by Anna Governali

Created on: May 19, 2009   Last Updated: May 23, 2009

"Cocaine is an alkaloid found in leaves of the South American shrub Erythroxylon coca." How did this coca leaf that was once reserved for royalty find its way to impoverished inner-city neighborhoods in New York, Los Angeles and Miami by the mid-1980s? Cocaine was a promising escape. Sigmund Freud praised cocaine as a magical drug and through that conducted numerous self-experimentations with cocaine. However, it wasn't simply Freud who sang the glorious praise of cocaine. "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" was written while Robert Stephenson was on a six-day cocaine-binge. Cocaine was sold over the counters, appearing in Coca Cola and chocolate cocaine tablets. The delicate erythroxylon coca plant would producer of one of the most notorious drugs in history- cocaine (

http://www.cocaine.org/).

Cocaine appears white when in its purest form. Cocaine is ideal for snorting. When meddling with cocaine, often leads to a cocaine addiction. When in powder form, cocaine shares resemblance to salt, known as cocaine hydrochloride. Crack is street terminology for cocaine. Crack was developed as a cheaper alternative to cocaine. "Crack is made from cocaine in a process called freebasing, whereby the cocaine powder is mixed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate to create rocks, chips, or powder which can be snorted or smoked" (http://www.addictionsearch.com/treatment_articles/co caine-addiction_13_1.html).

Cocaine's transformation into its cheaper product crack has made it affordable to inner-city America. The color of crack varies on preparation and impurities. Crack is heated in baking soda until the water evaporates, making a crackling sound, which is how the drug received the name- crack. "One hit of crack with produce euphoria." Smoking crack gives an intensifying high, unlike cocaine, this high is short lived. When high on crack, the user will often experience a decrease in concentration and can be irritable. Crack releases adrenaline into the body, increasing the heart rate and blood pressure which leads to cardiovascular problems. Cocaine addiction usually starts with the occasional use. A cocaine addiction changes a person's behavior. The user suffers from paranoid psychoses, hallucinates of insects crawling underneath the skin, agitated delirium as well as violent behavior(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_cocaine).

Cocaine addiction is a tough addiction to break. Someone suffering from a cocaine addiction will experience severe physiological trauma or death. Cocaine addiction leads to deterioration of physical health. The more the cocaine addiction becomes involved there's an increasing craving for the drug. A cocaine addiction is a selfish pursuit. Cocaine addiction is a lifestyle. Cocaine addiction leads to the dependency on the drug to function. A cocaine addiction will turn a person into a liar, a thief and a criminal. Crack cocaine is all they know. A cocaine addiction becomes a dominating force in the user's life- far more than controllable (http://www.cocaine.org/).

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