How is Cocaine Made?

           Cocaine is made from the Erythroxylon coca plant which grows in northwest area of South America. The powder is extracted from the leaves in Pozo Pit labs. They first soak the coca leaves in gasoline and then drain it to get the cocaine alkaloid. The cocaine alkaloid is then filtered with diluted acid in a barrel. The acid removes the gasoline and then they add sodium bicarbonate or ammonia is added to the cocaine alkaloid. That is how the cocaine base is made. Then the base is dissolved in a solvent such as acetone, ethyl, acetate, or others. Then it is heated in a bath of water known as a “bano maria”. Then they take one of the solvents such as methyl, ethyl, or ketone is added to the boiling “bano maria” then crystalized hydrochloride is added to the bath. Then excess solvents are removed by hand first then by a hydraulic press. The remaining solvents are removed in a microwave.

 

            Crack is created by dissolving the cocaine hydrochloride in water and baking soda. Then it is boiled until the oily drug sits at the bottom of the container. Once it is done the excess like sodium chloride, water, and other extra thing is taken out to get a substance similar to a rock known as crack cocaine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEA Museum & Visitors Center. "Cannabis, Cocaine, & Poppy: Nature's Addictive Plants." Ed. DEA Museum

     & Visitors Center. Drug Enforcement Administration Museum & Visitors Center. Drug Enforcement

     Administration, n.d. Web. 28 May 2014. <http://deamuseum.org/ccp/coca/

     production-distribution.html>.

Dopamine and Cocaine

I am going to start with a very common type you have certainly heard of but I'm going to tell you how it effects you. Cocaine, it effects the area of your brain known as the ventral tragmental area. This area responds to stimuli such as food, drugs, and other things. It connects with an area known as the nucleus accumbens. This area releases dopamine onto the neurotransmitters which share it and attach to dopamine receptors. Then it gives a good feeling then gets recycled. When you take drugs your Body forces dopamine to stay to give you an Euphoric feeling and then you damage your receptors and the only way you can get happy after a while is through drugs. That's dependency which I'm sure you have heard before.






    I will be posting more about the subject and I love feedback.

Nation Institute on Drgug Abuse. "Cocaine." Ed. Nation Institute on Drgug Abuse. National Institue

     on Drug Abuse. NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health, n.d. Web. 22 May 2014.

     <http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/cocaine>.