Will Boettcher
Biology 355
Erythroxylum coca
The Coca Plant
The coca plant belongs to the family of Erythroxylacae. This family is comprised of about 200 species, while only four species produce the alkaloid cocaine in its leaves, the most important of which is Erythroxylum coca. Erythroxylum coca is a four to six foot high shrub which is cultivated extensively in South American, especially in Bolivia, Peru, and Columbia. It flourishes best in the warm valleys on the eastern slopes of the Andes, at 5,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level, in a climate with high rainfall but free of extreme temperatures (Carter 2011). The leaves which serve as an indispensable stimulant to millions of people, are round, five to six cm long, petiolated, have a whole rim with thick cuticle, and are distinguished by two creases in the form of lines, on either side of the midrib, which stand out on the underside, which arise as a consequence of the unique folding of the leaf buds during growth (Figure 1 & 2).
Figure 1: X-Section of coca leaf (Maher 1976) Figure 2: Leaf of erythroxylum coca (Maher 1976)
The shrub bears small white flowers in twos and threes in tufts on the sides and egg-shaped red fruit. It is planted as cuttings; the young plants are transplanted after one year and provide the first harvest of leaf after 18 months and we continue to produce harvest of leaves four to five times a year for up to forty years (Carter 2011). With such large yield, coca plants are an important item of trade, with medical and recreational uses, and are a hundred billion dollar a year crop.
History
For over 4,000 years coca, has been used as a medicine and stimulant in what is now Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia and goes back to the earliest days of...
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...ted benzoylecogonine which is then converted to methylbenzoylecgonine or cocaine. What is amazing is that this all happens inside the coca leaf (Maher 1976). Extraction of cocaine can either be legitimate (from a laboratory) or illicit. Both processes are effective in producing cocaine paste. The laboratory and illicit technique for extracting cocaine are described below (Figure 3 & 4). Both processes start the same with ground coca leaves and are dissolved/washed in alcohol.
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Figure 3: Legitimate extraction process of cocaine from coca leaves as described by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration (Maher 1976)
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Figure 4: Illicit extraction process of cocaine from coca leaves as described by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration (Maher 1976)
specimens with the corresponding scientific description, photographs, specific maps and there are drawings that document the research. This collected images of plants continue the artist’s fascination with documentation, community engagement and art as a way to address larger social issues. This exhibit was interning to me to see all the different plant and to know that plants in the city unknown to most there are often edible, medicinal or even poisonous plants.
The purpose of this research paper is to inform my audience of three primary sections based on biological aspect of the addictive substance cocaine, and its addictive properties. This will include the primary effects on the brain and other organs in the human body. The second section will confer, clinical issues along with medical treatment, future directions of treatment. The third section biological aspects of the addictive substance from a biblical perspective will be discussed. Some areas of interest include freedom and caution for Christian counselor’s based on the addictive substance used.
Grinspoon L, Bakalar JB (1981). Coca and cocaine as medicines: an historical review. J Ethnopharmacol. 1981 Mar-May; 3(2-3):149-59.
Gootenberg, Paul. Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2008.
Cocaine (C17H21NO4) comes from the leaf of an Erythroxylon coca bush. It is a drug that effects the central nervous system. It causes feelings of euphoria, pleasure, increased energy and alertness. People under the influence of cocaine often do not feel the need for food or sleep. They also feel energetic and may talk a lot. However, depending on factors such as environment, dosage, and the manner in which the drug is taken, cocaine can have adverse effects such as violent, erratic behavior, dizziness, paranoia, insomnia, convulsions, and heart failure to name a few. Long- term effects of cocaine include, but are not limited to strokes, heart attacks, seizures, loss of memory, and decrease in learning capability (1).
Velasquez-Donaldson, C. (2007). Coca Production and Alternative Development in Bolivia: A Study Case. Graduate Student Journal, 2007, 58–70. doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2010.09.010
Drug use and abuse is as old as mankind itself. Human beings have always had a desire to eat or drink substances that make them feel relaxed, stimulated, or euphoric. Wine was used at least from the time of the early Egyptians; narcotics from 4000 B.C.; and medicinal use of marijuana has been dated to 2737 B.C. in China. But it was not until the nineteenth century that the active substances in drugs were extracted. There was a time in history when some of these newly discovered substances, such as morphine, laudanum, cocaine, were completely unregulated and prescribed freely by physicians for a wide variety of ailments.
In Jeanette Schmidt’s article, Transporting Cocaine states, “Colombian cartels would pay the Mexican groups as much as $1,000/kilo to smuggle cocaine into the United States” (Schmidt, 2). The Colombian cartels would then pick up the drugs and resume distribution and sales efforts, making personal profits that are unrecorded. In order to seize these individuals who are growing in power and numbers, the U.S. must control the connections between Mexico and Columbia. Mexico is the biggest transporter amongst Columbia and the U.S. because it shares a border with the U.S. This increasingly poisonous drug trafficking leads to drug dealers...
Pure cocaine is the product of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which is mostly found in South America (NIDA, 2014). In South America the consumption of the coca leaf have been recorded as far back as 3000 B.C. (Warner EA, 1993). The coca leafs only contain about two percent of cocaine and in this form there is few instances of abuse. The rate at which it is absorbed is slow in the digestive system and very little cocaine reaches the bloodstream. When the Spaniards came to the Inca civilization in 1532 the drug allowed the locals to endure a harsh and physically demanding life in the Andes. It was seen as a gift from the god Inti (Inciardi, 2002, pg. 49). Even today those natives of the region chew the coca leaves.
11 Feb 2014. http://www.justthinktwice.com/content/inside_dea.html>. Keefe, Patrick. A. “Cocaine Incorporated.” New York Times.
In 1995, the US began to fund aerial eradication campaigns in Colombia. Military planes dumped pesticides over thousands of acres of coca fields. These campaigns turned out to be counterproductive, leading to an actual increase in the amount of coca acreage. The spraying of coca only led Colombian growers to diversify their techniques, growing coca amongst other crops or in locations that were hard to identify by radar techniques. In 2002, the CI...
Nunes, E. V., M.D. (2006). A brief history of cocaine: From inca monarchs to cali cartels. The New England Journal of Medicine, 355(11), 1182. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/223930661?accountid=11233
Drugs come from a wide variety of different places. Many are from plants but some, like heroin have to be chemically modified from morphine. Places that drugs come from can be very common. Caffeine, some people may not know but is considered a drug, comes from cocoa beans, while nicotine comes from tobacco. Mostly, these drugs have to be grown in their natural habitat, however they can be grown in an artificial setting. Many times because dealing drugs is illegal dealers will set up this setting in the basement of their house or some other discreet place (Vicc Drug Guide).
South and Central American Indians made many prehistoric discoveries of drug-bearing plants. Mexican Aztecs even recorded their properties in hieroglyphics on rocks, but our knowledge of their studies comes mainly from manuscripts of Spanish monks and medical men attached to the forces of the conquistador Hernan Cortes (1485-1547).
3. Cocaine comes in two forms a white-crystallized powder, and Crack is processed with baking soda and water to produce rocks.