to be a problem displaying the subscripts in the chemical equations. Can someone sort this please? Axl 19:02, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

are you referring to this equation?

HCoc⁺ + NaHCO₃ → Coc + H₂O + CO₂ + Na⁺

It looks OK to me. what is the problem you are experiencing? -Lethe | Talk

I can't see the parts of the subscript below the descender line. This means I can barely work out what they are --Taejo 15:25, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

Fixed now. Apparently, the issue was due to the use of both superscripts and subscripts in the same line, which would not fit in the default line height. This was a MSIE-only issue apparently. Given the number of MSIE-only issues I've seen on Wikipedia, it seems to me that Firefox is used almost exclusively by active editors (unless they're not on a Windows platform). --Aramգուտանգ 16:57, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

How accurate is the slang phrase "crack rock"?

Let's say a geologist/chemist stumbles upon a pile of crack rock, but he doesn't know it's crack, and he has never seen or heard of crack before, having absolutely no prior knowledge in drug culture. Looking at and studying the chemical structure of the substance, is there a chance he actually could come to the conclusion it is some kind of rock he hasn't seen before? --I am not good at running 06:20, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I don't believe slang concerns itself with accuracy. Jaberwocky6669 04:25, Feb 17, 2005 (UTC)

Crack article

I think Crack (cocaine) should have it's own article. There is a poor article on Freebase but it has much less information than cocaine and uses an outdated term. Given the increasing popularity (and hence) destructiveness of this drug in many parts of the world and it's extremely addictive nature it deserves it's own site. i would like to take the crack info out of this article as a beginning. How do people think?--SqueakBox 02:33, Feb 17, 2005 (UTC)

I object. Crack IS cocaine, it's just one of several forms for consumption. It would make much more sense to me to split the long page into e.g. Cocaine_(chemistry), Cocaine_(pharmacology), and Cocaine_(history).

I don't agree with you, Cacycle. Pharmacologically they may be the same drug, but in terms of usage they are very different, as has been well documented from the first crack scourge to hit the USA in the eighties. Places like Honduras and Guatemala do not have a cocaine problem, they have a crack problem. The history of the drugs is very different, as is the fact that crack is so much more addictive. Common usage is that they are different drugs (not pharmaceutically, but in terms of what people buy on the streets.

Also if you want your comments to have full weight, why not sign them? instead of leaving it to others to figure out who you are. --SqueakBox 20:45, Feb 28, 2005 (UTC)

George "Vision Dreams of Passion" Bush?

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if GW was fond of the powder at some point in his life - in fact, it would surprise me more if he wasn't. There has been a great deal of anecdotal evidence and innuendo suggesting that this was indeed the case. This article states, however, that "even President George Bush has admitted to prior cocaine usage." I do not believe this fact (that he has admitted to prior cocaine usage) to be true. Anyone? --AStanhope 19:37, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

He refused to deny but never admitted. have changed the article to reflect this.--SqueakBox 21:00, Feb 28, 2005 (UTC)

Good work. --AStanhope 23:40, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I think the truth about this matter is pretty clear now after Doug Wead (former Bush advisor) released some tapes of conversations with GWB which he recorded without GWB's knowledge. From an article in Washington Post: <<"The cocaine thing, let me tell you my strategy on that," Bush said ... On the question of marijuana use, Bush says, "Do you want your little kid to say, 'Hey Daddy, President Bush tried marijuana; I think I will.' . . . I wouldn't answer the marijuana question. You know why? Because I don't want some little kid doing what I tried.">> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40508-2005Feb20.html Although I suppose you could interpret the cocaine statement as: he never did it, and thought it was absurd to even answer to such rumors. --Bodhianderson 18:11, 26 April 2005 (EST)

The article now says "cocaine use is prevalent across all socioeconomic strata . . . even U.S. President George W. Bush has refused to admit or deny prior cocaine usage." Is there a correlation between 'prevalent use' and 'George W. Bush'? None that has ever been proven. Politically motivated speculation is inappropriate. This is impermissible POV, and is being removed. -- July 27, 2005

Of course, the president doing cocaine indicates that its use is pretty prevalent. This is not politically motivated speculation; it is a fact based on real occurrences during the 2000 election. Bush was pressed on the cocaine issue and pointedly refused to address it (because he was a notorious coke user). I'm reverting. --csloat 18:53, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

Popularity

don't know about the US but in both the UK and parts of Latin America the use of cocaine is much more popular than ever before. So I have changed the second paragragh to try and reflect some of this--SqueakBox 20:54, Feb 28, 2005 (UTC)

US-specific data

It occured to me that a lot of the data on the page, though very well documented, was US-specific, but not marked as such. Social categories etc. vary between countries; the notion of "inner city" as a poorer area of town where ethnic minorities live is quite specific to the US, for instance. Furthermore, measurements provided in US units (inches, ounces..) should carry a metric conversion. The vast majority of the world uses metric units. David.Monniaux 10:29, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Especially the Usage section needs info, and possibly a trimming for the US stats. I'm trying to find more info, but without much luck. porges 08:53, Mar 6, 2005 (UTC)

read this paragraph

"Freebase cocaine is produced by first dissolving cocaine hydrochloride in water. Once dissolved in water, cocaine hydrochloride (Coc HCl) disassociates into protonated cocaine ion (HCoc+) and chloride ion (Cl-). Any solids that remain in the solution are not cocaine (they are part of the cut) and are removed by filtering. A base, typically ammonia (NH3), is added to the solution to remove the extra proton from the cocaine."

note "cocaine ion" and "remove the extra proton".......can anyone else see what is wrong with those words.....?

I think it should read "balance the positive charge" --ReallyNiceGuy 09:50, May 14, 2005 (UTC)

GM Revenue

As per the question at the top, General Motors revenues in 2004 were $193.5 billion, or 1.6% of GDP.

See http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=GM&annual (only updated through 2003 as of the day I wrote this) http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/40730/000004073005000050/final10k031505.txt (page II-25) http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=5&FirstYear=2003&LastYear=2004&Freq=Qtr (GDP data)

--Bodhianderson 18:11, 26 April 2005 (EST)

Underline crime?

Why did we underline the word crime?

Beacuse crime is a hyperlink

taste?

I know this question might sound stupid, but what does cocaine taste like? In lots of crime/thriller films the cops rip open plastic bags, put their finger in it, put that in their mouth and say: "cocaine!" The article only mentions the bitter taste when he first produced it, could that be it? Lots of things taste bitter though. (clem 21:54, 5 May 2005 (UTC))

• It makes your tougue numb, I think(not speaking from experience here). But I'm pretty sure that in real life cops don't go around tasting unknown white powders. Yeah, I don't think it's bitter taste. Tigger89 23:47, 7 May 2005 (UTC)

• It has a bittersweet taste.

Can someone list a number of people who have tried cocaine? I know people like George Bush and Whitney Houston as well as Mary Kate Olsen have tried it and abused it but I think a list would help.

• There was a list at one stage, but it got stupidly long. Consider: List of people who have owned a dog.

Im sure it was long but can someone refer me to someplace i can find a list. Im sure it ight be long but NNDB.com also post lists of celebrity drug users that can get damn long.

First Paragraph?

Here is the intro paragraph, as I came across it:

Cocaine is a crystalline alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant, creating a euphoric sense of happiness and increased energy. Though most often used recreationally for this effect, cocaine is also a topical anesthetic that is used in eye and throat surgery.

Is it just me, or does this sound almost pro-cocaine? I think we might want to point out in that paragraph that it is a banned substance pretty much everywhere, and that it has a high addiction rate. Funnyhat 04:14, 23 May 2005 (UTC)

Cocaine has several medical uses, but its reputation more than anything has kept it Schedule I or equivalent throughout the world - it's not really a pro-cocaine paragraph...it's describing the physical effects and for what reasons it's used. It has not always been prohibited, and its ability to produce psychological dependence (not physical addiction) is already in the article a bit further down. Rarr 06:20, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

as noted downstream, here in the US it is still schedule II. marijuana is schedule I. go figure. 130.91.68.134 05:30, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

sorry, the above is from me. what is wrong with me, i can't remember to sign in.

Music

It lists Master of Puppets as a song about cocaine. I was always under the impression that it referred more to heroin than anything. Should the reference be left or kept? Tmrobertson 03:15, 6 June 2005 (UTC)

I always thought it was about speed. "Chop your breakfast on a mirror." FLORA

Chopping a substance on a mirror is preparation for making it into lines for snorting. I've always thought the song was about drug addiction in general, and can be about any drug you'd want it to refer to. Amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin can all be used or abused in the same manner.

History of slang word corine?

Ive heard of the term corine, but i need to find out where it originated from and why. Ive googled it and searched wikipedia, but i havent found anything that has to do with its history

Use in Opthamology & Modern Medicine

The article claims that cocaine is still used as a topical anesthetic in dentistry and opthamology. However I have been unable to find any information at all regarding current medical use. Furthermore, the rxlist.com monograph for cocaine says the following: "Cocaine causes sloughing of the corneal epithelium, causing clouding, pitting, and occasionally ulceration of the cornea. The drug is not meant for ophthalmic use."

I don't think that cocaine is used at all in opthamology and have my doubts as to whether it is used presently at all in modern medicine. --Bk0 5 July 2005 02:49 (UTC)

Yes, cocaine is hardly ever used in eye surgery anymore in Western medicine, however, this may not be as true in less developed countries, and surgeons who have been trained using cocaine as an anaesthetic in the past may choose not to switch to newer drugs, since they are able to predict the effects of cocaine more reliably from their experience. In addition, cocaine is used to a slightly larger extend in dentistry and the fact that it is in Schedule II, not Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, indicates that the DEA still believes that it has legitimate use in modern medicine. --Aramգուտանգ 7 July 2005 03:03 (UTC)

Do you have any evidence that it is used currently in dentistry? I can find no information that is manufactured by any pharmaceutical company (at least in the US) or is available at all commercially (expect as a research chemical for, eg, receptor assays, etc). It seems to me that it is a Schedule II drug only for historical reasons. --Bk0 7 July 2005 03:16 (UTC)

I myself have not seen much solid evidence of cocaine use in dentistry, except the rxlist description of its applications and other less reputable sites. There is some anecdotal evidence that some family dentists use it with children so that they would enjoy their dentist visits more, but this does not come from reputable sources. I would say that the fact that doctors tend to stick with things they've used in the past and know how they work should not be underestimated. Less developed nations are also likely to use it more often, since I assume that it's cheaper than any synthesized substitutes. Knowing the DEA, I would also assume that they would be quick to jump at a chance to put cocaine into Schedule I, if its legitimate uses were truly that minuscule. As for cocaine production, there's the fact that Coca-Cola imports tonnes of coca leaves, which are decocainised in the US, and it's likely that some of the extracted material is then purified and sold to or by pharmaceutical companies, however this is just conjecture. Overall, I think there's enough, if little, evidence to argue that there is still some legitimate cocaine use in the medical world. --Aramգուտանգ 7 July 2005 06:44 (UTC)

I've edited the section on medical use to be hopefully more accurate. Ideally there would be more information about medical use in non-Western medicine but information on it is hard to come by. --Bk0 7 July 2005 12:59 (UTC)

The PI for Neo-Synephrine mentions cocaine as being used in an opthalmologic setting. --RingMaruf 13:56, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

Cocaine is still used in medical practice. It is used in the surgical specialty otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat surgery). There are many articles on current medical use including “Medicinal use of cocaine: a shifting paradigm over 25 years.” in the journal Laryngoscope, 2004 Sep;114(9):1625-9. You can view the abstract of this article through www.pubmed.gov. I work as an anaesthetist in Australia and see it used in this setting. Ben Di Luca 11:06, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

A good picture

A good picture of someone snorting cocaine would be really good for the top of the article. A sexy rockstar-looking person or someone really coked-up looking, if we're going for stereotypes. If someone wants to avoid legal problems, use some other powder. --Taejo 15:34, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

I just uploaded this. It's pretty basic, but there's no illustration on the page regarding "lines" or the like, wheras there is one with a crack pipe. At least it provides a visual reference for the description in the "insufflation" section. Addmittedly it's not cocaine; I don't know how we would go about captioning this; do we say "insufflation of caffeine" which would be something of a non-sequiter. Maybe our best bet is just to say "powder insufflation" or "insufflation of powder." If a reader wants more details, they can click the image to see what the powder is. --AK7 05:01, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Instantly recognizable?

I'm wondering, is it possible for example a policeman to instantly recognize that some white powder is cocaine or does he have to wait for lab tests before he can tell?

-

It depends. Some police officers are issued a drug test kit. If they think that white powder is cocaine, they put a sample in a tube, add few drops of some liquid, and it turns blue (cocaine). Sometimes they will be told by the suspect that it is not cocaine, but something else, in which case they need to test it (sometimes they test it anyway). If the police officer does not have a test kit, he can call in the K-9 Unit for a test.

In Austin (at least from 1986 to 1993), they had to call in a K-9 unit for the test kit. I'm sure it varies everywhere. But yes, there is a test kit, and it is an immediate change in color of the liquid and cocaine.

Actually, the test kit will only tell them if it's either cocaine, methamphetamine, codeine, hydromorphone (dilaudid), psylocibin (mushrooms) or one of many other drugs/compounds.... that gives just cause to take the person/evidence into custody and get a lab test run on it....

-

However, cocaine has a noticably distinct odor as well as taste. Certainly there are plenty of cops who would have come to know this in one way or another. - Agreed. Cocaine has a very definate taste, and if it's strong it has an immediate numbing effect.

- Everybody knows that cops identify cocaine by stabbing their bowie knives into a brick of uncut powder, then rubbing a tiny bit off the top onto their gums. Watch any movie featuring a cop and cocaine and you will see this happen. Ralphredimix 14:00, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

Peruvian Supermarkets

I once had something labeled coca tea, which a student of mine had brought back from Peru, having bought it at the supermarket. Can this be substantiated by someone who has actually been to Peru themselves? --McDogm 16:39, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

Yes, tea is made from the plant in Peru, and is perfectly legal (or was the last time I was there). Obviously it's effects are nowhere near as potent as, say, snorting cocaine. It does have some stimulant properties, and was recommended to me as a means of adjusting to the altitude. -- Ncsaint 01:40, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

Merge

What is the thinking behind the proposed merge with freebasing? I notice that the freebase article as is has no content other than that relating to cocaine/crack. But cocaine is a drug, while freebasing is a process, one which can be used with cocaine or other things (notably heroin). What possible sense, then, could there be in merging freebasing into this article?

Ncsaint 01:47, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

Since no one has weighed in on this, I've removed the merge tag for now. Please let me know if there was a good reason for it to exist in the first place.

- Ncsaint 16:59, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

Edits

removed this line: "A currently popular name for the use of cocaine is, strangely, “kitten splitting”."

i edited some of the mechanism of action stuff, it was confusing and while the content was basically correct some of the wordinf made it inaccurate. Amutepiggy 05:34, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Songs

The list of songs about cocaine has already been shipped off to list of songs about drugs, and now it's starting to grow again, like an incompletely excised tumor. Does anyone else find it an eyesore? It never stays alphabetical, and it's kind of a red link party. There are also just hundreds of songs about cocaine, and no reasonable standard for which ones to include in this article, when they should really all be kept in one place, I would think. I'm thinking of deleting it down to just the {{main}} template, but thought I'd post here first for consensus. -GTBacchus^(talk) 10:11, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Agreed. I think also the television shows should be removed completely, the movie section trimmed to those which are primarily concerned with cocaine, and the book section trimmed a little. porges 07:50, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

Elimination half life

I read the article on Elimination half life which is mentioned in this article and several other drug articles, essentially it links to a dissambiguation of the process of decomposiotion Half-life. Does this mean that if i keep cocaine for 72 hours half of it would have turned into another substance? And does it also emit radiation? 86.129.68.14 19:47, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

In pharmacology, half life generally means the time it takes for plasma levels of a certain substance to drop by 50%. --Bk0 (Talk) 19:58, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

Slang for Crack

The current article includes "yay" and "yayo" as nicknames for crack cocaine. I believe these are actually street names for powder cocaine, not crack, and should be removed. Tkessler 05:09, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

--

I agree. Around here (texas), I have never heard crack referred to as yay, or yayo. I have only heard those terms used by people referring to powder cocaine. --Ddhix 2002 11:30, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

-- Yep, you're correct. It's a name used strictly for cocaine, and for future reference, it's actually spelled "llello," from Spanish (where "ll" is pronounced as an English "y"). As for why the heck it's called llello in the first place....Who knows? --Silvem 03:37, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

-- Yay, yayo, yey, yeyo, llello, & lle, (among other slang) can be used to mean either depending on one's social circle. However, as far as I can tell it originally meant cocaine.

"People of Color" vs. "Black People"

I changed the the phrase "people of color" in the crack section to "black people". It has since been reverted. "People of color" is nothing more than a conjugate of "colored people" or simply "colored", which I think most people agree is antiquated at the least and at worst offensive. I was under the impression that it had gone the way of "coloreds only" drinking fountains, and so I was surprised to see it on Wikipedia. In this particular instance, it seems it is a vague, diluted euphemism whose overwrought purpose is to not step on any toes (I feel the same way about "African-American" as well). Further, it is such a broad description that it could include Arabs, Latins, Pakistanis, Samoans, etc. What's wrong with simply "black"? It's part of the real living language, unlike "people of color", and it has been in the popular lexicon for hundreds of years, not as a derogation but a descriptor. Thoughts? Feline Nursery 15:59, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Crack revisited

Drive by comment here. I think the crack cocaine epicemic of the 1980s deserves its own article. MPS 23:02, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Colloquial terms for Cocaine

Not sure if it is preferable to have this text in the article:

"cocaine, also known as "coke", "wem", "stardust", "snow", "white lady", "dragon", "nose candy", "llello (Spanish)", "yeyo", "yams", "yayo", "yola", "three bottow", "chowda", "yowder", "yizzle", "wire", "fire", "white", "guy", "blah", "jake", "lightning", "Texas Death Rails (TDRs)" [see: acronyms], "Colombian gold", "special", "spesh", "the junk", "snarf (1970s popularization)", "chach" and "blow",..."

The information in the context of the rest of the paragraph doesn't add much, and the information can be/should be found here:List of street names of drugs. --Alexander 007 17:53, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

five or so alternate names would do, and then refer them to the longer list. I would say coke, nose candy, blow, and snow would be the most common. MPS 20:57, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

I agree with only having five or so, though I'd add yayo to the list of most common names --The Way 06:17, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

cuting

The article says at one point "Cocaine is frequently adulterated or “cut” with various powdery fillers to increase its surface area" , to increase its surface area? What does this mean? I thought it was just to make more money for the (greedy) cocaine dealers! Could someone explain this better in the article? cheers

I think you pretty much got it; the point of fillers is to increase volume& weight, since it's sold by weight of the cocaine+adulterants (contrast this with prescription pills or anabolic steroids, where the cost is based on the dose of the active ingredient). However, i think there may perhaps be some storage issues, as well (have no experience or special knowledge of the subject, so I'm winging it). By adulterating the cocaine, it may become less suseptible to clumping when moist, particularly when the adulterating agent is a dessicant of some sort. On the other hand, I shudder to think what a dessicant does to one's nasal membranes... --AK7 06:28, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Error Message?

When I go to this article I get a message that "Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name." instead of the article. But if I hit the edit button I can see the correct article, and if I view the history the current revision is the article. What's going on? --64.107.192.24 23:26, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Server issues; give it a few minutes. -GTBacchus^(talk) 23:28, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Legal status section?

When was this removed? I had to go to a past revision to split it off into a new article :/ porges 04:59, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Picture of Prostitute Smoking Crack

This is a great picture. However, I am not convinced of the statement reflected when one clicks on the image:

"a woman smoking crack"

I believe that this is, indeed, a MAN smoking crack. However, he is wearing womenly garb, as would often be suspected of someone engaged in such a dubious profession and engaging in such profound crack smokery. Dude looks like a lady!

• Believes you me, she was a lady ... but coke does have a way of draining the femininity out of a woman. --Mesolimbo 04:45, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Government Tests Sewage to Estimate Cocaine Usage

From the Washington Post, March 27, 2006:

If government studies are a reliable guide, about 25,000 residents of Fairfax County -- 2.5 percent of its population -- have used cocaine in the past year. The same data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health suggest that about 9,000 have partaken within the past 30 days.

Those estimates, based on personal and computer-assisted interviews, rely almost completely on the candor of the respondents. The Bush administration, hoping to someday broaden the government's knowledge of illegal drug use, is probing the mysteries of Fairfax's sewage for a clearer picture.

A couple of good references that are useful for this page

See http://drugabuse.gov/pdf/monographs/13.pdf and http://www.eyeanesthesia.org/pdf/OASIS04Spring.pdf porges 04:22, 29 March 2006 (UTC)