Cocaine (Powder) Charges in Lubbock

Cocaine is made from coca leaves. Nearly all cocaine is imported from the Andean region of South America. Most comes from Columbia. It is listed as a Schedule II controlled substance because, at one point, it was used for medical treatment, primarily as a topical anesthetic and to reduce bleeding in the mouth, nose, and throat. While cocaine has a recognized medical use, today it is rarely used medically in the United States.

Cocaine hydrochloride is a “salt” that is manufactured by reacting hydrochloric acid with the alkaloid compound cocaine. Cocaine hydrochloride is usually packaged as a white crystalline powder. Most cocaine sold on the street has been mixed or “cut” with some other substance (such as mannitol or inositol) to increase the quantity that dealers have available for sale. For drug penalty purposes, the non-drug portion of the mixture is treated as if it were cocaine.

Powder cocaine is typically ingested by inhaling it through the nose. Powder cocaine cannot easily be smoked because it will not vaporize until it reaches a very high temperature and tends to burn away before vapors are produced. It is relatively easy, however, to turn powder cocaine into crack cocaine, a hardened form of cocaine that vaporizes at a lower temperature and can easily be ingested by smoking. The penalties for federal felonies involving crack cocaine are much harsher than those that apply to powder cocaine.

While the National Drug Intelligence Center reports purity levels of cocaine for sale in Texas at 70 to 90 percent, the top end of that figure is likely exaggerated. Purity does tend to be higher in Texas than it is in some other parts of the United States, particularly when larger quantities are purchased. As a general rule, the farther from the Mexican border cocaine has traveled, the more often it has been cut.

Texas law defines cocaine as a narcotic drug. It is listed in Schedule II of the Texas Controlled Substance Schedules because it has an approved medical use, primarily as a topical anesthetic used in oral surgery and in surgical procedures involving the nose and throat.