How Much Does Cocaine Cost?

Random Celebrity Article By Geoffrey Golden on July 14, 2010

How much does cocaine cost? If you've read about the lives of John Belushi or Chris Farley, or have been watching the news about the War Against Drugs as it plays out in Mexico and beyond, you might be asking yourself that very question.

When people ask about the cost of cocaine, they typically want to know its monetary value when sold on the street. However, before you know how much cocaine costs, at least in terms of monetary value, you should know some basic facts about cocaine.

How Much Does Cocaine Cost

Cocaine:

• Is a stimulant, not a narcotic
• Is a crystalline alkaloid taken from the coca, a plant indigenous to South America
• Stimulates the central nervous system
• Suppresses the appetite
• Was used in the 19th-century to treat addiction to morphine
• Was part of the original Coca-Cola recipe
• Was used heavily in the American Deep South during the early 20th-century, among both the European-American and African-American populations
• Legally became a controlled substance in the United States under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970
• Became the drug of choice during the Disco era of the 1970s
• Is still very popular to this day
• Was largely responsible for the deaths of comedians John Belushi and Chris Farley
• Is highly addictive
• Carries stiff legal penalties in the United States and elsewhere, both for the seller and for the buyer

In the United States, a gram of cocaine costs anywhere from $50 to $80, depending upon the grade of the cocaine, how it's cut and what it's cut with. When sold on the street, cocaine is rarely, if ever, sold in its pure form, and is "cut"—mixed—with another ingredient. Another important factor is the geographic location in which the cocaine is purchased.

Typically cocaine is sold in metric units. An "eight ball" is 3.5 grams of cocaine. To determine the price of an eight ball, simply multiply a gram of cocaine's value by a factor of 3.5. In terms of the price of cocaine per ounce and per pound:

• Per ounce, cocaine ranges from $1,417.50 to $2,268, depending upon grade, cut, and geographic location in which the cocaine is purchased.
• Per pound, cocaine ranges from $22,680 to $36,288, depending upon grade, cut, and geographic location in which the cocaine is purchased.

In addition to those things, the cost of cocaine depends upon the law of supply and demand. If demand for cocaine goes down, then the price of cocaine, accordingly, will go down. If the demand for cocaine goes up, then the price of cocaine, accordingly, will go up. If the supply of cocaine goes down, and demand remains fixed, then the price of cocaine will go up. If the supply of cocaine goes up, and demand remains fixed, then the price of cocaine will go down.

There are other cost factors, however, that should be taken into consideration when someone asks, "how much does cocaine cost?" Perhaps the questions that ought to be asked are:

• Do you want to become addicted to cocaine? If so, why?
• Are you willing to go to jail or prison if you are caught buying or selling cocaine?
• Are there healthier alternative to cocaine use that you might want to try?

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