Cocaine is today a widely used drug in the United States. It comes from the leaf of the coca plant and has a history that spans years and cultures both.

The coca plant was associated with the sacred goddess in the Andean Indian culture. It was believed that coca goddess had to be pleased and satisfied to get a good harvest and this was something that the people did by chewing coca or coca mixtures so that they could connect with the spiritual powers. So exclusive were these coca mixtures that they were permitted to be chewed only by royalty or leaders. This exclusivity declined later as the lower classes were also encouraged to chew it to experience the various advantages.

During this period in South America, it was felt that the coca leaves produced a mild stimulating effect like coffee and could be used to heal asthma, malaria, ulcers and indigestion. It was also given by the ancient physicians to help in blood clotting. Interestingly, the drug was also considered to increase longevity and improve performance in sexual activities.

The Spanish tried to ban coca chewing but when they discovered that the Incas worked better when allowed to chew the leaves, the leaves were then given freely to boost their energy. It was also discovered that coca leaves (as cocaine was known at that time) were good for increase in stamina, mood stabilization, prevention of hunger and less fatigue.

Brought to Europe by the Spanish, it was soon discovered that the coca leaves lost a large part of their potency during the long travel. And this is when people started looking at ways and means of extracting the active ingredient in leaf.

The Effects of Cocaine

Cocaine was isolated scientifically for the first time in 1855 by Friedrich Gaedcke. Further purification processes were developed by Albert Niemann, who gave cocaine its name. This form was used as an anesthetic drug and could be found in various hospitals in powder form. At this point in time you could find cocaine in popular beverages, wine and in cigarettes. It was also used to treat depression and even alcohol and morphine addiction.

Cocaine consumption was promoted by cocaine users like Sigmund Freud and authors like Arthur Conan Doyle. He had inspirational and excessively intelligent characters like Sherlock Holmes consume cocaine in a large number of stories. At the height of its legal/social acceptance, cocaine was added in cough tinctures, pain killers and mood elevators, in addition to the products that already contained it. It was added in wines that were praised by the Pope himself. Cocaine was even used in the secret recipe that Coca Cola used and was only removed in 1903 when it was confirmed that cocaine had serious side effects on the brain as well. But before the adverse effects were known, it was touted as having all the virtues of alcohol without the negatives.

It was soon seen how consumers of cocaine would be obsessed with themselves, neither eat nor sleep and even if they did, they would get up craving more cocaine. Stigma about cocaine use began at the beginning of the 20th Century, although it was not listed as a “controlled substance” until 1970.

Cocaine is now part of the well known “War on Drugs” that was started by President Nixon due to the continued popularity of this and other drugs despite the negatives being known. And the war continues to this date, against the recreational use of cocaine and crack cocaine.

You can detect the use of cocaine with any one of our drug tests, including the hair drug test, which can go back up to 90 days after use. Saliva and urine drug tests will also detect cocaine, with varying detection times (in saliva – 5 to 10 minutes after use up to 24 hours after use; in urine, 2-5 hours after use up to 2 to 4 days after use).

– Article by Anne Hamilton