Author/Editor		Toplak, Cirila; Zupanič-Slavec, Zvonka
Title		Kokain v zgodovini človeštva
Translated title		Cocaine in the history of mankind
Type		članek
Source		Med Razgl
Vol. and No.		Letnik 35, št. Suppl 5
Publication year		1996
Volume		str. 11-20
Language		slo
Abstract		The article Cocaine in the history of mankind is an overview of the use and abuse of cocaine from preColumbian South America to the contemporary developed world. It particularly concentrates on the culturological aspects of the presence of cocaine in the individual and the social life in periods of cocaine's popularity. It also compares these aspects from the cultural perspective. Thus it is in the use of drug, as a social practice that it is possible to observe evolutionary aspects relevant to the global social sphere of every observed period. One of the important conclusions of this research is that the relation to drugs may be analyzed as an indicator of the nature of social organization and mentality. For example, South American Indians use cocaine for ritual means. At the end of the last century it was considered a source of health and well-being. As to the present abuse, it has finally been recognized as one of the "evils of mankind'. In changing our attitude to cocaine, progress in the field of medicine has played the most important role in the discovery of its characteristics and effects on humans, including the observation of the phenomena of addiction. These conclusions from the study of cocaine may be applied to the use of otherdrugs, they thus offer new insights into the role and importance of drugs in human society.
Descriptors		COCAINE SUBSTANCE DEPENDENCE