The common method of ingesting crack is smoking. It is refined by removing hydrochloride salt that is present in the street form of cocaine. It is said that crack makes a crackling sound when smoked.
You are not logged in. Fill in the form at the bottom of this page and try again. You may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system? The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111–220) was an Act of Congress that was signed into federal law by United States President Barack Obama on August 3, 2010 that reduces the disparity between the amount of crack cocaine and powder cocaine needed to trigger certain federal criminal penalties from a 100:1 weight ratio to an 28:1 weight ratio and eliminated the five-year mandatory minimum.
Cocaine is usually inhaled in powder form through the nose. This is also called snorting, and may damage the mucus membranes. Another method of consuming this highly addictive drug is intravenous injection. Injection gives an instant and intense high but has inherent risks. Cocaine can also be smoked, swallowed or taken as a suppository.
Appearance and characteristics of crack vs cocaine
Cocaine in its purest form is a white, pearly product. Cocaine appearing in powder form is a salt, typically cocaine hydrochloride (CAS 53-21-4). Street market cocaine is frequently adulterated or “cut” with various powdery fillers (such as baking soda; sugars, such as lactose, dextrose, inositol, and mannitol; and local anesthetics, such as lidocaine or benzocaine) to increase its weight. Adulterated cocaine is often a white, off-white or pinkish powder.
The color of “crack” cocaine depends upon several factors including the origin of the cocaine used, the method of preparation – with ammonia or baking soda – and the presence of impurities, but will generally range from white to a yellowish cream to a light brown. Its texture will also depend on the adulterants, origin and processing of the powdered cocaine, and the method of converting the base. It ranges from a crumbly texture, sometimes extremely oily, to a hard, almost crystalline nature.
In purer forms, crack rocks appear as off-white nuggets with jagged edges, with a slightly higher density than candle wax. It resembles a hard brittle plastic, in crystalline form (snaps when broken). A crack rock acts as a local anesthetic, numbing the tongue or mouth only where directly placed. Purer forms of crack sink in water or melt at the edges when near a flame (crack vaporizes at 90 °C, 194 °F).