janz0rz skrev:
Här i byn snackas det även om något som kallas freebase. Vad är det?
Main article: Freebase (chemistry)
As the name implies, “freebase” is the base form of cocaine, as opposed to the salt form of cocaine hydrochloride. Whereas cocaine hydrochloride is extremely soluble in water, cocaine base is insoluble in water and is therefore not suitable for drinking, snorting or injecting. Whereas cocaine hydrochloride is not well-suited for smoking because the temperature at which it vaporizes is very high and close to the temperature at which it burns; cocaine base vaporizes at a much lower temperature, which makes it suitable for inhalation.
Smoking freebase cocaine has the additional effect of releasing methylecgonidine into the user's system due to the pyrolysis of the substance (a side effect which insufflating or injecting powder cocaine does not create). Some research suggests that smoking freebase cocaine can be even more cardiotoxic than other routes of administration[22] because of methylecgonidine's effects on lung tissue[23] and liver tissue.[24]
Smoking freebase is a popular route of ingestion because the cocaine is absorbed immediately into blood via the lungs, reaching the brain in about five seconds. The rush is much more intense than snorting the same amount of cocaine nasally, but the effects do not last as long. The peak of the freebase rush is over almost as soon as the user exhales the vapor, but the high typically lasts 5–10 minutes afterward. What makes freebasing particularly dangerous is that users typically do not wait that long for their next hit and will continue to smoke freebase until none is left. These effects are similar to those that can be achieved by injecting or “slamming” cocaine hydrochloride, but without the risks associated with intravenous drug use (though there are other serious risks associated with smoking freebase).
Freebase cocaine is produced by first dissolving cocaine hydrochloride in water. Once dissolved in water, cocaine hydrochloride (Coc-HCl) dissociates into the protonated cocaine ion (Coc-H+) and the chloride ion (Cl−). Any solids that remain suspended in the solution are impurities from the cut and are removed by filtration. A base, typically ammonia (NH3), is added to the solution. The following net acid-base reaction takes place:
Coc-H+ + NH3 → Coc + NH4+
As freebase cocaine (Coc) is insoluble in water, it precipitates and the solution becomes cloudy. To recover the freebase in the "traditional" manner, diethyl ether is added to the solution. Since freebase is highly soluble in ether, a vigorous shaking of the mixture results in the freebase being dissolved in the ether. As ether is practically insoluble in water, it can be siphoned off. The ether is then left to evaporate, leaving behind the nearly pure freebase.
Handling diethyl ether is dangerous because ether is extremely flammable; its vapors are heavier than air and can "creep" from an open bottle, and in the presence of oxygen it can form peroxides, which can spontaneously combust. Comedian Richard Pryor performed a skit poking fun at himself for a 1980 incident in which he caused an explosion and ignited himself attempting to smoke "freebase", presumably while still wet with ether (though his ex-wife Jennifer Lee Pryor said that he poured high-proof rum over his body and torched himself in a drug psychosis).
