Cocaine: What is the Crack? A Brief History of the Use of Cocaine as an Anesthetic

Throughout the history of medicine, various drugs and technologies have been developed, and these developments have tremendously contributed to a range of treatments that are now taken for granted. It is only when we take time to study the development of these important drugs and technologies that we really realize how much effort and dedication went into developing them. Cocaine is an example of a drug that had many contributors aiding its use in medicine. Here, I discuss the factors and people that have contributed to the successful use of cocaine in anesthesia. Cocaine is an ancestor of modern-day anesthetics , although some perceive it as a drug associated with the dark and damaged segment of our society. Cocaine is obtained from coca leaves. Although it was not isolated from coca leaves until the 19 th century, its effects had made an impression in some parts of the world long before. The Incas knew the effects of chewing coca leaves many hundreds of years ago. In 1551, Peruvian bishops tried to persuade the government to prohibit coca use because chewing these leaves conflicted with their reli-Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education: This article encourages the reader to consider the way in which social and historical influences can play a significant role in the development of a drug. gious beliefs. Although the use of coca was not prohibited, the amount of land used for coca cultivation later in that decade was restricted; thus, the efforts of these bishops were not entirely in vain. It is interesting to note that similar to the history of chewing marijuana and tobacco, the history of chewing coca shows how a natural substance can be developed into a substance that is harmful and detrimental to both the individual and society. It was not until 1860 that Albert Niemann isolated cocaine from coca leaves. It has been reported that he " noticed that when he placed the crystals on his tongue, it made his tongue feel numb " (1). This could have been an early recognition of cocaine's anesthetic properties. However, only in later years was this " numbness " recognized for its value in local anesthetics. Around 1868, Moreno y Maiz injected cocaine into a frog's legs and conducted tests that lead him to propose the possibility of using cocaine as a local anesthetic in the future (1). Although this may seem like a significant breakthrough, in …