Cocaine is a naturally derived CNS (central nervous system) stimulant extracted and refined from the Coca plant grown primarily in the Andean region of South America. Cocaine is typically a white-ish powder with a bitter, numbing taste. It is most often insufflated (snorted), though it can also be injected and used orally.
While powder cocaine can be smoked to some effect (despite common belief otherwise), it is a very inefficient method of ingestion. Because of the high temperatures present when smoking, powder cocaine tends to burn rather than vaporizing. For this reason, freebase cocaine, also known as crack, is created from powder cocaine for smoking. Freebase cocaine vaporizes at smoking temperatures providing more effect with less material, as well as faster onset and a more intense high than powder cocaine..
