COCAINE: THE BIG PROBLEM This story has been told to me many times by an acquaintance. The person I’ve known grew up in the projects of Selma, Alabama. It 's a really rough place you wouldn 't want to grow up in. They didn 't have nice things because they were poor. They lived in a house filled with cockroaches so it wasn 't very clean. It was very hard for him to keep occupied because he didn 't have much to do except to play basketball. During his Senior year, he had gotten into the wrong group of people and tried his first hit of Cocaine. He then, later, became an addict. In the telling of many stories about this drug, he said to me, “No one, when they are little, wants to become a drug dealer or snort their first line of Cocaine, but …show more content…
Freud himself used Cocaine and even promoted its use, according to the article “COCAINE: A SHORT HISTORY. It gained such widespread popularity, that the book Cocaine And Your Nose, author Melanie Ann Apel points out that Cocaine had even been added to Coca Cola in 1886. Michael A. Sommers, author of “Cocaine” writes that in the 1970’s, Cocaine use had become more frequent and studies have shown that more than 300,000 Americans had tried Cocaine during this time.
FORMS OF COCAINE In the article “Cocaine throughout History”, it is explained that there are two different forms of Cocaine. There is Cocaine known as “the rich man 's drug,” and Crack Cocaine which is known as “the poor man’s high,” because it is less costly than Cocaine.
In the article “The Truth About Cocaine”, it is revealed that modern day Cocaine comes in a powdered substance, and which can be mixed or “cut” with a mixture of other unknown things and has many street names, such as: C, Charlie, Coke, Blow, White, Snow, Bump, and Dust, including many others. Melanie Apel explains in COCAINE AND YOUR NOSE, that Cocaine is an upper and it gives you a caffeine-like high. While there are many forms of Cocaine, the most common way of using Cocaine is snorting it through the nose
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The different ways of using Cocaine will have different effects on the user. If one snorts Cocaine, they will experience the loss of their sense of smell. They also experience common nosebleeds, runny noses, and will most likely end up with nasal infections, according to Michael A. Sommers in “Cocaine.” Smoking Crack Cocaine can lead to raspy voices and problems in the throat and respiratory system. And if a person rubs Cocaine on their gums, their teeth may rot. Additionally, Claudia B. Manley in CRACK AND YOUR CIRCULATORY SYSTEM points out that both Crack and Cocaine can make your stomach bleed, making a person not wanting to eat anything, causing a low appetite leading to weight loss
The Cocaine Kids and Dorm Room Dealers are two very different, but yet similar books. Cocaine Kids are about a group of kids, primarily of Hispanic race, with one kid of the Black race. The kids were raised in the inner city of New York. Dorm Room Dealers are about White, middle to upper-middle class college students, who was selling drugs for their status. The purpose of this paper is to prove that there are racial disparities among drug users. There will be examples from the texts that show the different takes on the drug markets and how race plays a factor. There also will be how these experiences shape the kids drug dealing and using. The paper will conclude how all the kids either remained in the drug career or left the drug career.
In “The Ascent” Ron Rash introduces us to a child who is brought up by cocaine addicts name Jared. Jared ventures out into the Great Smokey Mountains National Park to escape his sad home life and on his little adventure Jared finds the lost plane authorities had been looking for, for months. Upon leaving Jared takes the ring from the woman on the plan and returns home where he finds that his parents have already run out of drugs. His father takes the ring Jared had found and then sales the ring for money. His surroundings along with foreshadowing suggests Jared will have to make a life changing decision, but his youth suggests he is too naïve to come to such a realization.
“Just Say No!” A statement that takes us deep into yet another decade in the history of the United States which was excited by controversies, social issues, and drug abuse. The topic of this statement is fueled by the growing abuse of cocaine in the mid 1980s. I shall discuss the effects of the crack cocaine epidemic of the mid 1980s from a cultural and social stand point because on that decade this country moved to the rhythms and the pace of this uncanny drug. Cocaine took its told on American society by in the 1980s; it ravaged with every social group, race, class, etc. It reigned over the United States without any prejudices. Crack cocaine was the way into urban society, because of its affordability in contrast to the powdered form. In society the minorities were the ones most affected by the growing excess of crime and drug abuse, especially African Americans; so the question was “Why was nearly everybody convicted in California federal court of crack cocaine trafficking black?” (Webb: Day 3). The growing hysteria brought forth many questions which might seem to have concrete answers, but the fact of the matter is they are all but conspiracy in the end, even though it does not take away the ambiguity and doubt. I will take on only a few topics from the vast array of events and effects this period in time had tended to. Where and who this epidemic seemed to affect more notably, and perhaps how the drugs came about such territories and people. What actions this countries authority took to restore moral sanity, and how it affected people gender wise.
Cocaine abuse and dependence affected 1.4 million Americans in 2008 (Volkow, 2010). Cocaine is known for its addictive properties (Letchworth et al., 2001). Therapeutic and medicinal techniques utilized to relieve drug effects and drug seeking behavior have become increasingly popular in the scientific community. In general the affected areas during or after cocaine use have been identified subsequently providing research into the physiological aspects of cocaine use. Research to determine drug-seeking and relapse is imperative due to the prevalence of cocaine use and the rehabilitative qualities a medicinal cure could provide.
Cocaine is a classified ‘Schedule II’ drug, also known as “crack”, and “coke” it is a powerful drug, and addictive stimulant well known as a psychoactive substance. That comes from a plant called coca leaf that has been around since the mid-1800s and throughout the 20th century. “In the mid-1980s, addiction to the drug was seen as exaggerated or dismissed as psychological and not addiction” (Miller, Gold, Smith, 1997, p.62). In the past, cocaine’s original use was for medical purposes as local anesthetic for surgeries. Now its usage is illegal and this drug is immersed into the body through various ways. However,...
“The first time cocaine is used it may make the heart beat faster leading to a feeling of excitement and fear” (qtd. in Carroll, 1994, p.24). Followed by euphoria, these feelings can peak within five seconds. The user then begins to feel more energetic and becomes more sociable (Carroll, 1994). One inhalation will produce a high usually lasting 10-15 minutes. After this zenith of intense sensation, “…the drug wears off, these temporary sensations of mastery are replaced by an intense depression, and the drug abuser will then "crash", becoming lethargic and typically sleeping for several days” (qtd. in Narconon, 2001). There are several different ways to use crack. It can be snorted, smoked, or taken intravenously. It can also be taken orally (chewed), but this method is not preferred because of the low intensity of the high. The two most popular ways of using crack are smoking and IV usage. These two methods are most favored because they give the most intense sensations.
Clayton, R. R. (1996). Cocaine use in the United States: In a blizzard or just being snowed. Cocaine Use in America: Epidemiologic and Clinical Perspectives. National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Monograph, 61, 8-34.
Crack is the name given to cocaine that has been transformed into a condensed, more pure, rock form that can be smoked. It is the most addictive form of cocaine due to a higher potency level than the typical batch of street cocaine. Crack cocaine has often been referred to as a ‘soul drug’ because it has a tendency to rob its victims of everything including money, family, morals, and even life itself. Furthermore, it is possible to become addicted to crack cocaine from the very first time it is used, creating a vortex of misery for those who come into contact with it. Compared to other drugs, crack cocaine has a rather short history in America since it was only introduced the 1980’s. However, within this short period, Crack cocaine
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).
“While we all did some things that were in poor taste, not all of us resorted to such desperate measures. Sure, some did, but not all of us. This has made society view drug addicts virtually as lesser beings. The effect it has had in my life is a loss of trust by others who are aware of my past addiction issues” (treatment4addiction.com) Many people see drug addicts as lowlifes who need to stop doing drugs and believe that it is easy to do so. They believe that all drug addicts are scum, that they are not people like everybody else. They do not see it as a disease and because of this they tend to completely shut out the family member or friend suffering from this. In an interview with PocosPeroLocos.FM Williams
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.
What is crack? According to Webster’s dictionary it is “a potent form of cocaine that is obtained by treating the hydrochloride of cocaine with sodium bicarbonate to create small chips used illicitly usually for smoking”. According to Wikipedia, the definition of Crack crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked or shot up. It may also be termed rock, work, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; . “Iit is said to be the most addictive form of cocaine, although this has been contested” (Wikipedia.com). Crack rocks smoked offer a short, but intense high and appeared primarily in impoverished inner city neighborhoods, and started making a showing in the mid-80s” during the mid-1980s .
The difference between cocaine and crack cocaine is that crack is more pure than cocaine. When cocaine was sold it was forty-five percent filler such as icing sugar or even other drugs. Crack cocaine however, could be purchased what the same price and be eighty percent pure. This lead to issues with people who had been taking cocaine and switched to crack thinking they could take the equivalent amount. This caused a spike that was nearly double the rate of hospital admissions due to cocaine overdose from the previous in 1983 (rehabs.com,
Many people avoid the use of crack because of the harmful chemicals used in creating the drug. One of the reasons why crack became popular is because of not needing to inject the drug hence less risks of being infected by the AIDS virus. Carroll (2000) states cocaine is the most powerful stimulant of natural origin. Most users snort or inject the drug to enable a quicker “high.” Cocaine use brings on many health problems.
3. Cocaine comes in two forms a white-crystallized powder, and Crack is processed with baking soda and water to produce rocks.