Facts About Cocaine
Facts about Cocaine
1. Coca is the bush that grows in the Andes Mountains of South America, but is also found in other South American countries
2. Cocaine is the active chemical in the coca plant
3. People living in the Andes used coca leaves for energy and endurance. They also made the psychoactive effects stronger by adding calcified lime to raise the alkalinity inside the mouth. This increases the extraction of the cocaine from the leaf and allows the drug to be absorbed into the blood supplying the mouth.
4. Cocaine has a medical use as a topical anesthetic
5. It takes 500 kilos of coca leaves to produce one kilo of cocaine
6. Other names for cocaine include, but are not limited to coke, snow, lady, flake, gold dust, freebase and crack.
7. There are a couple forms of cocaine that are most common, cocaine hydrochloride (powder) and “freebase.” The powder can be mixed with water and injected, or snorted through the nose. Most commonly, cocaine on the street is a white powder, diluted by street dealers with talcum powder, mixed with sugar, cornstarch and oftentimes with other stimulants.
8. The term “crack” comes from the street and refers to the cracking sound the drug makes when it is smoked. Crack cocaine is made by combining the powder form of the drug with ammonia or baking soda and water, then heating the mixture to remove the hydrochloride.
The drug produces an almost immediate high, usually within 10 seconds. It became popular in the 1980’s for its quick effect and because it’s relatively inexpensive. The combinations of these two factors have made crack a huge problem, as users number close to 600,000.
9. Cocaine is highly addictive and one of the most rapidly addictive drugs used. It has been smuggled into the United States by criminal enterprises for over 100 years..
10. As a person becomes addicted more of the drug is needed more often to achieve the same results. But even first time users can become addicted, because the drug is that powerful. The craving for the drug can come after the first hit of a crack pipe, or the first snort.
Other Facts About Cocaine
Cocaine can cause PERMANENT psycosis: Cocaine changes your brain chemistry is VERY unexpected ways. If a person is predisposed to mental health problems, Cocaine can often trigger the onset of these problems.
For example, many people have a tendency to wide mood swings but are within the normal range. If this type of person takes cocaine they can become Bi-polar. When a person becomes clinically diagnosed with bi-polar it usually incapacitates the person for the rest of their life.
Cocaine is much more dangerous when combined with alcohol or marijuana.
Finally, the cravings for cocaine can be almost unbearable and makes cocaine addiction treatment even more challenging.
Cocaine and Crack cocaine are nothing to mess around with!
For more about Facts About Cocaine link to Books
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