Epidemic free-base cocaine abuse.
Case study from the Bahamas
by
Jekel JF, Allen DF, Podlewski H,
Clarke N, Dean-Patterson S, Cartwright P.
Lancet. 1986 Mar 1;1(8479):459-62

ABSTRACT

Beginning in 1983, a sharp increase was noted in the number of new admissions for cocaine abuse to the only psychiatric hospital and to the primary outpatient psychiatric clinic in the Bahamas. For the two facilities combined, new admissions for cocaine abuse increased from none in 1982 to 69 in 1983 and to 523 in 1984. Although there was some evidence for a rise in cocaine use during this time, as the drug became cheaper and more available, a primary cause of this medical epidemic seemed to be a switch by pushers from selling cocaine hydrochloride, which has a low addictive potential, to almost exclusive selling of cocaine free base, which has a very high addictive potential and causes medical and psychological problems. Although the use of free cocaine base is rising around the world, this is the first report of a nationwide medical epidemic due almost exclusively to this form of the drug, although similar problems are reported with smoking coca paste in South America.

Users
History
Mu and kappa
Quails on coke
Crack and crime
Prenatal cocaine
Dopaminergic flies?
Dopaminergic agents
Coca leaves/cocaine
Cocaine immunization
The coke-craving brain
Cocaine and methylphenidate

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Refs
HOME
HedWeb
Future Opioids
BLTC Research
Utopian Surgery?
Wirehead Hedonism
Paradise-Engineering
The Hedonistic Imperative
MDMA: Utopian Pharmacology
When Is It Best to Take Crack Cocaine?

The Good Drug Guide
The Responsible Parent's Guide To
Healthy Mood Boosters For All The Family