Period 4th

February 13, 2007

The cocaine

The countries what produces the cocaine are Peru and Bolivia and the bigger distributors are Colombia and Mexico but between but the high indices of consumers this United States and the percentage of initiation in the drug consumption each year is more early.

In this graph show how start the consume of drug each more young and the futures statistics will show a remarkable increase

In 1997, an estimated 1.5 million Americans (0.7 percent of those ages 12 and older) were current cocaine users, according to the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). This number has not changed significantly since 1992

Adults 18 to 25 years old have a higher rate of current cocaine use than those in any other age group. Overall, men have a higher rate of current cocaine use than do women. Also, according to the 1997 NHSDA, rates of current cocaine use were 1.4 percent for African Americans, 0.8 percent for Hispanics, and 0.6 percent for Caucasians.

The cocaine comes from a called plant Cocaine and its scientific name is “Erytroxylon Cocae L” and the word "coca" comes from dialect Aymara, this shrub grows up to 3 meters of height the origin of this plant is of America of the South but the culture has of this plant has extended until the Islands of Indonesia, grows in mountains between 450 and 1800 meters of height. It is a red plant of yellowish flowers and fruits, with leaves made oval that measure of 3 to 6 centimeters of length, by 2 to 3 centimeters of wide.

The cocaine from the chemistry point of view is benzoilmetilecgonima is to say to an ester of benzoic acid and a base that nitrogen contains.

Cocaine comes from the leaves of the tropical coca plant. It's a double acting drug a powerful stimulant that speeds up in central nervous system and an anesthetic per example when are inside of the nose.

Cocaine is usually sold as white, crystalline powder that is inhaled from spoons or through straws. It can be injected and, in some forms smoked.

Injecting the drug produces a powerful, fast response that peaks in minutes and disappears within an hour.

Freebase and crack are both smokable forms of cocaine and carry a kick similar to injecting the drug. Freebase gives an intense high lasting 2 to 5 minutes, which quickly fades into a restless desire for more of the drug. Crack rock like chunks of impure freebase - also jolts your body with a short rush of energy.

The cocaine is a stimulating for central nervous system that the process of reabsorbing of dopamine prevents and this related with the pleasure and movements. The physical effects cocaine's use includes constriction of the peripheral blood vessels, expansion of the pupils and increase of the temperature, the cardiac frequency and the arterial tension.

The duration of the immediate euphoric effects of the cocaine, that include hyper stimulus, reduction of the fatigue and mental clarity, depends on the administration form. At the most fast it is absorption; more intense will be the stimulus. On the other hand, the more fast it is the absorption, the more brief will be the action. The dopamine accumulation causes a continuous stimulation of the receiving neurons because it produces euphoria

Some scientific tests indicate that some consumers died in the first dose that consumed nevertheless is no form to know that this ready until death sudden. The high doses or the prolonged use of cocaine or both can finish in paranoia, some consumers of Crack present aggressiveness and when they let consume show depression and this leads to an excessive use to alleviate its depression but in others people it leads to the suicide

Others symptoms that show the drug users is fever, convulsions, deliriums, undernourishment, lost of weight and immunologic deficiency Cardiac and hepaticas affections.

The continuous use creates tolerance in the brain, this means that it goes has to need a greater dose and but frequents to be able to create the same one stimulate that produced for the first time when consuming it.

In this graphic we see as the drug use deteriorates and damages the brain severely

Many studies have been made to understand the form in that the cocaine produces please effects and the reason for which creates the addiction. A mechanism is through its effect on the deep structures of the brain. The scientists have discovered that when certain regions of the brain are stimulated it produces a sensation of pleasing. One of the neural systems that seem more to be affected by the cocaine originates in a very deep region of the called brain the ventral area of the tegmento (AVT). The nervous cells that are originated in the AVT extend to the region of the well-known brain like "nucleus accumbens", one of the key areas of the brain related to the pleasure. For example, in studies with animals, everything what produces to please, like the water, the food, sex, and many addictive drugs, increase to the activity in "nucleus accumbens".

the damage that causes drugs in the organism and in the life of those who it consumes them is irreversible, is for that reason that the fast intervention of friends and relatives can help that the drug user is taking to a clinic of the rehabilitation and decontaminate so that does not finish in a severe depression, suicide or by the overdose caused by addiction to the cocaine. The first months that are rehabilitated show signs of irritability, anxiety, aggressiveness, isolation, and depression but all these symptoms is eliminated after receives psychological aid and talks with other patients who managed to surpass their addiction a great percentage of them shows repentance by all the bad things that did like for example robbing, to attack, to strike, to insult, etc