Cocaine Drug Addiction

Cocaine is a highly powerful stimulant that is considered to be one of the highest drug threats to the world because of the violence associated with trafficking and use, the physical and psychological effects connected with its use, and the costs to society as a whole.

There is differing risk whether cocaine is ingested by inhalation (snorting), injection, or smoking. It appears that obsessive cocaine use may develop even more quickly if the substance is smoked rather than snorted. Smoking allows extremely high doses of cocaine to reach the brain very rapidly and brings an intense and immediate high. The injecting drug user is at risk for transmitting or acquiring HIV infection/AIDS if needles or other injection equipment are shared.

Wholesale cocaine traffickers purchase cocaine from importers and regional distributors usually in kilogram or multi-kilogram allotments. This is usually the manner in which cocaine is shipped from Colombia or other cocaine producing countries to the United States and other consuming countries. Once the cocaine gets to its "consuming country," other wholesalers package the powder cocaine into retail quantities (ounces or grams) or convert the powdered cocaine into crack for retail sales.