Drug use is not something that just happens overnight. There are many things that led up to a person deciding they want to try a drug for the first time. It might be that they were exposed to it at an early age and perceived it to be the norm to use them. They might have experienced peer pressure at a party or just wanted to fit in with a certain crowd. Or they may have gotten a prescription for one and liked the high they felt when they were on it so they wanted to find a way to continue feeling that same high. Each situation is different, and the drugs that were most likely used in each scenario are also going to be different. A drug that is rather common for someone to be exposed to from an early age is cocaine. Cocaine is classified …show more content…
Then the coca paste is dissolved in a small amount of dilute sulfuric acid and potassium permanganate is added (How Cocaine Is Made. (n.d.).
When cocaine is in this form it is most often snorted or mixed with water and injected into the blood stream. The high people get from cocaine use does not last very long, which is what causes them to binge use, and why addiction can be caused so quickly. The user is constantly chasing that initial high and wanting it to last longer. Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant that increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in brain circuits regulating pleasure and movement (Cocaine (2013, April). It can also cause bursts of energy, talkativeness, increased heart rate and blood pressure, dilated pupils, and increased body temperature. The most serious side effect can be death if the manufacturing process was not done correctly.
Learning theory is probably the best explanation as to why one would chose to use cocaine. Cocaine produces a high that can be rewarding because of the euphoria it produces. When the high wears off the user experiences a crash and wants the high back. They have learned through continued use that in order to get the euphoric feeling they must continue to use the drug. Although chemicals such as cocaine might initially have been used for social reasons, the substances ' ability to provide physiological and psychological
There are many factors such as biology, environment and development that results in the persons initial introduction into the world of drugs. Drug abuse may start as a way to socially connect. More often than not people try drugs for the first time in social
Cocaine works by temporarily blocking dopamine transporters in the brain, leaving the synaptic cleft built up with excess dopamine, causing the cell to get overstimulated. This effects the reward center of the brain, making the user feel a sensation of positive feelings for a short amount of time, therefore making it highly addictive. Moving onto methamphetamine (meth), in my opinion, by far the worst drug out off all the others in this experiment. Meth is introduced to the body through inhalation or injection, causing the dopamine transporters in the brain to start working in reverse. Due to this, dopamine floods the synapse causing the body to have intense sensations of happiness and pleasure for a short period of time.
The short term effects of the crack includes: higher breathing rate, elevated blood pressure, soaring heart rate, compressed blood vessels, lack of appetite, dilated pupils, extreme euphoria for both casual and heavy users. The long term effects are the following: depression, violent, fearful performances, hallucinations, bad temper, psychosis, heart attack/stroke, sterility (for both men and women), brain convulsion, respiratory malfunction and even death for heavy users! Since crack cocaine is exceedingly addictive, addicts can easily build up tolerance and become addicted in a short time by smoking it constantly. There are many ways to take crack cocaine. Users can smoke through a hand pipe or a water pipe, snort, infuse through vein, or they can combine crack with marijuana, heroin etc (University Of Maryland). While taking crack, users face plenty of risks like: coughing, respiratory bleeding, out of breath, paranoia, lung trauma and many more (“Crack cocaine facts”). Dealers shipped crack cocaine from the Bahamas and the Caribbean to Miami, where the dealers would sell it for lower incomes (“A Complete History of Crack Cocaine”). Anyone can be addicted to crack cocaine – from adults to teens. Crack cocaine is most rampant in urban regions but addicts from rural areas can also be seen. Crack is highly addictive because a user trying for the first time becomes addicted to it and he uses it many times throughout the day. A single dosage is inexpensive but a crack
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.
Coca is one of the oldest, most potent and dangerous stimulants of natural origin. It was first extracted from its leaves and isolated into cocaine in 1859. The drug rapidly became popular. But it took over 20 yrs. before it was popular in the medical community. Then, in 1886, coca leaves were an added ingredient Coca-Cola. Sigmund Freud, who used the drug himself, was the 1st person to promote cocaine as a tonic to cure depression and sexual impotence calling it a “magical” substance. He promoted the drug to friends, one of whom ended up suffering from paranoid hallucinations from it. He also had a patient die from a high dose that he had prescribed. In1905 snorting cocaine became
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
One of the most detrimental and addictive narcotics in the world today is cocaine. Cocaine dates back as early as 3000 BC. Ancient Incas used the coca leaves to counter the effects of living in thin mountain air. Native Peruvians in the 1500’s chewed the plant strictly for religious ceremonies. Andean Indians are believed to chew the leaves of the coca plant to increase their energy for work while decreasing their hunger and pain. It wasn’t until 1859 when a German chemist Albert Niemann successfully extracted the narcotic from the coca leaf. In the 1880’s, it was freely prescribed by physicians for “maladies as exhaustion, depression, and morphine addiction and was available in many patent medicines” (“Cocaine”), until users and doctors began to realize its dangers and side effects. While it was not fully understood at the time, cocaine has many devastating and lasting effects on the user.
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
Historically, coca leaves were chewed by the Andean people as a mild stimulant1. Cocaine is a naturally occurring alkaloid1, derived from coca plant (Erythroxylum coca). Just like any other stimulants, cocaine has a powerful effect on the central nervous system 1 causing sensations of euphoria2 and is highly addictive. The money garnered
Physical effects are many. There are constricted blood vessels, increased temperature, increased heart rate, and an increased blood flow. Cocaine is a drug that hurts the body instantly after intake. It messes up almost every internal organ, and just slowly corrodes it. There’s also a form of enhanced senses. There are things such as greater alertness, more energy, and increased self-confidence. There’s also a sense of increased power in one’s body. Cocaine produces its high affect by activating the nerve cells in the brain that releases dopamine. The dopamine lasts for a while until the user becomes aware of the high. Dopamine causes a chemical that can be traced to that of pleasure and mental alertness. What happens with the dopamine is that parts of the brain receives bits of it and stores it in the brain in this reservoir type of thing. This is why it’s pretty dangerous to take a heavy dose of cocaine. The effects of cocaine may go away temporarily, but due to that reservoir the affects can come and go at any moment, which can cause some mental deterioration. Obviously, the bigger the dose, the longer the effects of the dopamine. The end result is that after intake, the body of the user starts getting
What Is Cocaine and its effect to the society? Cocaine is a coca leaf from a coca tree, the leaf is dried before it is used as the main ingredient to create cocaine. Cocaine is an illegal drug made famous by a Colombian drug cartel, Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria in the early 90’s. This drug also known as coke is used as an ingredient on coca-cola in the early 90’s but later then removed. This drugs mental effect is known to relieve stress, help people forget their problems, experience happiness for no reason, escape reality and many other psychological effects. This drug’s physical effects are heavy sweating, fast heart beat or rate and large pupils. Cocaine is sometimes used especially when the situation is dire during nasal operations to
If you don’t know what cocaine is , it is a highly addictive stimulant that is pleasurable but dangerous short term effects on the body, that eventually will cause a long term ramification. The problems referring towards cocaine abuse has an international effect, therefore cocaine is a problem that society can’t ignore.
gives the user a sense of well-being and extra energy. Cocaine is one of the most
During the 1800’s, cocaine was first created and recognized for its medicinal purposes. “Cocaine is a powerful stimulant drug made from the leaves of the South American coca plant” (“Stimulants”). Cocaine was initially being used as a medicinal drug to reduce the pain of toothaches or as a local anesthesia used for certain surgeries. Shortly after, a new popular drink by the name of “Coca Cola” was created and contained a small amount of cocaine to provide the users with an increase of energy. During this time in the United States the drug was considered to be legal and people of all classes were engaging in risky behavior taking the drug. Around the 1920’s, the United States placed cocaine on the list of narcotics which classified it as a drug making it illegal to use the drug recreationally. By the time cocaine became illegal thousands of Americans had already grown a dependency towards the drug and would seek it out on the black market to feed their addiction and not go into withdrawals. In recent years, cocaine use has become an epidemic being one of the most used drugs in the United States, second to marijuana. An addiction to cocaine can have detrimental effects on the human body.
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.