What is cocaine?

What is cocaine?

Cocaine is a stimulant drug that is made from the leaves of a coca plant and comes in the form of a white powder or a “rock.” Street names for powdered cocaine include snow, nose candy, coke, Big C, flake and blow. People snort cocaine through their nose, rub it into their gums, or dissolve it and inject it with a needle into their veins. Powdered cocaine can also be smoked via a process called “freebasing.”

Drug dealers mix cocaine with other substances so they can have more of the drug to sell. These “fillers” make the drug even more dangerous because the user does not know how much cocaine he or she is taking or what fillers may have been used. Commonly used fillers include cornstarch or flour or other drugs – such as amphetamines or fentanyl – which can add harmful, and even fatal, side effects to an already unsafe drug.