aine hydrochloride that is mixed or "cut" with a number of other white, powdery substances. These include procaine and lidocaine, sugars like lactose and dextrose, stimulants such as dexedrine and caffeine, and other substances including cornstarch, talcum powder, and flour. Street cocaine today contains only 12 to 50 percent cocaine hydrochloride. About 100,000 pounds of cocaine are brought into this county each year. Eighty thousand tons of coca leaf will eventually produce about 200 tons of cocaine("Coca"). Marijuana was first smoked as a medicine as early as 2737 B.C.E. in China. Marijuana is a mixture of leaves, stems, and flowering tops of the hemp plant. The hemp plant has the highest cannabinoid concentration found in the flowering tops. Marijuana is referred to as grass, pot, tea, or weed. The hemp plant grows wild through most of the world and can be cultivated in any area with a hot season. It grows best in central Asia. The main psychoactive compound in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinal, better known as THC, a strong hallucinogenic that passes from the lungs into the blood and the brain. The THC content of marijuana has increased eight fold in the last few years and some now exceed 10 percent. Hash oil may contain 15 to 30 percent THC. Marijuana is by far the most frequently used illicit drug in the United States(Marijuana). Steroids are man-made derivatives of testosterone, the male hormone. For performance enhancement, anabolic-andogenic steroids are today's sports drugs of choice. Steroids are a family of synthetic compounds. Anabolic refers to the ability of steroids to build up muscle tissue. Testosterone came into use in the sporting arena by Russian weight lifters in the 1940's and 1950's. In the 1860's swimmers were charged with "doping" in Amsterdam. In East Berlin, young children were removed from their parents at an early age by government officials. When these children were drilled relentlessly and were shot up with every new drug to enhance performance. These children were prepped with wind sprints at six and steroids at 16, the "sport" vanished from sports (Rosellini 52). Cocaine was first used by doctors in the late 1800's as an anesthetic. It was also used during this time to treat fatigue, alcohol, morphine addiction, impotence, stomach disorders, asthma, and many other complaints including depression. Despite evidence that cocaine was habit forming, it was an ingredient in many popular patent medicines, and until 1903 it was in Coca-Cola. Most countries prohibit its use except for limited medical purposes. Cocaine is the most reinforcing drug around. There are three main ways to ingest cocaine: snorting, injection, and smoking. Snorting is the most popular. The user cuts the cocaine into lines and snorts it through one or both nostrils using a straw or a rolled up piece of paper. Others inject it directly into the blood stream. Crack is another type of cocaine. It is a hardened, very addictive form that may be smoked directly. Cocaine is very expensive. A single dose may be as little as a quarter of a gram, but it can easily cost $25 on the street. There are no currently approved uses for marijuana in the Unites States. However, many doctors obtain THC from the federal government under special arrangements in order to prescribe it for cancer patients. THC is effective in reducing the nausea that cancer patients suffer from. Marijuana may stimulate appetite. Marijuana may be smoked or taken by mouth. The same dose of THC is about three times as effective when smoked as when ingested. Marijuana is smoked in the form of a hand-rolled cigarettes, but it is also smoked in a variety of pipes. After smoking marijuana, the user has a "high," including an increased sense of well-being, relaxation, and sleepiness. Most users learn to avoid overdosage by taking only as many inhalations as required to produce the desired "high." Steroids may have some therapeutic value. The United States Food and Drug

Some topics in this essay:
Olympics Ben, White's Story, East Berlin, Drug Administration, Expos Raines, Civil Rights, Coca Cocaine, Players' Association, Alzado Lyle, China Marijuana, drug testing, banned substances, gas chromatograph, marijuana smoked, professional athletes, urine sample, using cocaine, drug abuse, hemp plant, mass spectrometer, determine banned substances, gas chromatograph mass, chromatograph mass spectrometer, chewed coca leaves, percent nfl players,