Cocaine adulteration

Publication date: Available online 12 June 2017 Source:Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy Author(s): Oliver Kudlacek, Tina Hofmaier, Anton Luf, Felix P. Mayer, Thomas Stockner, Constanze Nagy, Marion Holy, Michael Freissmuth, Rainer Schmid, Harald H. Sitte Cocaine is a naturally occurring and illicitly used psychostimulant drug, which exerts its activity at monoaminergic neurotransmitter transporters. These transporters mediate the reuptake of the monoamines dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine and are blocked by cocaine. The increase of monoamines in the extracellular space is the phenomenon underlying the drug effects that cocaine users seek. Currently, it is one of the most important illicit drugs on the European market. However, this increase in monoamines is also the underlying cause for the development of addiction and a number of severe side effects. To increase the profit margin in the cocaine-related business, cocaine is diluted (i.e., ‘cut’ as the term used in the streets) with several different adulterants. Importantly, these undeclared compounds put cocaine consumers at risk, because they are not aware of the additional threats to their health. This review describes adulterants of cocaine on the street market. Their typical pharmacological profile and possible reasons why these compounds can be used as cutting agent will be discussed. Since a subset of these adulterants has been found to exert effects similar to cocaine itself, we will discuss leva...
Source: Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research