Cocaine is not only used as a drug!
COCAINE is a trigger word in our society. The first thought that comes to mind, when the word cocaine is discussed, is its exploitation on the streets and the devastating effects of drug dependency.
Earlier in the time, cocaine is used as a herbal tea which had no ill effects and some health benefits. Cocaine is an alkaloid derivative and it is synthesized from the coca plant. These plants grow in different places like Peru, Bolivia and different regions of South America. The people of South America have been drinking these coco plant leaves for a very long time. In the year 1983, coca leaf tea was available in the market like in grocery and health food stores, and people could also get it to deliver at home. The tea packaging enterprise was working with an agency of the Peruvian government and it was sold as "Health Inca Tea". The enterprise who used to publish this tea also listed "decocainized coca leaves" and "Mate de Coca" which are made of "cocaine", as their main ingredient.
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| Photo by Valerie Everett |
Earlier in the time, cocaine is used as a herbal tea which had no ill effects and some health benefits. Cocaine is an alkaloid derivative and it is synthesized from the coca plant. These plants grow in different places like Peru, Bolivia and different regions of South America. The people of South America have been drinking these coco plant leaves for a very long time. In the year 1983, coca leaf tea was available in the market like in grocery and health food stores, and people could also get it to deliver at home. The tea packaging enterprise was working with an agency of the Peruvian government and it was sold as "Health Inca Tea". The enterprise who used to publish this tea also listed "decocainized coca leaves" and "Mate de Coca" which are made of "cocaine", as their main ingredient.
Cocaine a recreational drug and it was always available in the market for a lot of medical benefits. It is a great anesthetic and it is used in all kinds of head and neck surgery. It is also used as a vasoconstriction agent which means it is used to narrowing the blood vessels from the contraction of the muscular blood vessels. It is a unique drug that contains both the properties of anesthetic and vasoconstriction. The other medical of cocaine is helpful in shrinking mucosa.
Do you all know that Cocaine is an ingredient in Coca-Cola?
Coca-Cola has originally featured cocaine and was the product of the temperance movement in the United States, with the increasing exposure of alcohol. Atlanta-based entrepreneur John Pemberton eliminated the red wine from his famous French Wine Cola, introduced cocaine, and changed the name of Coca-Cola. At that time, the trustable clinicians, physicists, and poets, along with less well-known individuals, have used these medications in ways close to today's usage of caffeine and nicotine, such as the surgeon who has been using morphine regularly for 62 years. In most cases, people used these medications without impacting their life or work.
Richard DeGrandpre defines recreational and psychoactive drugs as social commodities as they are frequently depicted and they are strong manipulators of our will and the way we behave. He points out that at the end of the day, substance consumption and its effects are psychological artifacts, not the intrinsic neuroprotective properties of drugs.
Cocaine definitely has an image epidemic. Since most people immediately equate this drug with violence, it is hated, reviled, or parodied. In fact, however, cocaine has legitimate and beneficial uses, as do many other substances that are frequently abused, including alcohol, marijuana, opioids and possibly MDMA.
According to all the articles above, there are some pieces of evidence that show that cocaine was and it is a legal part of our food and medical sector. So, why is it still not legal because of its street abuse?
Even marijuana is legal now and still, there are a lot of bad effects of marijuana on health. Moreover, it is a part of psychoactive and recreational drugs.
Search-Engine Optimization:
I believe my title is search engine optimized as I have used google trends to compare words like "Cocaine", "drugs" and "heroin". I found that drugs are a popular word on google and most of the users use the drug as the main word to do any kind of search for any kind of drug. The words drug and cocaine were at a very high percentage according to time.
I think the information that was provided were certainly interesting. What I would have done differently would be to add the hyperlinks in other words as hyperlinked "Coca-Cola" made me wonder if it would lead me to the Coca-Cola website. Also, a lot of the information in the first paragraph is from the abstract of that article, so I would have perhaps mentioned the source while discussing it.
ReplyDeleteI would also liked how the medical properties were emphasized, rather than its recreational uses.
DeleteInteresting argument. Your opening hook caught my attention and I liked how you provided a history of cocaine, as many of us (including myself) don't know cocaine as anything but the drug. In your statement "Cocaine is an alkaloid derivative and it is synthesized from the coca plant," I would have liked "alkaloid derivative" to have been linked to a definition because I wasn't sure what that was.
ReplyDeleteVery unique and interesting topic to write about, but you managed to do a great job with lots of information! One thing that I think could have improved the overall argument was to focus more on why it should be legal, and maybe include more resources from present day, because some of these facts are a little outdated.
ReplyDeleteYou did not approach the topic from the angle i was expecting, which made your blog more interesting. It's such a big topic, but i think you did a great job focusing on the more helpful side of the substance, and exploring its medicinal history. Everyone already knows the possible harm cocaine can do, so not lingering on that was a good choice. You should write for Vice News.
ReplyDeleteEven it was a challenging topic, you did well especially the starting is best as you describe it quite well about earlier use of cocaine. Also, instead of focusing on demerits, you focused on merits, which is a great approach. After reading this blog one cannot say directly that cocaine is harmful for health.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the ideas and arguments in this blog for example when you mentioned that there was mate that had cocaine in it. These types of points made the blog enjoyable to read. I think that although this was a great way to say cocaine is great for other things, it doesn’t necessarily say the benefits of legalizing cocaine and why. Overall, had a good read.
ReplyDeleteHi Parleen,
ReplyDeleteI really like the argument you made. Your topic is quite difficult but still I am impressed by how you managed the seriousness of topic. Your argument is informative as you listed that merits of cocaine in medicinal purposes. But I doubt, if these points are really worth for legalizing cocaine.