Cocaine has long been known as a drug of abuse, but it projected in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Cocaine hydrochloride, a water-soluble salt, is a dry white powder (known on the street as "snow") that is usually inhaled through a thin tube inserted into the nostril. More rarely, cocaine is injected into a vein. The drug may also be smoked in a purified form through a water pipe ("freebasing") or in a concentrated form ("crack") shaped into pellets and placed in special smoking gear. Users experience euphoria, exhilaration, and a decrease

In the last century cocaine was recommended therapy for depression and other mental illnesses, digestive disorders, degeneration of tissues, morphine and alcohol addiction, asthma, and as an aphrodisiac and local anesthetic. Presently, cocaine has limited therapeutic uses because of its toxicity and potential for abuse. One use is as a local anesthetic: when applied to the surface of the mucous membrane, cocaine produces anesthesia and vasoconstriction, which reduces bleeding during surgery. This works good when applied to the nose, throat, larynx, or lower respiratory passages in intranasal surgery. (though this too can be accompanied by severe toxicity) Another therapeutic use has been in conjunction with Brompton's cocktail. This is a solution of cocaine, methadone, and alcohol, the special cocktail that was first used for the relief of pain in terminally ill patients. This li

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