• Revan343@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    why is crack cocaine a Schedule I drug while powder cocaine is Schedule II? They’re basically the same drug

    What medical use is there for freebase cocaine?

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Good question. Ask the DEA since they determined that apparently there is a medicinal use that separates the two.

      • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Well, for freebase cocaine they determined that there isn’t one, given that it’s schedule 1. That’s why I was asking what medical use you think it does have that would warrant it being schedule 2 like cocaine hydrochloride.

        As far as I know, the freebase form legitimately doesn’t have the medical uses that the salt form does, due to the poor solubility, so the difference in scheduling with cocaine is a poor example of the DEA’s shittyness. Better to stick with good examples like their mis-scheduling of cannabis

      • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        That’s the medical use of cocaine hydrochloride, aka powder cocaine. The freebase has poor water solubility, and thus presumably wouldn’t be very useful as a topical anesthetic