Cocaine is short-lasting stimulant which produces feelings of euphoria and elevated mood. Due to it's extremely addictive qualities and lack of medical applications, cocaine is classified as a Schedule I drug by the Controlled Substances Act. Colombia produces around 90% of the cocaine powder consumed in the United States. Cocaine is produced from the leaves of the coca plant, which has a long history going back to native farmers would chew them to produce an energy boost similar to the effects of a cup of coffee. Like most stimulants, cocaine is bad for the heart. Prolonged cocaine use can lead to cardiomyopathy, or an enlarged heart, which can eventually lead to heart failure.
Although the government's efforts to halt cocaine trafficking of cocaine has produced a decline in it's use, it still remains a problem in the United States and around the globe. Brazil has seen a recent spike in cocaine use as drug suppliers look to cash in on the country's vast economic grow over the past decade. A new medical approach to solving this problem has recently gone to the human-testing phase of development. The vaccine, called TA-CD, works by training the body's antibodies to attach themselves to cocaine molecules, triggering an immune system response and destroying the cocaine molecules before they reach the brain. The drug recently completed a successful round of trials with primate subjects.
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