Cocaine

By Seb Noad

What is cocaine

Cocaine is a stimulant drug. Stimulants make people feel more alert and energetic. Cocaine can also make people feel euphoric, or high. Pure cocaine was first isolated from the leaves of the coca bush in 1860. Researchers soon discovered that cocaine numbs whatever tissues it touches, leading to its use as a local aesthetic. Today, we mostly use synthetic anaesthetics, rather than cocaine.

Problem of Taking Cocaine And Price

It can give a powerful high that can leave you feeling really down. Powder cocaine (also called coke), freebase and crack are all forms of cocaine. Theyre all powerful stimulants, with short-lived effects that means they temporarily speed up the way your mind and body work. Both freebase cocaine (powder cocaine thats been prepared for smoking) and crack cocaine (a rock like form of cocaine) can be smoked. This means that they reach the brain very quickly, while snorted powder cocaine gets to the brain more slowly. All types of cocaine are addictive, but by reaching the brain very quickly freebase or crack tend to have a much stronger effect and be more addictive than snorted powder cocaine. Injecting any form of cocaine will also reach the brain more quickly but this has serious additional risks. On average, a gram of coke powder generally costs 42. A crack rock costs between 10 and 20. Crack is sometimes sold cheaper by the slice or as a 'clubbing rock' for about 10.

Where Does It Come From and Other Names For It

Cocaine is extracted from the leaves of the Erythroxylum (coca) bush, which grows on the slopes of the Andes Mountains in South America. For at least 4,500 years, people in Peru and Bolivia have chewed coca leaves to lessen hunger and fatigue. Today, most of the worlds supply of coca is grown and refined into cocaine in Colombia. Criminal networks control the lucrative cocaine trade. Street names: blow, C, coke, crack, flake, freebase, rock, snow.

The Risk And Effects of Taking Cocaine

Here are the main effects and risks of taking cocaine: It can make you feel on top of the world, very confident, alert and awake, but some people can get overconfident, arrogant and aggressive and end up taking very careless risks. It raises the bodys temperature, makes the heart beat faster and reduces your appetite. When the effects start to wear off, people experience a long comedown, when they feel depressed and run down. This crash can happen for days afterwards.

How could this affect a member of the public services doing their job.

If you were a police man and you took drugs you would not be able to concintrate and focus as well as you normal would, if you got caught taking the drug they would always take some action. This could include a formal caution, arrest and prosecution. Coke, freebase and crack are all Class A drugs that means theyre illegal to have, give away or sell. Possession can get you up to seven years in jail.

What intervention strategies could be used to stop the problem occurring

If a person was additive to drugs the advice I would give him is to : Talk to your family. Talk to Frank. Speak to your friends. Social clubs. Youth Clubs. Speak to school. Councillor.