Cocaine : Drugs And Drugs

What is Cocaine? Cocaine is the most powerful stimulant of natural origin. It is taken from the leaves of the coca plant which is native to the Andean highlands of South America. It is a potent brain stimulant and one of the most addictive drugs. In ancient times, South American natives used coca for religious and medicinal purposes. The natives took advantage of cocaine’s stimulant properties to fight fatigue and hunger or to enhance endurance.

Cocaine (coke) is made from the Erythroxylon coca plant, a coca tree that grows high in the Andes Mountains of South America. The coca farmers' purpose is to pick and

Crack cocaine has been popular since the 1970s and mid 1980s. Crack cocaine is not a new drug; this drug is obtained from coca plant which grows mainly in South America. For many years, the native South American Indians chewed its leaves to develop strength and increased energy. By the 1800s, the cocaine was secluded from its leaves and used as a medicinal drug. By the late 1800s, it was used as an anesthetic and to avert surgical hemorrhage. The next century, people recognized crack cocaine an addictive narcotic and its non-medical use of the drug was ended by the Harrison Narcotics Act in 1914 (“How crack cocaine works?”).

Cocaine is a naturally occurring substance deriving from the Erythroxylum coca plant. The coca plant is autogenous to Indonesia, South America, Mexico and the West Indies. Historically, many cultures have utilized coca leaves for religious and ceremonial applications. Cocaine itself remains prevalent in literary and artist works of many cultures and continues to be represented in archeological finds around the world. In South America the leaves were often chewed to help the indigenous tribes overcome hunger. To many other civilizations it was considered a sacred gift from the gods. Cocaine was often used as local anesthetic for a plethora of ailments.

Cocaine originated from South America, from coca leaves. Originally, the coca leaves were chewed by workers to decrease fatigue, improve endurance and have a greater resistance to the cold. This was to benefit the workers so they could work longer hours and be more productive. In 1855 the active ingredient in cocaine was isolated from the leaves, and in 1880 it was used as a local anesthetic (Nunes,2006). It was also used in coca cola. In 1855, coca cola was a soda beverage that contained sixty milligrams of cocaine for every eight ounces of the beverage. The idea behind this was to give people energy and a sense of well being (Nunes, 2006). By the late 1880s Sigmund Freud was using cocaine regularly and was even recommending it to others.

Today, cocaine is commonly derived from the coca plant that is most commonly grown in Columbia but also Peru and Bolivia. It is harvested and processed into a “coca paste” which the base of is extracted and turned into the white powder form of cocaine. Once the powder is made it is often mixed with laundry detergent, laxatives, or boric acid to cut down the potency and have more to distribute. Cocaine can be used snorting, smoking, injecting or swallowed. The United States outlawed cocaine in the early 1920’s but it wasn’t until the 1970’s and middle of the 1980’s that cocaine was at

Cocaine’s primary effect on the brain is to produce “psychoactive and addictive effects primarily by acting on the brain’s limbic system, a set of interconnected regions that regulate pleasure and motivation. Initial, short- term effect- a buildup of the neurochemical, dopamine which gives rise to euphoria and a desire to take the drug again”(Nestler, 2005, p.4). This is normally seen in some individuals that draw in the drug like through inhaling. It gives them an instant increase in blood, and brain levels. It causes the individual to become addicted to this substance. Cocaine is thought to produce pleasure/reward like any addicted drug

Crack cocaine, aka benzoylmethylecgonine, is one of the most addicting and deadly drugs. It has many negative effects on the body, especially the nervous system. The effects on the user are usually long-lasting and irreversible. It is classified as a stimulant drug, meaning that it excites any bodily function. Stimulants usually target more of the brain and nervous system, which can cause higher alertness, an elevated mood, wakefulness, increased speech and motor activity and a decrease in appetite. Crack cocaine has many nicknames, which includes crack, snow coke, nose candy, and stardust. Crack cocaine can be used in various ways, for example it could be snorted with its original white powder, smoked, or injected directly into the bloodstream. It is mainly snorted so it can be absorbed fast by the nasal tissues. When people smoke crack, it gets inhaled into the lungs, just as quick as getting it injected directly into your vein. The main

Cocaine that has been processed with ammonia or soda and is transformed into a smokable form is often referred to as crack. Habitual crack abuse can have devastating effects on a person, and the signs are often obvious. Below is a list of some of the possible crack abuse signs:

Cocaine Hydrochloride in the early 20th century was used in many ways. Some may say that small doses were added to the drink Coca Cola, that’s where the name come from. I feel as if this is true because Coca Cola is slightly addictive. The original formula of coca cola did have 25mg of cocaine per 100ml of drink. That formula was used as a stimulant for headaches. Cocaine Hydrochloride was an ingredient in patent medicines, tonics, elixirs, and fluid extracts. With the right amount it could save and cure you but if you were given more than needed you would get addicted. Doctors knew what would happen to a patient if they were given to much therefore they created something called the Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914.

Cocaine also known as crack cocaine is a stimulant drug, a stimulant raises one’s heart rate, attention and awareness and breathing. Stimulants were used to treat respiratory issues but is now prescribed for individuals with ADHD. In the 1800’s is when cocaine began to be seen as an addicting substance due it’s mood-altering effects on one’s brain. Cocaine can be inhaled through a pipe, when in powder form it can be snorted, and some individuals inject the drug into their bloodstream through intermuscular or intravenously. Individuals that use cocaine repeatedly use the drug within a short time span between each time used so that the euphoric high stays longer. The effects that cocaine has on the central nervous system is so

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug. For thousands of years, people in South America have chewed and ingested coca leaves (Erythroxylon coca), the source of cocaine, for their stimulant effects. The purified chemical, cocaine hydrochloride, was isolated from the plant more than 100 years ago. In the early 1900s, purified cocaine was the main active ingredient in many tonics and elixirs developed to treat a wide variety of illnesses and was even an ingredient in the early formulations of Coca-Cola. Before the development of synthetic local anesthetic, surgeons used cocaine to block pain. However, research has since shown that cocaine is a powerfully addictive substance that can alter brain structure and function if used

Cocaine– It comes in two forms. The powder and the crack form. The powder form is a pure white powder that is also known as hydrochloride salt in the medical world. Drug dealers may mix this powder with other drugs, chemicals or anesthetics to give the individual less sensation to pain in a particular area.

Cocaine can be identified as a white powder which can then be snorted up a person’s nose, an alternative method to taking is to inject directly into the blood stream. Crack Cocaine comes about by chemically altering the Cocaine powder to form hard crystals, which can be known as ‘rocks’.

Cocaine is a to a great degree addictive and poisonous drug. Individuals who are dependent on cocaine will much of the time do whatever it takes to get a greater amount of the drug, paying little respect to the dangers or results. Utilizing cocaine can bring about genuine wellbeing issues and may prompt death, ordinarily from cardiovascular failure, stroke, or seizure. Around 15 percent of individuals in the U.S. have attempted cocaine (National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA]). Cocaine is otherwise called coke, C, chip, snow, break, or blow. It is gotten from the coca plant, which is local to South America.