Essay about Overview of Cocaine

Cocaine’s mode of action has been shown to involve the dopamine receptors. This paper will discuss how cocaine affects dopamine receptors, the mode of addiction, how cocaine affects the frontal brain metabolic activities, as well as the role of excitatory amino acids in cocaine’s mechanism. I will also discuss how cocaine affects another system through its mechanism on the brain—the renin angiotensin system.

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.

As a coach, I had a player, who was very polite and worked hard in practice. She was very timid around other teammates. She would stop in to talk to me and never had friends that I could see her relate to. Trying to fit in desperately, she was happy to be included in the “social” activities in college. She got pregnant and her boy friend and her were arrested for conspiracy to deliver cocaine and both sentenced to prison. This course states cocaine can cause an initial rush of pleasure that makes you alert, talkative and confident. With prolonged exposure to meth and cocaine, it can destroy up to 50% of dopamine – producing neurons in certain parts of the brain. This can lead to irreversible symptons of Parkinson’s disease. (Cocaine handout) After several letters from her in prison, she thanked me for being a good listener. I know her family closed their eyes thinking it’s not an addiction, but a social activity that they can quit at any time. This course explains how a higher level of dopamine on a regular basis is needed just to keep you feeling normal. Cocaine can make people feel paranoid, angry and hostile even when they are not high. Prolonged use causes sleep deprivation and loss of appetite. A person can become psychotic and experience hallucinations. It increases the risk that the user will experience a heart attack, stroke, or respiratory failure which can result in sudden death. (Foundation for a Drug-Free

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

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").

Dopamine (DA) for many years has been understood to be a key neurotransmitter governing the reward response in regards to drug addiction. Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter which is known to act on five know types of receptors ranging from D1-D5, and is produced is multiple locations of the brain with DA release from the midbrain having a central role in reward and drug dependence (Kim, Inoue et al. 2007) . It has been found that DA levels rapidly change after substance abuse, in which levels of DA are up regulated after administration of a large array of drugs, including that of cocaine, which leads to eventual blunting of the DA levels after prolonged use and onset of the cocaine addiction. A study performed by Martinez and Narendran (2007) had found that individuals who were cocaine dependent had marked reductions in the D2 and D3 receptors binding sites available, with individuals who had more blunted receptors have a positive correlation in selecting a cocaine of a higher dosage. Within the same study it was also found that when subjects were offered a voucher of five dollars or cocaine with a street level less than five dollars, individuals with greater levels of dopamine deficits would still select the cocaine. Findings show the relationship and importance of dopamine and control of maladaptive behaviors related to addiction and inability to change behavior despite understanding

Cocaine has been used for centuries by Indians. In the mid 1800’s its effects were praised among others. Until 1906, this substance was a chief ingredient of Coca-Cola and was also used as a anesthetic. The danger associated with cocaine was ignored in the 1970s and early 1980s, and cocaine was proclaimed by many to be safe.

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

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

With $85 billion in the worldwide sales, and 21 million users, cocaine is still one of the top drugs of choice for many Americans. Even though the US market has fallen from the 1980’s crazy, $134 billion in market sales, to the lowly $35 billion in sales in 2008, Americas thrust for “THAT COCA” is still a major issue for the communities and societies as a whole, in 2015. In this paper, I am going to take you on my journey and experiences with the cocaine epidemic of the 80’s, 90’s, and all the way to the year 2015.

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.

Cocaine is a highly addictive drug that is significantly abused worldwide, even though it has many devastating effects to the human body, both short and long term.

The drug Cocaine alters chemical levels in the brain which can lead the user to have the ‘feel good’ factor.

When cocaine is used for a long period of time, it creates dependence to it, because the tolerance to it also increases. Cocaine abusers will fill the withdrawals associated with it, and think they will need another dose. Only the next time, they decide to increase the dose, because it doesn’t quite feel as potent as before. By doing this, and increasing dosages, cocaine abusers are setting themselves up for addiction. Then they feel that there is no way out simply because they can’t deal with the withdrawal