Drug Cocaine example essay topic

My report is on the drug cocaine. I will tell mainly how it affects the body and nervous system. I also have included where Cocaine comes from to help understand exactly what we " re talking about, and to clear up any misunderstanding about the drug. Cocaine is both a central nervous system stimulant and an anesthetic. It is found in the leaves of the coca plant.

The traditional method of coca use is to chew the leaves, producing a mild stimulation. Outside of South America it is generally used in it's more refined and extracted forms, either powder cocaine, or freebase cocaine and makes a much stronger effect than chewing the leaves. The term 'Crack' is alternately used to refer to street quality freebase cocaine, or to refer to the product of a particular manufacturing process, which uses sodium bicarbonate rather than a flammable solvent. Powdered cocaine is mostly snorted and crack or freebase cocaine is generally smoked. Smoking freebase cocaine causes a strong, short-lived peak of about 3-5 minutes, while snorting cocaine provides a lower high with major effects lasting closer to 30 minutes. The Mental facts of Cocaine vary with dose and the tolerance of the user.

It increases alertness, wakefulness, elevates the mood, mild to high degree of euphoria, increases athletic performance, decreases fatigue, clearer thinking, increases concentration, increases energy, increased irritability, insomnia, restlessness. With high doses someone may exhibit a pattern of psychosis with confused and disorganized behavior, irritability, fear, paranoia, hallucinations, may become extremely antisocial and aggressive. Physically, it increases heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. It also increases the blood pressure, temperature, pulse, and the respetory system.

It dilates the pupils, decreases sleep and appetite, gives you seizures, strokes, heart attacks, and may even cause death. Cocaine comes from the Cocoa plant that mostly grows in South America. Long ago, Inca Indians would chew the leaves to get a mild, but long-lasting stimulation. Chewing the leaves produces no "high". Coca is consumed by chewing the leaves with a pinch of lime. Prior to adding the lime, the leaves are chewed to moisten and break them, as well as remove the stalks and strings.

Then the lime is added pinch by pinch until the proper mixture is achieved. The wad of leaves is then kept relatively still between the, teeth and cheek. It is sucked on rather than chewed. It is still a common practice for a mother to introduce her young to the coca experience by preparing the wad of leaves in her mouth and then transferring it to the mouth of her child. In this way the proper amount of lime will be present in the first wad of leaves the child uses, which ensures that the first experience with coca will be a positive one. Cocaine was first extracted from coca in the 19th cent. and was at first hailed as a miracle drug.

After all, it was used for a lot of things such as in dentistry. Most coca is grown in Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia. The farmers, for whom it is a relatively well-paying crop, harvest and dry the leaves, which are then processed into coca paste. Cocaine base is extracted from the paste in informal laboratories, usually in Peru or Bolivia. Further processing continues in Colombia, where the white powder, cocaine hydrochloride, is produced for export.

Once in the United States, the cocaine is cut (diluted) with ingredients such as lactose, and sold or further processed into crack. Drug dealers make a lot of money off of Cocaine. The reason why this is, is because in South America, it's very cheap for the stuff while in North America, the price shoots up quite a bit. Drugs can affect the body in a variety of ways, causing changes in the brain, the nervous system, and the synapses between nerves. Stimulants in particular, increase the release of neurotransmitters at some synapses in the brain.

This speeds up the nervous system, leading to a feeling of energy. When the effects of the drug wear-off though, the user quickly falls into depression and fatigue because the brain's supply of neurotransmitters has been used up. Long-term use of stimulants may cause hallucinations, circulatory problems, and depression. Cocaine actually has even stronger effects.

It acts on the neurons in what are known as the pleasure parts of the brain. The effects of Cocaine are so strong that they produce an addiction, which is an uncontrollable craving for more of a drug. Cocaine causes the sudden release of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Normally, the dopamine is released when a basic need such as hunger, or thirst, is fulfilled. By fooling the brain into releasing dopamine, cocaine produces intense feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. Cocaine increases heart rate and blood pressure.

For some first-time users, this stimulation is just too much, which is why cocaine is sometimes known for causing heart attacks, even in young people. In the United States, an inexpensive form of cocaine called "crack" has become one of the most dangerous drugs on the street. The intense high produced by crack wears off too quickly and leaves the brain with too little dopamine. As a result, the user suddenly feels sad and depressed. As a result, the user quickly goes for another dose. A lot of people will do almost anything to get cocaine if they are in fact addicted because the drug is so powerful.

Another bad thing about this drug is that it often takes more and more of the drug to achieve the same effect, which leads to overdoses. Surprisingly, a lot of Cocaine addicts are football players, weather they are in High School or the NFL. This is true because some football players take the drug so that they get a boost of energy that cocaine gives you. When you are on cocaine, you are basically a machine.

You do things that you wouldn't normally do, just because you can. Sometimes people do things as stupid as racing there dogs as in one story I've heard. Why did they do it? They did it because they could. In conclusion, the effect that cocaine has on the body is incredibly powerful. What people have done is taken a small, useful, and almost harmless plant, and transformed it into a problem in today's society.

The plant in South America that was used to relieve hunger, was not meant to be used as such a powerful stimulant.