These two are considered as Class A drugs and are ‘controlled drugs’ under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Other than for licensed medical uses, both substances are illegal to produce, supply or possess. It is also illegal to allow premises ‘that you control or manage’ to be used for production, supply or use of crack or cocaine.
The maximum penalty in the
Crack and Cocaine are not physically addictive, that is to say any Addiction a user may have is purely psychological.
Street names
Cocaine is known as coke, Charlie, C, white. Crack is known as rocks, wash, stones, pebbles. Cocaine is a crystalline white powder that can be snorted up the nose. Some users inject it. Crack is a freebase form of Cocaine which can be smoked.
Base or Freebase
Freebase is the process of returning the Cocaine powder to a baser form using, most commonly, ether or ammonia. Freebasing produces small, crystallized pieces of Cocaine that are normally smoked.
Crack
Crack is more or less the same thing as Freebase except that different chemicals are used in the ‘washing’ process and crack crystals are normally larger than freebase crystals. It’s often referred to as ‘rocks’, ‘stones’ and ‘bones’. It’s reported that the speed of effect is between five and ten seconds which can produce a ‘high’ of five to ten minutes. Smoking crack is the most rapid and by far the most dangerous method of taking cocaine.
Health Problems
There is no safe way to take crack or street Cocaine and every user takes risks with their health every time they use the drugs. There are many health problems associated with crack and Cocaine use. Particularly:
Heart problems Brain damage or stroke Respiratory problems Psychiatric problems
Relatively Uncommon
Crack, like heroin, still remains a relatively uncommon Drug among the general population. Figures from the British Crime Survey show that crack use is still very rare with only 0.1% of 16-59 year olds reporting having used it. Crack is also the only Drug more prevalent among black people, particularly young black men, than whites or other ethnicities.
Use of crack, unlike cocaine, is often localized and linked with social exclusion and deprivation in inner city areas. For example, seizures and arrests for crack are greatest in the
