Caviar or placebo: Is it worth it?
By CAROLINE PETRICH
Of Vw Cwratd
Sometimes I think cocaine is bad for me —
Then I stop thinking
Cocaine t» Dave var Ron*
Whiff toot blow snort coke — every cocaine
sniffer has a name for the caviar of drugdom
Jerry Beck, information specialist at the
University s Drug Information Center calls co
caine an active placebo
"Unless you're doing a fairly large amount a
good part of the high is the social setting Beck
says
At the doses commonly employed (by
sniffers) the high tends to be fairly mild A lot of
the high can De attributed to the user s expecta
tions Beck says
Cocaine a derivative alkaloid that comes
from the coca plant indigenous to the South
American Andes mountains stimulates the
central nervous system This stimulation causes
various physical effects — notably euphoria
numbed nose and mouth and dilated pupils
Methods to get high on cocaine vary Most
users snort cocaine through their noses after it is
cut into a fine powder with a razor according to
Beck Others inject the drug into their veins
One relatively new method of injection is
called "free-basing Free-base is the part of the
cocaine compund that is extracted with spe
cialized krts bought from head shops It is then
smoked
However it gets there once the drug enters
the bloodstream it stimulates the peripheral ner
vous system that controls the major body organs
responsible for arousal says Beck
The drug s major interaction occurs in the
brain Scientists hypothesize that cocaine inhibits
the reabsorption of the hormone norepinephrine
which the nerve endings release when stimulated
— and which causes blood pressure to rise once
it's back in the nerves
The cocaine high lasts from 20 to 30 minutes
if snorted If the coke is injected or mainlined the
high may be more intense but won't last as long
According to one user who has tried injection,
You get high faster and you come down hard
There are side effects to consider however
Injecting anything intravenously — especially an
illegal drug — is risky at best Given the state of
the art and the random sampling of cuts available
to every dealer through whose hands street-coke
passes shooting up is a sucker move writes
Robert Sabbag in Snowblmd a book chronicling
the experiences of a cocaine dealer
Even at S100 a gram cocaine consumers
usually risk buying less than pure cocaine Beck
estimates that most of the coke that comes to
Eugene is "less than 50-percent pure
‘There is no way of knowing for sure he
adds But we often find (when analyzing coke)
that it contains four or five different chemicals
The farther the coke travels the more impure
it will be Beck says
Dealers dilute or cut, " cocaine with various
chemicals such as speed or mannite (an Italian
laxative), or lactose (a milk sugar) and other
additives Beck says
Cocaine use in Eugene has become rampant
in the past year according to Mike Wright of the
Federal Drug Enforcement Center in Eugene
■ Cocaine is readily available to anyone who
wants to buy it," Wright says
Hospitals also are increasing their use of
cocaine as a therapeutic drug Hospitals use
cocaine as a topical anesthetic in nose throat
and lamyx surgery according to Mark Miller of
the Drug Information Center
Cocaine causes veins to constrict and
thereby decreases the amount of blood lost
during an operation
If one is arrested tor illegal possesion of the
drug there is a good chance of going to jati for a
Class B felony, Wright says
For a first offense the violator can receive a
five-year prison sentence and a $15 000 fine A
second offense earns a 10-year prison term and a
$30 000 fine Wright adds such heavy punish
ments could do severe damage to a college
•career
Beck is more encouraging than Wright when
he discusses courtroom diplomacy in cocaine
related cases A violation involving any amount
can be plea-bargained down to a misdemeanor
he says
But even that has its costs Simply put. If you
get caught you spend many thousands of dollars
in lawyers fees Beck says
Beck also offered final advice to students
interested in coke
"I would tell students basically to educate
themselves to know what they re doing and to
evaluate the cost " he says I think a lot of
students get into financial trouble because of
coke "
Photo by Erich Boekelheide
‘Lookalike ’ drugs pose dangers
By RACHEL BELLAMY
04 (iMraM
University students who buy street
drugs to increase study time may not be
getting the drugs they re paying for. warns
Drug Information Center director Mark
Miller
Lookalikes, also known as pea
shooters. are 100-percent legal drugs
containing combinations of caffeine
ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine —
the same substances found in over-the
counter stimulants decongestants and
antihistamines - and are a growing
problem in Lane County Miller says
Miller says he will personally
guarantee that today you can't find real
amphetamines on the street — only
lookalikes
The nationwide lookalike boom began
in the late 1970s in response to declining
amphetamine production and has
recently expanded to include phony coc
aine and downers ”
The most prevalent lookalikes in the
Eugene area are black capsules known as
black beauties yellow "704" capsules,
cross-top capsules, pink hearts and
speckled blue egg tablets. Miller says
Lookalikes are almost identical to
their real pharmaceutical counterparts
The logo or company markings may be
slightly different, but on a tiny capsule it
takes a sharp and knowledgeable eye to
detect the difference. Miller says
The price difference is more evident.
Miller says
The over-the-counter price for the
drug compostitions is 5 to 18 cents Miller
says the street buyer may pay from 25
cents to $1
Most people are understandably a
little upset" to learn they've purchased
legal combinations of caffeine and phen
ylpropanolamine, he says
Just because the drugs are legal
doesn t mean they're safe Miller warns
Drugs are not classified as safe or
dangerous." he says
Miller says he’s more concerned
about the drugs effects on the user's
heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and
the added risks for users with existing
health problems
Many people think if they've exper
imented with drugs, they know the safety
rules," but misrepresented drugs pose
new problems, he says
The lookalikes have an additive effect,
and because people take drugs "until they
feel it. they may be unaware of the exces
sive amount of stimulants they're taking."
he says
Coffee, tea, chocolate, and even
carbonated sodas contain caffeine that
can intensify the reaction and side effects
of the ingested drug, he adds
Miller says reported reactions to the
phony speed include strong headaches,
nausea and vomiting
What can be done legally about
fradualent drug sales?
Not much,'' says deputy district
attorney Jim Hunt, supervisor of the Lane
Interagency Narcotics Team
The initial sale is not illegal, and "so
long as the seller is properly represented"
there is no violation It's after the drugs are
broken down into street bags and sold as
the real thing that misrepresentation oc
curs
If a person knew they were selling
phony drugs, how do you prove that?"
Hunt asks
From a consumer's point of view,
Hunt says there's no legal recourse The
purchaser enters into a contract for
contraband substances and there is "no
way to enforce that as a legal contract "
Until purchasers are better educated
about drugs, the old adage of "buyer
beware” applies, Hunt says
I.
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