General Info
Cocaine is an extremely addictive stimulant drug that comes from the leaves of the coca plant called Erythroxylon coca which is native to south America. it acts as a local nerve stimulant and local anesthetic. Cocaine can be consumed in ways such as snorting, injecting, and smoking
History
coca leaves have been used for thousands of years but it wasn't until 1859v that it was extracted from these leaves by a German alchemist by the name of Albert Niemann. although many sources credit Niemann with isolating the compound in 1860, the initial extraction is recognized as occurring in 1860
Effects
cocaine is a very powerful stimulant that may have significant short term and long term effects on both mental as well as phyical health. some of the short term effect include but may not be limited to euphoria as well as increades energy, user often experience extreme feelings of pleasure, heightned energy and heightend senses. Certain physical reactions can include increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, dialted pupils and increased body temperature. it can also result in anxiety and paranoia and risky behaviors such as impulsive tendecies and unsafe sex. as for the long term effects they can consist of addiction, cardiovascular issues (aka heart problems), respitory problems as cocaine can and will damage your lungs, it can result in mental health disorders such as depression and cognitive impairments and depending on how it is introduced into the body, it can cause nasal damage.
Today VS Before Use
in the past, cocaine was used for several things. the first of which was medical uses. cocaine was once used as a local anesthetic in a lot of medical procedures such as ophthalmology which is a branch of medicine that focuses primarily on the treatment of the eyes and optic disorders and it was used in dentistry. cocaine was also used to treat certain conditions like morphine addiction. cocaine also has cultural significance, the ancient incas would chew on these leaves to represent strength and vitaility.
Compund Structure
The chemical copmound of cocaine is C17H21NO4. cocaine has several elements that make up it's structure such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.
statistics of the use of cocaine in the usa
