Cocaine: Background and Effects (both physically and mentally)

COCAINE Cocaine is found in the leaves of the Erythroxylon coca plant, a large shrub indigenous to South America. The compound is extracted from the leaves and is then processed into either paste, powder, or freebase form. The paste is the most rudimentary, unrefined form. Additional processing of the paste by adding hydrochloric acid produces cocaine powder (cocaine hydrochloride). Cocaine powder is often administered via nasal insufflation (i.e., snorting). Freebase cocaine is the pure …

…less sensitive. While the precise pharmacological mechanism underlying this withdrawal is unknown, it is suspected that it relates to some hypoactivity in dopamine functioning within the brain reward system. Changes in the expression of genes that control intracellular mechanisms represent a possible mechanism that could account for this change and could contribute to the drug craving associated with chronic cocaine use. Avoidance of the withdrawal reaction can be another important determinant in continued cocaine use.