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Just Say No! A Profile Of Cocaine And Its Effects On Two Lives
Just Say No! A Profile Of Cocaine and It's Effects On Two Lives Just Say No! A Profile Of Cocaine and It's Effects On Two Lives Presented by: J.T. Stocker Mr. Kramer/Mrs. Locke 7C December 13, 1995 Greek mythology tells of a young god, Morpheus, god of dreams. Morpheus planted a special purple flower called the lotus. Soon the people of the land smelled the sweet flowers and ate them. They immediately feel into a deep and troubled sleep. From that day on, they awoke only long enough to gather the lotus flowers and sleep again. Eventually they lost their strength and willpower and wanted only to drift in and out of sleep.1 The story of the lotus-eaters and similar tales from ancient times show us that drug use is not new. Today this problem threatens all of our society. The worst, most deadly of drugs, however, is cocaine. This report will talk about what cocaine is, what it does to the human body, and two fantastic people who gave their lives because of it. Today, over 5 million people use cocaine each month. Each day, 3,000 people try cocaine for the first time.2 Cocaine is a white powder made from the leaves of the cocoa plant. Cocaine is first pressed to form a paste; then, the paste is mixed with strong chemicals to make a white, powdery mixture. Most cocaine comes from South America. It is estimated that about 400 tons of cocaine is smuggled out of South America each year. Half of this cocaine ends up on the streets of the United States. Cocaine is a stimulant. That means that when it is used, it speeds up the way the brain works. It causes the brain to send out too many electrical signals that then get mixed up. Because the brain tells the heart how fast and often to beat, using cocaine can make the heart pump so fast that it damages the muscles or can lead to a heart attack. Since the brain also tells the lungs how often and how deep to breath, the use of cocaine can cause those signals to get mixed up leading to a shortness of breath or the complete failure of the lungs to work causing instant death. The use of cocaine is seriously addicting. Monkeys will keep giving themselves doses of cocaine until they die; most people will follow the same trend.3 The world of sports has many sad examples of people who made ...This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now! Get This Full Article After Registration
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