...drug that falls into this category is Cocaine. Cocaine can be two things; A Coca leaf that is naturally grinded into a powder like substance, or it can be made into a “Crack” rock and smoked by the user. The coca leaf is a naturally grown plant that has natural opium’s in it used for medicines such as morphine and Vicodin. In the United States, approximately 14% of the adults have tried cocaine at least one time in their life if not more. The most common way of using cocaine is to snort a line of it although it is possible to smoke it. The short term effects of cocaine can make any user want to experiment with this drug because it can be a “pick me up”. Cocaine has been said to have increased both energy as well as alertness and can put you in the greatest mood a person can ever be in. Cocaine has also been known to give the user a sense of supremacy like he or she can’t be hurt or is above any other individual. Perks like these can make any individual consider using cocaine on a regular basis. However, these are only the good perks to using the drug. Some other short term effects of using cocaine are extreme irritability, restlessness, paranoia, and bad anxiety. The approximate “high” of using cocaine last usually around 30 minutes but can last for up to two hours sometimes depending on the pureness of the cocaine. Cocaine is responsible for the most drug related hospital visits due to its long term effects. For example, the use of cocaine results in high blood pressure in the...
Words: 1100 - Pages: 5
...Overview of Cocaine Jasmine Wright Research Paper Professor Suh It is a Friday night and your roommates at your dorm invite you to a dorm party. Instead of finishing your homework you decide to join them and put the homework off for tomorrow. You tell yourself that you wont be out so late and that you had a long week so why not. As you arrive to the party, there are girls kissing up on boys as they take shots. You tell yourself that you would not participate because your parents did not grow you up in that kind of manner. As the night passes, your roommates pressure you into taken a shot of tequila. Eventually, one shot turns into two and then three. Until, the shots are not enough. Your roommate turns to and says, “Try this”. She passes you a little “baggy” of a white powder substance. You ask, “What is it?” She replies, “ it’s coke, you’ll love it.” You take the rolled up bill from her hand and you try your first line of coke. At that moment, you fell in love and life was no longer the same. Cocaine became prevalent in 5,000 B.C. of the Inca Empire in Peru. It is derived from cocoa plants were they would chew the leaves and extract the cocoa from it. It effect can be increased by adding calcified lime to raise the alkalinity which improves the effect of cocaine. This would be of assistance to them when they had to travel great distances due it increasing their endurance and strength. Eventually, the demand for cocaine grew high in the field of medicine. A surgeon, Halsted...
Words: 2386 - Pages: 10
...Abstract According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse about six million people over the age 12 have used cocaine at least once in the past year.” Our text book stated : “Cocaine is one of the most dangerous drugs available to teenagers and along with the amphetamines are powerful psychostimulant that markedly affect mental functioning and behavior. These drugs augment the action of several neurotransmitters, the most important is dopamine. “( text book) Cocaine is a purified extract from the leaves of the Erythroxylum coca bush. Different chemical processes produce the two main forms of cocaine: Powdered cocaine: commonly known on the street as “coke” or “blow” dissolves in water. Users can snort or inject powdered cocaine .Crack cocaine: commonly known on the street as “crack: or “ rock” is made by chemical process that leaves it in its “freebase” form, which can be smoked. One of the most risky effects of teenage cocaine use is that the body can develop a tolerance to the drug, and the user needs increasingly larger doses of the drug to achieve the same feeling. This can increase the chance of an overdose, as the user takes successively greater amounts of cocaine in an effort to get high. In certain cases, first time users of cocaine have suffered from sudden death, the possibility of which dramatically increases when alcohol is simultaneously consumed. The objective of this paper is to discuss the symptom of the abuse in teenagers...
Words: 1638 - Pages: 7
...Cocaine Cocaine (benzoylmethylecgonine) (INN) is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" and the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic. Biologically, cocaine acts as a serotonin–norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor, also known as a triple reuptake inhibitor (TRI). It is addictive because of its effect on the mesolimbic reward pathway. Formulations COCAINE HYDROCHLORIDE Topical Solution CIIRx only [Lannett Company, Inc.] Each mL contains:Cocaine hydrochloride 40 mg or 100 mg As aqueous solution.The topical solution contains the following inactive ingredients: citric acid, D&C Yellow No. 10, FD&C Green No. 3, sodium benzoate, and water. Methamphetamine Methamphetamine (USAN) also known as metamfetamine (INN),meth, ice, crystal glass, tik, N-methylamphetamine, methylamphetamine, and desoxyephedrine, is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs. Methamphetamine occurs in two enantiomers, dextrorotary and levorotary; dextromethamphetamine possesses the well-known psychostimulant effects of the drug, while levomethamphetamine is CNS-inactive. Although rarely prescribed, dextromethamphetamine is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of ADHD and obesity under the trade name Desoxyn, while levomethamphetamine is a non-prescription over-the-counter...
Words: 1816 - Pages: 8
...Cocaine Addiction Written by Melissa Warren for Psychology In this paper, I will explore what makes cocaine so addictive and why it is one of the most abused, and one of the most popular drugs in the world. Cocaine is one of the most addictive drugs on the street and is the second most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. To better understand the drug, we first need to define exactly what cocaine is. Cocaine: A colorless or white crystalline alkaloid extracted from coca leaves. Cocaine is sometimes used in medicine as a local anesthetic, especially for the eyes, nose, or throat. It is also widely used as an illicit drug for its euphoric and stimulating effects. Chemical formula: C 17 H 21 NO 4 (Dictionary.com) Crack cocaine is cocaine that has been processed from cocaine hydrochloride to a free base for smoking. Cocaine is the smokable form of cocaine. It gets its name from the crackling sound it makes when smoked. Of these two similar drugs, cocaine is the most addictive since it is administered into the body the quickest. The faster the drug is absorbed into the blood, is relative to the length of the high. Since the high from crack only lasts from 10-15 minutes, people get addicted much more easily.(1) When a person uses cocaine, they are changing the amounts of dopamine (a chemical related to pleasurable experiences) and in turn they disrupt the system which regulates this chemical. “With repeated use, cocaine can cause long-term changes in the brain’s...
Words: 1230 - Pages: 5
...Cocaine Addiction Education ENG 122: English Composition II September 1, 2008 Drug addiction and alcoholism is wide spread among adults and teenagers in today’s society. The percentage of adults affected by these addictions has always been high; however the percentage of teenagers affected by drug and alcohol addictions is growing astronomically. Cocaine has become the drug of choice for adults and teenagers, next to alcohol and prescription drugs. It is the quickest high that can be achieved but one of the deadliest. Cocaine addition affects not only those getting high but their loved ones and friends. If there was more emphasis on cocaine addiction education for the loved ones and friends of those affected, there would be decreased incidents of relapse and overdoses. My research and personal experiences with cocaine addiction will enable me to provide general information on cocaine, cocaine addiction, and how relationships are affected. What is cocaine? According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. Extracted from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, it was used in tonics/elixirs to treat a variety of illnesses during the 1900’s.” (NIDA, 2008) Cocaine is used in two chemical forms which are powdered and freebase. The powdered form known as hydrochloride salt is snorted up the nose and known on the street as “coke,” “blow,” “snow,” “flake,” and “C.” It is also injected...
Words: 1780 - Pages: 8
...Hoplight The infamous Cocaine Growing up in a poverty stricken neighborhood in Washington, DC where crime and drugs were the source of corruption of many family and lives, including mine. Remembering, the nights when my mother use to sneak out of the house and walk to the nearest crack house that was only a couple of houses down from me, became memories that changed my life forever. Witnessing other families that suffered from family members on drugs, never did I imagine that it would soon become my mother. These occasional nights turned into days, then suddenly missing weeks. It wasn’t until my sisters and I were separated from each other and our parents, that this unimaginable habit became a harsh reality. The separation of our family grew this habit into a monster that tore our once happy family apart forever. Crack cocaine is a drug that has circulated many urban communities and lives for decades, in this essay I will present major research about this horrific drug and its extreme effects, physically, socially, emotionally, and mentally. “Cocaine was first used in the 1880’s as an anesthetic in eye, nose, and throat surgery because of its ability to constrict the blood vessels and limit bleeding.”(Office of National Drug Control Policy 1) But considering the advances of technology and medicine we are now able to use more developed drugs. Cocaine is a very potent stimulant that can be smoked, injected, and snorted. When snorted, the cocaine powdered form is snorted...
Words: 1569 - Pages: 7
...Crack is a drug that is an epidemic in society. Cities of all nations and backgrounds can become a victim of the ever growing problem and devastation of using crack cocaine. Crack cocaine gives the brain such a stimulant that please the users, but it also be highly hazardous. The result of using the drug produces short and long term effects and many family and social results. It does not matter a person’s race, if they are rich or poor; even though those of poverty and African American are the one who have been affected the most. Having coca leaves go far back over three thousand years ago. The crystalized form of cocaine, which is better known as crack evolved during the 1970’s and during the mid-1980 the use became wide spread. Crack cocaine...
Words: 2643 - Pages: 11
...the high cost of cocaine made it the drug of choice for wealthy, elite, White Americans. On the other side of the social spectrum, lower-class African Americans sought an escape from their difficult circumstances in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods. They found refuge in crack, a smokeable form of cocaine, whose low production cost, high addictiveness, and debilitating nature made it the drug of choice for urban African American communities in 1986 (Reinarman, 1997; Watkins, 1998; Fullilove, 1998). The drug contributed to the increase in disease, violence, and poverty in these communities, turning inner-city neighborhoods into “war zones”. The U.S. Government’s War on Drugs campaign did little to solve this crisis, using aggressive, military tactics to address an epidemic surrounded by socioeconomic and health issues. In the 1960s, the Vietnam conflict among several unpopular moves by the U.S. government created a generation of rebellious, young Americans. This generation experimented with drugs in order to alter their state of mind, and to escape from the problems that came with politics and society. The generation of young “hippies” ignited a drug culture in the U.S. As time progressed, people became more and more dependent on drugs, primarily in suburban communities. Between 1973 and 1977, a survey showed that use of marijuana doubled from 12% to 24% (Robinson, 2002). This was proof that drug use was on the rise. In the late 70s and early 80s, cocaine became very popular...
Words: 2189 - Pages: 9
...popularity in cocaine use. Although President Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” in 1972, overall American sentiment toward cocaine in the 1970s was rather indifferent. A 1977 Newsweek article reflected this feeling: “taken in moderation, cocaine probably causes no significant mental or physical damage and a number of researchers have concluded that it can be safer than liquor and cigarettes when used discriminately.” Many viewed the drug as the “marijuana of the 1970s” and relatively few felt that cocaine posed any real threat. Cocaine, an extremely expensive drug at the time, was often associated with ambitious young businessmen and glamorous celebrities, which helped to fuel its popularity, as well as propagate the notion that cocaine was a harmless and enjoyable drug. Freebase cocaine, the purified form of powder cocaine, was also used throughout the 1970s, although it enjoyed much less popularity. As with powder cocaine, the users of freebase tended to be rich, middle class and white. Freebase was produced by “cooking” powder cocaine in a number of steps, one of which included ether, a highly combustible liquid. The resulting process was extremely pure, but never became particularly widespread due to the tricky process to make it and the danger of fire and explosion. The simplicity of making crack was a major factor that led to crystallized cocaine becoming more widespread in the 1980s. Powder cocaine use declined in popularity in the middle class in the 1980s. Cocaine supply...
Words: 2358 - Pages: 10
...The Causes of Drug Addiction For many, the subject of drug use in any way whether it be the production, the exchange or the actual use is a touchy issue. Drugs such as meth, cocaine, and crack have been around for decades and drugs like heroine have been around for centuries. Drugs such as cocaine and heroin can cause major life-altering effects on a person by impairing internal organs, limiting one's abilities and skills that would make one suitable to interact with others successfully. They produce hallucinations, anger, forgetfulness and many other adverse causes. There are countless occurrences of users of hard drugs disregarding the law and committing a crime while in the pursuit of the drug of their choice or while on the drug. Drug addiction almost always leads to criminal conduct. Illegal drug use often leads to crimes such as murder, robbery, burglaries and assaults. Without a doubt drugs and criminal behavior are closely associated. “Drug offenders account for more than one-third of the growth in state prison population and more than 80 percent of the increase in the number of prison inmates since 1985.” (Dewey) In 2013, nearly 40% 0f the inmates in the United States said they committed violent crimes to support their drug habit. Surprisingly jail time alone has had little effect on the reduction of drug addiction or in promoting recovery. A large number of users who were addicted to heroin began with prescription painkillers and only substituted heroin when their...
Words: 1516 - Pages: 7
...Trafficking of Cocaine in the United States The topic I chose was Trafficking Cocaine in the United States; I would have it no other way then this topic, to embrace my feeling and thoughts. Being an ex-drug addict, this will be a personal Search for me. I wonder for a long time how drugs are smuggled into our states has been a question for a personal satisfaction of mines, to know how easy Cocaine can come into this country undetected by the government is a major concern of many American. The Academy research that is before me will be done with accuracy and patience during this search. Finding some answers will be better then have none at all. During the small research that was conducted I was able to find out that many American have used and abuse this drug animal called cocaine, they use it in many ways, snorting it, shooting it in there harms, The worst out of the three is smoking cocaine formally called freebase which have affected the mind of the user. Cocaine (2003) so breaking it down to cocaine was a research I found that had a lot of input concerning the research that will be required. Trafficking of Cocaine in the United States has cause thousands of death, some old and young. Smuggling this drug in our communities has no respectful person. Colombia being the main port to transport these drugs, by sea land,, air or whatever way they can, even if it will cost the life of someone else. For these smugglers the greed of money makes them addict in so many ways....
Words: 711 - Pages: 3
...Next reason is they have both pacific and Atlantic coastlines. The third reason is they have huge amount of biodiversity and unbeaten growing conditions. For these reasons along with a global high demand for illegal substances and certain indigenous plants have made illicit plant/drug production flourished in Colombia for over 40 years. The boom in demand for cocaine came in the 1970’s and has continued to today. In the year 2000 it was estimated Colombia is responsible for 75% of the worlds coca. (Energy & Ecology business editors, 2011) Not to mention the large-scale opium poppy and marijuana production occurring in Colombia. This illegal drug industry wreaks havoc on the Colombia’s Environment more specifically their forests. Deforestation has gradually been getting worse and worse in Colombia since the introduction of the illicit crop and drug trade. Slash and burning is one devastating technique in order to clear the forest for growing and manufacturing. (Blair, 2008) The toxins from the production and refinement of cocaine cause huge environmental implications. The government prevention of coca plant growth, cocaine production, and distribution causes huge environmental issues and only makes the deforestation much more...
Words: 1736 - Pages: 7
...1. Students should spend 20-30 minutes in a group review in preparation for the quiz over chapters 9, 10 and 11 (there are 30 questions). Study guides should be utilized and individual companies or the battalion as a whole should discuss each question and the answer. 2. Students should take the on-line quiz over chapters 9, 10 and 11. Password is “fireengine”. 3. Study guides for Chapters 9, 10 and 11 as well as 12 and 13 must be completed. They will both be collected on Friday May 2nd. 4. If study guides are completed, students should read and answer the Review Questions for Chapter 12 on page 203 and Chapter 13 on page 218 of their textbook. These assignments will be collected. 5. If time allows, students may begin to review all study guides in preparation for upcoming final exam. In order to grasp the ramifications of illegal drug use by public service employees and the necessity of screening for the abuse of such substances by these individuals, it is necessary to have an understanding of how illegal drugs first became a problem in the United States. While substance abuse has challenged society for centuries, the abuse of illegal drugs in the United States dates back to relatively recent history. In America, drug addiction was a problem as far back in time as the original colonies when narcotic and opiate elixirs and treatments were being exported from England. Without any form of government regulation, let alone the medical knowledge necessary...
Words: 2593 - Pages: 11
...drugs. The war on drugs has been the biggest and longest war in my lifetime. Although Richard Nixon is known for launching what we consider the modern day war on drugs, this war was started several years prior to Nixon becoming President of the United States. Some local laws against drugs where established as early as 1860. The first national law was the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914. This act was to provide registration to all that dealt in the services of opium and coca leaves. Coca leaves once extracted provides the bases for cocaine. In this time cocaine was not illegal and was often prescribed by doctors to patients for ailments such as common headaches or colds. Unknowingly those patients became addicted to cocaine and opium. It was estimated that one in every 400 U.S citizens where addicted to some form of opium or cocaine in 1911 (Kandall). The act did not come without some effects. While the act was concerned about marketing opiates and cocaine openly, it also hindered physicians from prescribing the drugs and caused a lot of doctors to be incarcerated. The Harrison Act of 1914 is...
Words: 1136 - Pages: 5
