What Is Cocaine?

Cocaine is the strongest natural stimulant. An alkaloid, cocaine is obtained from the leaves of Erythroxylon coca and other species of Erythroxylon. The plant or bush grows naturally in Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, but is also cultivated in other countries. The coca plant has been cultivated for centuries. Initially, priests for the purpose of inducing trances in ancient Incan civilizations used the leaves of the coca plant. Priests believed these trances allowed them to receive prophecies. Because of these beliefs, common use by Incan society was forbidden. Years later, peasant laborers began chewing coca leaves. Chewing coca leaves hid the effects of working at high altitudes where oxygen is scarce and the temperature is low. The coca leaves raise the body temperature, supply energy, and reduce hunger and fatigue. Individual coca leaves contain only a small amount of cocaine, but extraction and purification of cocaine produces a stronger, mind-altering drug.

What Are The Medical Uses For Cocaine?

Cocaine was as popular in the 1800s as it is now, with one difference: in the 1800s it was thought to be a wonder drug of great medicinal value, we have long since discovered the difference. During the 1880s, Sigmund Freud, the pioneer of psychiatry, performed laboratory experiments on the effects of cocaine. Freud did play a significant role in the development of the Western cocaine-industry. “I take very small doses of it regularly and against depression and against indigestion, and with the most brilliant success”, he observed. Drug giants Merck and Parke Davies both paid Freud to endorse their rival brands. Freud wrote several enthusiastic papers on cocaine, notably “Über Coca”(On Cocaine)(1884). Freud predicted new beneficial uses for cocaine obviously he was mistaken. Freud abandoned his study of cocaine when a colleague developed a psychosis from continued high doses, and died. In 1902, after years of work to determine its chemical structure, Richard Willstatter synthesized cocaine. Further research confirmed that cocaine is a stimulant to the central nervous system. Its anesthetic properties earned it a place in surgery and dentistry. However, the disadvantages of cocaine use prompted chemists to produce other, less harmful drugs. Novocaine is the most notable drug which replaced cocaine. Novocaine is more soluble than cocaine, but not as toxic. Doctors and dentists use it as a local anesthetic.

What Are The Effects Of Cocaine?

Cocaine produces a brief, but intense, euphoria (high) followed by severe depression. The empty feeling that follows the euphoria leaves many users wanting to regain the high. Because of this mind-altering effect, the cycle of cocaine use becomes obsessive and very addictive.Research has discovered cocaine works by stimulating the brain. Once ingested, cocaine quickly travels to the brain, which in response releases or actually displaces dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical, a neurotransmitter that makes humans feel pleasure. Unlike the natural release of dopamine, cocaine prevents the brain from reabsorbing the dopamine, causing extreme euphoria. As a result, the brain is depleted of dopamine, which causes the severe depression after the cocaine has dissipated. Along with stimulating the brain, cocaine also stimulates the digestive tract, cardiovascular system, and central nervous system. Cocaine users increase the risk of sudden heart attacks (regardless of age) from this stimulation. Cocaine increases the heartbeat, blood pressure, and strains the heart muscles by constricting the blood vessels. This stress can cause the heart to beat irregularly which can cause severe chest pain. Even first time users may experience seizures or heart attacks, which can be fatal.

What is Crack And Freebase?

Crack and freebase are forms of cocaine made by chemically altering it to a purer, cheaper form suitable for smoking in a pipe. Because of the increase in purity, crack and freebase are more lethal than cocaine, also due to a direct route to the brain via the lungs it is more addictive. Users call it crack for the cracking sound it makes when smoked. Other users call it rock, for its similarity to small chips of stone.

What Are The Effects Of Crack And Freebase?

Inhaled through a pipe, crack and freebase reach the lungs and brain faster than regular cocaine, which must be absorbed in the blood from membrane tissue. Crack and freebase effects are dramatic. The euphoria is greater, the depression more severe. The side effects are even more dangerous, and the chances of dependence are significantly higher. What is Speedball? A Speedball is cocaine/crack mixed with heroin. This highly addictive mixture is emerging as the drug of choice among some abusers. Cocaine users use speedball’s to prevent the depression after they have used cocaine or crack. The result: they become addicted to both cocaine/crack and heroin.

The Heartbreak Of Cocaine Abuse

Cocaine abusers believe they can hide their addiction. However, physical signs soon become noticeable. Cocaine users typically have runny noses, frequent upper respiratory infections, and severe mood swings. When ingesting cocaine, individuals may stay awake for hours or even days. Some cocaine users spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on cocaine and crack each week and will do anything to support their habit. Many turn to drug selling, prostitution, or other crimes. Cocaine becomes the most important thing in their lives. This obsession overrides everything – family, friends, career, everything but perhaps the money they need to buy more cocaine.

Cocaine And Violence

The violence associated with cocaine has turned many neighborhoods into war zones. Drug users commit crimes to get money for drugs. Gangs resort to violence to establish and maintain drug monopolies in areas where profits are high and competition is intense. But, cocaine or crack alone can induce violent behavior in users.