Cocaine Research Paper

Cocaine is the one of the oldest major drugs of constantly natural origin. Benzoyl-methyl-ecgonine (chemical compound of cocaine) originates in the lower altitudes of the eastern slopes of th eAndes, or the highlands depending on the species grown, in particular in Bolivia,Colombia and Peru. However, coca is a relatively easy plant to grow. Over time the powdery drug formed from a plant in western south america became almost iconic; popularized by people and up and coming companies. In 1884 Cocaine was Praised as Miracle Cure by Sigmund Freud The American medical community embraces cocaine as a miracle cure for a variety of ailments, including, ironically, addiction to morphine and alcohol. The New York Times reports on the new wonder drug,

In 1551, Catholic bishops urged the Peruvian government to prohibit the use of coca. Ultimately, it wasn’t banned, but restrictions were put on the amount of land used for coca cultivation. Which did not largely affect the production of the drug. It simply limited some areas to the point of where it was still easily cultivated but in the same sense was an attempt to get people to get rid of the drug completely. This would have been a fine planis it weren't for cocaine getting endorsements and being praised by countless well-known people such as Sigmund Freud who wrote a paper titled “Uber Coca,” which he described cocaine as a “magical substance.” Due to such sudden popularity for the new form of cocaine as a rock, sold at much cheaper prices, Crack usage began to surge in the 1980s. Between 1985 and 1989, the number of regular cocaine users jumped from 4.2 million to 5.8 million people. By 1905, it had become popular to snort powdered cocaine and within five years, hospitals and medical literature had started reporting cases of nasal damage resulting from the use of this drug. Is seems ironic also that the drug started as being praised by doctors as “A miracle of medicine” became the cause of a severe

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the price of illegal cocaine dropped by as much as 80 percent during the late 1970s as a the white powder flooded the U.S. market. Dealers looking for new ways to sell their products turned to crack. Broken into small chunks, or “rocks,” this form of cocaine could be sold in smaller quantities, to more people at higher profit. It was cheap, simple to produce, easy to use, and highly profitable for dealers. cocaine was the widely popularised rich man’s drug, due to the large expense of a cocaine addiction. By the late 1980s, cocaine was no longer thought of as the drug of choice for the wealthy because it had gained the reputation of America’s most dangerous and addictive drug, linked with poverty, crime and death. In 1985, crack sold for about five dollars a rock in most cities. In 1886, the popularity of the drug got a further boost when John Pemberton included coca leaves as an ingredient in his new soft drink, Coca-Cola. The euphoric and energizing effects on the consumer helped to skyrocket the popularity of Coca-Cola by the 1900s. In the early 1990s, the Colombian drug cartels produced and exported 500 to 800 tons of cocaine a year, shipping not only to the US but also to Europe and Asia. The large cartels were dismantled by law enforcement agencies in the mid-1990s, but they were replaced by smaller groups with more than 300 known active drug smuggling organizations in Colombia