The crack and cocaine epidemic of the United States has shaped America’s basis on the war against drugs. In the early 1980s, the majority of cocaine began to be shipped to the United States, landing in Miami originally coming through the Bahamas and Dominican Republic (UDOJ)”. The foreign origin from the drug made it easier for dealer to quietly return to the United States with the drug and also its receipt. “Soon there was a huge amount of cocaine powder in these islands, which caused the price to drop by as much as 80 percent (UDJ)”. Thus making it more assessable for shipment to America.
Cocaine is known for being a very addictive drug. Produced from the leaves of a coca plant caused the vast manufacturing of the drug. The process of creating cocaine is a long procedure but there are five key points. The leaves of the coca plant stripped in order to get to the essence of natural properties, soon after the escarpments from the leaves are dried. The dried leaf escarpments are then synthesized to create a paste that will be dissolved in order to condense and multiply the amount of the drug. After this process two very key chemical combinations are added sulfuric acid and potassium permanganate. The product is further dried and turns white thus cocaine is created and sold on the streets of our nation. Cocaine is known as “pure” and the extensive process of making cocaine is time consuming, thus making this form of the drug expensive.
Crack cocaine is the most potent form of cocaine. Crack cocaine produces a very intense high that is often associated with repeated use of the drug and intense energy, hyperactivity, aggression and paranoia. Crack cocaine is made by switching cocaine hydrochloride into a solid form. This is done by c...
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...oods caused tension between the Federal government and the minorities in those areas expectably the black community. The black community believed that they had been targeted for the negative effect that this drug had on the country. African Americans specifically called out the central intelligence agency. Crack first began to be used in large quantities in Los Angeles in 1984. the drugs had been distributed and exploded that same An article published by San Jose new articles called The Dark Alliance The Dark Alliance Article talks about how the CIA protected Blandon and Meneses who sold over a ton of cocaine to Ricky Ross who converted the same cocaine to crack and sold it in urban neighborhoods, to the black communities in LA that crippled the black community in 1980’s los Angeles. By the end of 1986, it was available in 28 states and the District of Columbia.
Lasix is known as the “water pill” it’s a diuretic administrated orally.(1) The active ingredient of Lasix is furosemide, but also includes a number of inactive ingredients including lactose monohydrate NF, magnesium stearate NF, starch NF, talc USP, and colloidal silicon dioxide NF. (1) The peak effects of furosemide are typically seen within the first hour of two after a dose of the medication. (1). Lasix is prescribed for individuals to treat edema that may arise from congestive heart failure, liver cirrhosis or renal disease. (1) In adults, furosemide may also be taken to treat hypertension itself.(1) Furosemide comes in 20, 40, and 80mg tablets as well as oral suspensions.(2) Furosemide is absorbed rapidly from oral suspension at 50 minutes, and from tablets at 87 minutes.(2) Food may slow down the absorption of the drug and alter the bioavalibitly.(1) Furosemide binds to plasma proteins, albumin being the main plasma protein that furosemide binds to, at 91-99%, and peak plasma concentrations increase with the increase of a single dose.(2) Furosemide is excreted through the urine and the remainder is excreted in the feces. (2) The half-life for furosemide is approximately 2 hours but the diuretic effects last 6-8 hours. (2)
The drug trade is a very large and complex system. There are many different organizations involved at different levels. There are groups that operate only in growing and selling the product, and only groups that buy and distribute the drugs. In this essay I will discuss the similarities and differences of two of the largest growers and sellers in the drug trade: The Cali Cartel of Columbia and the Tijuana Cartel of Mexico.
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,...
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.
Cocaine originated from South America, from coca leaves. Originally, the coca leaves were chewed by workers to decrease fatigue, improve endurance and have a greater resistance to the cold. This was to benefit the workers so they could work longer hours and be more productive. In 1855 the active ingredient in cocaine was isolated from the leaves, and in 1880 it was used as a local anesthetic (Nunes,2006). It was also used in coca cola. In 1855, coca cola was a soda beverage that contained sixty milligrams of cocaine for every eight ounces of the beverage. The idea behind this was to give people energy and a sense of well being (Nunes, 2006). By the late 1880s Sigmund Freud was using cocaine regularly and was even recommending it to others. This only lasted for less than twenty years, until he started discouraging it to others. Then by 1914 cocaine was banned for medical use and in beverages. This caused the use of cocaine and by the 1930s, the use had drastically decreased. It then became popular for recreational use in the 1980s (Nunes, 2006). It was often used and shown in movies such as Scarface, and is famous for the amount of cocaine that Al Pacino uses in one of the final scenes of the movie. Now it is still used recreationally and used by a ‘party crowd’. Although this is the primary category of people who use cocaine, people of all demographics use cocaine recreationally.
...imply as a stimulant. Therefore, although cocaine is a stronger stimulant than regular coca, native Andean people prefer to use coca because of its cultural associations, history of use before European interactions and its various other medicinal purposes. In addition, native Andeans are more likely to use coca than cocaine because it is grown close to home and requires less processing. Although European influence existed in the development of cocaine, the people of Latin America were able to maintain the identity of the coca leaf in face of this external influence.
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).
Beginning with the late 1960’s counterculture in San Francisco, music and drugs will forever be inter-linked. Hippie bands such as the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, and Phish are associated with marijuana, mushrooms, and LSD. Modern electronic “rave” , or club music is associated with MDMA or Ecstasy. When one thinks of rock and roll, sex and drugs immediately come to mind. While the use of drugs is not essential for the creation or performance of all new music, it was certainly in important factor for the counterculture music of the late 1960’s. While some of the most important and influential music was made with the help of psychoactive drugs, it was often to the detriment of the artist. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and countless other tremendously talented artists had their lives cut short due to drug use. Drugs were most often good for the music, but deadly for the music makers.
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.
Cocaine, a powdered narcotic derived from the leaves of the cocoa plant, has been a curious participant in the history of several contemporary cultures. Its ubiquity is an outgrowth of its unique and highly effective properties. While cocaine is commonly known as a highly popular recreational drug, its underlying chemical properties, chemical mechanisms, and chemical effects on the human body, offer an understanding of why the drug remains a resilient participant in today’s culture. We explore these chemical characteristics further.
Crack is made from powered cocaine and is sold in rock form. The crack rocks are crystallized in the cooking process and are yellow and tasteless. The drug produces an intense and almost immediate high. Smoking crack allows doses of cocaine to reach the brain within seconds and effects begin within minutes. Leading us to experience a combination of abnormal strength feeling, poor impulse control and delusions.
the left of a pair of crystals that are a mirror image of each other.
In Jeanette Schmidt’s article, Transporting Cocaine states, “Colombian cartels would pay the Mexican groups as much as $1,000/kilo to smuggle cocaine into the United States” (Schmidt, 2). The Colombian cartels would then pick up the drugs and resume distribution and sales efforts, making personal profits that are unrecorded. In order to seize these individuals who are growing in power and numbers, the U.S. must control the connections between Mexico and Columbia. Mexico is the biggest transporter amongst Columbia and the U.S. because it shares a border with the U.S. This increasingly poisonous drug trafficking leads to drug dealers...
2. Cocaine is derived from the leaves of the cocoa plant and is then further processed to produce the common street drug.