Cocaine Research Paper

Cocaine originated from coca leaves grown in South America. People in South America tried the coca leaves. Due to the energy boost it gave them they had a feeling that there were drugs in the leaves. They then tested their theory. The test was putting the leaves in a special liquid and letting them dry out. They turned out to be right when they saw a powdery substance. This is how cocaine was first made. It now continues to be made with higher technology. The way they make it now is that they shrivel out the leaf like before. Then they compact the powder together to make cocaine. After the powder is made they refine it even more to make crack cocaine. Cocaine itself is very addicting. Crack cocaine is an even more addicting drug.

The powder cocaine is heated and a solid material isolates the boiling assortment. Next, it is removed and dried

Crack has an effect on the part of the brain that is known as the rewards center. It is the part that makes us happy. Normally how this works is the brain will release dopamine, a feel good chemical neurotransmitter, in response to potential rewards that are coming its way. It will then be recycled back into the same cell that released it. The signal between nerve cells shuts off, then the cycle is then repeated. When someone puts crack cocaine into their body, the cocaine gets sent up to the brain through the bloodstream. It then will attach itself to the dopamine, preventing the dopamine from recycling. This causes it all to build up between the nerve cells and be released all at once, resulting in the powerful rushed high feeling people get. This lasts anywhere between 5 minutes to a half hour. After using it one time, people can become addicted. However, with each use the pleasurable feelings fade away, making people want a bigger dosage, which could lead to a negative

Cocaine is one of the most destructive and addictive drugs in recent history. The use of cocaine and other narcotics often results in incarceration and even death. This is the story of a form of Cocaine called Crack and the results of one's affiliation with this highly addictive substance.

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.

The coca leaf does not yield the potency to deliver any type of overwhelming effect. The coca leaf in natural form gives the similar effect that a well caffeinated cup of coffee would (Arts and Entertainment Network). It wasn’t until Albert Niemann, a German scientist, extracted and processed the coca leaf ingredients, would it become a potent drug. In 1860, Niemann would rename the results of his extraction, cocaine (Arts and Entertainment Network).

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.

It is composed of many functional groups, which explain for the different types of functions. Cocaine has an educational background both in science and in history. It has been used recreationally throughout history and made its way to the European continent and other areas after the European colonized in South America. The native people of South America used to chew on coca leaves to extract the compound and use it as a source for energy and power to complete daily tasks. There is also evidence of the natives using this coca leave for medicine. The medicine component behind cocaine dates back to centuries ago. The skeletal remains show that some people used to chew on it as they were going through a medical procedure. These people had residue left in their cheekbones, and there was a hole in their skull. This signified that the people went through a medical procedure to get treatment for brain illnesses. The ones without these holes show that it was being used recreationally. It has a rich, detailed scientific background as many people sought to uncover the pure substance. Uncovering the pure substance only lead to further advancement in medicine; Cocaine was being used as a local anesthetic. People further went on to create derivatives of cocaine, which are the more popular anesthetics used in medicine right now. Some of these anesthetics include Benzocaine and Lidocaine. These anesthetics are typically used to treat ulcers. Cocaine, today, seems to be more of a social issue due to numerous people abusing the drug and getting addicted. It is evident that there are beneficial and detrimental uses of the drug. Cocaine can cause harm when it is abused or used in the wrong way. It can lead to serious complications and consequences. However, Cocaine also has great application in the medical field. It can be used as a good way and lead to many

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 has been around for thousands of years in different forms. For over a thousand years South American indigenous peoples have chewed coca leaves which they discovered made them stronger and more energized. Although the stimulant properties of coca had been known for many centuries, the isolation of the cocaine from the leaf was not achieved until 1855.

What is Cocaine? Cocaine comes from the leaves of coco plants. Cocaine is high addict

Cocaine is a powerful central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that heightens alertness, inhibits appetite and the need for sleep, and provides intense feelings of pleasure. It is prepared from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia.

National Geographic short film on cocaine is a video detailing brief history of cocaine, how it is made, its users, its traffickers, and how governments, particularly the U.S. government and Felipe Calderón, Mexico’s president’s efforts in fighting the war on drugs. The video along with our text discusses that cocaine is made from coca plant often grown in South America specifically Colombia as demonstrated in the video. About 1 ton of cocaine is produced globally and over half of all cocaine is produced in Colombia (National Geographic, 2016). An example of this can be seen in the farmer in the video who grows coca in order to care for his family. Andres, the peasant farmer in Colombia, demonstrated the process of how cocaine is extracted which aligned with how our text presented this process.

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

There are a couple ways that people use cocaine. The two most popular ways includes snorting it and rubbing it on one’s gums (NIDA 2016). It is a white powder so