Here's an article that helped familiarize myself with the history of the coca leaf in latin america.
Of all of the drugs available to people today cocaine is available in numerous forms. But the coca leaf is one steeped in historical and nutritional significance. The coca leaf contains many nutrients as well as alkaloids including cocaine. For centuries, people living in countries with the coca plant have been chewing on the leaves believing that it gave them strength and energy. They also used the coca leaf, mixed with saliva, as an anesthetic.
However in more recent decades the historic use for these leaves has changed from its original use into it being used as the main ingredient in cocaine. Cocaine producing farms mostly involve one person or one family being in charge, and getting rich, while poor families are the work force for the head and get very little money for a multi-billion dollar business that can often cost them their lives.
While the coca leaf itself doesn’t severely harm the body, if it does at all, taking the coca leaf and making it into the white powdery substance that we know as cocaine introduces the naturally green leaf to multiple chemicals that you would normally put a poison label on and lock away in a cabinet away from your children.
In the production of cocaine ammonia, acetone, and gasoline are just three substances that are added to render the powder. These are added to the coca leaves at various times and need to be mixed in. Since the ‘Head’ of the drug farm does not want to shell out the money for the proper protection a cocaine worker needs often there is very little to no protection used.
Often only the only tools that are available to the workers are tools that they must have, so when it comes to mixing different chemicals in with a batch of coca leaves, the workers must use what they have, which is often either their bare hands or their bare feet. With little to no protection available the chemical often seep into their bodies through the skin, often they go insane due to the chemicals. Also the chemical eat away at their skin.
Let’s face it if most people knew this there probably wouldn’t be a lot of people currently addicted to cocaine and its forms. I know I would never willingly drink gasoline or ammonia, and the only acetone I regularly use, that I know of, is the slight amount that is in my nail polish remover why would I want to ingest something that has a warning label of poison for a little bit of ‘fun’?
2 comments:
Yes, it was often used for medicinal and cola purposes, even in this country, until the early 1900s. Coca-Cola, for instance ;)
As far as people not using it due to dangerous content, many things that we eat and use contain dangerous chemicals. Sure, some of it is due to ignorance, but plenty of it is due to ambivalence. Think about all the horrible crap in cigarettes, alcohol, and meth. You might also think that people might use less if they knew the conditions of the workers, but I think the same arguments holds true for that, as well. people wear sweat shop clothing, buy blood diamonds, and eat chocolate that comes from slave plantations every day. It's a crazy world.
Another good example is the banana article a few posts down.
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