Drugs have been a problem in our society for many years. They have been used and abused by many groups, including professional athletes. It is certainly quite common to hear about or read about athletes and drug use. Although drugs have a lengthy history of use by athletes, they have varied effects on the body and different preventions.
Much of the world's supply of cocaine is produced in South America. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Incas of Peru chewed coca leaves because they made it possible for them to work in the high mountains of the land for longer periods of time. In the 1880's Bolivian soldiers were given the drug to help them gain endurance and overcome fatigue. One hundred years later as many as 90 percent of the natives of the Andes Mountains in Peru regularly chewed coca leaves. It wasn't until the early years of the 20th century that cocaine increased in popularity among athletes ("Coca").
Cocaine is a naturally occurring alkaloid, extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. It is an excellent local anesthetic and a widely abused illicit drug. Cocaine is an odorless, white powder. The many street names of cocaine include "coke," "snow," "lady," and "gold dust." Street cocaine consists of cocaine hydrochloride that is mixed or "cut" with a number of other white, powdery substances. These include procaine and lidocaine, sugars like lactose and dextrose, stimulants such as dexedrine and caffeine, and other substances including cornstarch, talcum powder, and flour. Street cocaine today contains only 12 to 50 percent cocaine hydrochloride. About 100,000 pounds of cocaine are brought into this county each year. Eighty thousand tons of coca leaf will eventually produce about 200 tons of cocaine("Coca").
Marijuana was first smoked as a medicine as early as 2737 B.C.E. in China. Marijuana is a mixture of leaves, stems, and flowering tops of the hemp plant. The hemp plant has the highest cannabinoid concentration found in the flowering tops. Marijuana is referred to as grass, pot, tea, or weed. The hemp plant grows wild through most of the world and can be cultivated in any area with a hot season. It grows best in central Asia. The main psychoactive compound in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinal, better known as THC, a strong hallucinogenic that passes from the lungs into the blood and the brain. The THC content of marijuana has increased eight fold in the last few years and some now exceed 10 percent.
The Devil in the Form of a woman by Carol Karlsen details the particular treacheries towards several women of all ages inside colonial The us. This particular thought ended up being created by the male driven culture of the Puritans.. Other than as an evident disciple to the activist institution connected with traditional imagined, the girl delicate factors the particular criticalness connected with witchcraft allegations for ladies inside New England. She contends for that relevance and criticalness connected with women's areas in the devouring madness connected with witchcraft inside seventeenth century United States. She unobtrusively states that many diversions were being used to mince away witchcraft practices along with the publication of material describing the matter. This describes that a certain type of woman gambled denunciation away from scope to help the woman group gain correct portrayal in the public forum.
“The Devil in the Shape of a Woman” was an excellent book that focuses on the unjusts that have been done to women in the name of witchcraft in Salem, and many other areas as well. It goes over statistical data surrounding gender, property inherence, and the perceptions of women in colonial New England. Unlike the other studies of colonial witchcraft, this book examines it as a whole, other then the usual Salem outbreaks in the late 17th century.
The witch hunts in early modern Europe were extensive and far reaching. Christina Larner, a sociology professor at the University of Glasgow and an influential witchcraft historian provides valuable insight into the witch trials in early modern Europe in her article 'Was Witch-Hunting Woman-Hunting?'. Larner writes that witchcraft was not sex-specific, although it was sex-related (Larner, 2002). It cannot be denied that gender plays a tremendous role in the witch hunts in early modern Europe, with females accounting for an estimated 80 percent of those accused (Larner, 2002). However, it would be negligent to pay no heed to the remaining 20 percent, representing alleged male witches (Larner, 2002). The legal definition of a witch in this time, encompassed both females and males (Levack, 1987). This essay will explore the various fundamental reasons for this gender discrepancy and highlight particular cases of witchcraft allegations against both women and men. These reasons arise from several fundamental pieces of literature that depict the stereotypical witch as female. These works are misogynistic and display women as morally inferior to men and highly vulnerable to temptations from demons (Levack, 1987). This idea is blatantly outlined in the text of the 'Malleus Maleficarum' written by James Sprenger and Henry Kramer in the late fifteenth century. This book is used as the basis for many of the witch trials in early modern Europe (Levack, 1987). The text describes women as sexually submissive creatures and while remarking that all witchcraft is derived from intense sexual lust, a women is thus a prime candidate for witchcraft (Sprenger & Kramer, 1487). In this time period, men are seen as powerful and in control and thus rarely...
During the time of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, more than twenty people died an innocent death. All of those innocent people were accused of one thing, witchcraft. During 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts many terrible events happened. A group of Puritans lived in Salem during this time. They had come from England, where they were prosecuted because of their religious beliefs. They chose to come live in America and choose their own way to live. They were very strict people, who did not like to act different from others. They were also very simple people who devoted most of their lives to God. Men hunted for food and were ministers. Women worked at home doing chores like sewing, cooking, cleaning, and making clothes. The Puritans were also very superstitious. They believed that the devil would cause people to do bad things on earth by using the people who worshiped him. Witches sent out their specters and harmed others. Puritans believed by putting heavy chains on a witch, that it would hold down their specter. Puritans also believed that by hanging a witch, all the people the witch cast a spell on would be healed. Hysteria took over the town and caused them to believe that their neighbors were practicing witchcraft. If there was a wind storm and a fence was knocked down, people believed that their neighbors used witchcraft to do it. Everyone from ordinary people to the governor’s wife was accused of witchcraft. Even a pregnant woman and the most perfect puritan woman were accused. No one in the small town was safe. As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.
The term witchcraft is defines as the practice of magic intended to influence nature. It is believed that only people associated with the devil can perform such acts. The Salem Witch Trials was much more than just America’s history, it’s also part of the history of women. The story of witchcraft is first and foremost the story of women. Especially in its western life, Karlsen (1989) noted that “witchcraft challenges us with ideas about women, with fears about women, with the place of women in society and with women themselves”. Witchcraft also confronts us too with violence against women. Even through some men were executed as witches during the witch hunts, the numbers were far less then women. Witches were generally thought to be women and most of those who were accused and executed for being witches were women. Why were women there so many women accused of witchcraft compared to men? Were woman accused of witchcraft because men thought it was a way to control these women? It all happened in 1692, in an era where women were expected to behave a certain way, and women were punished if they threatened what was considered the right way of life. The emphasis of this paper is the explanation of Salem proceedings in view of the role and the position of women in Colonial America.
Cocaine originated from South America, from coca leaves. Originally, the coca leaves were chewed by workers to decrease fatigue, improve endurance and have a greater resistance to the cold. This was to benefit the workers so they could work longer hours and be more productive. In 1855 the active ingredient in cocaine was isolated from the leaves, and in 1880 it was used as a local anesthetic (Nunes,2006). It was also used in coca cola. In 1855, coca cola was a soda beverage that contained sixty milligrams of cocaine for every eight ounces of the beverage. The idea behind this was to give people energy and a sense of well being (Nunes, 2006). By the late 1880s Sigmund Freud was using cocaine regularly and was even recommending it to others. This only lasted for less than twenty years, until he started discouraging it to others. Then by 1914 cocaine was banned for medical use and in beverages. This caused the use of cocaine and by the 1930s, the use had drastically decreased. It then became popular for recreational use in the 1980s (Nunes, 2006). It was often used and shown in movies such as Scarface, and is famous for the amount of cocaine that Al Pacino uses in one of the final scenes of the movie. Now it is still used recreationally and used by a ‘party crowd’. Although this is the primary category of people who use cocaine, people of all demographics use cocaine recreationally.
Cocaine is known for being a very addictive drug. Produced from the leaves of a coca plant caused the vast manufacturing of the drug. The process of creating cocaine is a long procedure but there are five key points. The leaves of the coca plant stripped in order to get to the essence of natural properties, soon after the escarpments from the leaves are dried. The dried leaf escarpments are then synthesized to create a paste that will be dissolved in order to condense and multiply the amount of the drug. After this process two very key chemical combinations are added sulfuric acid and potassium permanganate. The product is further dried and turns white thus cocaine is created and sold on the streets of our nation. Cocaine is known as “pure” and the extensive process of making cocaine is time consuming, thus making this form of the drug expensive.
Cocaine comes from the leaves of two specific coca plants that are primarily grown in South America. The leaves contain the specific cocaine alkaloid that is needed to make cocaine hydrochloride (Rhodium). Alkaloids are a class of alkaline amines that are found in nature and amines are organic compounds containing a nitrogen atom bonded to one, two or three carbons (Suchocki 368). The process of going from a coca leaf to the cocaine hydrochloride (powdered cocaine) is done by converting the coca leaves to coca paste and the coca paste into cocaine base which is then moved into the hydrochloride stage (Rhodium). Each coca leaf contains roughly 1% of the desired cocaine (Claustre and Bresch-Rieu). The dried leaves are placed in a container and mixed with water, kerosene and an alkaline material such as sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) or sometimes baking soda. The solution made extracts cocaine alkaloids from the leaves (Rhodium). The kerosene, which is water immiscible, and the cocaine alkaloids become separated and the water and leaves are then discarded. The cocaine alkaloids are then extracted from the kerosene by using a sulfuric acid. The result is a putty like substance of cocaine sulfate or coca paste (“Cocaine”). It takes around 250 pounds of dried coca leaves to produce just 2.2 pounds of coca paste and out of the paste there contains 30 to...
Cocaine is a drug derived from the leaf of the Erytroxylon cocoa bush, which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia. Cocaine also known as coke, C, snow, flake, nose candy, blow, or crack is generally sold on the street as a hydrochloride salt( a water-soluble salt). Cocaine is a fine, white crystalline powder often diluted with similar-looking substances such as talcum powder, sugar, or amphetamines. The powder can be snorted into the nostrils, also may be rubbed onto the mucous linings of the mouth, rectum, or vagina. To experience cocaine's effects quickly, and to heighten their intensity, users sometimes dissolve it in water and injects into a vein. The drug may be smoked in a purified form through a water pipe (freebassing) or in a concentrated form (crack) shaped into pellets or rocks and placed in special smoking gear. Despite today's abuse of the highly addictive drug, cocaine was intended for medical purposes. Pure cocaine was first extracted and identified by the German chemist Albert Niemann in the mid-19thcentury, and was introduced as a tonic/elixir in patent medicines to treat a variety of real or imagined illnesses. Later, it was used as a local anesthetic for eye, ear, and throat surgery and continues today to have limited use in surgery. Cocaine is a powerful central nervous system stimulant that heightens alertness and provides intense feelings of pleasure. Because of it's potent euphoric and energizing effects, many people
Cocaine is an addictive drug derived from the leaves of the coca plant. It is a strong stimulant mostly used as a recreational drug. Cocaine is commonly snorted, inhaled, or injected into the veins. It is one of the most widespread drugs in the United States. It is readily absorbed through the body’s mucous membranes. The onset of the action depends on the route of administration, which can take between three seconds to five minutes. Peak effects also depend on the route of administration which can take between one to twenty minutes or five to ninety minutes. Cocaine has a half-life of thirty to sixty minutes. Approximately 25-30 million Americans use cocaine
Cocaine is a powerful central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that heightens alertness, inhibits appetite and the need for sleep, and provides intense feelings of pleasure. It is prepared from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia.
Cocaine, a powdered narcotic derived from the leaves of the cocoa plant, has been a curious participant in the history of several contemporary cultures. Its ubiquity is an outgrowth of its unique and highly effective properties. While cocaine is commonly known as a highly popular recreational drug, its underlying chemical properties, chemical mechanisms, and chemical effects on the human body, offer an understanding of why the drug remains a resilient participant in today’s culture. We explore these chemical characteristics further.
The use of drugs for an athlete may be very harmful as his/her health is in great danger. Some drugs are illegal and the International Olympic Committee has a list of banned substances which if consumed, may give out terrible consequences. Such examples are:
Coca is a plant coming from South America that for thousands of years been cultivated in Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia. The coca leaves have played, and still play, key social, medicinal, and ritual purposes for millions of indigenous people living in the Central and North Andes and Amazonia. Coca is a mild stimulant, however, it has been criminalized and equated with cocaine. It was not until 1855, when a German scientist fabricated cocaine, the laboratory-produced alkaloid separated from coca leaves. This formerly licit commodity was transformed into an illicit drug, due to the influence of Western morals and behavior. In Bolivia, the transformation of coca has drastically affected the peasantry in the region, altering social discourses, local and national economies, as well as traditional, indigenous practices. Today, coca cocaine as a commodity employs billions of people, this is an economy of its own, but the lines of legal and illegal cross and blur.
The New Imperialism and the Scramble for Africa 1880-1914. Jeff Taylor, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.