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Stimulants: cocaine, amphetamines and party drugs
Published in Berry Beaumont, David Haslam, Care of Drug Users in General Practice, 2021
This is a purer form of cocaine produced from the hydrochloride by a simple chemical process involving dissolving and heating with a reagent such as ammonia or sodium bicarbonate. Freebase used to be made mostly with ammonia and ether but now cocaine is usually cooked with baking powder in a microwave oven. This separates the alkaloid from the salt and leaves pure crystalline cocaine, which is broken into chunks (‘rocks’) and sold in small phials or clingfilm ‘wraps’. It produces a typical crackling noise on combustion and is therefore sometimes called ‘crack’, particularly by the press. Users prefer the terms ‘rock’, ‘base’ or ‘stone’. When made with ammonia, it is usually called ‘freebase’. This is confusing, because both crack and ‘freebase’ consist of free-base cocaine.
Stimulants and psychedelics
Published in Ilana B. Crome, Richard Williams, Roger Bloor, Xenofon Sgouros, Substance Misuse and Young People, 2019
Smoking free-base or crack cocaine has additional adverse health effects due to pyrolysis and release of methylecgonidine, which damages lungs (Yang et al., 2001) and liver tissue (Fandino et al., 2002), and causes more cardiovascular effects (Scheidweiler et al., 2003). Furthermore, use of crack cocaine, among inner-city teenagers, with and without psychiatric disorders, has been associated with dramatic increases in juvenile delinquency, high-risk sexual behaviours, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including AIDS (Schwarcz et al., 1992; Fullilove et al., 1993; Ellen et al., 1996; Tolou-Shams et al., 2010).
Stimulants
Published in G. Hussein Rassool, Alcohol and Drug Misuse, 2017
With oral administration, cocaine takes approximately 30 minutes to enter the bloodstream. Given the uptake of cocaine in the bloodstream and the slow rate of absorption, the effects are reached approximately 60 minutes after cocaine is administered and these effects are prolonged for approximately 60 minutes after their peak is attained. “Snorting”, sniffing”, or “blowing” (insufflations) is the most common method of ingestion of cocaine. Snorting cocaine produces maximum physiological effects within 40 minutes and an activation period is between five to 10 minutes, which is similar to oral use of cocaine. Compared to ingestion, the faster absorption of snorting cocaine results in rapid onset of maximum drug effects. With smoking freebase the cocaine is absorbed immediately into the blood, reaching the brain in about five seconds. The intensity of the “rush” is more powerful than snorting the same amount of cocaine nasally, but the effects are short-lived. The peak of the freebase rush is rapid and the high typically lasts five to 10 minutes afterward. These effects are similar to those that can be achieved by injecting cocaine hydrochloride, but without the risks associated with injecting.
Pharmacological and physiological response in Apoe−/− mice exposed to cigarette smoke or e-cigarette aerosols
Published in Inhalation Toxicology, 2022
Matthew J. Eden, Yasmeen M. Farra, Jacqueline Matz, Chiara Bellini, Jessica M. Oakes
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) are nicotine delivery devices that create an inhalable aerosol by heating a liquid containing various amounts of nicotine, carrier solvents, and flavoring chemicals (Creamer et al. 2019). Attractive because of their sleek and compact design (Wagoner et al. 2021), the newest generation of pod e-cigs (e-cigpod) is leading the market (Huang et al. 2019). This renormalized nicotine use, particularly amongst youth; self-reported e-cig use in high schoolers has risen sharply, from 1.5% in 2011 to 27.5% in 2019 (Cullen et al. 2019). Earlier generation tank-style devices (e-cigtank) utilize the free-base form of nicotine. E-cigpod cartridges, on the other hand, contain nicotine salts which are relatively easier to inhale despite their high nicotine concentrations (Talih et al. 2019; Harvanko et al. 2020; Shao and Friedman 2020).
Potential factors affecting free base nicotine yield in electronic cigarette aerosols
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2021
Vinit V. Gholap, Adam C. Pearcy, Matthew S. Halquist
Currently, approaches for the determination of free base nicotine have some limitations and ongoing studies are addressing them [8,16]. For the current study, we have chosen the Henderson–Hasselbalch method as the method of choice based on our explanation in the earlier study [8,16]. Briefly, this method is more biorelevant as compared to other methods considering the post-vaporization process of nucleation, condensation, coagulation and hygroscopic growth of droplets in the oropharyngeal tract. The resultant droplets of the e-cigarette aerosol are a complex mixture of propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine (both free base and protonated forms), flavoring chemicals, possible degradants after vaporization and water. Water predominates during hygroscopic growth of particles in the humid environment of the oral cavity [29,30]. Furthermore, the droplets also undergo deposition in the oropharyngeal tract, leading to further dilution. The Henderson–Hasselbalch method of the Dilution approach is based on the similar analogy considering the condensation and droplet deposition of e-cigarette aerosol in oropharyngeal cavity.
A review of toxic effects of electronic cigarettes/vaping in adolescents and young adults
Published in Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 2020
Daniel L. Overbeek, Alexandra P. Kass, Laura E. Chiel, Edward W. Boyer, Alicia M. H. Casey
The most common psychoactive ingredient in e-liquids is nicotine. Nicotine is a naturally occurring alkaloid that is highly addictive and has been consumed by humans for hundreds of years. The nicotine in vaping liquid can come in one of two chemical formulations. Nicotine freebase is the unprotonated form, often called “pure nicotine,” and can be easily vaporized by heat for absorption through the lungs. However, high concentrations of nicotine freebase are unpleasant to consume, leading to the development of an alternative formulation, nicotine salt. This nicotine is in its protonated state, complexed with an acid, primarily benzoic acid. This crystal is then dissolved in the vaping fluid. This benzoic acid salt allows e-liquid formulation to contain far higher nicotine concentrations, up to 50 mg/mL, with concomitant increases in the nicotine dose received by the user resulting in increasing addictive potential (Goldenson et al. 2017). Alternatively, e-liquids can contain THC, with a wide variety of THC concentrations and formulations.