History of Cocaine Timeline

courtesy of erowid.org xxx

c. 3000 B.C.

Coca chewing is practiced throughout South America. Coca is believed to be a gift from God.

1400s

Coca plantations are operated by Incas in Peru.

1505

First hand accounts of coca use made their way back to Europe. Amerigo Vespucci (1505), G Frenandez de Oviedo (1535), and Nicholas Monardes (1565).

Early 1500s

Incan coca plantations are taken over by holders of Spanish land grants. Spanish tax laws are revised to allow land owners to make their tax payments in coca leaves.

1539

The Bishop of Cuzco tithes coca, taking 1/10 of the value of each crop in taxes.

Mid 1500s

Coca production in Peru expands quickly causing a glut of leaf on the market which in turn precipitated a drop in the price of coca.

1574

Monardes' text on coca is first translated into other European languages from Spanish; Latin (1574), Italian (1576), English (1577).

c. 1575

Forced laborors working in the Spanish silver mines were kept well supplied with coca leaves. Roughly 8% of the Europeans living in Peru were involved in the coca trade.

1662

Abraham Cowley writes a poem titled "A Legend of Coca". This is the first independent mention of coca in English literature.

1708

Coca is first mentioned in a materia medica, Institutiones Medicae, written by German physician and botanist Herman Boerhaave.

1835

First accurate drawing of coca appears in popular English press. The illustration by Sir William Hooker, director of the Kew gardens, was published in Companion to the Botanical Magazine.

c. 1850

Coca tinctures used in throat surgery.

c. 1855

Cocaine first extracted from coca leaves.

1862

Merck produces 1/4 pound of cocaine.

1869

Seeds from the commercial variety of coca arrived at Kew Gardens.

1870

Vin Mariani (coca wine) is for sale throughout France, containing 6 mg cocaine per ounce of wine. Exported Vin Mariani contained 7.2 mg per ounce to compete with the higher cocaine content of American competitors.

1870s

Parke,Davis manufactures a fluid extract of coca.

1876 - 1885

Race walkers in England chew coca leaves to improve their performance.

1883

Merck produces 3/4 pound of cocaine.

1884

Cocaine's use as a local anesthetic in eye surgery is popularized.

1884

Freud publishes On Coca in which he recommends the use of cocaine to treat a variety of conditions including morphine addiction.

1884

Merck produces 3,179 pounds of cocaine.

1886

Merck produces 158,352 pounds of cocaine.

1886

Coca-Cola is first introduced by John Pemberton, containing cocaine laced syrup and caffeine.

Late 1880s

Parke,Davis starts to manufacture refined cocaine.

c. 1901

Coca-Cola removed coca from their formula.

c. 1905

Snorting cocaine becomes popular.

1910

First cases of nasal damage from cocaine snorting are written of in medical literature.

1910

First cases of nasal damage from cocaine snorting are seen in hospitals.

1912

U.S. government reports 5,000 cocaine related fatalities in one year.

1914

Cocaine banned in United States.

Early 1930s

Japan is the world's leading cocaine producer (23.3%) followed by the United States (21.3%), Germany (15%), U.K. (9.9%), France (8.3%).

c. 1976

Freebase cocaine first developed (probably in California). It would soon be popularized by dealers and glamorized by Hollywood media.

1981

Wholesale cost of 1 kg of cocaine is $55,000.

1984

Wholesale cost of 1 kg cocaine is $25,000.

Mid 1980's

Freebase cocaine becomes popular.