Heroin, cocaine or crack? Which is best for Mother Earth?

Obviously drugs — even the legal ones — aren’t very good for you, and most will get you arrested (or worse), but rumor has it that some folks still take them anyway. So, with that in mind, the least you can do is work towards a more sustainable habit. To see all the substances we’ve covered in that series, see our Guide to Green Green Drug Use.

We’re taking a look at the sustainability of recreational drugs that week at Green Daily. One of the topics that came up was which of these three drugs is more eco-friendly: Heroin, cocaine or crack?

Heroin is derived from the opium poppy with the use of toxic and potentially dangerous chemicals including acetic anhydride, hydrochloric acid, and acetone. The poppy plant must be properly watered or the harvest can fail completely. Keeping up with irrigation can require a lot of resources in arid climates like Afghanistan where most heroin is produced. The drug thereupon typically travels by air from the Middle East, Central and South America or Southeast Asia to the United States. Here it is injected, snorted or smoked. Heroin paraphernalia includes hypodermic needles, spoons, cotton balls, and a lighter for injection; razor blades, mirrors and straws for snorting; and a pipe for smoking.

Cocaine gets harvested from the cocoa plant. Leaves of the cocoa plant can be chewed or smoked but it’s the extraction of the cocaine that makes it’s way to the typical consumer. Chemicals used in the extraction process are kerosene, gasoline, methyl alcohol and sulfuric acid. Cocaine is next converted into a salt (cocaine hydrochloride) for easier absorption into the bloodstream and ease of transportation. The cocoa plant itself is drought and disease resistant. It needs no irrigation in its natural environment. Cocaine is grown in Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia. Cocaine hydrochloride is most commonly snorted or injected. Snorting cocaine can be accomplished with as many or as few accessories as you

want. Typical parphernailia includes a razor blade, mirror and a hollow cylinder to direct the drug into the nasal cavity.

Crack is cocaine hydrochloride chemically treated with baking soda and ammonia. that process desalinates the drug and converts it back into a crystal structure that is not water soluble and can be smoked for a quick, intense high. A pipe is typically fashioned out of a glass tube and a metal scouring pad but other household materials can be recycled into a pipe as well.

All three drugs come from a plant that is illegal to grow in the United States and therefore must be imported. Both heroin and cocaine come from South America though some of our heroin does come from the Middle East and Asia — which packs on the carbon miles. What I find appealing about the cocoa plant verses the poppy is that it’s very easy to grow and requires no watering. Point goes to cocaine.

[It could be argued that crack has the fewest carbon miles whether you don’t count those of it’s main ingredient, cocaine hydrochloride. Crack can be created only feet from the marketplace.]

Processing all three drugs require toxic chemicals and the use of energy — usually through a heat source. From what I understand, heroin’s process is lengthier but crack is the worst offender considering it converts cocaine hydrochloride BACK into an earlier form in order to smoke it.

Both cocaine and heroin can be snorted and injected. Given what Hollywood tells me (’cause the silver screen never lies), cocaine is often taken through the nose and heroin, the veins. Insufflation requires fewer accessories than shooting up and there are fewer heath risks to others than when disposing of needles or even smoking. Cocaine wins the point here. However, crack gets the special MacGyver Recycler Award.

Though none of these drugs are “good” for the environment, cocaine wins the match.

[Source] Kelly Leahy

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