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Over 800,000 Oregon residents aged 12 and older reported having a substance use disorder in the past year. That’s more than the population of Portland. Despite this, there are many misunderstandings and myths surrounding substance use as a whole. This leads to generalizations, stereotypes, and people not getting the support or care they deserve.
To help combat this, our team at Serenity Lane is dedicated to educating our community about substance use. Today we’re going to be looking at cocaine vs meth. By highlighting both the similarities and differences between the two, we aim to give our community the information they need to make more informed decisions about their health.
To understand better how meth and cocaine relate to one another, we’re going to start at the source – what they’re classified as.
Drugs, legal and illegal, have many categories they can be divided into but today we’re looking at only one – stimulants.
In order to be classified as a stimulant, a substance must primarily interact with your central nervous system and dopamine receptors. When in the body, stimulants speed up these processes, leading to increased energy levels, elevated mood, racing thoughts, quickened heart rate, and more.
Both meth and cocaine fall under the category of stimulant. From the get-go, this means they have a lot of overlapping side effects, but where do the similarities end? Are all stimulants the same?
Meth and cocaine aren’t the only kind of stimulants out there. In fact, there’s a decent chance you regularly engage with a legal stimulant in your day-to-day life. If you’re an average Oregon citizen, then you likely drink at least one coffee a day, with the state average being a little more than 2 cups of coffee daily.
Coffee is a stimulant, as are energy drinks and soda, with the common denominator being caffeine.
Other common stimulants primarily include prescription medications such as Adderall, Desoxyn, and Ritalin. In the medical field, they most often are used to treat ADHD.
Overall, meth and cocaine have more in common than they do different. This doesn’t make them the same, but it’s important to know that there are many instances where they overlap. This includes everything from how they look, how they’re consumed, and even how people talk about them.
They also share many side effects such as:
Both meth and cocaine are white in appearance and often come in a powdery form. In many cases, this can make them hard to distinguish with the naked eye. However, there are some key differences that can set them apart from one another.
When they come in large forms, known as crystal meth and crack cocaine respectively, they vary in opacity and tint. Cocaine is opaque and usually is white, cream, or yellowish in color. Meth and crystal meth, on the other hand, are often semi-transparent. They can also have a warm tint to them but can come in cool, blue tones as well.
Meth is also just as likely to come in pill form or be dyed a different color for retail purposes. Cocaine, in large quantities, is often found in “brick” form, where it’s heavily wrapped up in a large, brick-shaped bag.
Meth and cocaine are consumed in a few ways: orally, through snorting, through smoking, or through injection. The specifics of each kind of consumption, however, aren’t exactly the same.
As we mentioned before, it’s not uncommon for meth to come in pill form. This is where the oral consumption most often comes into play. With cocaine, on the other hand, people are more likely to rub the powder on their gums as a way to get a high.
The process of snorting cocaine and meth is the same. You take the powdered form and inhale it through the nose.
The biggest difference in consumption is that snorting cocaine is more common, whereas, for meth, smoking is one of the most common forms of engaging with it.
Many street names for cocaine and street names for meth are inspired by their origins, appearance, and how they make you feel. Because of the similarities between these two substances, there are several instances where a street name has been used in reference to both.
Some of the most common, shared street names include crank, glass, ice, rock, and snow, to name a few.
One of the biggest differences between meth and cocaine is how they’re produced.
Methamphetamine is a synthetic chemical that is often made in “meth labs” across the country. The ingredients are often cobbled together from various sources, including even fertilizers and over-the-country medications like pseudoephedrine.
Cocaine, on the other hand, is derived from the leaves of the coca plant, which is native to South America. While it still can be produced in other locations, it’s very common for it to be smuggled into and across the country for its distribution.
Both meth and cocaine can cause psychological changes in a person, leading to a disconnect from reality in the form of confusion, delusions, and hallucinations. Paranoia is also a very common side effect of either substance.
What’s different about them is that meth is more well-known for its psychological properties and long-term side effects. So much so that “meth mites” have become a popular and common term to describe one of the signs of meth use.
Meth mites refer to a hallucination where someone thinks they have bugs or other entities crawling on or under their skin. The area of the body impacted is one that is easily accessible, usually the face or arms. To alleviate these sensations, people will scratch and pick at their skin, leading to a myriad of scabs and wounds on their bodies.
If you’re living with a cocaine use disorder, meth use disorder, or any combination of the two – it’s never too late to seek healing. There are many quality cocaine rehab and meth rehab programs available here in Oregon that are committed to getting you back on track..
As one of the oldest non-profit rehabs in the state, our team at Serenity Lane has years of experience in helping people find healing. You’re worth it, no matter what your history with substance use is. Don’t wait, give us a call today at 800-543-9905 to get started.
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