Crack: In the mid-1980s, crack became a dangerous form of cocaine. Riss has a modified chemical structure that allows it to reach the brain faster and create a more intense high, so the crack has a greater potential for dependence. The name “crack” derives from the crunch that this form of cocaine produces when burned. Today, Colombian groups produce 70 to 80 percent of the world`s cocaine, which is made from locally grown coca plants and cocaine-based plants imported from Peru and Bolivia. Colombia produces an estimated $400 million worth of cocaine every week. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Dutch colony of Java became one of the main exporters of coca leaves. In 1912, deliveries to Amsterdam, where the leaves were processed into cocaine, reached 1000 tons, surpassing the Peruvian export market. Outside of the years of World War I, Java remained a larger exporter of coca than Peru until the late 1920s. [43] Other colonial powers also tried to grow coca (including the British in India), but with the exception of the Japanese in Formosa, these were relatively unsuccessful. [43] Coca was also an important part of the religious cosmology of the Andean peoples of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and northwestern Argentina from the pre-Inca period to the present day. Coca leaves play a crucial role in offering to the Apus (mountains), inti (sun) or Pachamama (earth). Coca leaves are also often read in a form of divination analogous to reading tea leaves in other cultures.
It is true that drug traffickers do not pay import taxes or customs duties, and they are not burdened by bureaucracy at the border; On the other hand, smuggling comes with its own costs and challenges. Nevertheless, the higher guaranteed incomes resulting from the undisputed illegal status and the relative ease of transporting cocaine have made low-cost foreign production and subsequent smuggling into the United States a profitable business, whether by boat, plane or tunnel. Experiments in the cultivation of poppy seeds, the basis of opium and heroin, and a more accurate comparison with coca in this regard, have been largely isolated failures due to the same reality, in which there remains a better commercial decision to grow abroad – not because of some kind of national legal raid, but for profitability. This reality has even pushed methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs that were previously produced locally to increased outsourcing to other countries. Coca was first introduced to Europe in the 16th century, but was not introduced until the mid-19th century. It was popular with the publication of an influential paper by Dr. Paolo Mantegazza, who praised its stimulating effect on cognition. This led to the invention of coca wine and the first production of pure cocaine. Coca wine (of which Vin Mariani was the best-known brand) and other preparations containing coca have been widely sold as patented medicines and tonics, with claims on a variety of health benefits.
The original version of Coca-Cola was one of them. These products became illegal in most countries outside of South America in the early 20th century after the addictive nature of cocaine was widely recognized. In 1859, Albert Niemann of the University of Göttingen was the first person to isolate the main alkaloid from coca, which he called “cocaine.” [42] That being said, couldn`t U.S. traffickers make up the difference by reducing transportation costs by growing a type of high-mountain coca locally? This was in many cases the case of another famous illegal crop, marijuana (the cultivation of which, as stated at the beginning of this article, was not deterred by illegality); However, the greater amount of marijuana, lower profitability and increasing decriminalization are other unique factors in the decision to grow locally. In addition, marijuana can be consumed by the end customer in its original unprocessed form, similar to potatoes. During a hike in the Andes and crossing a pass, coca leaves can be added to piles of stones, as an alternative to a rock and better in line with the “Leave No Trace” philosophy. 4. The activity of chewing coca is called Mambear, Chacchar or Acullicar, borrowed from Quechua, coquear (northwestern Argentina) or bolivia Picchar, derived from the Aymara language.
Spanish masticar is also commonly used, with the slang term “bolear”, derived from the word “bola”, or coke ball, which is beaten in the cheek when chewed. Typical coca consumption varies between 20 and 60 grams per day,[51] and contemporary methods are said to have remained unchanged since ancient times. [Citation needed] The coca is stored in a woven bag (chuspa or huallqui). Some leaves are selected to form a quide (acullico) held between the mouth and gums. This can cause a tingling and numbness sensation in the mouth, similar to the once ubiquitous dental anesthetic novocaine (since cocaine and novocaine both belong to the aminoester class of local anesthetics). Herbicide resistance of this strain has at least two possible explanations: that a peer-to-peer network of coca growers used selective breeding to improve this trait through tireless efforts, or that the plant was genetically modified in the laboratory. In 1996, a patented glyphosate-resistant soybean was marketed by Monsanto, suggesting that it would be possible to genetically modify coca in a similar way. Spraying Boliviana negra with glyphosate would serve to strengthen its growth by eliminating the non-resistant weeds that surround it.