The Facts and Effects of Cocaine
Cocaine is the second most common illegal drug used in both the United States and in Europe as a whole. The consumption of it, in any form, is illegal in most countries including the United States. The Drug Enforcement Administration currently lists it in a class as a drug.
The longer classification of cocaine is cocaine benzoylmethylecgonine. This is a substance that is derived initially from the coca plants leaves. The drug can be found in multiple forms that allow for several types of consumption. These types of forms include crack cocaine, coca tea, vapor and powder form. The types of consumption include smoking or inhalation, rubbing powder on teeth and gums or orally and injection.
People in South America have used the Coca leaf for thousands of years. They have used the leaf of the coca plant to cure many ailments.
Coca leaves were found in mummies in Peru and etchings of pottery denoted the use of the Coca leaf as well. The complete use of the coca leaf is unknown, but there is supporting evidence that the ancient indigenous people chewed the coca leaf.
It wasn’t until the early 1600’s that the Spanish discovered coca in South America and began to tax the crop. Scientists in Europe were interested in the coca leaf and believed it was a cure for many ailments. Scientists in the medical community began to use it as an anesthetic. Cocaine is still used on a very limited basis for medical anesthesia.
In the 1800’s cocaine was used in many products ranging from a wine called Vin Mariani or Cocawine and the popular beverage Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola did not used coca leaves in the production of their beverage after the year 1906.
In the early 1900’s cocaine was used in drugstores for ailments as mild as headaches. It was also used during World War II. But as the century preceded the dangers of the use of cocaine became more apparent and well known through the study of use of the drug.
Cocaine was given the title of a controlled substance and an illicit drug in the year 1970. It became possible to prosecute harshly for cocaine use and trafficking in the United States. The later development of crack cocaine in the 1980’s and 1990’s became a prevalent health issue in the United States.
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