COCAINE A DRUG OF CHOICE

The first time you do it, it'll be the best high you've ever had.

It surges through your body and courses through your veins fast or slow,
you choose the speed. And just when you think it can't get any better, it
doesn't.

Once the trip is over you'll crash faster than you've ever crashed before
and you'll never be able to reach that one, perfect, pivotal high again.
That's what cocaine does -- it keeps you wanting more until you have
nothing left.

The intensity is so great you'll spend the rest of your life trying to
repeat it and instead, you could end up destroying your life, your family
and worst of all, your body.

Cocaine is a drug. It's the powdery, white substance many people see on the
big screen in movies about drug deals, mob bosses and junkies.

But there's a lot more to this addictive drug than the stories we hear
about celebrities who are checking themselves into rehab centres.

It's a drug that has even infiltrated Wood Buffalo and it seems to be
growing more popular every day.

In April, Fort McMurray RCMP made what is being called the biggest drug
bust in the city's history with 52 people facing a total of 107
drug-related charges.

Some of the charges related to cocaine and police seized about 12 ounces of
the drug in raids associated with the operation.

Also known as coke, snow and blow, cocaine can attack the body from the
inside out and leave abusers with permanent heart problems and cause seizures.

"Powder cocaine is what people snort and the high for powder cocaine will
typically last about an hour," said Const. Mark Anderson of the local
RCMP's drug section.

"The other way you can use cocaine is by putting powder cocaine into a
solution that can be injected into the vein. That's called shooting up or
booting up. The high for that is intense because it goes into your
bloodstream right away."

But when it comes to local tastes, Fort McMurray prefers to smoke it. "The
third way of using cocaine -- the most common third way -- is smoking
crack. What somebody will do is take roughly three parts powder cocaine,
one part baking soda, a little bit of water and heat that up until a
chemical process takes place where the salt is removed. What you're left
with is cocaine base.

"That would be the purest form of cocaine. You end up with it in a rock
form, which is crack cocaine. Typically, a crack user will put that crack
into a pipe, light the pipe and inhale the smoke."

Cocaine is derived from the coca bush found in countries such as Bolivia,
Columbia and Peru. It's the main component of the coca leaf and was once
considered the wonder drug for morphine addiction.

It was introduced to North America in cola drinks because it was not only
tasty, but was a relief for headaches and fatigue.

At the turn of the 20th century it was replaced by caffeine.

But there's no denying its intensity is one that leaves people wanting
more. "It is so high," said former Pastew Place Detoxification Centre
assistant director Scott Laurie.

"To achieve that (high) naturally would be impossible. Its pretty specific.
It attracts a part of the brain that can be stimulated."

In all methods of cocaine use the drug is almost as intense as its low.
"Its almost polar opposites. Just the way it goes into your respiratory
system is immediate. You're immediately feeling the effects throughout your
body," said Anderson.

"I have spoken to numerous crack cocaine addicts who told me the first time
they used crack cocaine is the best feeling they've ever had. And every
time they use the drug (after that) they're attempting to replicate the
initial feeling. ... Crack is extremely addictive."

When coke is snorted the high can last up to an hour with users taking a
nose-dive off of it. When its injected into the vein, it's more immediate
and lasts about 30 minutes, followed by a drop-off period. Many users will
inject between their toes or behind their ears to hide the track marks from
the public.

Smoking crack has proven to be the quickest and most effective way of
absorbing the drug into the system because it hits the lungs right away.
The high usually lasts about 15 minutes and the craving for more is higher
because of the severity of comedown.

In Dr. Jennifer Burton's four years in the emergency room at the Northern
Lights Regional Health Centre, she has noticed a definite increase in the
number of people coming into the hospital who are on coke.

"Young people tell me that it's so available," she said. "A 23-year-old
woman was telling me that she left a local bar to go to a house party and
when she got there, there were lines of cocaine on the table."

The going rate for an eightball of cocaine, 3.5 grams, is about $250. Much
like everything else, even coke is a slave to supply and demand and can
often fetch more in Wood Buffalo's open market.

But buyer beware: you may not be getting what you paid for. Sometimes
cocaine is laced with other drugs like speed or even simple baking soda.
Dangerous as it is, the mixture of coke with other drugs or substances can
prove to be deadly.

"On any given shift we get a variety of people (coming in). They come into
us ... because they're scared. They're not coming in to get off the coke.
We have that quite regularly; young people and older people coming in with
chest pains."

Coke speeds up the metabolism and rate of the heart. The damage it causes
is permanent.

The short-term effects of coke will take a person on a trip to a higher,
more euphoric state but along the way it increases breathing, heart rate
and blood pressure. A person can become agitated or erratic, hallucinate,
feel nauseated and experience bouts of violent behaviour.

In the long run, users can be left with many more downs than ups.

Snorting can cause bleeding noses and holes between the nostrils. Shooting
up risks infections and the possibility of contracting a disease like HIV
or AIDS.

People who choose to freebase or smoke crack can be left with severe lung
and throat irritation and may regularly cough up phlegm or blood.

A junkie is never a pretty picture and the comedown is hell, said Laurie.
For more information on cocaine, people can contact Pastew Place at
791-2525 or the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission at 743-7187.