Identification: Evergreen shrub grows 7'–10' tall, with straight branches. Thin leaves are oval and taper at both ends. Small flowers in clusters with short stalks; corolla is composed of 5 yellowish-white petals with heart-shaped anthers. Pistil has 3 carpels; berries red.Habitat: Andean mountain dweller (Peru, Bolivia). Toxins/Drugs: Coca alkaloid. When chewed, coca acts as a mild stimulant and suppresses hunger, thirst, pain, and fatigue. Historical documentation suggests that raw coca is not addictive. There appear to be no deleterious effects from the consumption of the leaf in its natural form, thus leading to the logical conclusion that chewing raw coca leaf is not habit-forming, and there is no empirical evidence showing the coca plant’s potential for addiction. In fact, unprocessed coca helps recovering cocaine addicts to wean off the drug in favor of traditional leaf chewing and to live their lives without preoccupying themselves with the next fix.
Symptoms: This psycho-stimulating alkaloid inhibits uptake of norepinephrine and dopamine, providing a euphoric, hallucinogenic, anesthetic, antibacterial, and ergogenic (increasing work output) effect. Snorting the drug may cause a loss of smell, nosebleeds, hoarseness, swallowing difficulty, and runny nose, whereas snorting rock crystal crack escalates symptoms of irritability, anxiety, paranoia, and restlessness. Addictive, chronic use of cocaine often leads to heart attacks, respiratory failure, stroke, digestive disorders, allergic reactions, skin infections, mouth sores, stomach ulcers, destructive loss of blood flow to the bowels, and even death—not as obvious is the potential for HIV infection when sharing needles. Victims of abuse lose touch with reality, suffer from severe paranoia (a temporary state of paranoid psychosis), and experience auditory hallucinations. Cocaine passes through the placenta and impairs fetal development. Negative results lead to preterm births, low birth weight, and more frequent instances of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Cognitive
development is impaired and addiction with withdrawal symptoms exhibited. First Aid: Various forms of treatment include psychotherapy, acupuncture, prize reinforcement (i.e., patient given money for staying clean), peer reinforcement, and spiritual enhancement (much like Alcoholics Anonymous). Research shows that clinically induced viral bacteriophages in laboratory models may eliminate the load of cocaine in the brain, thereby reducing dependency.
Note: Cocaine extracted from the coca leaf is pounded into a paste, and the paste converted to cocaine hydrochloride salt—the water-soluble crystalline form is snorted or mixed in drinks. Snorting is as potent as inhaling or injecting the drug. Cocaine hydrochloride, however, is heat degradable and worthless as a “smoke.” But capable chemists percolate the hydrochloride out of the cocaine with an alkaline solution, producing freebase, crack, or rock cocaine—a highly addictive substance that can be smoked, heightening the pharmacological effects of the drug. Intravenous injection or freebasing is the most potent abuse of cocaine. On the other hand, leaf chewing is not as intense and euphoric as the purified forms of cocaine—and once again leaf chewing is not addictive.
Indigenous people of the eastern Andes have used coca leaves for over 5,000 years. Incas used the drug in rituals and ceremonies revering the sun god. Leaves chewed with a bit of lime or ash raises the pH and improves absorption of the active principle through the mucous membranes of the oral cavity. Spanish conquistadores outlawed the use of cocaine briefly but gave it another try when they discovered their Inca slaves worked harder and longer while on the drug. Sigmund Freud used cocaine to treat morphine addiction. Freud also recommended its use for treating alcoholism and depression. Pharmacist John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a “soft drink” made with cocaine and caffeine in response to coke’s widespread use in Vin Mariani, a concoction of wine and cocaine—what was considered a nineteenth-century cure-all. Parke, Davis & Company offered cocaine inhalants and cocaine-laced cigars and cigarettes. Soon there were other Coke knockoffs: Nerv Ola, and Koca Nola. Prior to 1914, dentists gave painkilling cocaine tooth drops to babies cutting teeth. In 1910, President Taft labeled cocaine “public enemy number one.” Laws passed at the local and national level banned cocaine use (including the 1914 Harrison Narcotics Tax Act). Prohibition of alcohol in 1920 boosted the illicit sales of cocaine products. Abuse was widespread. Use of the drug went underground. Drug experimentation in the 1960s spawned a wave of increased use. According to the 2012 National Survey of Drug Use and Health approximately 1.6 million people 12 years of age or older used cocaine in 2012.