Difference Between Cocaine And Cocaine

Cocaine or benzoylmethyl ecogine is the product of the coca plant, which is native to South America. The method, in which cocaine is utilized, is through smoking crack, snorting or via injection. The difference between crack cocaine and cocaine would be the composition. Crack cocaine is powdered cocaine mixed with a weak base (baking soda), and the application of heat, which then changes it to a solid. Crack also has a lower melting point then cocaine, which is why it can also be smoked. Depending on dosage, it is now only a short delay for the effects to commence. The individual begins to experience euphoria, because the stimulant has now traveled to the brain’s ventral tegmentum region. This is where the neurons, or “cells that have the property of transmitting and receiving nervous impulses” are located. – Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. As a result, cocaine affects the dopamine levels present. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that works in conjunction with neurons. It is altered because the neurons are expected to be reabsorbed by a dopamine transporter, which allows the secretion or retrieval of dopamine.

Specifically, there needs to be a chemical balance, hence the reason a person cannot feel a certain way for a prolonged amount of time. The activities that are now transpiring are a result of the limbic system, “the primary site for cocaine effects,” where “dopamine-responsive cells are highly concentrated (Nestler, 6).” Cocaine attaches to the dopamine transporter, and does not permit neurons to return. A build-up soon follows, allowing receptors to be artificially stimulated at a higher rate, than the body could naturally produce. The issue becomes prevalent as the dopamine levels return to normal, which creates de...

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...ns craved cocaine even more. A similar study was conducted by a different group or researchers in which a monkey “pressed a button 12,000 times to receive a single dose of cocaine (Kiyatkin, 775).” The severity in regards to cocaine use, is now better understood, then previously thought, through experimentation.

Science is written in pencil, and as new information becomes available, the true extent of cocaine use is not truly known. This epidemic has thus been held to the highest regard on the state and federal level. Both are placing emphasis on individuals to avoid these deadly substances, by spending $524 billion a year on programs and community initiatives. The brain is one of, if not the most complicated organs, and therefore should be treated with the utmost respect. As Thomas Edison once remarked, “The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around.”