Newsgroups: alt.drugs
From: [j--r--y] at [teetot.acusd.edu] (Jerry Stratton)
Subject: Mannitol: Crystalline Alcohol

From "The Facts About 'Drug Abuse'" by the Drug Abuse Council:

Cocaine is most often cut with "relatively harmless substances such as
lactose, glucose, and mannitol (crystalline alcohol)..."

This is a good book, by the way. Packed with references.
my notes from page 184, about Overdose and Addiction/Tolerance re cocaine.

NIDA is the National Institute [prep] Drug Abuse, part of the Dept of
Health, Education, and Welfare. DAWN is the Drug Abuse Warning Network.

NIDA compiled information about cocaine in _Cocaine: 1977_, Robert C.
Peterson and Richard C. Stillman, eds; also called NIDA Research
Monograph No. 13.

Overdose: "The scientific literature reveals at most a few hundred
           deaths directly attributable to cocaine throughout the
           history of its use in all parts of the world."

_Cocaine: 1977_ examined the 111 cocaine deaths reported to DAWN between
1971 and 1976; 86 were said to be caused by cocaine, but morphine was
detected in 1/3 of them, and other drugs "in a smaller percentage." The
route of administration was undetermined in 60 cases; intravenous in 35;
nasal in 8; oral in 7; and rectal in 1.

Cites for cocaine's lack of *physical* addictiveness (they were careful
to always precede the word 'dependence' or 'addictiveness' with the word
'physical' on this page).

Dan Waldorf, et. al., _Doing Coke: An Ethnography of Cocaine Users_,
     Drug Abuse Council, 1977.
Andrew T. Weil, "Coca Leaf as a Therapeutic Agent," _American Journal
     of Drug and Alcohol Abuse_, vol. 5, no. 1 (1978), pp. 75-86.
Robert Byck and Craig Van Dyke, "What are the Effects of Cocaine in
     Man?" in _Cocaine: 1977_, pp. 97-118.
Donald R. Wesson and David E. Smith, "Cocaine: Its Use for Central
     Nervous Systems Stimulation, Including Recreational and
     Medical Uses," in _Cocaine: 1977_, pp. 137-152.
Rich and Ashley, _Cocaine: Its History, Uses, and Effects_
James Wood, "Behavioral Effects of Cocaine in Animals," _Cocaine:
     1977_, pp. 63-95.