where does cocaine come from?

Answers to where does cocaine come from

Cocaine is contained in small amounts in the leaves of several species of the erythroxylum (coca) bush, which grow on the slopes of the Andes Mountains in South America. For at least 4,500 years, people in Peru and Bolivia have chewed coca leaves to lessen hunger and fatigue. Today, most of the world's supply of coca is grown and refined into cocaine in Colombia. Criminal networks control the lucrative cocaine trade.

Cocaine is a stimulant drug. Stimulants make people feel more alert and energetic. Cocaine can also make people feel euphoric, or "high."

Pure cocaine was first isolated from the leaves of the coca bush in 1860. Researchers soon discovered that cocaine numbs whatever tissues it touches, leading to its use as a local anesthetic. Today, we mostly use synthetic anesthetics, rather than cocaine.

n 1886, cocaine was added to the soft drink we know now as Coca Cola which created euphoric and energizing effects in those who drank it. In the coming years, cocaine was added to many other elixirs and tonics creating and new found "cure all" for anything and everything that ailed you. In later years, cocaine was discovered to have many dangerous side effects which ultimately led to its removal from all products that contained it. In 1920, cocaine was added to the list of narcotics outlawed by the United States.

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