# just how much cocaine is being used in the US **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 15, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-much-cocaine-is-being-used-in-the-us/574795 "2011-03-15T16:05:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-much-cocaine-is-being-used-in-the-us/574795/1 "2011-03-15T16:05:51Z")
I realize that not all cocaine travelling through Mexico, Central America, etc. is being used in the U.S., but it seems like a lot of it is headed here. Just how much is consumed? It seems like such an “old school drug.” Is there really a vibrant demand for millions of hits of coke? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-much-cocaine-is-being-used-in-the-us/574795/2 "2011-03-15T16:14:55Z")
According to [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine#Consumption) the US consumes 300 metric tons annually. Half of the total world production. ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-much-cocaine-is-being-used-in-the-us/574795/3 "2011-03-15T16:23:24Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > According to [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine#Consumption) the US consumes 300 metric tons annually. Half of the total world production. Wow. So, how does that break down to usage (e.g., X grams per typical snort or smoke)? Let’s see: 300 000 000 grams. Maybe 1-3 grams per snort? So 100 million uses? I guess that lines up with the notion of 2-3 percent of US adults use it, same wiki page, which still seems rather high to me. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-much-cocaine-is-being-used-in-the-us/574795/4 "2011-03-15T17:31:34Z")
My hunch is that most of the coke brought into the US is then turned into crack, instead of snorted Old Skool. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-much-cocaine-is-being-used-in-the-us/574795/5 "2011-03-15T18:18:18Z")
> [@drhess](#): > > Maybe 1-3 grams per snort? You are way off. A gram of cocaine will give, on average, 15 - 20 lines (what you are calling a snort). At least that’s what I’ve been told. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-much-cocaine-is-being-used-in-the-us/574795/6 "2011-03-15T18:28:57Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > According to [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine#Consumption) the US consumes 300 metric tons annually. Half of the total world production. 225 of which are reserved for Charlie Sheen alone. ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-much-cocaine-is-being-used-in-the-us/574795/7 "2011-03-27T08:37:28Z")
300 metric tons yields apprx. 1 gram per capita per year = apprx. 20 lines per capita per year. If 1% of the population were users they would average apprx. 5.5 lines per day. That does not sound like suprisingly much. Can anybody link us to the latest figures for usage and legal costs? Keep in mind the stuff is about as cheap to manufacture as asprin. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-much-cocaine-is-being-used-in-the-us/574795/8 "2011-03-27T12:17:24Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > My hunch is that most of the coke brought into the US is then turned into crack, instead of snorted Old Skool. I don’t have a cite, but I think there are plenty of people doing plain old powdered coke. If anything, meth has replaced crack as the “cheap as hell brain fry” of the unwashed masses, but coke retains its veneer of respectability. Kids that would never do meth or crack will eagerly smoke pot with a little coke mixed in, or try a bump.