Cocaine
Tenzin Choephel
HLTH – 1050
Professor Gustavo Ibarra
4/07/2015
Tenzin Choephel
Prof. Gustavo Ibarra
HLTH-1050
4/02/2015
Cocaine
Coke, flake, powder, coca… there are many types of names that represent cocaine.
Dating back to the indigenous people in South America, cocaine has traveled long and far,
reaching all across world. Who is to blame for the abuse of such drug that gives extreme
euphoria, able to focus, relaxation, creativity...etc. basically a drug that puts you in a state of
mind where everything is more enjoyable.
Time traveling back to around 3000 B.C. the Inca people would take bundles of dried
coca bush leaves and place them inside their mouth between the cheek and teeth. Moving it
around with their tongue ever so gently, the salvia would then start to mix in with the juice from
the coca bush. Some Indians used this for centuries as part of their religious ceremonies,
believing that it gave them special powers. Others that worked in the silver mines up north of the
Andes, chewed coca to relieve their body from pain, fatigue and respiratory problems.
How cocaine works is as a dose of cocaine is taken, three neurotransmitters are released
into the brain (serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine). Normally the chemicals are taken back
once they have been released but cocaine stops this from happening, which means those
neurotransmitters are built up in the brain. This is what causes acute effects like
euphoric/rewarding as well as a fearful and jittery feelings. The high that is felt lasts up to a
couple of hours depending on the amount of consumption. Cocaine is known for fast, intense
feeling of power, energy, and often invincibility.
After a famous psychologist named Sigmund Freud discovered cocaine in the 1800’s, he
began to promote the drug as a, “safe and useful tonic that could cure depression and sexual
impotence.’ Without knowing the full side-effects, cocaine was something you could casually do
since it was soon sold over-the-counter. As it became widely known, cocaine was found in
different kinds of products such as Cocaine Toothache Drops, Coca Wine, Stickney and Poors,
Vapor-OL Treatment, and even Coca-Cola.
Other than buying products that has cocaine in them, some people managed to find ways
to take cocaine purely. Freebase (usually a white powdery form) cocaine is snorted through the
nose going directly to the brain. Continuous snorting could result to loss of smell, nose bleeds,
and problems with swallowing, hoarseness, nose deterioration and so forth. Another method is
injection, the dangers of this is that it gives off a much stronger high, shared needles could lead
to you having STD’s, risk of infection, and the worse is that it could lead you to over-dosing
because of the difficulty of knowing just how much is being used. The last way of taking cocaine
is smoking it, reaching ultimate high within split seconds. Smoking can cause shortness of
breath, lung damage, and bleeding.
Once realizing the dangers of cocaine in the 1890’s, it was slowly banned from any
products that contained such drug. Having reported that 5,000 people have suffered from nasal
damage in 1910, cocaine was banned in the US unless the use was for medical purposes only.
But this didn’t stop people from getting in contact, during the 1940’s, 50’s, and parts of the 60’s
the smuggling of cocaine was very limited but still reached to those who wanted more. By then
the popularity of cocaine have skyrocketed.
When sniffing the cocaine became obsolete in the 1960’s, 1970’s, people turned to
towards a different option to receive a stronger high. Once mixing the substance with water they
began to inject themselves with cocaine, letting it flow through the blood stream and slowly get a
better high. For some, this method was an unwilling or unable trial because there were scared
they didn’t hit the right spot, missing the veins. Not too far apart in time after injection became
something people used to do, inhaling freebase cocaine came into the picture. This state of drug
was known to be very dangerous since it is mixed with explosive solvents such as ether, and
heating it. The reason to why is because the solvents tend to ignite causing some sort of
explosion.
Once you press your lips on the pipe or snorted your first line or even injected your veins
with this deadly substance, you are sure to become a cocaine addict. The first hit you take is the
first high you ever feel unless you consult to taking an increase amount the next time. The rush
of euphoria is unimaginable, that is what keeps people from going away. Knowing you can do
anything is what any mankind would want to feel. That is one reason addicts continue to go
back. Back they lack of the awareness that it does to their body and mind. From nose to skin
deterioration to stealing money from loved ones and others to buy more cocaine. But not
everyone is the same, some people are reached out to and receive help to maintain a regular
lifestyle they once had. Usually it helps them get back on their feet while others relapse.
From past to present day, cocaine is still one of the most abused drugs. Although laws
have been made to stop it from entering the United States, people are still trying to make a living
selling these in the streets. There are mouths to be filled and many people will do anything to fill
them. Drug dealers usually state that they are helping those with addiction’s because of the harsh
environment they are given. Unable to make ends meet or just living day to day through the
struggle, helping them relieve stress. To those that are selling in the streets don’t have any
remorse to what they are doing. Even when some have no money for the substance they give a
sample amount and insist that they pay them back later. When money doesn’t reach the dealer
than the customer is either beaten up or killed because of this drug.
Smuggling of cocaine from Mexico to US is not uncommon to most of us. As the Cartels
find people to transport the drug over the. Most of the transporters are usually threaten for the
lives of their loved ones or their own life’s to make the drug trade. The Cartels are a very big and
dangerous gang in Mexico. They make the rules and have tons and tons of soldier ready to do
anything. Having struggled to transport the goods over to the US, they have come up with
numerous ideas to get them over. An improvised cannon, which shoots cans or pounds of drug
over the border waiting to be picked up from the other side. Speed boats, hauling tons of
substances through the sea traveling to the US shorelines. Believe it or not but implants, a
women surgically put two bags of drugs on her chest as if to look like she had big breasts.
Another way of smuggling drugs is through tunnels that was made underground from Mexico to
the US. Had that has not been found, who knows how many different types of drugs made it over
to the United States. Having been creative to get drugs over the broader, the US and Mexican
law officers are smart enough to notice some things that are far too suspicious and catch it before
it reaches into the wrongs hands.
Cocaine is a hell of a drug, it can do wonders but at the same time it can kill everything
you’ve ever lived up too. Some of the things I’ve found interesting are that prescription drug
abuse has recently passed the abuse of cocaine, which was the leading cause for all drug-related
deaths. Another information I came across is that Coca-Cola once contained actually cocaine in
the drink, giving it the name Coca. When crack cocaine hit the streets it became very popular to
those below the middle-class, due to inexpensively street price and quick rush. Mxing cocaine
with other drugs such as alcohol or marijuana, it can’t increase the euphoria but at the same time
create a larger dysphoria. Last but not least, four out of every five dollar bill a trace of cocaine
can be found.
In conclusion, cocaine is a strong stimulant drug that initiates excitement or happiness to
one’s body, but like every good thing in this world there has to be a downside. In this case the
love for cocaine can last so long before you find yourself in the streets of your town or city,
trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents. Getting caught up with cocaine can lead you to a dark
and deserted path where only your temptations can stop you from getting clean.
Citations
Unknown. "History of Cocaine." Cocaine History. Narconon International: Drug Rehab
Helpline, 2010. Web. 04 Apr. 2015.
Unknown. "How Stimulant Drugs Work." How Stimulant Drugs Work. Bluebelly: How Cocaine
Works the Brain, unknown. Web. 04 Apr. 2015.
Unknown. "History." - In The Know Zone. History of Cocaine and Crack USe, 2011. Web. 05
Apr. 2015.
Spillane, Joseph F. and Barry E. Kosofsky. 2002. Cocaine: From Medical Marvel to Modern
Menace in the United States, 1884-1920. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press
Platt, Jerome J. 1997. Cocaine Addiction: Theory, Research, and Treatment. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press