Explain whether Cocaine and Opium have ever been used legitimately and or legall

Question

Explain whether Cocaine and Opium have ever been used legitimately and or legally in the past, going back to as far as the ancient world. Define the following and their origins Thebaine, Heroine, God’s Own Medicine Having provided the definitions requested above: It has been argued that legalizing drugs such as Cocaine and Opium and taxing them will alleviate the violence and save public funds wasted on the War on Drugs. Considering that drugs such as Cocaine and Opium have been used legally in the past, do you believe that legalizing then today will help alleviate the violence in the industry? In responding to these questions, you must explain how and why they were used in the past; the state of human knowledge in the past;

Explanation / Answer

Coca is one of the oldest and most dangerous stimulants of natural origin. Forced Indian labours in Spanish silver mines were kept supplied with coca leaves because it made them easier to control and exploit. Cocaine was first isolated (extracted from Coca leaves) in 1859 by German chemist Albert Niemann. It was not until the 1880s that it started to be popularized in the medical community. In 1886, the popularity of the drug got a further boost when John pemberton included Coca leaves as an ingredient in his new soft drink, Coca Cola.The popularity of this Coca Cola got rocket speed in sales in the turn of century for the energising effects present in it.

From the 1850s to the early 1900s, cocaine and opium tonics and wines were broadly used by people of all social classes. Cocaine use in society increased and the dangers of the drug gradually became more evident. public pressure forced the Coca Cola company to remove the cocaine from the soft drink in 1903.

For the illegal drug trade, the morphine is extracted from the opium, reducing the bulk weight by 88%. It is then converted into heroin, which is two to four times as potent and increase the value by two to four times. The reduced weight and bulk make it easier to smuggle.

By 1905, it had become popular to snort cocaine and within five years, hospitals and medical literature had started reporting cases of nasal damage resulting from the use of this drug. In 1912, the United States government reported 5000 cocaine related deaths in one year and by 1922, the drug was officially banned. In the 1970s Cocaine and opium emerged as the fashionable new drug for entertainers and business people. Traditionally cocaine was rich mans drug, due to the large expense of cocaine habit. It is America's most dangerous and addictive drug, linked with poverty, crime and death. Now a days cocaine had become the second highest trafficked illegal drug in the world.

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