Smokeable cocaine in the form of the base rather than the salt didn't become widespread in the US for another hundred years. But heat degrades rather than vaporises cocaine hydrochloride. Drug company Parke, Davies introduced coca-cigars as long ago as 1886. Further washing, oxidation and separation procedures involve potassium permanganate, benzole, and sodium carbonate. They are then recrystallised and dissolved once more in sulphuric acid. Typically, the crystals are dissolved in methyl alcohol. Gas crystals of crude cocaine are left at the bottom of the tank. Making cocaine hydrochloride is quite complicated. It is limited by the drug's tendency to cause vasoconstriction. Absorption at around 20-30% is still relatively poor.

Thus it can be snorted and absorbed through the nasal mucosa. Cocaine hydrochloride is a stable, hydrophilic salt.

cocaine hydrochloride - an odourless, white crystalline powder.

In South America, coca paste in commonly mixed with tocacco and smoked. A bare-footed man will climb into the pit step on the mess and shove it around with his hands. They are put into plastic pit with a solution of water and dilute sulphuric acid. The sulphate is the intermediate stage between the coca leaf and the finished cocaine hydrochloride crystal. This is the low-grade stuff that reaches the urban slums of South America.

cocaine sulphate - pasta, basuco, basa, pitillo, paste.

It is also rather more effective as a mood-brightener. Maté de coca is less likely to induce jitteriness than coffee. Drinking coca-tea tends to soothe the stomach so it's good for digestive problems. Coca is also consumed as the highly esteemed maté de coca. Today, most of the natives indulge as well. Coca consumption was originally the prerogative of the Inca elite. There are four basic routes to coca intoxication: In recent decades, however, there have been changes in cocaine's route of administration, patterns of usage, the technology of cocaine production, and typical dosages. Coca-induced heart-attacks and strokes are thus extremely rare among traditional users.

Physical constraints ensure that even the most ardent coquero can get only a modest amount of cocaine into his bloodstream. This was a 'cocada' - the time or distance and man could walk before a coca pellet was exhausted. Native travellers sometimes described a journey in terms of the number of mouthfuls of coca typically chewed in making the trip. Coca has even been used to provide a measure of time and distance. Traditionally, the leaves have been chewed for social, mystical, medicinal and religious purposes. Coca-chewing promotes clarity of mind and a positive mood. South American Indians have used cocaine as it occurs in the leaves of Erythroxylon coca for at least 5000 years. Cocaine is the world's most powerful stimulant of natural origin.

How they make crack