Stimulants Throughout History

Stimulants Stimulants Stimulants are Substance that can keep a person going, both mentally and physically restricted Stimulants ex: cocaine and amphetamines readily available Stimulants ex: caffine and nicotine Cocaine History Coca a Shrub that grows in the Andes and produces cocaine harvested for thousands of years and actively cuttivated for over 800 years the coca leaf was an important of Inca culture used in religious ceremonies and as Currency Some natives of the Andes Still Chew coca leaves to reduce fatigue and increase Stamina Cocaine wasn't in use in Europe until the last half of the Ath century angela mariani developed coca wine used coca leaf extract in many products, including lozenge and tea Cocaine was isolated before 1860 Simple and inexpensive processing of 500 kilograms of coca leaves yield I kilogram of cocaine medical use "availability of pure cocaine and the newly developed hypodermic Syringe improved te - drug delivery System Dr. W.S. Halsted experimented with the ability of cocaine to produce local anesthesia #referred to as "the father of modern surgery" early psychiatric uses -Sigmund freud Studied and recommended the use of cocaine as a treatment for depression and morphine dependence * later opposed the use of drugs in the treatment of psychological problems after nursing a friend through cocaine psychosis Cocaine was an ingredient in many patent medicines and elixirs openly advertised as having beneficios effects Early Legal Controls on Cocaine press and medical journals made claims connecting heinous crimes to black men under the influence of cocaine 46 States passed laws to regulate the use and distribution of Cocaine between 1887 and 1914 negative, racially charged publikiry albout cocaine helped Shape American drug policy Forms of Cocaine • Coca paste "illicit Cocaine made with mixture of coca leaves and an Organic Solvent such as kerosene or gasoline Crude extract created during the manufacture of cocaine often mixed with tobacco and Smoked in South America Cocaine hydrochloride Stable water-soluble Salt Stable to the point that it cannot be heated to form vapors for inhalation -Snorted or injected intravenously • freebase extraction of cocaine into a volatile Solvent, Such as ether can be heated and the vapors inhaled "Smoking freebase cocaine has the additional effect of releasing methylecgonidine • Suggests that smoking freebose cocaine can be even more cardiotoxic than other research Suggest routes of administration Crack Cocaine lumps of smokable cocaine prepared by mixing cocaine with household chemicals, including water and baking soda, and then drying it "named "Crack" because of the cracking brittle nature of the form Crack is lower purity form of free-base cocaine that is usually produced by neutralization of Cocaine hydrochloride with a Solution of baking Soda very quick high once inhaled, but falus off quickly promoting cher more hits close to each powder and crack are the same drug "Cocaine base is the active ingredient in all forms of cocaine Cocaine: Contemporary Legal Controls •Cocaine use increased in the late 1960s Cocaine was usually sold in bulk amounts that were expensive Cocaine use before 1985 was associated with wealth and fame by the mid-to late 1980s, Crack cocaine became available relatively inexpensive and available at 5 dollars to 10 dollars its use increased among black americans, especially among the poor • media and politicians vilified te use of cocaine and the users anti-drug albuse act of 1986 "penalties for the sale of crack cocaine were Sale of powder cocaine Significantly more severe than the penalties for the 2 years later, the law was modified so that it amputied to individuals convicted of simple possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine, even Ist time offenders the U.S. Sentencing commission Studied the concerns of racial discrimination in conventions under the drug laws penalties severity mostly impacted blacks penalties exaggerated the relative harmfulness of crack penalties were appried most often to lower-level offenders quantity-based penaries overstated the Seriousness of crack offenses and failed to provide adequate proportionality Cocaine: mechanism of Action Cocaine's mechanism of action is compleκ •Cocaine blocks the reuptake of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine (monoamines) • Cocaine's behavioral effects depend on an interaction of multiple neurotransmitters, including dopamine, Serotonin, GABA, and glutamate • dopamine transmitter released during neural signaling is normally recycled via the transporter, ie, the transporter binds the transmitter and pumps it out of the synaptic cleft back into the presynaptic neuron • Cocaine binds tightly at the dopamine transporter forming a complex that blocks the transporter's Function the dopamine transporter can no longer perform its reuptake funcion, and that dopamine accumulates in the synaptic cleft • the increased concentration of dopamine in the synapse activates post-Synaptic dopamine receptors, which makes the drug rewarding and promotes the compulsive use of cocaine