The History of Cocaine

Resources used for the following blog:

1. http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/cocaine-history.html

2. http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/cocaine-today.html

3. http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/cocaine/a-short-history.html

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6lBeZzbCIo (as reported by CNN)

Dating back to 3,000 years before Christ, the Ancient Incas chewed on the leaves of the coca plant as a way to speed their hearts. Today, we know this plant as the root to the second-most commonly used and trafficked illicit drug in the world: Cocaine. 

While conflicting, cocaine was said to be first synthesized either in 1855 or 1859 by a German chemist named Albert Neimann. Another 20-25 years passed before an Austrian psychologist named Sigmund Freud (heard of him?) advocated and was a frequent user of cocaine. Freud used cocaine as treatments for depression, asthma, sexual impotency, and almost any other ailment one could think of. It was hailed as a "miracle" drug and this created a whirlwind of cocaine throughout the world. It became a huge part of the social world even being included as an ingredient in the soft drink Coca-Cola in 1866 by John Pemberton (later removed in 1903). Furthermore from the mid 1850's to the early 1900's cocaine became an essential part of all social classes. It was used in tonics, wines, etc. It is important to note the effect this had on social classes because cocaine was used by most famous people that had a trickle-down effect on the rest of society. Since it was easily accessible, it seemed as if the use of cocaine had swept the world, specifically in the United States. 

For the next twenty or so years, recreational use of cocaine was apparent all through society. Anybody who could get a hold of cocaine seemed to be using it (young and old alike). Not until medical research came out of patients from 1905-1910 that from snorting cocaine people had severe nasal damage from the drug. In 1912, cocaine was attributed to 5,000 deaths in the United States. In 1920, cocaine was added to the drugs of narcotics to be outlawed in the Dangerous Drug Act of 1920. By 1922, it was banned as a whole. However, as we will see next, even though it was outlawed the demand and foundation for cocaine had already been set, and people had become addicted. 

From 1970-1980, cocaine use increased ten-fold in American universities and colleges. During this time Pablo Escobar and fellow Colombians came up with an elaborate scheme in which to distribute cocaine to the United States. By doing this, it provided a way for people to use cocaine no matter where they were in social classes. Up until then, cocaine was seen as a wealthy-persons drug. This lasted many years until the 1990's when law enforcement were able to contain and arrest many of the larger drug cartels. However, as one can see, even when the government and law enforcement steps in, people will still find a way to get the drug. In 2008, it became the second-most used and trafficked drug in the world. 

Personally, none of this information is not new to me. Perhaps some of the early, early history of cocaine was new to me, but other than that I already knew a lot of this information. It seems as if cocaine use rose quickly in the 1980's due to Escobar's impact on the transportation of drugs throughout the United States. In the film "Blow" starring Johnny Depp it provides a pretty accurate account as to how they ran such an elaborate scheme of getting cocaine into the United States. Just from personal experiences, I feel that a lot of people use cocaine as a recreational drug. I know that this seems absurd, but when at parties it is not uncommon to encounter something like that back where I live. I feel like it is becoming more and more commonplace to use cocaine, even if the penalties of it are both physically and legally detrimental. 

At least in the case of cocaine, it seems as much as government tries to hinder people's use of cocaine by outlawing it and cracking down on it, people will still find a way to get the drug. The government can do as much as it can to eliminate it from everyday life, but it seems to be an impossible task. Cocaine has become too ingrained in our society to pull it out completely. I guess a way to look at it is that once people are physically hooked to the drug, it will be hooked to our society as well. Overall, I believe the reaction of the government has some affect on the use of cocaine and can decrease it's use, but it will never be able to completely stop the use of the drug.