The History of Cocaine

Long before cocaine was extracted from the coca plant, the leaves were chewed by the Indians of Peru and other South American countries. This practice began before recorded history, so our knowledge is derived totally from archaeological sources. Line drawings on pottery found in northwestern South America show evidence that coca chewing was part of the culture before the rise of the Incan Empire, perhaps as early as 3,000 B.C., and that its effects on mood and behavior were very profound and much appreciated by the Indians.

The coca plant was considered to be a gift of the gods and was used during religious rituals, burials and for other special purposes. By the time the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, the Incan Empire was in decline. By this time, coca was no longer used only by the ruling class or only in association with ritual. The Spaniards, at first, tried to prevent the Indians from using coca, because they believed it was a barrier to conversion to Christianity. Later, it became a practice to pay the Indians in coca leaves for their work. The Spaniards could thereby force enormous amounts of work from them in the gold and silver mines despite difficult conditions in the high altitudes.

Coca leaves, along with coffee, tea, and tobacco, were brought to Europe from South America by the explorers in the 16th century, but unlike the others, coca leaves were unpopular until the 19th century. This may have been due to deterioration of the leaves during the journey, causing a great loss of potency. In 1862, Albert Niemann finally extracted a purified cocaine from a crystalline substance derived from coca leaves.

Cocaine was highly regarded in the 1880's and 1890's, and many prominent figures advocated the therapeutic use of cocaine: Pope Leo XII, Sigmund Freud, Jules Verne, and Thomas Edison all endorsed its use and in 1888, Coca-cola, which originally contained cocaine, advertised itself as "the drink that relieves exhaustion." (Coca-cola has since removed cocaine from the contents of their drink and replaced it with caffeine.)

The abuse of cocaine was largely non-existent in the United States until the 1960's, except among entertainers and jazz musicians. The use of the drug has been prohibited, both in patent medicines and for recreational use, since 1914.

The natives of the Andes still chew the unprocessed leaves for their stimulating effect. They often mix these with ashes or lime and, it is said, they can go for days without feeling hunger or fatigue. The habitual chewer, however, has an unsteady gait, green-crusted teeth, incurable insomnia, and general apathy.