The reduction of tropinone is mediated by NADPH-dependent reductase enzymes, which have been characterized in multiple plant species. [142] These plant species all contain two types of the reductase enzymes, tropinone reductase I and tropinone reductase II. TRI produces tropine and TRII produces pseudotropine. Due to differing kinetic and pH/activity characteristics of the enzymes and by the 25-fold higher activity of TRI over TRII, the majority of the tropinone reduction is from TRI to form tropine. [143] Reduction of tropinone GMO synthesis Research Altman AJ, Albert DM, Fournier GA (1985). "Cocaine's use in ophthalmology: our 100-year heritage". Survey of Ophthalmology. 29 (4): 300–6. doi: 10.1016/0039-6257(85)90153-5. PMID 3885453.

R. Baselt, Disposition of Toxic Drugs and Chemicals in Man, 9th edition, Biomedical Publications, Seal Beach, California, 2011, pp. 390–394. Aspirin is an anti-platelet medicine that thins the blood and reduces the risk of blood clots forming (arterial thrombosis).

What are the effects?

The short-term physiological effects of cocaine include [11] constricted blood vessels, dilated pupils, and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Some users of cocaine report feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. In rare instances, sudden death can occur on the first use of cocaine or unexpectedly thereafter. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory arrest. [14] Exhilaration and lasting euphoria, which in no way differs from the normal euphoria of the healthy person. You perceive an increase of self-control and possess more vitality and capacity for work. In other words, you are simply normal, and it is soon hard to believe you are under the influence of any drug. Long intensive physical work is performed without any fatigue. This result is enjoyed without any of the unpleasant after-effects that follow exhilaration brought about by alcoholic beverages. No craving for the further use of cocaine appears after the first, or even after repeated taking of the drug. [173] Globally, in 2019, cocaine was used by an estimated 20 million people (0.4% of adults aged 15 to 64 years). The highest prevalence of cocaine use was in Australia and New Zealand (2.1%), followed by North America (2.1%), Western and Central Europe (1.4%), and South and Central America (1.0%). [34] Since 1961, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs has required countries to make recreational use of cocaine a crime. [35] In the United States, cocaine is regulated as a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning that it has a high potential for abuse but has an accepted medical use. [36] While rarely used medically today, its accepted uses are as a topical local anesthetic for the upper respiratory tract as well as to reduce bleeding in the mouth, throat and nasal cavities. [ citation needed] Medical Cocaine hydrochloride Cocaine crosses the blood–brain barrier via both a proton-coupled organic cation antiporter [19] [20] and (to a lesser extent) via passive diffusion across cell membranes. [21] As of September 2022, the gene or genes encoding the human proton-organic cation antiporter had not been identified. [101] Gawin FH, Ellinwood EH (1989). "Cocaine dependence". Annual Review of Medicine. 40: 149–61. doi: 10.1146/annurev.me.40.020189.001053. PMID 2658744.

Transgenic mice exhibiting inducible expression of ΔFosB primarily in the nucleus accumbens and dorsal striatum exhibit sensitized behavioural responses to cocaine. [87] They self-administer cocaine at lower doses than control, [88] but have a greater likelihood of relapse when the drug is withheld. [88] [89] ΔFosB increases the expression of AMPA receptor subunit GluR2 [87] and also decreases expression of dynorphin, thereby enhancing sensitivity to reward. [89] Cocaine affects certain serotonin (5-HT) receptors; in particular, it has been shown to antagonize the 5-HT 3 receptor, which is a ligand-gated ion channel. An overabundance of 5-HT 3 receptors is reported in cocaine-conditioned rats, though 5-HT 3's role is unclear. [107] The 5-HT 2 receptor (particularly the subtypes 5-HT 2A, 5-HT 2B and 5-HT 2C) are involved in the locomotor-activating effects of cocaine. [108] Garcia RC, Torres LH, Balestrin NT, Andrioli TC, Flório JC, de Oliveira CD, da Costa JL, Yonamine M, Sandoval MR, Camarini R, Marcourakis T (February 2017). "Anhydroecgonine methyl ester, a cocaine pyrolysis product, may contribute to cocaine behavioral sensitization". Toxicology. 376: 44–50. doi: 10.1016/j.tox.2016.04.009. PMID 27129946. Filip M, Bubar MJ, Cunningham KA (September 2004). "Contribution of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) 5-HT2 receptor subtypes to the hyperlocomotor effects of cocaine: acute and chronic pharmacological analyses". The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 310 (3): 1246–54. doi: 10.1124/jpet.104.068841. PMID 15131246. S2CID 25809734.Boles SM, Miotto K (March–April 2003). "Substance abuse and violence: A review of the literature". Aggression and Violent Behavior. 8 (2): 155–174. doi: 10.1016/S1359-1789(01)00057-X. Gullapalli BT, Natarajan A, Angarita GA, Malison RT, Ganesan D, Rahman T (21 June 2019). "On-body Sensing of Cocaine Craving, Euphoria and Drug-Seeking Behavior Using Cardiac and Respiratory Signals". Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies. 3 (2): 1–31. doi: 10.1145/3328917. S2CID 195357215. a b Chapy H, Smirnova M, André P, Schlatter J, Chiadmi F, Couraud PO, etal. (October 2014). "Carrier-mediated cocaine transport at the blood–brain barrier as a putative mechanism in addiction liability". The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. 18 (1): pyu001. doi: 10.1093/ijnp/pyu001. PMC 4368859. PMID 25539501.

World Drug Report 2021: Booklet 4 (PDF). [S.l.]: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2021. p.35. ISBN 978-92-1-148361-1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2021. Boswell HD, Dräger B, McLauchlan WR, Portsteffen A, Robins DJ, Robins RJ, Walton NJ (November 1999). "Specificities of the enzymes of N-alkyltropane biosynthesis in Brugmansia and Datura". Phytochemistry. 52 (5): 871–8. Bibcode: 1999PChem..52..871B. doi: 10.1016/S0031-9422(99)00293-9. PMID 10626376. Drug Fact Sheet: Cocaine" (PDF). Drug Enforcement Agency. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 June 2020 . Retrieved 17 June 2022.

First and foremost, it’s a stimulant. It has a number of secondary effects including a numbing sensation (that classic tongue dab) as well as reducing the blood supply to certain parts of the body (more on the dangers of that in a second). In fact, in medicine there are a number of local anaesthetics – drugs to make areas of the body go numb – which are similar in their chemical composition to cocaine but much safer to use, the commonest known being lignocaine. When did it start being used as a drug? The color differentiation usually suggests that the product has impurities. It may have been improperly processed or cut with other substances. Brown Cocaine Nutt DJ, King LA, Phillips LD (November 2010). "Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis". Lancet. 376 (9752): 1558–65. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.690.1283. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61462-6. PMID 21036393. S2CID 5667719.