Cocaine Research Paper

Cocaine was discovered in mid-19th century by Albert Niemenn a German paediatrician who used the coca leaves to extract the cocaine hydrochloride in 1860. Cocaine hydrochloride exist in two different forms; ’salt’ which can be taken in the nose or in a vein and ’freebase’ commonly known as crack cocaine which can be smoked. it is clinically used as a local vasoconstrictor and anaesthetic purpose particularly in the throat, nose, eyes and ears. Cocaine is also called coke because of its strong stimulation effect and thus used as a recreational drug. Cocaine is a very strong stimulant which is very effective and addictive many people use it to get high due to its ability stimulate the brain (Levinthal, 2005). The coca leaves are processed into a paste substance which is then purified to give a coca base.

The base obtained is then reacted with hydrochloric acid to form cocaine hydrochloride which then dried to produce cocaine in powder form. A good stimulus such as drug or food is then applied to stimulate the reward pathway. Cocaine is therefore regarded as one of the few drugs that stimulate the reward pathway. Among the drugs that stimulate the reward pathway is cocaine. The TAC formulation was not very effective and could easily lead to reward pathway stimulation and high levels of blood vessel intoxication. Due to its numerous negative implications in the medical use, Cocaine is in the current really used for medical purpose. It is only in Asia where cocaine is current recognised for anaesthetic medical use especially when handling nasal cauterization Cocaine is widely used almost all over the world for recreational purpose as stimuli.

The drug is capable for stimulating the human nervous system for a period of about 15 minute to one hour. The quantity or the amount taken and the mode or the path way somebody uses when administering the drug determines the amount of time the stimulation will last. Other possible effects may be tremor, increased body temperatures and convulsion. Too much cocaine content in the blood may also lead to the victim low or no response to medication. High cocaine intake may result into cardiac sodium channels blocking effect which may culminate into adverse cardiac arrest events in long. Addiction of Cocaine Once cocaine is taken into the body system it enters into the blood streams which transports it to the blood which is saturated with the cocaine enters the central nervous system where is triggers The ventral tegmental area.

The addiction takes place at the ΔFosB level where it triggers over expression within the nuclear accumbens. When cocaine is introduced to the body, it is transported through the bloodstream and at this point, it is introduced to the brain where it affects the ventral tegmental area. The drug is highly addictive and effective. Its impact on brain reward pathway make it highly addictive thus causes dependency within short period of its use. Globally, cannabis and cocaine are the most used illegal drugs It causes a loss of contact with the reality and this is what makes most of the people to use it. Therefore, the reason why cocaine is highly addictive is due to its effect on the reward pathway in the human’s brain.