Short answers, pulled from the story.
Cocaine is a central nervous system stimulant and tropane alkaloid derived primarily from the leaves of two coca species native to South America: Erythroxylum coca and Erythroxylum novogranatense. Coca cultivation is concentrated in the Andes regions of Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia. Coca chewing in South America dates back at least 8,000 years.
Cocaine acts as a serotonin-norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor, blocking the dopamine transporter and causing dopamine to accumulate in the synaptic cleft. This flood of dopamine activates reward receptors and produces euphoria. To induce euphoria, a dose that blocks roughly 66 to 70 percent of the dopamine transporter is required.
In 2023, an estimated 25 million people used cocaine globally, up from 17 million in 2013, according to the UNODC World Drug Report 2025. Cocaine is the world's fastest-growing illicit drug market. The highest prevalence of use was recorded in Australia and New Zealand and North America, each at 2.1 percent of adults.
Crack cocaine is a smokeable form of cocaine made by processing cocaine hydrochloride with sodium bicarbonate and water, producing small rocks. Powder cocaine must be heated to about 197 degrees Celsius to be smoked, causing significant decomposition, while crack cocaine vaporizes at 98 degrees Celsius with little or no decomposition. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 mandated the same prison sentence for distributing 500 grams of powdered cocaine as for just 5 grams of crack cocaine.
Long-term cocaine use can cause neurotoxicity, cognitive impairment especially in working memory, hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes, accelerated atherosclerosis, and addiction. Chronic intranasal use destroys nasal cartilage and can result in cocaine-induced midline destructive lesions. The Global Burden of Disease Study estimates cocaine use is responsible for approximately 7,300 deaths annually.
Levamisole is a veterinary antiparasitic drug used to adulterate cocaine at the production stage before trafficking. Between 2009 and 2016, studies found that 50 to 70 percent of cocaine specimens worldwide contained levamisole, and by October 2017 the US DEA reported 87 percent of seized cocaine bricks in the United States contained it. Inside the body, levamisole converts to aminorex, a stimulant, and is associated with serious autoimmune syndromes.