Cocaine—Drug, Narcotic, or What

Cocaine has a deserved bad reputation, which mostly comes from movies or media news about Mexican or Colombian drag traffickers. It is more or less generally believed that cocaine is an illegal narcotic. In a strict medical sense, this is not true. What is true is that the use of cocaine is prohibited by most national laws and international treaties together with classic narcotics. The rules are the same, but the effect is different. 

In a medical sense, a narcotic is a substance that causes narcosis nomen est omen). Narcosis primarily means a decrease in activity, maybe decrease of pain, hallucinations, a decrease of interest in the external world, a sort of introversion. Prohibited narcotics include heroin, morphine, marijuana, and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). Cocaine does not have any of these classic narcotic effects. Medically, it is a stimulant, a substance that increases activity. This has dangers of its own, so prohibiting the use of cocaine without doubt serves the interests of society in general. 

Why do marty people believe that cocaine is a narcotic In purely medical terms, this view is incorrecL but it is not rmtrae when legal terms are considered. The same 

Cocaine is also listed on the prohibited substances of the World Anti-Doping Agency. It is not in the category of narcotics, it is among the stimulants. Interestingly 

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