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General
Information About Cocaine
Cocaine
is a powerfully addictive stimulant that
directly affects the brain. Cocaine has been labeled the drug of
the 1980s and '90s, because of its extensive popularity and use
during this period. However, cocaine is not a new drug. In fact,
it is one of the oldest known drugs. The pure chemical, cocaine
hydrochloride, has been an abused substance for more than 100 years,
and coca leaves, the source of cocaine, have been ingested for thousands
of years.
Pure
cocaine
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was
first extracted from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush,
which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia, in the mid-19th
century. In the early 1900s, it became the main stimulant
drug used in most of the tonics/elixirs that were developed
to treat a wide variety of illnesses.
Today,
cocaine is a Schedule II drug, meaning that it has high potential
for substance abuse and addiction, but can be administered by a doctor for legitimate
medical uses, such as a local anesthetic for some eye, ear,
and throat surgeries.
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There are basically two chemical forms
of cocaine: the hydrochloride salt
and the "freebase." The hydrochloride salt, or powdered
form of cocaine, dissolves in water and, when abused, can be taken
intravenously (by vein) or intranasally (in the nose). Freebase
refers to a compound that has not been neutralized by an acid to
make the hydrochloride salt. The freebase form of cocaine is smokable.
Cocaine
is generally sold
on the street as a fine, white, crystalline
powder, known as "coke," "C," "snow,"
"flake," or "blow." Street dealers generally
dilute it with such inert substances as cornstarch, talcum powder,
and/or sugar, or with such active drugs as procaine (a chemically-related
local anesthetic) or with such other stimulants as amphetamines.
Connecting People with People that Can Help!
Call
Cocainehotline.com at 1-800-Nodrugs
1-800-663-7847
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