Identifying Cocaine By Look, Smell, And Taste

Cocaine is a dangerous illicit drug. It has many forms and can be identified by look, smell, and taste. Addiction treatment can help with cocaine abuse.

Get Help Now!
Dr. Langdon M.D.

Medically Reviewed By: Kimberly Langdon M.D.

on

Cocaine has many forms and can look, smell, and taste different depending on the form it’s in.

If you are concerned that a loved one might be abusing cocaine, cocaine identification is an important skill to have.

Cocaine always starts with coca leaves. Coca leaves are a product of the coca plant, which is grown in South America.

The drug can be processed and adulterated from the leaves using different solvents and additives, making forms of cocaine that look, smell, and taste different from one another.

How To Identify Cocaine

To identify cocaine, it may help to know what the drug commonly looks, smells, and tastes like. This will vary based on the form of the drug and what has been added to it.

What Cocaine Looks Like

It is difficult to identify cocaine based on its appearance. Cocaine can take many forms, from a white powder form to a milky, crystal-like substance, and even a liquid solution.

The most common form of cocaine is a white powder with an appearance similar to that of baking soda.

Powder cocaine can be further processed into crack cocaine, freebase cocaine, liquid cocaine (for injection), or it can be cut with other adulterants.

What Cocaine Smells Like

Pure cocaine tends to have a somewhat sweet or floral smell.

However, identifying cocaine by smell is unpredictable. All the different chemicals and solvents used in the drug’s extraction process, and the additives that could be in the cocaine, contribute to its smell.

Cocaine extraction might involve chemicals like gasoline, kerosene, sulfuric acid, ammonia, diesel, and carbonate salt. These chemicals can all affect the final product’s smell.

Cocaine will also smell different if it is smoked vs. snorting or injecting cocaine. Never rely on smell as a method of determining the presence of cocaine.

What Cocaine Tastes Like

Cocaine has a distinctly bitter and/or tart taste. However, the taste can vary significantly depending on the form of the drug and the additives.

Never taste a substance you suspect to be cocaine. Ingesting cocaine is just as dangerous and illegal as snorting it or smoking it.

Cocaine is a local anesthetic, meaning it has a numbing effect. Sometimes, people who use the drug will taste it or rub some on their gums to determine how pure the drug is.

This practice is not reliable for determining the purity of cocaine. Other local anesthetics like lidocaine, procaine, and benzocaine are commonly added to cocaine to make people using the drug think it is purer than it is.

Identifying Different Types Of Cocaine

Cocaine can take many forms. Below are some common forms that you might find cocaine in.

White Powder Cocaine

White powder cocaine is the most common form of the drug. It goes by street names such as “blow”, “bump”, “coke”, and “dust”.

Pure white powder cocaine is made of the chemical cocaine hydrochloride. Most white powder cocaine is cut with other adulterants to dilute it or make it more powerful and/or addictive.

Powder cocaine is usually snorted, so it might be accompanied by paraphernalia like small mirrors, razor blades, rolled-up bills or pieces of paper, straws, or cocaine spoons.

Powder cocaine can also be mixed into water and injected. In this case, you might find syringes and needles nearby, as well as spoons, bottle caps, and stir sticks.

Crack Cocaine

Crack cocaine is made by boiling white powder cocaine in water and adding baking soda. The mixture boils down until a solid crystal-like substance forms. This is then broken into crack “rocks”.

Crack cocaine usually looks like small, broken-up pieces of crystal-like rocks. The rocks can range from clear in color to opaque, milky white, or even brown or yellowish.

Crack cocaine is almost always smoked. Keep an eye out for small glass “crack pipes”, water pipes, tin foil, lighters and candles, and glass vials. These items can all be used to smoke crack cocaine.

Pink Cocaine

Pink cocaine is usually not actually cocaine. It is a synthetic hallucinogen called 2C-B. This drug is a common “party drug” that is sold in place of MDMA.

Pink cocaine likely has no actual cocaine hydrochloride in it. Its name is a street name that is misleading.

It looks like a pink powder or pink pill, and its effects can range from mild to severe.

Brown Cocaine

Cocaine can take a brownish hue if it is cut with certain substances. Crack cocaine may also appear to be brown.

Brown cocaine is not common. Sometimes, powder cocaine takes a slightly brown coloration due to its extraction process.

Fake Cocaine

Most cocaine found on the street is cut with other substances. Sometimes, a drug sold as cocaine has no actual cocaine in it.

Common replacements for cocaine are amphetamines such as meth, stimulants like caffeine, and opioids like fentanyl.

Common Cutting Agents Used In Cocaine

Cocaine can be cut with different substances to dilute it and increase profits for dealers, alter or enhance its effects, or to make it more addictive.

These cutting agents also alter cocaine’s appearance, taste, and smell.

These are some common cocaine cutting agents:

  • cornstarch
  • talcum powder
  • local anesthetics like procaine and benzocaine
  • boric acid
  • laundry detergent
  • amphetamines
  • fentanyl
  • baking soda
  • laxatives
  • caffeine
  • creatine
  • levamisole

Treatment Programs For Cocaine Addiction

Cocaine is one of the drugs of abuse that can cause massive damage if its use is not addressed properly.

Visiting a certified addiction treatment center is the best viable option for someone abusing cocaine.

Treatment centers that use evidence-based approaches to treating cocaine addiction offer the greatest chance at long-term recovery.

Find Cocaine Addiction Treatment At Bedrock Recovery Center

Bedrock Recovery Center is a state-of-the-art inpatient rehab and detox center located in Canton, MA. We are one of the east coast’s top drug addiction treatment centers.

Bedrock Recovery Center implements evidence-based treatment to help our clients overcome addiction.

If you are ready to start your journey to recovery, call our helpline today to talk to an expert about your treatment options.

  1. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) –– Cocaine DrugFacts https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/cocaine
  2. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) –– What are the short-term effects of cocaine use? https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/cocaine/what-are-short-term-effects-cocaine-use
  3. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) –– What is Cocaine? https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/cocaine/what-cocaine
  4. United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) –– Drug Fact Sheet: Cocaine https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/Cocaine-2020_1.pdf

Written by Bedrock Recovery Center Editorial Team

© 2024 Bedrock Recovery Center | All Rights Reserved

* This page does not provide medical advice.

Prefer Texting?
We've got you covered.

Receive 24/7 text support right away.
There is no obligation and you can opt out at any time.
chat-header

Sign up for text support

Receive 24/7 text support right away.
There is no obligation and you can opt out at any time.
chat-header
Ready to make a change? Talk to a specialist now.
(617) 657-2877
icon-angle icon-bars icon-times