VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Three Canadians and a Mexican have been charged in a cocaine operation tied to a Mexican cartel, Canadian police said Wednesday.More
"Star Wars" actress Carrie Fisher admitted Monday to taking cocaine on the set of "The Empire Strikes Back", saying she didn't even like the drug but was intent on getting high.More
In one of the biggest seizures, the Pune customs (preventive wing) have seized a cocaine consignment worth around Rs.50 million ($1 million) from courier packets bound for Australia and South Africa, an official said here Tuesday.More
Cocaine Facts
Cocaine and Alcohol, when used together, causes 75% of cocaine related deaths in America.
Somewhere around 12,000 offenders in the U.S. went to prison in 2007 because of cocaine related charges and of these 12,000, around 95% of those cases involved cocaine trafficking.
Cocaine is almost always cut with various chemicals or additives by street dealers to increase the revenue they can make.
Cocaine is often cut with lactose, cornstarch, talcum powder, sugar or lidocaine.
Cocaine was outlawed in 1914 and became scarce in availability but came back later in the 1960's. During the 1970's cocaine became "the" drug of choice for most users.
Cocaine was used as an anesthetic in 1884 by a physician named William Stewart Halsted. Halsted was also the first physician on record to develop an addiction to Cocaine.
Cocaine causes the release of dopamine from nerve cells within the brain. This reactions is what causes the euphoric feelings one has when using cocaine.
It is estimated that around 2,500 Americans try cocaine for the fist time every day in the United States.
There are three times as many deaths related to cocaine than any other illegal drug.
Cocaine was used in the soft drink Coca-Cola when it originally came out. Cocaine was removed from the soft drink in 1903, but a cocaine free version of the coca leaf is used for flavoring in the soft drink still today.
Cocaine in smokeable rock form, otherwise known as Crack, became extremely popular almost overnight because of its quick "high" and low cost.
Crack is smoked in a glass straight pipe. It is heated within the pipe to produce vapors which are inhaled.
Cocaine's effects tend to affect men faster than women. Men also report more exaggerated feelings of euphoria or paranoia from using cocaine than women do.
Cocaethylene is formed when cocaine and alcohol are mixed within the body. This highly toxic compound kills more people than any other combined drugs.
Depression, Anxiety and antisocial personality traits are higher in cocaine users than the average American.
It is estimated four out of every five dollar bills have trace amounts of cocaine on them.
Cocaine is reportedly used in two-thirds of all countries worldwide. The United States reports the highest amount of cocaine use per capita.
During drug arrests, nearly 50,000 kilos of cocaine were seized in 2008 in the United States. This amount equates to about 1.5 billion in worth on the street.
Cocaine was often used by literary detective Sherlock Holmes as a mental stimulator.
Cocaine was banned from non medical use in 1914 under the Harrison Act.
Cocaine can be taken in several ways. It can be inhaled or "snorted" through the nose, smoked off tin foil as freebase or "rocked up" and smoked in a glass pipe as crack or mixed with water and injected into the bloodstream.
Cocaine Facts
Columbia produces three quarters of the worlds annual supply of cocaine.
Cocaine coming from South America that is heading for the states is usually transported by land or air to drop zones in Northern Mexico.
Cocaine comes into the united States from four main points: Arizona, Southern Cailfornia, South Florida and Texas.