Cocaine

Cocaine is one of the oldest and most dangerous natural drug made.
Three thousand years before the birth of Christ, ancient Incas in the Andes
chewed coca leaves to get their hearts racing and to speed their breathing to
counter the effects of living in thin mountain air. Native Peruvians chewed
coca leaves only during religious ceremonies. Austrian psychoanalyst
Sigmund Freud, who used the drug himself, thought of the drug as a magical
substance that helped with depression and sexual impotence. One of Freuds
friend had suffered from paranoid hallucinations of white snakes creeping
over his skin. Another one of his friends died from and over prescribed
dosage that Freud had provided him with. In 1886, the popularity of the drug
got a further boost when John Pemberton included coca leaves as an
ingredient in his new soft drink, Coca-Cola. By 1905, it had become popular
to snort cocaine and within five years, hospitals and medical literature had
started reporting cases of nasal damage resulting from the use of this drug.
In 1912, the United States government reported 5,000 cocaine-related
deaths in one year and by 1922, the drug was officially banned. As of 2008,
cocaine had become the second most trafficked illegal drug in the world.
Cocaine is typically processed in jungle labs by first soaking leaves in
gasoline inside metal drums. Gasoline containing cocaine alkaloid is drained
from metal drums and filtered into a barrel with diluted acid. The gasoline
will be removed from the acid layer and sodium bicarbonate or ammonia will
be added to the solution to make cocaine base. Cocaine base is filtered
through a cloth. The remaining substance is dried, resulting in a purer form
of cocaine base. Cocaine base is dissolved in a solvent such as ethyl acetate,
acetone, or ether and then heated in a hot water bath called a Bao Maria.
Another solvent such as methyl ethyl ketone is added to the boiling liquid along with
concentrated hydrochloric acid which results in the crystallization of cocaine
hydrochloride. Excess solvents are removed from the cocaine hydrochloride, first by
hand, and then using a hydraulic press. Solvents are finally removed using
microwave ovens creating the basis for powder cocaine. Cocaine base, commonly
called crack, is typically made by dissolving cocaine hydrochloride in a mixture of
water and baking soda. The solution is boiled until the cocaine forms an oily
substance that drops out of the solution and settles at the bottom of the container.
Excess water, sodium chloride, and other impurities can be removed after cooling
the oil to a rock-like substance. The resulting product is crack cocaine.
Short-term effects

Loss of appetite
Increased heart rate, blood
pressure, body temperature
Contracted blood vessels

Increased rate of breathing

Dilated pupils
Disturbed sleep patterns
Nausea

violent behavior
Hallucinations
Tactile hallucination that creates
the illusion of bugs burrowing
under the skin
Anxiety and paranoia
Long-term effects

Depression
Intense drug craving
Panic
Convulsions,
Convulsions, seizures
seizures and
and sudden
sudden deat
death from high dosage ( even
one time )

Permanent damage to blood

Auditory and tactile

vessels of heart and brain

hallucinations

High blood pressure, leading to

Sexual problems, reproductive

heart attacks, strokes, and

damage and infertility (for both

death

men and women)

Liver, kidney and lung damage

Disorientation, apathy, confused

exhaustion

Destruction of tissues in nose if

sniffed

Irritability and mood

disturbances

Respiratory failure if smoked

Infectious diseases and

Increased frequency of risky

behavior

abscesses if injected

Delirium or psychosis

Severe depression

Tolerance and addiction (even

Malnutrition, weight loss

Severe tooth decay
after just one use)

Treatment options

Pharmacological Approaches
Behavioral Interventions

Heroine

Heroine is a very popular and overused drug in all of North America. I

is not a new drug that was founded in the 1960s, nor are its negative effects
unique in our modern times. In the late 1800s it was opium that was the
Farley popular drug. Opium dens were scattered throughout what we know
today as the Wild West. The opium influx during this period was due in large
part to the drug being brought into the country via Chinese immigrants who
came here to work on the railroads. Ever since opium was popular that was
the time that heroine was founded and had been used ever since. The main
definition of heroine is the pain killer and that is the main reason why
everyone overuses it. Heroine was first made by C. R. Alder Wright in 1874 by
adding two acetyl groups to the molecule morphine, a natural product of the
opium poppy.

Heroin (like opium and morphine) is made from the resin of poppy
plants. It all starts with the harvesting of opium from the poppy. The pods are
lightly scored with a blade and the raw opium collected. The opium is
collected into balls and transferred to a makeshift "laboratory" where the
morphine will then be extracted and processed into heroin. It is then crushed
and divided into portions for each batch. The crushed opium was then placed
into barrels and hot (not boiling) water is added. The barrel is then stirred and
any solids that float to the surface, pieces of plastic or plant matter, are
removed. Hot water with lime (Calcium Oxide, CaO) is added until all the
opium has dissolved and the pH reaches 10-12. The barrels are then filled
with water, covered and left to sit overnight. The following day the insoluble

oils and resins will be floating on the surface, the opium solution containing
the morphine is then siphoned out into separate containers. The dark brown
opium solution which contains the morphine is siphoned off from the
insoluble oils and residues in the opium. The solution may then be filtered
again through cloth or sacks to further remove insoluble particles. The
filtrate (liquid portion) is then poured back into a barrel. At this point the
morphine is ready to be precipitated (solid morphine comes out of the liquid)
by the addition of Ammonium Chloride (NH4Cl) while stirring continuously.
After all the ammonium chloride is added, the barrel is covered and left to
stand overnight. The following morning the contents of the barrel are poured
into a bucket lined with cloth soaked in warm water. After being poured
through the bucket the morphine base is wrapped in the filtering cloth and
squeezed to remove remaining liquid. The brownish-grey morphine base is
then spread out on a cloth to air-dry in the sun. The dried morphine base is
then weighed in preparation for the acetylation reaction to convert the
morphine to heroin. This crude morphine base is about 50% morphine, 20%
narcotine and 30% other compounds. The crude morphine base is placed in
an aluminum pot and a slight excess of acetic anhydride is added to the pot.
The pot is stirred until all the morphine has dissolved and then left for 45
minutes. A fire is built during this time and after the 45 minutes have passed
the pot is heated for 30 minutes. The reaction mixture is then poured into a
bowl with warm water and the solution is filtered again into another barrel. A
solution of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is poured into the barrel, carbon
dioxide gas is given off as the base reacts with the acid.[1] When the
solution no longer gives off gas and the pH reaches 10 the crude heroin base
will be precipitated out of the solution. The solution is then filtered again
through a cloth. The brownish colored crude heroin is then poured into a
bowl to be prepared for the final purification step. The brown heroin base is
then dissolved in dilute hydrochloric acid until the pH reaches 7-8. Activated
carbon is added to the solution and left to sit for 30 minutes. The solution is
then filtered again through a cloth, and a second time through a filter paper.
After the impurities are removed, the heroin base is precipitated out by
addition of a dilute ammonia solution until the pH reaches 12. The solution is
filtered again, leaving a relatively pure, white heroin base. The final step
involves dissolving the heroin base in a hydrochloric acid and acetone
solution. The solution is filtered through a filter paper into a metal bowl. The
liquid is evaporated leaving off-white heroin hydrochloride. This final product
is about 75% pure, see Table 4 below. The yield of heroin from raw opium, is
about 6% by weight.

SHORT-TERM EFFECTS
Rush
Slowed breathing
Clouded mental functioning
Nausea and vomiting

Sedation; drowsiness
Hypothermia (body temperature
lower than normal)
Coma or death (due to
overdose)

LONG-TERM EFFECTS INCLUDE

Bad teeth
Inflammation of the gums
Constipation
Cold sweats
Itching
Weakening of the immune
system
Coma
Respiratory (breathing) illnesses
Muscular weakness, partial
paralysis

Reduced sexual capacity and

long-term impotence in men
Menstrual disturbance in
women
Inability to achieve orgasm
(women and men)
Loss of memory and intellectual
performance
Introversion
Depression
Pustules on the face
Loss of appetite
Insomnia

Treatment options

Pharmacological Treatment (Medications)

Behavioral Therapies