Cocaine Research Paper
4/10/2015
Alexis M Cecena
Alexis M cecena
Professor Ibarra
Health 1050, life, society, and drugs.
5 April 2015
Coca is one of the oldest, most potent and most dangerous stimulants in the natural origin.
Cocaine was first extracted from coca leaves by a German chemist name Albert Niemann, not
until the 1880’s did cocaine get popular in medicine and Albert Niemann calling it a “magical”
substance. (Drug free world/ international statistics)
“magical substance” that could cure depression and sexual impotence, Albert then began
prescribing cocaine to his friends and girlfriend for general use, Albert had thought that cocaine
had led to physical and moral decadence so kept promoting cocaine use to more friends one
whom ended up suffering from hallucinations of snakes creeping over his skin.
Albert believed that the toxic dose for cocaine was very high and seemed to think there was no
lethal dose, which after one of Albert’s patients died from a high dosage Albert prescribed. Later
in 1886 the popularity of cocaine got bigger and that is when the coca leaves were added as an
ingredient in Coca-Cola. in to the early 1900’s cocaine was broadly used by people of all social
classes which increased the use in society and all the dangers from cocaine became more evident
which is why coca cola was pressured in to removing the coca leaves from their soft drinks in
1903.
In 1905 it had become more popular for users to snort cocaine and within five years hospitals
and medical facilities had reported cases of nasal damage from the use of cocaine which
officially banned cocaine use in 1912 after the United States government reported 5000 cocaine
related deaths in one year. In the 1970’s Columbian drug traffickers began setting up elaborate
network for cocaine smuggling.
cocaine was nicknamed a rich man’s drug because of the expense of habit but soon after that
cocaine was no longer thought of as a rich man’s drug and by then cocaine had a reputation of
the most dangerous addictive drugs in America linked with crime, poverty and death.
In the 1990’s Columbian drug cartels produced 500 to 800 tons of cocaine a year shipping to the
United States, Europe, and Asia. The largest cartels were dismantled by law enforcement
agencies in the mid 1990’s but were then replaced by smaller groups with more than 300 knows
active drug smuggling organizations, by 2008 cocaine had become the second most trafficking
illegal drug in the world (webmd.com)
Cocaine is used in several different ways, the powder form of cocaine is generally snorted, the
powder can be mixed with water and dissolved to be injected, or there is the rock form which is
called crack which is smoked. It is shown in research that cocaine creates one of the greatest
psychological dependence of any drug, cocaine stimulates the key pleasure centers within the
brain and causes extremely heightened euphoria.
cocaine users tolerance develops quickly, the addict soon fails to achieve the same high
experience as they once had before and begin mixing cocaine with other drugs like tranquilizers,
amphetamines, marijuana, and ,heroin to achieve a bigger high then they would achieve just off
of cocaine.
Some short term effects of cocaine would be a short-lived intense high that immediately follows
with depression, edginess and cravings for more cocaine, users of cocaine often don’t sleep or
eat on the drug, users also experience fast heart rate, muscle spasms and convulsions. This drug
makes its users feel paranoid, angry, hostile, and anxious even if the user is no longer
experiencing a high. Cocaine users increase their risk of heart attack, stroke, seizures respiratory
failure or sudden death by using too much of cocaine.
Some of the dangerous long term effects of cocaine are the constriction of blood vessels,
increased body temperature, Raised heart rate and blood pressure. Cocaine can cause headaches
and gastrointestinal complications such as abdominal pain and nausea. users have to take larger
and larger amounts of cocaine to feel the same high, which in turn causes sleep deprivation, loss
of appetite, Because cocaine users have a decrease in appetite they tend to be malnourished.
They experience liver/kidney damage, destruction in nose tissue if snorted, infections and
diseases if injected, tooth decay, sexual problems such as infertility, confused exhaustion, and
depression.
One neurotransmitter that is affected by cocaine would be dopamine; dopamine is released by
neurons in the limbic system which is the part of the brain that controls feelings and pleasure.
Cocaine when used blocks the dopamine transporter and then builds up in the synapse, which
causes the user to experience a extra sense of pleasure for a short time.
Cocaine users lose some dopamine receptors so after abusing the drug they are sad and have a
hard time experiencing natural pleasures. Cocaine prevents dopamine from being recycled
causing excessive amounts of it to build up in the synapse between neurons which amplifies the
high of cocaine this leads to repeated cocaine use that affects the brains reward system as well as
other brain systems, which could lead to addiction. (webmd.com)
Citations
National Institute on Drug Abuse. Cocaine Retrieved from
http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/mind-over-matter/cocaine on March 1, 2015
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/cocaine-use-and-its-effects
http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/cocaine/international-statistics.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/cocaine
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cocaine.html