Cocaine: The Fuel for Work to the Fuel for War

By: Chris Long and Lisa Terry

Anthropology 1023 – Dr. Lauren Griffin

Drill Section – 003 TA – James Weslowski

 Cocaine is a derivative of the leaves of Erythroxylum coca and Erythroxylum

novogranatense, commonly known as coca. These plants are native to South

America. It has been chewed, brewed into teas, and used as an analgesic by the

native peoples since long before European contact, possibly as long ago 6000 BCE.

The leaves are nutritious and contain only small amounts of the alkaloid cocaine,

along with other alkaloid chemicals. They are chewed as a boost of energy among

other things. This lead to a search for the chemical or chemicals that caused this. In

1855 a German chemist, Friedrich Gaedcke, was able to finally able to isolate

cocaine. In 1859 Albert Neimann, a Ph.D. student at the time, develops a more

efficient purification process. As purification became cost effective, the search for

medicinal uses began. It was shown to have a wide range of uses as a local

anaesthetic. Eventually usage spread to cure-alls and becomes as commonplace in

tinctures as laudanum.

It became cheaper than alcohol and becomes commonly used for recreational

rather than for medicinal purposes. Eventually in 1914 the Harrison Act passes and

cocaine along with many other narcotics can only be dispensed with a doctors’ order.

In 1970 the Controlled Substances Act makes cocaine a Schedule II substance and

according to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, ratified in 1975, it is

considered a Schedule I substance. Despite the illicit state of cocaine it still has

widespread use in the United States and Europe, in its powdered form as well as in

the form of “crack” cocaine.

The process by which cocaine is made is as follows: the coca leaves are

harvested and dried for 12 hours; the leaves are then chopped into small pieces;

they are then sprinkled with a small amount of cement powder; several hundred

pounds at a time are soaked in approximately 50 US gallons of gasoline for a day;

the gas is drained; the leaves are pressed for liquid then discarded; the liquid is

treated with a weak solution of sulphuric acid; caustic soda is then added; the

cocaine precipitates and is filtered through a cloth; the material is allowed to dry.

Three thousand seven hundred fifty pounds of coca leaves is processed down to

make approximately six pounds of this base, called “pasta”. It is usually between 40

and 60 percent cocaine. It is sold and processed down even more to make pure or

near pure cocaine powder for sale to the consumer.

From this pure or near pure form the cocaine can be made into crack cocaine.

This is done by mixing the cocaine with water and sodium bicarbonate and then

heating it. This causes the sodium bicarbonate to break down into carbon dioxide

and sodium carbonate. This then reacts with the hydrochloride of the cocaine. The

cocaine is left as an oily free base floating on top of the rest of the mixture. It is then

picked up with a pin or other long thin object. It dries in the air and is rolled into the

rock like shape in which it is sold.

In this form it can be smoked for a short but intense high with the same effect

of powder cocaine. These effects include but are not limited to: euphoria, loss of

appetite, alertness, increased energy, paranoia, and addiction. The euphoria is

caused by a surge of dopamine in the brain lasting between five and ten minutes,

after which levels drop considerably. This drop often leaves the user feeling “low” or

depressed and often leads them to re-obtain that feeling with more cocaine. This can

lead to the eventual addiction of the user.

Some of the more sever effects of a cocaine binge include extreme paranoia,

even to the point of paranoid psychosis; insomnia; and delusional parasitosis,

commonly called “coke bugs” where the user believes they have bugs or other
parasites crawling under their skin. The physiological effects include constriction of

blood vessels; increased blood pressure, temperature, and heart rate; and dilated

pupils. Ingestion of very large quantities can cause erratic behaviour, tremors,

muscle twitches, and can even cause cardiac arrest. Other health concerns can

come from possible adulterants in the drug, damage to the cardio vascular system,

and damage to the respiratory system.

Almost all of the world’s cocaine comes from Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia.

Because of the illicit nature of the drug production and distribution is fuelled by the

cartels in Central and South America. Columbia was the world’s largest producer of

cocaine until 2012, when Peru took over. The coca from which it is made is grown on

large plantation and on smaller farms as a cash crop. This is often done by smaller

farmers because of the relatively high profit margins compared with other crops and

a lack of other employment opportunities. The governments of these countries try to

destroy these crops but often see them crop up in new places or even see the

defoliants not work on the fields.

Because of its illicit nature cocaine must be smuggled out of South America to

the United States, Europe, and other world markets. The United States is the world’s

biggest consumer of cocaine and once it makes its way across our borders, it is sold

at a huge mark up. A gram can go for as much as $120 and 3.5 grams or an “eight

ball”, as it’s an eighth of an ounce, can go for $300. The cocaine usually gets here

through Mexico or Florida. It can be disguised in many different ways so as to elude

authorities. It has even been found as having been made into luggage so as to avoid

detection. Those who traffic the drug use mules or “mulas” carrying small kilo sized

packages strapped to the waist or legs. If they make it through the cartels will absorb
the profits, but if the mule is caught, all ties to him or her will be severed and he or

she will stand trial for trafficking alone.

The push from the cartels to get cocaine and other drugs to market has

caused a veritable war with the Mexican government. In 2006 President Felipe

Calderón launched a huge crackdown on the drug cartels seeking to destroy their

influence. Since then, the war has killed at least 60,000 people and as few 20,000

others are missing. Despite this, Mexican law enforcement has disbanded many of

the major cartels and has started to take back parts of the country taken control of by

the cartels towards the beginning of the war. Some of these cartels originally gained

power as others were put down in Columbia. They began to dominate the illicit drug

trade and the violence associated with the trade caused the governmental backlash.

With their supply lines and organization compromised, the cartels must find new

ways to ship their drugs into the US. They have begun to ship the drugs to the

Caribbean so they may be smuggled in through Florida.

In Columbia, there is a huge push from the government to eradicate coca with

fumigation and manual eradication. The herbicides they use kill much more than just

the coca leaves. They destroy the crops of local farmers, cause serious harm to or

even kill people caught in the spray. They leach into the water and damage children

both born and those still in their mothers’ womb. This destroys the livelihoods of

many people and the economic stability of the region along with them.

In Bolivia, constitutional changes have made small amounts of coca harvest

for traditional use. This allows small impoverished farmers who rely on coca for their

financial stability to continue to grow and sell it. Many companies are willing to pay

these farmers more than they would be paid by those seeking to turn it into cocaine.
They turn it into tea, chew, candies, and more. The government seeks to keep farms

small and allow these people to diversify their crops and find alternatives. This “Yes

to coca. No to cocaine.” has problems, but it seeks to have an open dialogue with

these farmers rather than the blanket forced eradication that destroys so much in

other parts of South America.

On the flip side, in 1971 President Nixon declared the “War on Drugs”. In the

years since, drug use has only increased around the world. Harsher punishment of

drug possession falls on users and low on the food chain dealers. Rarely does the

punishment make its way further up the food chain. The US supports the war in

Mexico and the forced eradication in Columbia. We have spent upwards of $6 billion

in Columbia alone. So little of the money made from sale makes it back to the people

who grow and process it.

Cocaine has made its way from use by workers to be able work longer and

harder, to the fuel for a war that’s been raging for more than 40 years. It destroys the

lives of the users, the mules, the cartels, those fighting it, and those growing it. Many

have little choice for economic, social, or environmental reasons but to be entangled

in the web of cocaine.

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