Cocaine turning

Scott Cocaine Cobalt thiocyanate (II) solution Concentrated chloridric acid chloroform In the presence of cocaine turns from pink to blue... 

When heated with mineral acids Z-cocaine is hydrolysed into Z-ecgonine (p. 96), benzoic acid and methyl alcohol and a like change takes place with baryta water. If the alkaloid is boiled with water, methyl alcohol is split off and a new base, benzoyl-Z-ecgonine is formed, which in turn can be hydrolysed by acids or alkalis into Z-ecgoninc and benzoic acid. Cocaine is, therefore, methylbenzoyl-Z-ecgonine. 

Chlorox test. It is alleged that the dealer can take suspected cocaine and drop it in a vial of clorox. Presumably the cocaine will dissolve completely and procaine will turn a reddish orange color with any other cut trailing to the bottom of the vial as residue. 

Chronic cocaine use can cause a syndrome of insomnia, hallucinations, delusions, and apathy. This syndrome develops around the time when the euphoria turns to a paranoid psychosis, which resembles paranoid schizophrenia. Further, after cessation of cocaine use, the hallucinations may stop, but the delusions can persist. Still, the incidence of a persistent cocaine-induced psychosis appears to be rare. One study found only 4 out of 298 chronic cocaine users receiving a diagnosis of psychotic disorder (Rounsaville et al. 1991). This incidence is approximately the... 

Many pharmacologically active organic chemicals fonnd in natnre are alkaloids. In general, these componnds contain one or more nitrogen atoms, which in turn impart some basicity to the molecnle. Well-known alkaloid examples are caffeine, cocaine, codeine, ephedrine, morphine, nicotine, qninine, and scopolamine. Heroin is derived from morphine by a chemical modification that increases lipophilicity, making the heroin molecnle inherently more pharmacologically potent than morphine. The exhibition of its basic properties by an alkaloid (Aik) involves (by definition) the acceptance of a proton H+ according to ... 

At the turn of the nineteenth century, methods became available for the isolation of active principles from crude drugs. The development of chemistry made it possible to isolate and synthesize chemically pure compounds that would give reproducible biological results. In 1806, Serturner (1783-1841) isolated the first pure active principle when he purified morphine from the opium poppy. Many other chemically pure active compounds were soon obtained from crude drug preparations, including emetine by Pelletier (1788-1844) from ipecacuanha root quinine by Carentou (1795-1877) from cinchona bark strychnine by Magendie (1783-1855) from nux vomica and, in 1856, cocaine by Wohler (1800-1882) from coca. 

By the mid-1980s a new, more potent form of cocaine appeared. Cooking cocaine with baking soda turned it into a rocklike substance that could be smoked. Besides packing a lot of punch for its relatively low price, crack cocaine enticed users who were afraid of needles and the infections (such as HIV/AIDS) they could bring. Crack affected the body differently than powder cocaine ... 

At higher doses, cocaine can produce undesirable effects, including tremor, emotional lability, restlessness, irritability, paranoia, panic, and repetitive stereotyped behavior. At even higher doses, it can induce intense anxiety, paranoia, and hallucinations, along with hypertension, tachycardia, ventricular irritability, hyperthermia, and respiratory depression. In overdose, cocaine can cause acute heart failure, stroke, and seizures. Acute intoxication with cocaine produces these various clinical effects, depending on the dose these effects are mediated by inhibition of the dopamine transporter and in turn by the effects of excessive dopamine activity in dopamine synapses, as well as by norepinephrine and serotonin in their respective synapses. 

Finally, serotonin contributes to the pharmacology of cocaine, although less prominently than dopamine. The 5-HTib heteroreceptor mechanism of the inhibition by cocaine of GABA release in the VTA has been explained in Section 4.6. The inhibition of GABA release in turn disinhibits VTA dopamine neurons, thus enhancing dopamine release in the terminal region of the nucleus accumbens, a key structure of addiction (compare Section 2.3). 

Some users spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on cocaine and crack each week and will do anything to support their habit. Many turn to drug selling, prostitution, or other crimes. 

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