What Does Cocaine Smell Like? | Cocaine Identification

Pure cocaine has a light and flowery scent, but the likelihood that someone with a history of cocaine use is buying a pure derivative is little to none.

Because of the process of extracting cocaine from coca leaves — and the prominence of cheap cutting agents and additives in street-cut cocaine — the result is a more metallic smell.

Some chemicals and additives that are mixed with pure cocaine have distinctive smells, allowing the user to identify what ingredients are in their batch of cocaine.

Identifying Cocaine By Smell

There are several factors that go into identifying cocaine.

For instance, cocaine that has either kerosene or gasoline added into it will give off a petroleum scent, such as one you might smell after a diesel pickup truck passes you by.

What any particular batch of cocaine smells like is also affected by the method in which it is to be used, such as intravenous injection, smoking, or snorting freebase cocaine.

What Powder Cocaine Smells Like

Powdered cocaine generally has a mixture of chemical and floral smelling compounds.

Some scents in types of powdered cocaine that may be familiar to you are:

• ammonia
• kerosene
• sulfuric acid
• baking soda

What Crack Cocaine Smells Like

To the naked eye, cocaine looks different from crack cocaine, but each drug holds very different pharmacological differences—the key difference is how they are ingested.

Cocaine has many ingestible options, including snorting, injection, and swallowing, whereas crack cocaine can only be smoked in freebase format.

Crack cocaine usually gives off an odor of burnt plastic and can also smell like many commonplace cleaning solvents, such as bleach, of which ammonia is a primary ingredient.

The Smell Of Other Forms Of Cocaine

It can be quite difficult to smell other forms of cocaine that are not in powdered or rock form, as the only other type of cocaine is that which is used intravenously.

Liquid cocaine is not in its own right a manufactured or synthesized drug, but is the result of dissolving the powdered substance in water, weakening the smell drastically.

You may still be able to smell liquid cocaine faintly, and in particular, pick up on the kerosene or ammonia-esque ‘notes’ of the substance.

Factors That Influence The Smell Of Cocaine

The purity of the cocaine, as well as the solvents, chemicals, and additives mixed into it, have a profound effect on the smell of cocaine.

Cocaine hydrochloride, for instance, is occasionally used during certain types of nasal or throat-passage surgeries as an anesthetic.

This means that taking a whiff of cocaine may actually reduce your ability to ‘smell’ cocaine, as redundant as it sounds.

Cocaine Cutting Agents

Several cutting agents are used in the production of street-quality cocaine to reduce cost and alter the effects of cocaine on the brain and body.

Some commonly used cocaine cutting agents include:

• laundry detergent
• caffeine
• creatine
• powdered local anesthetic such as procaine
• boric acid
• Laxatives

Chemicals Used In Cocaine Production

Coca, the plant used as the main ingredient in cocaine, unsurprisingly constitutes the main compound in cocaine.

However, this is not enough on its own, so chemicals are used to extract, refine, cut, and process the substance into an ingestible form.

Other chemicals used in the production of cocaine include:

• ammonia
• sulphuric acid
• sugar
• sodium permanganate
• talcum powder
• corn starch
• baking soda
• sodium hydroxide, otherwise known as caustic soda or lye

Treatment Programs For Cocaine Addiction

There are many cocaine addiction treatment programs available at drug rehab centers that can healthily and effectively transition a person into sobriety from cocaine abuse.

Drug addiction recovery services available at most treatment centers include:

• inpatient and outpatient cocaine treatment
• medication-assisted treatment (MAT)
• detox services
• counseling and therapy
• substance use education programs

Find Treatment For Cocaine Abuse At Bedrock Recovery Center

If you or a loved one are seeking detox or other addiction treatment from cocaine drug use, give our free helpline a call today to discuss enrollment at Bedrock.

We offer comprehensive treatment plans for addiction to help you reach long-term recovery, from detoxification to residential care and more.