.Cocaine
Jaclyn Sharman
Saint Joseph’s University
What is Cocaine?
• Cocaine is an alkaloid found in the leaves of the
South American shrub, Erythroxylon Coca.
(Primarily found in Peru & Bolivia)
• It is a powerfully reinforcing psychostimulant.
• In its pure form cocaine is extracted from the
leaves of the coca plant as a fine, white, crystalline
powder with a bitter, numbing taste.
• On the street cocaine is usually diluted or “cut”
with other substances (corn starch, vitamin C
powder, sugar, talcum powder…) to increase
quantity.
Cocaine
What is Cocaine?
• Coca leaves contain 0.1-0.9% cocaine.
• The leaves are soaked and mashed and then
the cocaine is extracted as a coca-paste.
• After the organic solvent has evaporated the
coca paste is 60-80% pure.
• The cocaine is then exported in the form of
salt: Cocaine Hydrochloride ( the most
common powder form).
Cocaine vs. Crack
• Cocaine: • Crack:
– The powdered – Cocaine that has not been
hydrochloride salt form neutralized by an acid to
– Dissolves in water and make the hydrochloride salt
when abused can be taken – Comes in a rock crystal
intravenously (injected form
through veins) or – Can be heated and its
intranasally (snorted vapors smoked (free-
through the nose). basing)
– The term “crack” refers to
the crackling sound heard
when it is heated.
– User develops a much
stronger dependence.
Common Terms Associated with
Cocaine
Term Definition
Blow Cocaine
Nose candy Cocaine
Tornado Crack
Snowball Cocaine and heroin
Bingers Crack addicts
Oolies Marijuana laced with crack
Horn To inhale cocaine
Wicky Stick PCP, marijuana, and
crack
Speedball cocaine or crack mixed
with heroin
Cocaine
History of Cocaine
• Indian tradition: Mama Coca was a benevolent deity. She was
regarded as a sacred goddess who could bless humans with her power.
• Before the harvest, the harvester would sleep with a woman to ensure
Mama coca would be in a favorable mood. Typically a decoction of
coca and saliva was rubbed on the male genitals to prolong erotic
ecstasy.
• In ancient times the South American natives used coca for mystical,
religious, social, nutritional, and medicinal purposes.
• They used the stimulant to fight fatigue and hunger, enhance
endurance and to promote a benign sense of well-being.
• Coca was even used to provide a measure of time and distance. Native
travelers would describe their journey in terms of the number of
mouthfuls of coca typically chewed while making the trip.
• It was often reserved for Incan royalty.
History of
Cocaine…continued
• At first the Spanish Conquistadores banned coca but when
they discovered the natives could barely work in the fields
or mine gold. So then the coca leaves were distributed 3-4
times a day during brief rest-breaks.
• Returning Spanish Conquistadores introduced it to Europe
as “an elixir of life.”
• Cocaine was first isolated from the coca plant in the West
by the German chemist Friedrich Gaedcke in 1855; he
named it “Erythroxyline.”
• In 1860 while working on his PhD Albert Niemann
described an improved purification process; he named it
cocaine.
History of
Cocaine…continued
• Cocaine was soon sold over the counter (even in
department stores, Harrods).
• It was widely used in tonics, toothache cures, in chocolate
cocaine tablets, and patent medicines.
• Cocaine was dispensed by doctors as an antidote to
morphine addiction and also as a good surface anesthetic.
It was also found to be very effective in reducing the
swelling of mucous membranes consequently enlarging
nasal and bronchial passages.
• In the early 1880’s Angelo Mariani produced a medicinal
wine, called Vin Mariani, that contained 11% alcohol and
6.5 mg of cocaine in every ounce.
Medical Advertisement
History of
Cocaine…continued
• In 1886 John Pemberton developed Coca-Cola containing
both cocaine and caffeine.
• Promoted as a temperance drink “offering the virtues of coca
without the vices of alcohol” or “ a valuable brain tonic and
cure for all nervous afflictions.”
• Cocaine was later removed from Coca-Cola in 1906.
• In 1912 the US Government reported 5,000 deaths from
cocaine use.
• In 1914 the Harrison Narcotic Act banned cocaine in the
US except for a few medical uses; it has been illegal
worldwide ever since.
Sigmund Freud & Cocaine
• Freud played a significant role in the development
of the Western cocaine-industry.
• In 1880’s Freud ( an abuser himself)
recommended cocaine for a variety of illnesses
and for alcohol and morphine addiction.
• Merk & Parke Davis both paid Freud to endorse
their rival brands.
• Freud wrote several works on cocaine, notable
Uber Coca (1884).
A More Recent History
• 1940-1960’s: the smuggling of cocaine into the
US was very limited and the black market in
cocaine was relatively small.
• Late 60’s-70’s Cocaine and its smuggling regained
its popularity in the powder form of cocaine
hydrochloride, mostly being sniffed.
• In the early 80’s smokeable form of cocaine
(crack) became common.
• By 1985 the crack-cocaine epidemic was official.
Percent of Students
Reporting Cocaine Use, 2003
8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade
Past month use 0.9% 1.3% 2.1%
Past year use 2.2 3.3 4.8
Lifetime use 3.6 5.1 7.7
Physiological Effects of Cocaine
• initial “rush” or sense of • constricted blood
well-being vessels
• a feeling of euphoria
• dilated pupils
• excitement
• increased temperature
• reduced hunger
• a feeling of strength • increased heartrate
• hyperstimulation • increased blood
• reduced fatigue pressure
• mental clarity
Effects of Cocaine …Continued
• The effects of cocaine depends on the route of
administration.
– The faster the absorption the more intense the high.
– The faster the absorption the shorter the duration of action.
– The high from snorting can last15-30 minutes.
– The high from smoking may last 5-10 minutes (usually a dose of
25-150 mg).
– Increased use can reduce the period of time a user feels high and
increase the risk of addiction.
• The effects quickly wear off often leaving the user more
down or depressed than initially. Such feelings of
depression may become chronic. Often this feelings leads
the user to abuse just to feel “normal.”
Additional Effects of Cocaine
• Regular snorting can lead to loss of smell,
nosebleeds, problems with swallowing,
hoarseness, irritation of the nasal septum, or even
a chronically inflamed runny nose.
• Daily use will eventually collapse the septum. This damage is
irreversible.
• Cocaine often increase sexual desire while
impairing or delaying orgasm.
• However heavy abuse leads to a massive decline in sex drive
and activity.
Effects of Cocaine…continued
• A tolerance may develop: increased use reduces
the period of time a user feels high and increases
the risk of addiction.
• When used repeatedly and at increasingly high
doses: dizziness, headaches, irritability,
restlessness, insomnia, anxiety, paranoia, tremors,
muscle twitches.
– User may develop full-blown paranoid psychosis in which the
individual loses touch with reality and experiences auditory
hallucinations. (Long Term/High Doses)
Effects of Cocaine…Continued
• Tolerance
1. Acute Tolerance: may be due to the activation of a
negative feedback system, an auto receptor activation
reduces monoamine neurotransmitter release.
2. Long Term Tolerance: (chronic cocaine exposure)
may be related to the depletion of monoamines and/or
down regulation of monoamines…leading to
psychological dependence.
*Addicts come to want cocaine more and more even if
they like it less and less.
Medical Consequences of
Cocaine Abuse
• Cardiovascular Effects • Neurological Effects
• Disturbances in heart • Strokes
rhythm: ventricular • Seizures and headaches
fibrillation
• Gastrointestinal Effects:
• Heart attacks
(if ingested)
• Has also been linked to
many types of heart • Abdominal pain
disease • Severe bowel gangrene
(due to reduced blood
• Respiratory Effects flow)
• Chest pain • nausea
• Respiratory failure
Cocaine’s Effect on the Brain
• The region of the brain that appears to be the most affected by cocaine
is the ventral tegmental, area (VTA). The neurons originating in the
VTA extend to the region of the brain known as the nucleus
accumbens, one of the brain’s key pleasure centers.
– It is here that scientists find large increase in the amounts of
dopamine released by the neurons originating in the VTA.
• Cocaine primarily acts by blocking the re-uptake of the
neurotransmitters dopamine. It also blocks the re-uptake of
norepinephrine in the PNS and serotonin.
– Neurotransmitters then remain in the synaptic cleft for longer
periods of time.
• Research has also shown that cocaine can also cause the release of
dopamine from neurons in the brain.
Cocaine’s Effect on the Brain
• Cocaine in the brain - In the normal communication process, dopamine is
released by a neuron into the synapse, where it can bind with dopamine
receptors on neighboring neurons. Normally dopamine is then recycled back
into the transmitting neuron by a specialized protein called the dopamine
transporter. If cocaine is present, it attaches to the dopamine transporter and
blocks the normal recycling process, resulting in a build-up of dopamine in the
synapse which contributes to the pleasurable effects of cocaine.
The Brain on Cocaine
These two images of the brain are
positron emission tomography
(PET) scans of a normal person
(picture on the left) and of a
person on cocaine (picture on the
right). The PET scan shows brain
function by seeing how the brain
uses glucose, the energy source for
neurons. In these scans, the red
color shows high use of glucose,
yellow shows medium use and blue
shows the least use of glucose.
Notice that many areas of the brain
of the cocaine user do not use
glucose as effectively as the brain
of the normal person. This can be
observed by the lower amounts of
red in the right PET scan.
Phasic Model of Cocaine
Withdrawal
1. First few hours after a binge: user feels depressed and
agitated, lacks appetite and experiences high cocaine
craving.
2. In the next several hours or days the user experiences
extreme hunger and excessive need of sleep. The
cocaine craving is absent and for some there a a strong
abhorrence for cocaine.
3. During the next several days user experiences anxiety,
lack of energy, and an inability to enjoy normal activities
with a high craving that is exacerbated with
environmental cues.
4. Over next several weeks user’s mood and pleasure
response returns to normal and cocaine craving is
episodic.
Cocaine & Alcohol
• When people mix cocaine and alcohol
consumption they are compounding the danger
each drug poses.
• Researchers have found that the human liver
combines cocaine and alcohol and manufactures a
3rd substance, cocaethylene.
• This result intensifies and prolongs cocaine’s
euphoric and cardiovascular effects, while
potentially increasing the risk of sudden death.
Research Leading to Treatment
• Dopamine acts on two general classes of
dopamine receptors (D1 & D2).
– Studies in the rat indicate that selective agonists
for the two receptor sites produce different
effects: D1-like receptor agonists prevent
cocaine seeking behavior; D2-agonists do the
opposite.
Treatment for Cocaine Abuse
• One of NIDA’s top priorities is to find a
medication to block or greatly reduce the effects
of cocaine. They are also researching medications
that may alleviate the severe craving experienced
by addicts.
• Selegeline: either a transdermal patch or a time released pill
• Disulfiram: a medication that has been used to treat alcoholism
• Antidepressants have also shown to be of some benefit due to
the mood changes experienced in the early stages of cocaine
abstinence.
• Anti-cocaine Vaccine: consists of a synthetic cocaine
derivative attached to proteins that trigger immune responses to
cocaine
Interesting Facts
• Cocaine is the 2nd most commonly used illicit drug in the US.
• Nation-wide prices range from 12,000-35,000 per kilogram.
• The word coca comes from the Aymara language “khoka” meaning
“the tree”
• A line of cocaine is usually 50-75 mg. An “eight ball” is one eighth of
an ounce, approximately 3.5 grams.
• A lethal dose can be as little as 20 mg if injected intravenously, while
500mg-1.4g taken nasally (snorted) or orally.
• Cocaine stays in your bloodstream for up to 72 hours.
• Drug testing for cocaine aims to detect the presence of its major
metabolite, the inactive benzoylecgonine. This can be detected for up
to five days in casual users. In chronic users urinary detection is
possible for as long as three weeks.
Cocaine