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Crack Cocaine: is considered a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). Possession of these drugs could land you in jail for a maximum of seven years. Impairment can be detected in your blood or urine samples. Crack cocaine made its first appearance in the United States in the early 1980s and became popular because it provides a more intense, faster, cheaper high than cocaine. This highly addictive drug made its way to Canada and was immediately considered a scourge on society. Because of this, the judicial system takes a hard stand on trafficking and possession.
Table of Contents:
What is Crack Cocaine?
Crack cocaine is said to have gotten its name from the distinctive sound it makes when it is heated up. Crack was developed by adding sodium bicarbonate or ammonia to cocaine to increase its volatility. The mixture is heated and compressed into rocks, which can be smoked by heating and inhaling the vapours through a pipe. This allows the drug to reach the brain faster. It can also be injected intravenously by dissolving it in vinegar or lemon juice.
Crack is considered a Schedule ICommonly characterized as “hard drugs" narcotic under the CDSA. Drugs in this group are defined as substances with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. It is illegal to drive while under the influence of crack, which can be detected in blood or urine samples.
Like cocaine, crack is included on the list of prohibited substances in the CDSA. Selling, possessing or production of crack cocaine is illegal unless authorized for medical, scientific or industrial purposes.
Street Names for Crack Cocaine
As the name suggests, crack cocaine is a derivative of the popular street drug cocaine and is sometimes referred to as rock, charlie, candy, chemical, cookies, dice, gravel, grit, hail, hard rock, jelly beans, nuggets, purple caps, scrabble, sleet, snow coke, tornado.
Effects of Crack Cocaine
According to the Health Canada (Cocaine and crack) section of the government website, crack can have moderate to severe effects on users. A sense of euphoria will be felt within minutes, along with having more energy and self-confidence, though those feelings can be replaced by anxiety, tremors, nausea and vomiting. In the long term, the government warns that regular crack users may suffer from depression and paranoia. Since smoking crack is hard on the lungs, officials warn regular usage could lead to collapsed or inflamed lungs that fill up with fluid. The most serious risk of crack use is a lethal overdose, which can follow a seizure or a heart attack.
What is Needed to Convict
To find you guilty of possessing crack, the Crown prosecutorLawyers who prosecutes charges on behalf of the Crown must establish beyond a reasonable doubtThe standard that must be exceeded to find someone guilty that you were in possession of the drug. The Criminal Code notes that “possession” is not just limited to the idea that the drug was found on your person or in your car or house. Instead, it means that you had some degree of control and knowledge of the drug. As a result, you can be found guilty of possession even if the crack was found at someone else's house or in a friend’s gym bag.
Other basics the Crown has to prove is that the substance in question is a drug listed in the CDSA and that you had knowledge about its illegal nature.
Penalties for Crack Cocaine in Canada
Canadian courts impose the harshest sentences for those convicted of a crime involving Schedule I drugs, so you could be facing jail time even on a first possession offence. Sentences will vary depending on how much you possessed and if there were any aggravating factors involved.
Under s.2 of the CDSA, you can be convicted of trafficking if you "sell, administer, give, transport, send or deliver the substance" or if you "sell an authorization to obtain the substance or offer to do anything mentioned." An exchange of money is not required for a conviction. Simply transferring a controlled substanceA substance that is regulated by the government such as crack from one person to another is enough.
The Crown has the discretion to treat the charge as a summary convictionUsed for lesser offences or indictable offenceIndictable offences are more-serious criminal offences.
Section 4 (3) of the CDSA states that if it is your first offence and you are found guilty of a summary conviction, you face a maximum fine of $1,000, imprisonment up to six months or both. For a subsequent offence, the maximum fine increases to $2,000 while the maximum imprisonment cannot exceed one year, or both.
If the Crown treats your possession charge as an indictable offence, the maximum prison term increases to seven years.
If you possessed crack cocaine for the purpose of trafficking or exporting, the possible penalties include life imprisonment.
November 17, 2022
Update: Bill C-5: Mandatory Minimum Penalties Repealed.
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Glossary of Legal Terms
Controlled substance
Any type of drug that the federal government has categorized as having a higher-than-average potential for abuse or addiction. Its manufacture, possession or use is regulated by the government through the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Crown prosecutor
Lawyers who act for the federal, provincial and territorial governments and prosecute people accused of crimes on behalf of the Crown.
Indictable offence
Indictable offences are the most serious offences under the Criminal Code and they come with more serious punishments, up to a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Reasonable doubt
The Supreme Court of Canada has said that reasonable doubt “falls much closer to absolute certainty than to proof on a balance of probabilities” and “that something less than absolute certainty is required, and that something more than probable guilt is required."
Schedule I
Schedule I drugs are commonly characterized as “hard drugs.” They include street drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and opium and numerous pharmaceutical-grade drugs such as oxycodone and morphine. Schedule I drugs show a high risk of dependency. See Schedule I of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Summary conviction
Summary convictions are used for lesser offences with penalties, fines and short jail time. They reflect the majority of offences as defined in the Code.
