COCAINE AND COCOA.

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1410, 29 September 1923, Page 6

COCAINE AND COCOA.

QUITE DISTINCT SUBSTANCES. Recent reports that the cocainetaking habit is increasing have aroused discussions on just what cocaine is and whether it has anything to do with cocoa or with cocoanuts. Does it. come from the poppy? Js there any cocaine in cocoa corresponding to the caffeine in coffee? All of these suggestions are erroneous. The confusion arises from a similarity in names, and to the fact that cocaine, cocoa, and cocoanuts have their j source largely in South America. first, let us dispose of cocoanuts. They grow on a kind of palm tree, are the size of a man's head, produce "copra," which is the commercial name for the inside of the nut before it is shredded for frosting our cakes. Next, it is not cocaine, but opium, that comes from the poppy. ! Cocaine is derived from coco leaves. j "Coco erythoxyion" is a plant that j grows in the mountains of Ecuador, J Pkru and Colombia, its leaves produce cocaine if put through a cer- | tain chemical process. Cocaine is a | white powder, resembling confectioners' sugar. It. is taken by addicts I through the nose, like snuff, it shar,p\enis the brain and increases 't'ite I courage. Criminals usually preface j a big crime with a strong dose of it. I They call it "snow" or "sugar." ft ' the leaves of the coco plant are i wrapped around lime or chalk pow- : dei' and chewed a stimulating effect is felt. The native Indians chew coco j leaves when on a long journey or i climb by foot, it temporarily keeps i up their strength, and enables them ! to go without food tor a time without I feeling the effect:- of hunger. Cocoa I j comes from the cacao tree, says the j "Scientific American," which aiso j grows in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, as welt as many other parts of the

world. The tree, which is comparable in size with the average fruit tree. lias pods about half the size of the cocoanut, and these contain its seeds. These are the cacao beans, of which there are about forty in each pod. The beans are dried, roasted, and ground. This makes chocolate, which is sweet or bitter, according to whether sugar is added or not. If the oil is pressed from the beans, however, the produce is called cocoa.