Cocaine

A popular party drug, cocaine is the second most commonly used drug in the UK, after cannabis. For many, the drug is an occasional recreational habit that has been normalised to a certain extent, though for some, cocaine dependency dictates their lifestyle.

What is cocaine?

Cocaine, chemically formulated as C₁₇H₂₁NO₄, is a stimulant drug, deriving from the two species of coca leaves found predominantly in South America: Erythroxylum and Erythroxylum novogranatense. Cocaine is compelling as a stimulant and possesses highly addictive qualities.

However, cocaine as we know it today in the UK, as a Class A illegal drug, has organic roots. It was, and still is, used by the indigenous people of South America for thousands of years in its raw coca leaf form, with inhabitants chewing it for its stimulant effects, as well as for numbing effects, to carry out early surgical procedures.