![]() Coca leaf is separately listed in Schedule I and is defined by Article 1, Paragraph 1, as: ‘The leaf of the coca bush, except a leaf from which all ecgonine, cocaine and any other ecgonine alkaloids have been removed.’ The esters and derivatives of ecgonine, which are convertible to ecgonine and cocaine, are also controlled according to that Convention. Using gas chromatography, the limit of detection in blood is 20 μg/L.Ĭocaine is listed in Schedule I of the United Nations 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Cocaine also produces the characteristic odour of methyl benzoate when heated with a mixture of methanol and sodium hydroxide solution. A more satisfactory presumptive test is based on either cobalt thiocyanate (blue coloration) or p-dimethylbenzaldehyde (red coloration). The Marquis field test does not form a coloured product with cocaine. Street terms include coke, snow, charlie and a wide variety of others in use depending on location and setting. A typical dose of cocaine or crack is 100–200 mg at ‘street’ purity. Ingestion leads to loss of activity through enzymic hydrolysis in the gut. In illicit use, cocaine is typically snorted (insufflated), following which it is absorbed through the nasal mucosa. Typical precursors include atropine, tropinone and carbomethoxytropinone, none of which is listed in Table 1 of the above-mentioned United Nations 1988 Convention.Ĭrack is manufactured from cocaine hydrochloride by one of two main methods: either microwaving a wet mixture with sodium bicarbonate or by adding alkali to a hot saturated solution of cocaine and allowing the denser base to settle and solidify. ![]() The corresponding EU legislation is set out in Council Regulation (EEC) No 3677/90 (as later amended), which governs trade between the EU and third countries.Īlthough various methods exist for the synthesis of cocaine, they are less economic than extraction of the natural product. Sulfuric and hydrochloric acids, acetone and certain other solvents are listed in Table II, and potassium permanganate is listed in Table I, of the United Nations 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Concentrated hydrochloric acid is added to the solution, causing cocaine hydrochloride to settle out as a solid residue. The filtered solution is again treated with alkali to precipitate the free base, which is dissolved in acetone or other solvents. Coca paste is redissolved in sulfuric acid and potassium permanganate is added to destroy cinnamoylcocaine and other impurities. This solution is neutralised with lime, causing cocaine base (coca paste) to precipitate. The dissolved cocaine is extracted from the kerosene with sulfuric acid to produce an aqueous solution of cocaine sulfate. The leaves are moistened with lime water or other alkali and extracted with kerosene (paraffin). They are processed into cocaine hydrochloride in clandestine laboratories. The estimated minimal lethal dose is 1.2 g, but susceptible individuals have died from as little as 30 mg applied to mucous membranes, whereas addicts may tolerate up to 5 g daily.ĭried coca leaves contain up to 1 % cocaine. The plasma half-life of cocaine is 0.7–1.5 hours and is dose dependent. Some unchanged cocaine is found in the urine. When consumed with alcohol, cocaine also produces the metabolite cocaethylene. The main metabolites are benzoylecgonine, ecgonine and ecgonine methyl ester, all of which are inactive. Following a 25-mg dose, blood levels peak in the range 400–700 μg/L depending on the route of administration. ![]() ![]() Cocaine has a strong reinforcing action, causing a rapid psychological dependence, an effect even more pronounced in those who smoke cocaine base. Like amphetamine, it produces euphoria, tachycardia, hypertension and appetite suppression. It increases transmitter concentrations in both the noradrenergic and the dopaminergic synapse and also acts as an anaesthetic agent. When in the form of crack, cocaine base usually occurs as small (100–200 mg) lumps (‘rocks’).Ĭocaine has a similar psychomotor stimulant effect to that of amphetamine and related compounds. Cocaine base ( CAS-50-36-2) and the hydrochloride salt ( CAS-53-21-4) are white powders.
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