Cocaine

Discussion in 'Chemistry' started by Xmo1, Nov 11, 2017.

  1. Xmo1 Registered Senior Member

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    501
    People were chewing cocaine leaves before it was a (high-end) product, and they were consuming it for it's energy and medicinal attributes. It shouldn't be wasted if gathered by law enforcement. It should be used to it's full potential, because it's a natural resource. Natural resources should always be considered important, and a leverage tool for commerce.

    Wouldn't cocaine combine with other substances to the point where people could use it as a (bio) chemical? Material Science? What does it mix well with?

    So I'm thinking rather than harm the farmers, buy their product and use it better. It's an important natural resource. Big pharma, get with the program. Dow chemical? Air products? What's it good for? I'm thinking it should be brought to the market as a commodity to help the farmers. The current refiners could multi-discipline by injecting material science jobs into their greenhouses to serve demand for new materials.
     
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  3. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Wouldn't that be the first question to ask, before deciding if it's worth all the known dangers?
     
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  5. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    It's not a target for law enforcement because people were chewing coca leaves. That's a tiny percentage of the market. Cocaine is a social problem. We already have mild stimulants like coffee.
     
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  7. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    coca from the coca plant
    cola from the cola nut
    =
    coca cola
    available at any drugstore

    ah, but then
    they left out the cocaine and added 6 tablespoons of sugar
    sucrose-cola?
     
  8. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    Do you realize that farming is one of the most unnatural things that humans do? There's a big difference between chewing a leaf once in a while and growing an acre of leaves to concentrate into a bag of white powder.
     
  9. timojin Valued Senior Member

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    Based on what you are saying ( bag of white powder ) there should be a lot of filler. Tea is a plant and is sold on the market as a ground leaf. So it should be more effective to grind coca leaf, but than to produce a white powder , you must extract the the product than purify it than dry it that is a long and costly process.
    By the way I never seen the product ( coca )
     
  10. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    They do this because cocaine as a concentrated product is much more effective than raw coca. Instead of a mild stimulant, it becomes euphoric and very addictive. They process it with gasoline and other chemicals to change it's chemical structure.
     
  11. gmilam Valued Senior Member

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    Coca leaf tea is readily available in Peru. When I went to Machu Picchu, it was in all the hotel dining rooms.
     
  12. timojin Valued Senior Member

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    So did it have any effect on you? or was it just a tea ?
     
  13. gmilam Valued Senior Member

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    About the same effect as a cup of coffee. And it did seem to help alleviate the headache from the altitude sickness in Cusco.
     
  14. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    20,069
    It seems you don't know much about tea. There is actually only one tea plant, from which all the diferent teas are processed. it is a long and tedious process. Read up on it, it will amaze yuo how much work is involved in making tea.

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    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_processing
     
  15. timojin Valued Senior Member

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    You are right I don't know anything about tea and others.
     
  16. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    What bothers me is that Cannabis is treated like an Opioid. It is a Cannabinoid and is completely different from Opioids, yet it is a class 1 drug. This was done for political reasons, not for any medical reasons.

    Nicotine and Alcohol are much mure dangerous than Cannabis. If it were legalized, the opioid, nicotine and alcohol problems would instantly disappear, including the deathrate from overdosing .

    Cocaine is another story yet, because it speeds up your system, and may cause all kinds of problems. OTOH, there is no single recorded case of death from Cannabis overdose.
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2017
  17. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    personally
    I find all drug prohibition laws immoral.
     
  18. timojin Valued Senior Member

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    Why people have to use them, Are they unhappy with himself that they have to escape from reality ?
     
  19. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Whether or not I believe laws should be enacted and enforced to control such drugs, I don't see it as my business - or more-to-the-point - your business to judge what other people do or don't "have" to do.

    It is judgmental to decide these people can't wish to escape reality temporarily. The rest of us have our own ways, even you.
     
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  20. gmilam Valued Senior Member

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    Not to mention that (IMHO) it's not the Government's job to protect people from themselves.
     
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  21. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    I agree, with the qualification that this does not affect or harm others.
     
  22. timojin Valued Senior Member

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    Talk to me about seat belt, government wants to protect you .
     
  23. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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