Cocaine

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sources. Chewing coca leaves has been associated historically with the religious ceremonies of the Incas and reserved specifically for nobility. The coca plant was considered to be a gift from the gods and it was only used during religious rituals, burials, and other special purposes. By the time the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, the Incan empire was in decline and the use of the leaves was widespread throughout the empire. The Spaniards tried to prevent the Indians from using the leaves because they believed it was a barrier to conversion to Christianity. Later they paid the Indians with the leaves. It was discovered that the leaves reduced mountain sickness symptoms and they could barely work without them. So it came to be cultivated by the Catholic Church. Returning Spanish conquistadors introduced it to Europe and it was considered an �elixir of life�. In 1862, Albert Niemann extracted purified from a coca base from the coca leaves. In the 1880�s and ...

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