Essay about Overview of Cocaine

Cocaine is a naturally occurring alkaloid found in certain varieties of the coca plant. The plant can grow in widely varied climates and soil conditions, though the highest cocaine content is found in plants that are

Cocaine is one of the oldest, most powerful and most dangerous stimulants in the world. This powerfully addictive drug effects over 35 million people In the United States. Cocaine addiction prevents a person from being a productive member in our society. It also increases the cost for law enforcement and treatment facilities. It rapidly decreases the workplace, increases the homeless rate and needless deaths on a daily basis.

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?”).

Addiction of cocaine has proven to be a lifetime addiction and there is always a possibility for relapse even after years of curtailment. These drugs have the ability to alter the physical makeup of the brain.

In America, Cocaine dependence is an issue which involves nearly every one in three drug related emergency hospital visits, having various personal and social economic impacts (Martell, Orson et al. 2009). Many individuals who suffer have been found to have impaired cognitive functions and manifest a myriad of biological and neurological dysfunctions. The relationship between cocaine and cocaine dependence on brain physiology is its effects on particular brain regions and receptors leading to synaptic plasticity mediating altered ability of learning and consolidation [pic](Martinez, Narendran et al. 2007; Thomas, Kalivas et al. 2008; Mameli, Halbout et al.

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.

I would like to talk about a brief history of amphetamines and cocaine and the withdrawal symptoms associated with both drugs. Amphetamines first appeared in the 1920’s to treat hay fever and the common cold. In the 1930’s the drug was converted into an inhaler to better reach the bronchial sacs of the lungs. The drug was used to treat multiple diseases such as narcolepsy and addictions to other drugs. It was in 1939 that researchers found that amphetamine based drugs were causing harmful effects due to the abuse of the drug. At first the drug was taken by removing the cartridge from the inhaler and dissolving it in liquid and ingesting it. In 1937 amphetamines were approved for pill form. In the 1950’s there was high demand for the pills as they were used mainly to stay awake. Military soldiers, high school students, and truck drivers all used it for this purpose. Cocaine first came to light in the 1880’s. 1905 was when it first became popular to snort the substance instead of ingestion

Cocaine is an intense, euphoria-producing stimulant drug with strong addictive potential (Drug Enforcement Administration). Cocaine is derived from the coca plant grown in Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia. When injected, snorted, or smoked it blocks the reuptake of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain that causes a “rush” through the body. There are two forms of cocaine, freebase and crack. This illicit drug, when used, will increase the heart rate, blood pressure, dilate the pupils, insomnia, and loss of appetite. People who use cocaine may seem excited and may act more confident than when they weren’t under the influence. Cocaine use alters the mental state of the individual who is using and causes paranoia, poor judgment, delusions and hallucinations. Those who have a been using for a long time will often have a runny nose or sometimes nose bleeds. In addition, their craving for the drug will intensify which often results in need for higher doses. Some of the street slang names you may hear is coke, crack, soda and nose candy (Hanson, G. et al, 2015).

Dopaminergic system: One of the main neurobilógicos systems involved in addiction to cocaine is the brain reward system (brain reward pathway), and dopamine its most important neurotransmitter (Koob, Le Moal, 1997). The dopaminégicos brain neurons that circuit are preferably located in the ventral tegmental area, projecting above for the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex (Tzschentke, 2001). The liberation of dopamine in these areas is involved with reward and positive reinforcement for certain type of behavior is well known that the action of cocaine causes such effect. Physiologically, these brain regions are activated when the individual performs a behavior closely related to their survival or their species, for example, to feed, quench thirst, have sex, take care of younger individuals. When cocaine increases dopamine release in these brain regions of reward, the body misinterprets the drug is related to their survival mechanisms, going to seek it incessantly (Koob, Le Moal, 2001). As mentioned, substance dependence relates also to the psychological profile of the consumer and to the environment where it is inserted. Adolescence is a difficult time for a large

Cocaine is produced as a white chunky powder extracted from the leaves of the coca plant, which is indigenous to South America. It is a brain stimulant and one of the most highly addictive drugs. Cocaine stimulates the brain's reward system inducing an even greater feeling of pleasure than natural functions.

This paper will provide a brief history and description of cocaine and explain its addictive qualities from both a biological and neurological perspectives. It will also explain the neurological affects that causes its addictive qualities. Clinical issues discussing cocaine abuse treatments will be reviewed considering the process of the neurotransmitters that contribute to cocaine addictive behaviors and the medical treatments designed to help with the withdrawal symptoms, cravings, and the impulsive nature of the drug. In addition, ethical issues and the future outlook of the drug will be examined. Lastly, the paper entails spiritual aspects of drug addiction, and how it impacts one’s choice of freedom, and offers consideration

The drug that this article discusses is cocaine. Cocaine is a very strong agonistic stimulant that is often used as a recreational drug. The second most frequently used illegal drug, cocaine is commonly administered by intravenous injection, snorting and inhalation. Some of the symptoms of the physiological toxicity that may come from consuming cocaine include a fast heart rate, sweating, and large pupils, as well as very high blood pressure or body temperature when consuming high doses. These effects usually begin within seconds of consumption and usually last between five minutes and ninety minutes. The symptoms of the behavioral toxicity often disillusion from reality, mood swings, an intense feeling of bliss, or anxiety. Withdrawals may result in dysphoria, physical aches and pains, depression, cravings and anxiety. The neurotransmitter that is affected by cocaine is dopamine ("How Cocaine affects the Brain").

Cocaine is a stimulant. It affects the neurotransmitter called dopamine. In a normal situation dopamine is a response to pleasure; after the dopamine gets released it is then recycled back into the cell once dopamine has been recycled the feeling of pleasure go’s away. Cocaine is used to prevent dopamine from being recycled, and because it can no longer be recycled large amounts of dopamine build up between neutrons. These high amounts of dopamine disrupts normal brain activity leading to a high

From being a drug that could help with depression, to causing many people negative effects on the body, including death, cocaine is a highly addictive stimulant mostly used to alter person's mental state. It has been greatly researched. Once addicted, getting yourself to stop can be difficult. Quitting can sometimes that mean you're putting your life at risk. Cocaine floods your brain with dopamine serotonin and on epinephrine. Dopamine is responsible for word and motivation, serotonin is your pot responsible for our emotional states and moods, and none epinephrine for arousal. Once we accommodate our brains to receiving these feelings, the difficulty of going back is intense without the cocaine that you have tricked your brain into believing

Have you ever been on an energy high or sugar high?You think everything is funny? Are you having so much fun?So do you ever want it to stop? That is what cocaine does to you it can make everything in your life better, but only for a short amount of time.When the high fades away, you crave it some more. Cocaine is very dangerous to insert into your body in various ways. Cocaine has been around for many years it is not a newly discovered drug. There are recovery options but it can be hard to stay sober for a long period of time. Cocaine is a very addictive drug because it is a stimulant and directly dangers many parts of the body, but there is treatment although difficult.