Cocaine

Cocaine or benzoylmethylecgonine by international nonproprietary name, also known simply as coca, is a tropane alkaloid and strong stimulant used primarily as a recreational drug. The most common forms of consumption are inhalation, insufflation, or intravenous injection in the form of cocaine hydrochloride, cocaine base paste, and crack. The mental effects they cause include loss of contact with reality, aggressiveness, heightened alertness and persecution mania, an intense feeling of happiness and psychomotor agitation. Physical symptoms are a rapid heart rate, sweating, and dilated pupils, and high doses can cause high blood pressure and increased body temperature. The effects begin within seconds (or minutes) after consumption. and last between five and ninety minutes. Although most of its use is illegal, cocaine has a small number of accepted medical uses as a topical anesthetic and antibleeding during nasal surgeries, among others.

Cocaine is very addictive, due to its effect on the mesolimbic pathway of the brain, and there is a high risk of dependence, even if the period of use has been short. Its use also increases the risk of stroke, heart attack heart attack, lung problems in smokers, blood infections, and sudden cardiac arrest. Cocaine sold on the street is commonly mixed with local anesthetics, corn starch, quinine, levamisole, or sugar, which can lead to increased of toxicity. After repeated doses, a person may have decreased ability to feel pleasure (anhedonia) and be very physically tired. Cocaine is a central nervous system stimulant and appetite suppressant. It works by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine; this results in higher concentrations of these three neurotransmitters in the brain. It can easily cross the blood-brain barrier, although it can also damage it. Cocaine is manufactured from the leaves of the coca plant, which is grown primarily in South America, and in 2013, 419 kilograms of cocaine were produced legally, while the value of cocaine traded on the black market is estimated at between US$100 and US$500 billion each year. Crack is obtained from cocaine.

After marijuana, cocaine is the most widely used illegal drug worldwide, with an estimated 18 to 22 million people using the substance in 2014, with North America as its main consumer, followed by from Europe and South America. It is estimated that between 1 and 3% of the inhabitants of the developed world have tried cocaine at some point in their lives and each year, it is directly responsible for thousands of deaths. The leaves of the coca plant carry being used by the inhabitants of present-day Peru since antiquity, although to isolate cocaine from the leaf it would be necessary to wait until 1860. Since 1961, it has been included in the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, in order to combat its trafficking and consumption.

Origin

Cocaine is an alkaloid extracted from coca plants (in Quechua: kuka), two species with four varieties of unique economic, social and cultural importance in South America, especially in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and Peru. Coca leaves are chewed for their therapeutic properties for their central nervous system stimulant, antiviral, cardiotonic, anesthetic, analgesic properties and to treat altitude sickness, among others.

There are more than 250 species of the genus Erythroxylum, of which 4 are cultivated and contain the alkaloid:

• Erythroxy Cocalum (coca huánuco or coca boliviana): Originating in Bolivia and Peru, as well as being cultivated in Colombia to process cocaine.
• Erythroxylum coca var. ipadu (Amazon Coke): Originating from areas near the Amazon River.
• Erythroxylum novogranatense (coca Colombia): Original from Colombia and Ecuador.
• Erythroxylum novogranatense var. truxillense (coca de Trujillo): Original from the eastern side of the Andes mountain range and Peru.

The presence of cocaine has been identified in another 20 wild species of the genus, including:

• Erythroxylum gracilips Peyr., 1878
• Erythroxylum steyermarkii Plowman1982
• Erythroxylum laetevirens O.E.Schulz1907with 0.011 % p/p cocaine

Uses and forms in which it is found

Cocaine is a stimulant that works by modulating dopamine, a neurotransmitter found in certain areas and neurons in the brain. It has been called the drug of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s because of its great popularity and use during those decades. However, cocaine is not a new drug. Actually, it has been around for more than 100 years, while coca leaves have been used for thousands of years and not as a recreational stimulant, but as a medicinal herb and for the preparation of infusions.

Cocaine powder.

In the mid-19th century, pure cocaine was first extracted from the leaf of the Erythroxylon plant, which grows mainly in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. In the early 20th century, cocaine became the main ingredient in most of the tonics and elixirs that were created to treat numerous ailments, including Vin Mariani. It is currently a drug classified under Schedule I in the United States (Schedule I) along with other substances such as LSD. Its illegal status prevents its use in humans under any circumstances, although it has medical uses and in other countries such as the United Kingdom it is used, for example, as local anesthesia in certain types of eye, ear and throat surgeries. Its stimulating effect is much more potent, but shorter in duration than amphetamine and methamphetamine, although the latter does have legal status in the United States.

Basically, there are two chemical forms of cocaine: salts and cocaine crystals (as free base). Hydrochloride, the most common form of cocaine powder, dissolves in water, and when abused, can be used intravenously (through veins) or intranasally (through the nostrils). Free base refers to a compound that has not been neutralized by acid to produce the corresponding salt. This form of cocaine can be smoked, since it does not break down like hydrochloride does.

Cocaine is usually sold on the street illegally in the form of a fine, crystalline white powder. Traffickers generally mix it with other substances, such as cornstarch, talc, or sugar; or with certain drugs such as procaine (a local anesthetic with a similar chemical structure), or with other stimulants, such as amphetamines (for example, methamphetamine). It is also sold in a form called "crack", rock, and bazuco (in Colombia and the Caribbean), base paste in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, in the form of small white or yellow stones processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate, which is generally smoke in glass pipe, in aluminum foil or in handmade pipes.

The effects are immediate and consist of an increase in self-esteem and self-confidence, accompanied by great talkativeness, excitement (being able to reach extreme irritability). The effect lasts for a relatively short time (about 30-60 min), and as soon as it begins to wear off, the subject craves another dose. In the long term, its uncontrolled use causes addiction, panic attacks, mental disorders and even death, either due to direct physiological effects (overdose), or due to induction of suicide.

Production and consumption

The alkaloid content in the plant is between 0.1 and 0.8%, the main component is cocaine. The chemical formula of cocaine is levorotatory benzoylecgonine methyl ester or also (2R,3S)-3-benzoyl-2-carboxyl-oxytropane methyl ester and has an empirical formula C₁₇H₂₁NO₄. It also contains cinnamylcocaine, benzoylecgonine, truxiline, as well as the related alkaloid, tropacocaine. The coca plant is cultivated in South America and Java at elevations between 600 to 1,000 meters. The main cultivation countries are Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Indonesia.

For the preparation and consumption of cocaine, different methods and preparations are known: cocaine base paste (different from "coca paste", freely and legally sold throughout the world, which is nothing more than the harmless coca mixed with ash or lime and containing less than 0.8% of cocaine alkaloid), cocaine hydrochloride and cocaine alkaloid; each features different levels of potency and intoxication, due to the varying levels of purity.

One of the most common forms for its use and consumption is crack, which is a cocaine alkaloid that is extracted from a powdered salt by mixing it with sodium bicarbonate and drying it into small stones. Crack differs from other forms of cocaine in that it is easily vaporized and its effects are very rapid when inhaled. The word crack appears on the street and refers to the crunchy sound heard when smoking this mixture.

A wide variety of chemicals are needed for its production, depending on the form in which it is required to be extracted or this list can be used as a scale to arrive at its purest and most refined form:

Cocaine lines ready for insufficiency (which in colloquial language is known as "snifar" or "jalar") as recreational drugs.

a) Production of cocaine base paste: kerosene, gasoline or other similar organic solvents; alkalis, for example sodium, potassium or calcium carbonates, sodium hydroxide or calcium oxide; acids, for example: sulfuric.

b) Production of cocaine base: oxidants, for example: potassium permanganate or hydrogen peroxide; sulfuric acid; alkalis, for example: aqueous ammonia solution.

c) Production of cocaine hydrochloride: organic solvents, for example: ethyl ether, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone or toluene; hydrochloric acid.

For the preparation of cocaine base paste, the coca leaf is alkalized, dried, extracted with organic solvent (kerosene), precipitation with strong acid (sulfuric acid), dissolution of the residue in water and precipitation last with alkalis.

Cocaine is a weak base that quickly crosses body membranes (including placental and blood-brain membranes). The absorption, the plasmatic peaks, the bioavailability and the concentrations reached after consumption depend on the form of pharmacological presentation and the route used. Nasal inhalation of cocaine hydrochloride, for example, produces effects in a few minutes (with a peak at 20-30 minutes) that disappear completely after 60 minutes (although they can last longer if the vasoconstrictive effect of the mucosa slows absorption).. By intranasal route the bioavailability of cocaine never exceeds 40%. The smoked forms are faster acting (they act in seconds), less durable (therefore they predispose more to compulsive consumption) and have a more irregular bioavailability. The intravenous route is also very fast and provides complete bioavailability of the injected cocaine (100%). The distribution of cocaine is very wide and reaches the entire organism.

History

The first coca bushes were brought from South America to Europe in 1750. In 1855 the isolation of the alkaloid was achieved for the first time by Friedrich Gaedcke. Gaedcke named the alkaloid erythroxyline, and published a description in the journal Archiv der Pharmazie. Three or four years later, Albert Niemann did the same, naming it cocaine, the name it bears until now. In 1868, the Peruvian doctor Tomás Moreno y Maiz published a doctoral thesis at the University of Paris entitled Recherches Chimiques et Physiologiques sur l'Érythroxylon coca du Pérou et la cocaine on coca, cocaine and their effects. in what is considered the first study done on cocaine in history. In them he concluded that the drug increases resistance to fatigue; It stimulates physically and mentally, provides general well-being, controls the effects of alcohol. The effect of cocaine as a local anesthetic was also experimentally demonstrated. In 1898 the explanation of the constitution was achieved and in 1902 the synthesis by Richard Willstätter. Since 1879 cocaine was used to treat morphine dependence. Around 1884 it began to be used as an anesthetic in clinics in Germany. At about the same time Sigmund Freud wrote about the effects of it in his work Über Coca ("On Coca"):

The psychological effect of the Cocainum mur in doses of 0.05 to 0.10 g consists of the excitement and the euphoria retained, which is not very different from the euphoria of healthy people. The feeling of alteration that accompanies alcohol excitation is totally missing, the immediate characteristic effect of anxiety alcohol is also missing. You have the feeling of increased self-control, you feel great vigor and working capacity. But if you work you miss the excellent and elegant excitement and increase of intellectual forces by alcohol, tea or coffee. It is simply normal and you soon have the effort to believe that it is under the effect of something.

Timeline of Sigmund Freud's relationship with cocaine

In 1858, the expedition of the frigate Novara circumnavigated the world and on its return brought coca leaves to Europe. Mantegazza in 1859 extolled the virtues of coca. The following year, Albert Niemann describes the operation that makes it possible to isolate an alkaloid from coca, and baptizes it with the name of cocaine. Three years later, Schroff reports on the numbing effect of cocaine on the tongue.

In 1880, cocaine was included in the official drug list of the United States Pharmacopoeia. That same year Von Anrep reports on the action of cocaine on animals. Bentley and Palmer report on the treatment of morphine habit by cocaine in the Detroit Therapeutic Gazette.

Three years later Theodor Aschenbrandt recounts his experiments in applying cocaine to soldiers. Freud reads his article.

In April 1884, Freud wrote to his fiancée: "now I am playing with a project". He has read the American reports and has been impressed by Aschenbrandt's article . A short time later (on April 30) Freud ingested cocaine for the first time. In May Freud begins to treat his friend Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow, who is addicted to morphine, with cocaine. On June 19, Freud wrote to his fiancée to tell her: "Last night I finished 'Über Coca'", Freud's first article on cocaine. That same year Carl Koller, Freud's colleague, tested cocaine in the frog's eye and in the human eye, and discovered local anesthesia. On September 15, Joseph Brettauer reads Koller's article describing local anesthesia before the Heidelberg Ophthalmology Society. In October Koller and Königstein present articles on local anesthesia to the Vienna Medical Society. During the months of November and December, Freud experiences cocaine on himself.

In December 1884, an abridged version of Freud's article was published under the title On Coca [On Coca], in the St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal. On the 6th of the same month, Hall and William Halsted report that the injection of cocaine into a nerve blocks the transmission of sensations, thus causing local anesthesia. Already on January 31, 1885, Freud's experimental article "Contribution to the knowledge of the effects of cocaine" appears. The following month a separate reprint of Freud's article "Über Coca" is published, with some additions to the first version. In March Freud lectures before the Physiological and Psychiatric Societies. The conference will be published in August. In April, Freud appraises Parke's cocaine. On the 6th of that same month, Königstein operated on Freud's father, anesthetized with cocaine. Koller is an eyewitness to the operation. That year (1885) Fleischl, who takes increasing amounts of cocaine, suffers from a toxic psychosis with visions of "cocaine bugs"; they are creeping forward and Louis Lewin attacks the views of Freud, who had stated that cocaine did no harm, and opposes its use for the treatment of morphine addicts. A. Erlenmeyer also joins the attacks against cocaine, which he describes as "the third scourge of humanity." In July, Freud publishes "Notes on the craving for cocaine and the fear of cocaine." In this text he takes a few steps back in relation to his previous attitude regarding the harmlessness of cocaine.

Three years later (1888) Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four is published, in which its main character, Sherlock Holmes, injects cocaine intravenously. In 1895, Freud is a regular user of cocaine and dreams of injecting himself with Irma. While a user, in 1889 he published in German his work The Interpretation of Dreams .

Coca Cola

The first recipe for the soft drink Coca-Cola included cocaine from extracts of coca leaves (hence its name Coca-Cola). Coca-Cola contained 9 milligrams of cocaine per glass, but in 1903 it was eliminated. Pharmacist John S. Pemberton developed a refreshing drink to try to kick his morphine addiction. He managed to stop taking morphine, but became addicted to this drink made from extracts of the coca leaf. When the addictive potential of the substance was discovered, the coca content was substituted for caffeine, seeking the same effect. The Coca-Cola company does not mention in its history the use of coca extracts on its official website.

Even today, Coca-Cola contains non-alkaloid extracts of coca leaves, which are produced by Stepan Chemicals of Chicago, Illinois; coca leaves (approximately 115 tons per year) are legally acquired with permission from the United States Department of Justice through ENACO in Peru.

In 1961, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs enshrined the use of previously decocainized coca leaf as flavoring in soft drinks. Currently, Stepan Chemicals is the only company in the world that holds the patent and authorization for said decocainization, which allows the Coca Cola company to hold the monopoly of the coca leaf worldwide.

Stepan Chemicals exports the concentrated syrup of coca leaf flavorings to more than 150 countries around the world; the extracted cocaine is sold exclusively to the Mallinckrodt company that purifies it and then sells it to hospitals and clinics to be used as a local anesthetic and used by specialists in the treatment of eyes, ears, nose and throat.

Legal use

Cocaine use in Europe was widespread and legal in the first third of the 20th century. The dangerousness of the substance was slowly recognized. In 1884 it was introduced for the first time in ophthalmology therapies. The use of cocaine, according to the German prescription law for anesthetic substances, is still permitted today.

Permanence in the body

It is a strong drug and how long it lasts in the body can vary. Studies verified in laboratories show that cocaine in moderate consumption lasts up to 72 hours and in chronic consumption from 2 to 4 months.

Withdrawal Syndrome

It is produced by the cessation of drug use and has three phases:

• "Crash": intense depression, agitation, anxiety, sleep, hyperphagia and agitated sleep for three or four nights.

• Abstinence: anergia, anhedonia, intense need to take drugs, improvement between 16 and 18 weeks.

• Extinction: Suddenly, for leaving the drug abruptly, seizures, heart arrhythmia, tremors, irritability, hallucinations, palpitations, hypertension, sweating and hyperreflexia occur.

Medicinal effects and uses

Cocaine was the second drug that presented greater negative effects among the 20 most common abuse drugs, only surpassed by heroin, in this study published in the journal The Lancetin 2007.

Cocaine increases the risk of thrombosis, stroke, and heart attack, accelerates arteriosclerosis, and causes transient paranoia in most addicts. Continuous use by nasal cocaine aspiration (snorting) can cause nasal congestion, ulceration of the mucous membrane, even perforation of the nasal septum. Although cocaine produces greater sexual arousal, it can also cause sexual impotence or erectile dysfunction. Cocaine can cause cardiovascular complications in the arteries of the heart and brain, which can lead to heart attacks.

Cocaine is a local anesthetic, but due to the high danger of addiction and marked toxicity it is not used. Cocaine serves as a substance for many local anesthetics, such as lidocaine, benzocaine, and scandicaine.

When the intranasal route is used, the onset of action is two minutes (five to ten minutes when the intravenous route is used) and the maximum effect occurs between fifteen and twenty minutes, up to a maximum of one hour. When administered orally, the absorption rate is low and the duration of action is prolonged.

Pharmacological action

Cocaine has the following general pharmacological actions:

• Amina simpaticomymetica indirect of type I.
• Local anesthesia for blocking nerve transmission.
• Stimulus of the central nervous system.
• Anorexia and sleep inhibition for actions on hypothalamus, ascending reticular system and cerebellum.

As a consequence of these pharmacological actions, cocaine has clinical effects that can be summarized as follows:

• Peripheral vasoconstriction, tachycardia, increased heart contractility, hypertension, midriasis, tremor and sweating, all by action on alpha and beta-adrenergic receptors.
• Increase of temperature by increase of physical activity, vasoconstriction and direct alteration of the hypothalamic thermal control center.
• Powerful SNC emulation by dopaminergic action. This effect varies according to the dose, pathway, environment and expectations of the consumer. With low doses there is increased vital tone and energy, decreased appetite, insomnia, increased intellectual and physical performance, motor hyperactivity, verbal and ideatory, decreased fatigue and increased pleasures on alert. After moderate consumption, non-addicted consumers usually experience a period of tiredness and sometimes dysphoria and desire to take cocaine that lasts hours. With higher doses and/or predisposed people, there may be changes in critical and discriminatory capacity, illusions and/or auditory, tactile and visual hallucinations, stools, bruxism and seizures.

Psychological effects

The stimulant action of cocaine derives mainly from its ability to inhibit the reuptake of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine, serotonin and, above all, dopamine in the CNS synapses. The dopaminergic hypothesis of cocaine reward is based on the affinity of cocaine for the dopamine transporter, but action on this neurotransmitter does not explain all of the clinical effects of cocaine. Serotonergic, norepinephrinegic, GABAergic, glutamatergic, histaminergic acetylcholinergic and phenylethylaminergic activation are also implicated, although the details of these are less well known. Along with the psychological effects on mood, cognition, instincts, and consciousness, the release of neurotransmitters produced by cocaine also provides a decrease in the seizure threshold, tremor, changes in electrical activation, emesis, hyperpyrexia, tachycardia, hypertension, diaphoresis., delayed urinary and fecal elimination, muscle twitching, and facial flushing. In addition, repeated use of cocaine produces tolerance and can lead to dependence.

Neurobiology and cocaine

In this 2011 survey conducted among 292 clinical experts in Scotland, cocaine was placed in the fourth place of danger (physical and social damage) of the 19 most used recreational drugs. Different from the study The Lancet from years ago in part due to the different substances studied.

In the last two decades, knowledge of the neurobiological bases of cocaine addiction has expanded dramatically. From a neurochemical point of view, the most important action of cocaine is the blockade of the dopamine transporter, or the site of the synaptic membrane responsible for removing the neurotransmitter from the synapse. The blockade of this transporter produces an increase in the synaptic concentration of dopamine and in dopaminergic transmission, directly associated with the experience of cocaine euphoria. The dopaminergic pathways in which cocaine acts give neural support in animals to pleasurable experiences or basic "reinforcers" such as food intake and sexual behavior. Recent studies of cocaine self-administration in animals such as fruit flies), planaria worms, fish, and sea crabs suggest that dopaminergic activation of cocaine sensitization and action pathways are part of a neural achievement conserved along the evolutionary pathway that exists between such animals, higher vertebrates, and man. Dopaminergic pathways support functions and behaviors essential for the conservation and reproduction of animals. Finally, according to a study in mice carried out by a team of researchers from the Neuropharmacology Unit of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and the Ramón y Cajal Institute of Neurobiology of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), in Madrid, together with researchers from the Free University of Brussels (ULB) cocaine produces a decrease in dendrites and a lower density of spines (structures that form the connections) of the pyramidal cells, which are found in the cerebral cortex. Pyramidal cells are basic in brain plasticity ("...adaptation that the nervous system undergoes to changes in its external and internal environment, it may also reflect the functional adaptation of the brain to minimize the effects of structural and functional lesions").

It is thus that having changes in the structure of brain cells can also have alterations in the proper functions of language or logic and abstraction. Although these are still assumptions, since it is necessary to carry out more studies to support said information, we must not ignore the fact that this is one of the most addictive drugs, for which reason continuous exposure to its harmful substances can cause serious damage to the nervous system.

Cocaine activates these pathways in an intense and abnormal way and gives rise to a very appetitive distorted pleasure, outside the range of natural reinforcing experiences (food, sex, etc.). Once the effects of cocaine have been experienced by the animal, the desire to use it again can be triggered by visual, olfactory or auditory stimuli previously associated with the effects of cocaine, which block the individual's attention on them in a way that can become more intense than that which directs the attention of the hungry, thirsty, or sexually aroused animal to food, drink, or the sexual object respectively. The deleterious risk to animals of freely available cocaine has been observed in numerous self-administration experiments in which cocaine becomes preferred over food and mating, often leading to biological impairment and death.

Potential for addiction and other dangers

Crack.

After intoxication with cocaine, severe depression occurs in some users. This state induces the cocaine addict to quickly take the drug again regardless of the rules of use, in order to avoid "cocaine depression." This mechanism is dangerous, as it can lead to a dependency on the drug.

Regular cocaine use can lead to rapid psychological dependence (addiction), but not physical dependence, understood as an intense emotional need for repetitive use of the drug. smoke base crack cocaine) “episodic greed”: even in inexperienced users the effect of the drug can lead to extreme anxiety to consume more, when the effect diminishes. In the extreme case, the dynamics of consumption (called binges in English: episodes of short periods of time in which consumption occurs) can have the consequence that it lasts a few hours or days. A special case of long-term cocaine use is the appearance of the so-called dermatozoic insanity, in which the user is convinced that insects are moving under his own skin. In addition, with cocaine dependence there is often a deterioration in the addict's consciousness – in the context of the effect of increased self-esteem, together with the dynamics of consumption, it makes social consciousness fade (for this reason cocaine is called sometimes as "ego-drug").

The Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is a short-term intervention that uses manuals for its implementation. This type of intervention is carried out in outpatient settings, and aims to modify the interactions between family members to improve the behavior of young people. The question has been raised as to how effective these therapies are as a treatment for cocaine use among young people.

A systematic review of two studies, both conducted in the United States, of which only one provided results related to drug use among youth aged 11-21, demonstrated that the intervention achieved a reduction in the short term (four months) of cannabis use, an effect that disappears in the long term. Due to the paucity of evidence about the effectiveness of these therapies, it is impossible to draw rigorous conclusions and therefore these therapies should be used with caution when targeting youth drug use.

Health risks

Damage to a man's nose because of inhaling cocaine.

The risk of dying from cocaine overdose is approximately 20 times lower than for heroin users. In Germany less than 2% of those killed by drugs die from a cocaine overdose. The risk of dying from a mixture poisoning is significantly higher. About 6% of drug deaths in Germany are due to mixed poisoning. The simultaneous use of cocaine and alcohol generates a metabolite called cocaethylene that has a toxic effect on the heart and considerably increases the risk of sudden death.

Cocaine can cause cocaine psychosis, a behavioral syndrome that closely resembles paranoid schizophrenia, with which it has sometimes been confused.

Cocaine acts in the brain by modifying the circuits responsible for gratification and pleasure. Its continued consumption reduces the ability of consumers to experience pleasure naturally (through sex, food,...) and makes them less sensitive to gratification and emotions. That is the reason why cocaine is so addictive.

Cocaine purity

Cocaine found on the illegal drug market is rarely pure. According to the Report of the Federal Criminal Investigation Office of Germany of 2003, it is diluted in the lowest categories, which are found on average for 85% cocaine hydrochloride in samples weighing one kilogram and in samples from one gram to a kilogram in the order of 60%. In samples of less than one gram, there is around 35% cocaine hydrochloride. The average degree of purity contained in samples of cocaine base in samples of the order of one kilogram is 85% (percentage of cocaine hydrochloride) and surprisingly it has remained practically stable over the last 10 years. However, in samples of the order of one gram to one kilogram, the degree of purity content has been reduced by 10%, while those of less than one gram have been reduced by 20%.

Cocaine addiction

Cocaine is a very powerful drug for the brain. A variable portion of the people who consume it develop addiction. It is sold as a fine white powder. There are two forms of cocaine: hydrochloride salt and cocaine crystals. The salt dissolves in water. People can inject it into a vein or inhale it through their nose. The crystals can be smoked. The smoked form of cocaine is known as crack.

Some of the more serious common problems caused by large doses and/or constant use are:

• Heart problems, including heart attacks
• Respiratory effects, including respiratory failure
• Problems in the nervous system, including stroke
• Digestive problems, including constipation

Illegal cocaine trafficking

The addictive characteristics of cocaine and the impossibility of the addict to do without it, in addition to the legal loopholes worldwide, have produced a growing market for this drug. Added to the Mafia and the Mafiya. The 1946 Havana Conference was a historic meeting: the leaders of the American Mafia and Cosa Nostra in Havana, Cuba. Supposedly hosted by Charles "Lucky" Luciano, the conference was to discuss Mafia policy, rules, and business interests. The Havana Conference was attended by representations of mafia families from all over the United States. The Conference was held during the week of December 22, 1946 at the Hotel Nacional. The Havana Conference is considered the most important summit since the 1929 Atlantic City Conference. The decisions made in Havana would resonate with families for many years in the area of illegal drug trafficking. The countries that produce the largest amounts of illegal cocaine are in South America. Bolivia, Colombia and Peru stand out in particular. Mexico is the largest marketer and the US the largest consumer.

Chew and mambe

Chewing coca leaves mixed with lime flour is known as chewing, chacchar, picchar, coquear or mambear coca. Chewing coca leaves is still common today in indigenous and traditional communities in the Andes. This form of medicinal, social, cultural and sacred use occurs in Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and northern Argentina. The Peruvian psychiatrist Carlos Gutiérrez Noriega in an article called this ancestral and traditional use &# 39;cocaísmo'.

In Peru it is known as “chacchar” (from Quechua chakchay), and in Bolivia as “pijchar” (from the aimara word meaning chew), for these cultures the coca leaves are mixed with llipta, which is the ash obtained from quinoa, tobacco, corn or any other plant rich in alkaline substances, to which salt is eventually added. The fact of chacchar or pijchar is a ritual or social act in the Andean communities of Peru and Bolivia, in an ancestral cultural environment. They chew the leaves in agricultural tasks or on long-distance trips generally.

In the Amazon of Brazil, Colombia and Peru, a powder called mambe e ypadu is made, which is obtained from roasting, grinding and sifting the leaves of Amazonian coca, generally mixing them with ashes from trees of the genus Cecropia (Cecropia peltata or Cecropia sciadophylla, among other species) as an alkaline additive. It is also introduced into the mouth and fulfills social, cultural and ritual functions.