Editing Coca (section)

== Pharmacological aspects ==
[[File:Cocaine-2D-skeletal.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|right|225px|[[Cocaine]], the psychoactive constituent of coca]]
The [[pharmacology|pharmacologically]] active ingredient of coca is the cocaine alkaloid, which has a concentration of about 0.3 to 1.5%, averaging 0.8%,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/cocaine.illicit.production.html
|title=Illicit Production of Cocaine – [www.rhodium.ws&#93; |publisher=Erowid.org |access-date=2013-03-26}}</ref> in fresh leaves. Besides cocaine, the coca leaf contains a number of other alkaloids, including [[methylecgonine cinnamate]], [[benzoylecgonine]], truxilline, [[hydroxytropacocaine]], [[tropacocaine]], [[ecgonine]], [[cuscohygrine]], [[dihydrocuscohygrine]], and [[hygrine]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jenkins|first1=Amanda|last2=Llosa|first2=Teobaldo|last3=Montoya|first3=Ivan|last4=Cone|first4=Edward|title=Identification and quantitation of alkaloids in coca tea|journal=Forensic Sci Int|date=February 9, 1996|volume=77|issue=3|pages=179–189|doi=10.1016/0379-0738(95)01860-3|pmid=8819993|pmc=2705900}}</ref> When chewed, coca acts as a mild stimulant and suppresses hunger, thirst, pain, and fatigue.<ref name="Weil">{{cite journal
|last=Weil|first=AT
|title=The therapeutic value of coca in contemporary medicine
|journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology|date=Mar–May 1981|volume=3|issue=2–3|pages=367–76|pmid=6113306|doi=10.1016/0378-8741(81)90064-7 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nida.nih.gov/researchreports/cocaine/effects.html|title=Letter from the Director – National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)|author=National Institute on Drug Abuse|work=nih.gov}}</ref> Absorption of coca from the leaf is less rapid than nasal application of purified forms of the alkaloid (almost all of the coca alkaloid is absorbed within 20 minutes of nasal application,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=BS|first1=Liao|last2=RL|first2=Hilsinger|last3=BM|first3=Rasgon|last4=K|first4=Matsuoka|last5=KK|first5=Adour|title=A preliminary study of cocaine absorption from the nasal mucosa|journal=Laryngoscope|date=Jan 1999|volume=109|issue=1|pages=98–102|pmid=9917048|doi=10.1097/00005537-199901000-00019|s2cid=25605617}}</ref> while it takes 2–12 hours after ingestion of the raw leaf for alkaline concentrations to peak.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mazor|first1=Susan|last2=Mycyk|first2=Mark|last3=Wills|first3=Brandon|last4=Brace|first4=Larry|last5=Gussow|first5=Leon|last6=Erickson|first6=Timothy|title=Coca tea consumption causes positive urine cocaine assay|journal=Eur J Emerg Med|date=Dec 2006|volume=13|issue=6|page=341|url=http://www.lwwpartnerships.com/assets/files/Coca_tea_consumption_causes_positive_urine_cocaine.5(1).pdf|access-date=August 4, 2014|doi=10.1097/01.mej.0000224424.36444.19|pmid=17091055|s2cid=27984168|archive-date=September 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910070648/http://www.lwwpartnerships.com/assets/files/Coca_tea_consumption_causes_positive_urine_cocaine.5(1).pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>). When the raw leaf is consumed in tea, between 59 and 90% of the coca alkaloid is absorbed.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jackson|first1=GF|last2=Saady|first2=JJ|last3=Poklis|first3=A|title=Urinary excretion of benzoylecgonine following ingestion of Health Inca Tea|journal=Forensic Sci Int|date=Jan–Feb 1991|volume=49|issue=1|pages=57–64|pmid=2032667|doi=10.1016/0379-0738(91)90171-e}}</ref>

Coca users ingest between 60 and 80 milligrams of cocaine each time they chew the leaves according to [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]] (UNODC).<ref>{{cite web |title=UNODC - Bulletin on Narcotics - 1952 Issue 2 - 008 |url=https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/bulletin/bulletin_1952-01-01_2_page009.html |website=www.unodc.org}}</ref> The coca leaf, when consumed in its natural form, does not induce a physiological or psychological dependence, nor does abstinence after long-term use produce symptoms typical to substance addiction.<ref name="Hanna">Hanna JM, Hornick CA., "Use of coca leaf in southern Peru: adaptation or addiction," Bull Narc. 1977 Jan–Mar;29(1):63–74.</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite journal|title=Report of the Commission of Enquiry on the Coca Leaf|journal=United Nations Economic and Social Council|date=May 1950|page=31|url=http://www.ungassondrugs.org/images/stories/cocainquiry-e.pdf|access-date=August 4, 2014}}</ref> Due to its alkaloid content and non-addictive properties, coca has been suggested as a method to help recovering cocaine addicts to wean off the drug.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hurtado-Gumucio|first1=J|title=Coca leaf chewing as therapy for cocaine maintenance|journal=Ann Med Interne|date=October 2000|pmid=11104945|volume=151 Suppl B|pages=B44-8}}<!--|access-date=August 4, 2014--></ref><ref>Oswaldo Francisco Ribas Lobos Fernández, doctoral thesis, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), 2007; "Coca Light?"</ref>