Introduction/Background

The active ingredient of the coca plant was first isolated in the West by the German chemist Friedrich Gaedcke in 1855. He named it Erythroxyline. Albert Niemann then purified Erythroxyline, and he named it cocaine. Sigmund Freud described cocaine as a magical drug. Freud even wrote a song in its honor, and he became addicted while practicing self-experimentation. Sherlock Holmes said that cocaine was "so transcendentally stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment". Robert Louis Stephenson wrote Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde during a six-day cocaine-binge. Doctors distributed cocaine as a remedy to morphine addiction. Cocaine was soon sold over-the-counter. Until 1916, one could buy it at Harrods in a kit which contained cocaine, morphine, syringes and spare needles!

the plant

advertisement for cocaine

Key Concepts

     The Riot Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act was created in 1970 to essentially obliterate the Mafia. Its purpose was to stop profits attained from cocaine sales, and throughout the 1970's that is exactly what it did. Almost all the claims were used in the context of the Mafia. Unfortunately, in the 1980's civil lawyers noticed a section of the Act which allowed claims to be brought by any person injured in their business or property by RICO violation. Now, it is one of the most commonly asserted claims in federal court, and it is almost never applied to the Mafia.

cocaine on a dollar bill

Cocaine is so prevalent now that US paper currency in the general circulation is contaminated with cocaine. Cocaine hydrochloride, the salt of cocaine that is sold on the streets, is very stable. It binds very well to the ink found in paper currency. Several mechanisms have been offered to explain this finding, including contamination due to handling during drug deals and the use of rolled up bills for snorting. The drug is then transferred from one contaminated bill to others during counting in financial institutions.

Glossary

     
Erythroxyline = The active ingredient of the coca plant that was first isolated in the West by the German chemist Friedrich Gaedcke in 1855.
     

Related Materials

     RICO Act .com (http://www.ricoact.com/)
     NIDA InfoFacts - Crack and Cocaine (http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofax/cocaine.html)
     Cocaine & Crack (http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/cocaine/cocaine.shtml)