Cocaine
Cocaine
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Cocaine is an alkaloid found in the leaves of the coca plant. Once the leaves have been harvested, they are immediately dried in the sun until they are almost brittle. The dried leaves are directly transferred to a coca market or an illicit drug laboratory. The first phase involves extracting crude coca paste from the coca leaves. In the second phase, the coca paste is purified, turning it into cocaine base. The third phase involves converting the cocaine base into cocaine hydrochloride. Crack and cocaine freebase is cocaine base obtained from cocaine hydrochloride or paste. Crack has largely replaced cocaine freebase. While cocaine hydrochloride is sniffed/snorted, crack is smoked.
Cocaine comes from some of the most beautiful regions in the world and thanks to the trade in this illicit narcotic many of these areas have become war-zones. Due to the high price of cocaine, the profits are extremely enticing and as such have led to a number of well-armed groups taking over cocaine growing fields and forcing locals to farm for them. After this the transportation of profitable amounts of cocaine becomes risky so custom officials are bribed, trade routes are fought over and there is a breakdown of the society as with many drugs.
The effects of cocaine can include -
- a feeling of well-being, exhilaration and euphoria;
- increased alertness and energy; and
- delayed hunger and fatigue.
The short-term consequences of cocaine usuage are -
- loss of appetite;
- faster breathing;
- raised heart rate;
- raised blood pressure;
- an increase in body temperature which leads to sweating;
- dilated pupils;
- strange, erratic, at times violent behaviour;
- hallucinations;
- talkativeness;
- a sense of power and superiority;
- restlessness;
- hyperexcitability;
- irritability which can lead to anxiety and paranoid psychosis
The possible short-term effects of excessive doses are -
- convulsions;
- seizures;
- stroke;
- cerebral haemorrhage; and
- heart failure
The long-term effects of continuous cocaine usuage are -
- destruction of tissue in the nose if cocaine is sniffed;
- respiratory problems if cocaine is smoked;
- contraction of infectious diseases if cocaine is injected;
- abscesses if cocaine is injected;
- malnutrition and weight loss;
- disorientation;
- indifference;
- exhaustion and disorientation as a result of sleeplessness;
- a heightened tolerance to the effects of the drug;
- a strong psychological dependence on the drug; and
- a state similar to paranoid psychosis (with continued use of the drug)
When a person stops using cocaine he/she will first go through a period of excessive sleeping followed by a period of depression. There is a risk that the person could die of respiratory failure.
Another risk is that cocaine is sold in powder form. While you may accept that the unit you are buying is diluted with another substance, how do you know what that substance is? You could be putting 1-part rat poison and 3-part washing powder into your system and you would never know, until you are rushed to a hospital that is.
Cocaine will be a major drain on your finances. With the average price of a gram of cocaine being R250, you can spend thousands of Rands in one night trying to satisfy your addiction. Ask yourself how long you can keep that up for? And if you are thinking of being able to function in normal society, think again. The paranoia will virtually paralyse you leaving you unable to fulfil many functions.
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