Drugs,Heroin,Cocaine,Alcoholism,MDMA,Marijuana

Cocaine

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. Cocaine is not a new drug. In fact, it is one of the oldest known drugs. The pure chemical, cocaine hydrochloride, has been an abused substance for more than 100 years, and coca leaves, the source of cocaine, have been ingested for thousands of years.

(1) Pure cocaine was first extracted from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia, in the mid-19th century. In the early 1900s, it became the main stimulant drug used in most of the tonics/elixirs that were developed to treat a wide variety of illnesses.

(2) Cocaine abuse has a long history and is rooted into the drug culture in the U.S. It is an intense euphoric drug with strong addictive potential. With the increase in purity, the advent of the free-base form of the cocaine ("crack"), and its easy availability on the street, cocaine continues to burden both the law enforcement and health care systems in America.

(3) The powdered, hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected. Crack is cocaine that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. This form of cocaine comes in a rock crystal that can be heated and its vapors smoked. The term “crack” refers to the crackling sound heard when it is heated.



Introduction:

Cocaine abuse has a long, deeply rooted history in U. S. drug culture, both urban and rural. It is an intense, euphorigenic drug with strong addictive potential. With the advent of the higher purity free-base form of cocaine (“crack”), and its easy availability on the street, cocaine continues to burden both law enforcement and health care systems in the U.S.

User Population:

According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 35.3 million Americans ages 12 and older had used cocaine at least once in their lifetime and 2.4 million were current users of cocaine. According to the 2006 Monitoring the Future Study, the percentages of 8th, 10th and 12th graders who reported using cocaine at least once in their lifetime were 3.4, 4.8 and 8.5, respectively, while the corresponding numbers for the current cocaine users (used in the past month) were 1.0, 1.5 and 2.5, respectively. Cocaine abuse occurs in both genders and among all ethnic groups of the U.S.