To date, one of the most expensive psycho-stimulating substances is cocaine, which is considered popular among wealthy people. Bohemia is closely acquainted with this drug, which is also called stardust.
Cocaine - information
Cocaine is of vegetable origin, the shrub grows on the South American continent. The use of leaves of the coca bush took place even in the Incas and Indians. At the time of the Inca civilization, the coca was considered a sacred shrub, therefore only the select people with a noble lineage could chew the leaves, and only on holidays. Later, Indian warriors used the plant to increase strength and endurance. Cocaine leaves gave them confidence and invincibility, they silenced the feeling of hunger.
Coca came to Europe only in the 19th century, when European research expeditions reached Peru. At the end of the 19th century, chemists managed to extract from the leaves of the shrub alkaloid substance - cocaine, which was the beginning of a new era of drug use.
The leaves of the bush are treated with kerosene, then grind to pasty state. When hydrochloric acid is added to the paste, cocaine salt is formed, which is sold by drug dealers. This salt is sniffed, eaten, injected into the veins, but the most common way of consumption is considered to be inhalation, since so narcotic intoxication comes the fastest.
Drug dealers dilute the powder with various impurities so that the pure cocaine salt is only 10-40% of the total amount of the drug. As impurities, mannitol, lactose, caffeine, luminal, etc. are used.
Properties of
The effect of cocaine use lasts only a quarter of an hour. Then the addict needs the next dose.
Because of this peculiarity of cocaine, overdoses often occur, which leads to severe consequences, even to death:
- The action of cocaine is a sudden fit of euphoria and a sharp self-confidence.
- After a dose, the addict becomes talkative, his mood rises, there is openness and sociability.
- External signs in humans under the cocaine effect are in wide-open eyes with dilated pupils and in tightly compressed jaws.
- The temperature, blood pressure and pulse rate are raised, there is a strong sexual arousal.
- Some cocaine causes excessive irritability, insomnia and unnecessary anxiety.
- Some cocaine addicts claim that while they are under the influence of cocaine, they feel an inexpressible clarity of thought.
It is possible to recognize the cocaine dealer by the characteristic hoarseness and frequent diseases of the throat, which arise against the background of difficulty breathing and emphysema due to prolonged cocaine.
But this is only minor damage. The consequences of cocaine for the organism are much worse. Under the influence of the drug there is a sharp vascular contraction, which leads to an increase in blood pressure, an increase in heart rate. Such violations often provoke a coronary attack. The brain is subjected to excessive stimulation, which causes convulsions.
On the video about the properties and application of cocaine:
Application of
After the narcotic substance was discovered, cocaine became actively used in medicine as an anesthetic. Even the notorious Freud used cocaine in the treatment of depressive states, sexual disorders, alcoholism and neuroses of various etiologies. But soon after discovering the terrible consequences of using the drug, Freud refused to use it.
But by the 1970s, cocaine had revived again and began to spread actively among the wealthy population, and in the early 1990s it became the preferred drug of middle-income people. Today, cocaine is used in medicine in the form of drugs derived from it, such as novocaine and procaine. Cocaine itself is used in surgery when operations are performed on the face area, as the drug provokes vasoconstriction and reduces bleeding, and also effectively anesthetizes.
Cocaine hydrochloride solutions( 1-3%) are used in ocular surgery, as well as for local anesthesia of teeth and mucous tissues of the mouth, larynx and nose. When cocaine molecules interact with peripheral neuro-systemic neurons, the latter lose their ability to excite. As a result, a certain part of the body becomes numb.
Mechanism of action
Cocaine is a potent stimulant. Its main effect is on the cerebrospinal areas controlling pleasure. The drug blocks the splitting of dopamine molecules, which causes a euphoric state. Such a brain load causes systemic failures, dopamine reserves are depleted, which leads to fear, psycho-emotional discomfort and irritability that occurs immediately after the end of the cocaine effect.
Such conditions cause a person irresistible desire to again take a stimulant, so that the owl will return to its former state of euphoria. After all, immediately after using the drug, there is an influx of energy, increasing concentration and self-confidence, accelerating the processes of thinking, increasing endurance and lack of fatigue.
A documentary about how drugs work under the name of cocaine:
Does the dependence
What is dangerous is cocaine, so this is what causes the strongest dependence, which at the initial stages of formation may not be manifested.
The systematic use of the stimulant leads to obvious consequences:
- Addicts begin to lose weight rapidly;
- He is constantly troubled by irritability and headaches, excruciating fatigue;
- Because of imaginary bites, the cocaine combs the skin;
- Such drug addicts are constantly concerned about respiratory infections and runny nose;
- He loses interest in the events taking place in his life, his appearance acquires untidy features, as he ceases to follow.
Dependence on cocaine develops in 4 stages:
- Social use. At this stage, a person is just beginning to get acquainted with the possibilities of cocaine, consuming it for a specific purpose such as stimulation or to enhance sexual possibilities;
- Problem use. At this stage, the person starts to get drugs himself, he takes them drunkenly, which negatively affects his life, as he begins to neglect professional duties, skips work, etc.;
- Critical use. This stage of cocaine is characterized by the appearance of new "friends", irresponsibility, inadequate behavior and maniacal ideas;
- Chronic use. At this stage, the patient experiences drunken drug use, the addict is constantly in search of new doses, with overdosages, overdoses often occur, the physical condition of the cocaine is gradually deteriorating. The length of narcotics is gradually increasing.
Treatment
Often the question arises, is there a dependence on cocaine? Indeed, the substance does not cause physical dependence, however, the psychological dependence is so strong that it is impossible to cope with it independently. Therefore, cocaine specialists need qualified help. Drug addicts must be isolated from dubious friends in order to exclude the possibility of failure.
First you need to eliminate the root cause of the treatment of drugs, then the treatment will be most effective. Also, the addict's body needs detoxification therapy, which consists in infusion therapy, and a course of psychological help. Therapy of chronic cocaine must necessarily take place in the clinic, because complications such as suicidal tendencies and deep depression are possible.
The specialists of the centers of treatment and rehabilitation for drug addicts best deal with the treatment of cocaine dependence. Independently to cope with dependence it is difficult enough, therefore it is better to address for treatment to the competent expert.