history of cocaine timeline
courtesy erowid.org
| c. 3000 B.C. | Coca chewing is practiced throughout South America. Coca is believed to be a gift from God. 1 | |
| 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). 2 | |
| 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. 2 | |
| 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. 2 | |
| 1574 | Monardes’ text on coca is first translated into other European languages from Spanish; Latin (1574), Italian (1576), English (1577). 2 | |
| 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. 2 | |
| 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. 2 | |
| c. 1850 | Coca tinctures used in throat surgery. 2 | |
| c. 1855 | Cocaine first extracted from coca leaves. 2 | |
| 1862 | Merck produces 1/4 pound of cocaine. 2 | |
| 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. 2 /SUP> | |
| 1870s | Parke,Davis manufactures a fluid extract of coca. 2 | |
| 1876 – 1885 | Race walkers in England chew coca leaves to improve their performance. 2 | |
| 1883 | Merck produces 3/4 pound of cocaine. 2 | |
| 1884 | Cocaine’s use as a local anesthetic in eye surgery is popularized. 2 | |
| 1884 | Freud publishes On Coca in which he recommends the use of cocaine to treat a variety of conditions including morphine addiction. 2 | |
| 1884 | Merck produces 3,179 pounds of cocaine. 2 | |
| 1886 | Merck produces 158,352 pounds of cocaine. 2 | |
| 1886 | Coca-Cola is first introduced by John Pemberton, containing cocaine laced syrup and caffeine. | |
| Late 1880s | Parke,Davis starts to manufacture refined cocaine. 2 | |
| c. 1901 | Coca-Cola removed coca from their formula. 2 | |
| c. 1905 | Snorting cocaine becomes popular. 2 | |
| 1910 | First cases of nasal damage from cocaine snorting are written of in medical literature. 2 | |
| 1910 | First cases of nasal damage from cocaine snorting are seen in hospitals. 2 | |
| 1912 | U.S. government reports 5,000 cocaine related fatalities in one year. 2 | |
| 1914 | Cocaine banned in United States. 1 | |
| 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%). 2 | |
| 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. 1 | |
| 1984 | Wholesale cost of 1 kg cocaine is $25,000. 1 | |
| Mid 1980’s | Freebase cocaine becomes popular. |
References
1 . The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Drugs: Cocaine, A New Epidemic, by Chris-Ellyn Johanson.
2 . A Brief History of Cocaine, by Steven B. Karch