What are coca leaves used for. How has coca been traditionally used in Andean culture. What is the history of coca cultivation and production. How does the toxicity of whole coca compare to isolated cocaine. What potential medical applications exist for coca.

The Origins and Cultivation of Coca Plants

Coca, derived from the Aymara word “khoka” meaning “the tree,” has been cultivated in South America for thousands of years. The coca plant belongs to the genus Erythroxylum and includes two main cultivated species:

• Erythroxylum coca Lam.
• Erythroxylum novogranatense (Morris) Hieron

Each species has two varieties, with E. coca Lam. var. coca, also known as “Bolivian” or “Huanuco” coca, being the most widely cultivated for both legal traditional uses and illegal cocaine production.

Geographical Distribution of Coca Plants

Coca plants are indigenous to several regions around the world:

• South America
• Mexico
• Indonesia
• West Indies

However, the Andean region remains the primary area for coca cultivation, where it has been an integral part of local culture and traditional medicine for centuries.

The Chemical Composition of Coca Leaves

Coca leaves contain a complex mixture of alkaloids, with cocaine being the most well-known and studied. However, the leaves also contain numerous other compounds that contribute to their overall effects and potential medicinal properties.

Alkaloid Content in Coca Leaves

The four cultivated Erythroxylum varieties contain at least 18 alkaloids, which can be categorized into three main groups:

1. Tropanes
2. Pyrrolidines
3. Pyridines

Among these, cocaine is the principal alkaloid, with E. coca var. coca containing approximately 0.6% cocaine in its dried leaves. Other significant alkaloids include:

• Cinnamoylcocaine
• Benzoylecgonine
• Methylecgonine
• Pseudotropine
• Benzoyltropine
• Tropacocaine
• α- and β-truxilline
• Hygrine
• Cuscohygrine

These compounds have been found to be considerably less toxic than cocaine and lack its euphoric effects. Researchers suggest that the overall effect of coca leaf consumption may result from the synergistic action of all plant constituents rather than cocaine alone.

Nutritional Value of Coca Leaves

Beyond their alkaloid content, coca leaves also provide nutritional value, containing:

• Calories
• Carbohydrates
• Minerals
• Vitamins

This nutritional profile may contribute to the energy-boosting effects reported by traditional coca leaf users.

Traditional Uses of Coca in Andean Culture

Coca leaves have been a staple in Andean lifestyle for thousands of years, serving various purposes in both cultural and medicinal contexts. Understanding these traditional uses provides insight into the plant’s significance in South American society.

Cultural and Religious Significance

In Andean culture, coca leaves play a crucial role in:

• Religious ceremonies
• Social interactions
• Traditional rituals

The leaves are often used as offerings to deities or shared among community members as a sign of friendship and respect.

Traditional Medicine Applications

Coca leaves have been used in folk medicine to address various health concerns:

• Altitude sickness
• Digestive issues
• Pain relief
• Fatigue
• Hunger suppression

Many Andean people consider coca to be a panacea for health troubles, although scientific evidence supporting these claims is limited.

The History of Coca Cultivation and Production

The history of coca cultivation spans thousands of years, evolving from a local tradition to a global phenomenon with complex legal and social implications.

Ancient Cultivation Practices

Coca cultivation in the Andes dates back to pre-Columbian times, with evidence suggesting its use as early as 3000 BCE. The Inca civilization highly valued coca, considering it a divine plant and restricting its use to nobility and religious ceremonies.

Colonial Era and Global Spread

Following the Spanish conquest of South America, coca cultivation and use spread beyond its traditional boundaries. European interest in the plant grew, leading to increased production and exportation.

Modern Coca Production and Regulation

Today, coca production is strictly regulated due to its association with cocaine. Legal cultivation for traditional and medicinal uses continues in some Andean countries, while efforts to combat illegal production for cocaine manufacture remain ongoing.

Toxicology of Whole Coca vs. Isolated Cocaine

Understanding the toxicological profile of whole coca leaves compared to isolated cocaine is crucial for assessing the safety and potential medical applications of coca-based products.

Toxicity of Whole Coca Leaves

Research on the toxicity of whole coca leaves is limited compared to studies on isolated cocaine. However, available evidence suggests that whole coca leaf consumption is generally less toxic than pure cocaine use. This reduced toxicity may be attributed to:

• Lower cocaine concentration in leaves
• Presence of other alkaloids with milder effects
• Slower absorption when consumed orally

Despite this, potential risks associated with long-term coca leaf use remain understudied.

Cocaine Toxicity

Isolated cocaine is known for its high toxicity and addictive potential. Its effects on the body include:

• Cardiovascular complications
• Neurological issues
• Psychiatric disorders
• Respiratory problems

The concentration of cocaine in whole coca leaves is significantly lower than in the purified form, contributing to the difference in toxicity profiles.

Potential Medical Applications of Coca

While coca is primarily known for its traditional uses and as the source of cocaine, research into its potential medical applications continues. Some areas of interest include:

Pain Management

Coca leaves have been traditionally used for pain relief. Modern research is exploring the potential of coca-derived compounds as alternative analgesics with fewer side effects than current opioid-based medications.

Gastrointestinal Disorders

Some studies suggest that coca leaf extracts may have beneficial effects on gastrointestinal function, potentially aiding in the treatment of conditions such as:

• Indigestion
• Nausea
• Intestinal spasms

Altitude Sickness

Traditional use of coca leaves to combat altitude sickness has prompted scientific investigation into its potential as a treatment for this condition. While some studies show promising results, more research is needed to establish its efficacy and safety.

Metabolic Disorders

Preliminary research suggests that certain compounds found in coca leaves may have potential in treating metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. However, these findings are in early stages and require further investigation.

Contemporary Challenges and Controversies Surrounding Coca Use

The use and cultivation of coca leaves face numerous challenges in the modern world, balancing traditional practices with international drug control efforts.

Legal and Regulatory Issues

Coca cultivation and use are subject to strict international regulations due to the plant’s association with cocaine production. This presents challenges for:

• Traditional coca-using communities
• Countries seeking to maintain cultural practices
• Researchers investigating potential medical applications

Cultural Preservation vs. Drug Control

There is ongoing debate about how to balance the preservation of traditional coca use in Andean cultures with global efforts to combat cocaine trafficking. This tension has led to:

• Legal exceptions for traditional use in some countries
• Efforts to promote alternative coca products
• Continued controversy over coca’s status in international law

Scientific Research Challenges

The legal status of coca complicates scientific research into its potential benefits and risks. Researchers face:

• Difficulties obtaining research materials
• Regulatory hurdles in conducting studies
• Stigma associated with coca research

These challenges hinder the development of a comprehensive understanding of coca’s properties and potential applications.

The Future of Coca Research and Use

As scientific understanding of coca continues to evolve, several key areas are likely to shape its future:

Advancing Medical Research

Ongoing studies into the medicinal properties of coca and its compounds may lead to:

• Development of new pharmaceutical products
• Better understanding of coca’s effects on human health
• Potential alternatives to current medications for pain and other conditions

Sustainable Cultivation Practices

Efforts to promote sustainable and legal coca cultivation could focus on:

• Supporting traditional farming communities
• Developing alternative coca-based products
• Implementing stricter controls to prevent diversion to illegal markets

Policy and Regulatory Evolution

Future policy changes may address:

• Reevaluation of coca’s status under international drug control treaties
• Development of more nuanced regulations distinguishing traditional use from drug trafficking
• Increased support for scientific research into coca’s properties and potential applications

As research progresses and cultural attitudes evolve, the role of coca in both traditional and modern contexts is likely to continue changing, presenting both challenges and opportunities for the future.

Coca: The History and Medical Significance of an Ancient Andean Tradition

Emerg Med Int. 2016; 2016: 4048764.

Published online 2016 Apr 7. doi: 10.1155/2016/4048764

Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer

Coca leaf products are an integral part of the lives of the Andean peoples from both a cultural and traditional medicine perspective. Coca is also the whole plant from which cocaine is derived. Coca products are thought to be a panacea for health troubles in regions of South America. This review will examine the toxicology of whole coca and will also look at medicinal applications of this plant, past, present, and future.

Coca is an indigenous plant of South America with numerous alkaloid components, the most well-known one of which is the psychoactive component, cocaine. Its leaves have been a staple in the Andean lifestyle for thousands of years. Strong interest in coca use has existed in the anthropological world for decades. Areas of study have not only attempted to understand traditional use during the Incan empire and coca’s role in folk medicine, but also focused on factors that influence the ability of this native tradition to continue in the face of increasingly strict regulations of coca production. Efforts have been made to understand the long-term Andean use of coca, with subsequent research examining the scientific basis behind local beliefs. This review will examine the history of coca production, its toxicity profile, and its varied uses throughout the centuries. It is important to note that although coca continues to be valuable to native Andean people for religious and cultural reasons, travelers to these regions need to be aware that there is a paucity of medical data supporting the safe use of coca. The astute toxicologist should maintain an understanding of the cultural pressures experienced by contemporary travelers.

The Aymara people are an indigenous population of the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America. “Khoka” is an Aymara word that means “the tree.” This is the origin for our modern usage of “coca” [1]. The coca shrub is indigenous to South America, Mexico, Indonesia, and the West Indies. It is one of the oldest cultivated plants of South America [2]. Cultivated coca plants belong to two distinct species of the genus Erythroxylum (family Erythroxylaceae): Erythroxylum coca Lam. and Erythroxylum novogranatense (Morris) Hieron [3]. There are two varieties to be found within each of the cultivated species of coca. E. coca Lam. var. coca is also known as “Bolivian” or “Huanuco” coca. This is the best-known variety and continues to be widely cultivated throughout the Andean region for both legal uses and the illegal production of cocaine [2]. Other varieties are found in smaller areas and are mainly cultivated for coca chewing or other traditional uses by local peoples [4].

Cocaine is the principal alkaloid found in the cultivated varieties of coca. Cocaine was first isolated in 1860 by Dr. Albert Nieman from leaves of cultivated cocaine [5]. It is also the most studied and discussed alkaloid in the scientific literature. E. coca var. coca, the most widely cultivated variety, has been found to contain approximately 0.6% cocaine in its dried leaves [6]. However, there are a number of other biologically active alkaloids that have been studied. The four cultivated Erythroxylum varieties contain eighteen alkaloids, belonging to the tropanes, pyrrolidines, and pyridines [2].

An extensive review by Novák et al. details the previously studied biological activity of several of the alkaloids found in coca. Compounds reviewed include cinnamoylcocaine, benzoylecgonine, methylecgonine, pseudotropine, benzoyltropine, tropacocaine, α– and β-truxilline, hygrine, and cuscohygrine. All compounds were found to be considerably less toxic than cocaine with a lack of the euphoric effects that cocaine is known to have. The reader is referred to the articles by Jenkins et al. and Rivier for identification and quantitation of the alkaloids found in whole coca [7, 8]. However, in agreement with Novák et al. conclusion, the overall effect gained from using whole coca products may be in fact from the sum total of all plant constituents, rather than just cocaine alone. In addition, coca leaves include calories, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins which could also lend a source of energy and nutrients to its user.

The bulk of toxicology research is based on the pure isolate, cocaine, from coca leaves; therefore the extrapolation to the toxicity of whole coca is somewhat limited. However, of the studied biologically active alkaloids in coca, cocaine is the limiting factor in reaching a toxic dose. The physiologic effects of other alkaloids are considerably less than that of cocaine [2]. A toxicity study performed on rats found that the alkaloids benzoylecgonine and ecgonine methyl ester did not produce toxic manifestations when infused at rates that were found to be toxic for cocaine [9]. In fact, 30- and 60-fold higher doses of these alkaloids were necessary to produce any neurobehavioral changes, which ultimately proved to be mild. Benzoylecgonine did not prove to be lethal even when given in doses greater than 100 times that of cocaine [9].

In comparison to modern usage of cocaine isolates, the amount of the drug used by native peoples was and remains quite low with an estimated 60 grams of coca leaf chewed per day [1]. A coca leaf typically contains between 0.1 and 0.9% cocaine [10]. Another study that examined over 3,000 coca users found that mine workers, typically the largest consumers of coca products, chew roughly 13 ounces (368.5 grams) per week which is a similar consumption rate to previously referenced studies [11]. This would mean that an average user would extract approximately 3.9 net grams of the alkaloids contained in coca per week. This would give a maximal total dosage of roughly 200–300 mg per a 24-hour period. The actual dosage is likely much less as the user will not absorb 100% of the alkaloid. The amount of cocaine to be found in coca tea products has also been assessed. Depending on the origin of the tea bags (Bolivia versus Peru), after exhaustive extraction, an average of 4.86–5.11 mg of cocaine was found per tea bag [8]. An investigation conducted in Bolivia found that after chewing 30 g of coca leaves, whole blood cocaine levels reach around 98 ng [12].

In contrast, there is a large difference in what an average cocaine user is exposed to in modern times. A “line” of cocaine bought on the street contains an estimated 20–50 mg of cocaine hydrochloride [13]. Modern users may administer cocaine through several routes: insufflation, intravenous injection, smoking, ingestion, or mucosal application. The half-life of cocaine is 0.7–1.5 hours [14, 15]. Cocaine is rapidly cleared from the plasma but can be detected in the brain, ocular fluid, and liver for 8 hours after initial usage [16]. Following single doses of cocaine, plasma concentrations typically average 200,000–400,000 ng or 4890 ng in whole blood [17, 18]. The whole blood concentration of cocaine is almost 50 times greater after using the pure isolate in comparison to chewing whole coca. Plasma half-life and blood concentrations are both known to be dose dependent.

The estimated minimum lethal dose of cocaine is 1.2 g [19]. However, there have been case studies where individuals have died from as little as 30 mg applied to mucous membranes, and there are also addicts who may tolerate up to 5 g daily [20, 21]. The LD50 of cocaine or the dose determined to be lethal in 50% of the test population has been found to be 95.1 mg/kg in mice. For whole coca, the LD50 is considered to be 3450 mg/kg [22]. In rats, the accepted LD100 is 100 mg/kg [22]. Extrapolating these numbers to humans is not entirely generalizable; however if this data is applied to the standard 70 kg human, it can be seen that these would be very large amounts of coca.

The pharmacology of cocaine is complex with several organ systems affected simultaneously by the drug. Systems affected by acute and chronic use of cocaine include psychological, neurological, renal, cardiac, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, obstetrical, and otolaryngological ones. As mentioned in the toxicology data, medical and physiologic effects in the literature concentrate on the pure isolate cocaine. As outlined above, coca is quite different from cocaine, including common dosages and safety profiles. Local use patterns of coca are also quite different from that of individuals using the purer isolate, cocaine. Because of this, it is thought that cocaine studies have limited generalizability to coca. It is interesting to note that coca tea ingestion has resulted in a positive urine assay for cocaine metabolite [23]. It is worth noting that there is no evidence in the literature to support habitual whole coca use causing addiction or withdrawal physiology in contrast to that of cocaine users.

Cocaine serum concentrations are determined by the following: (1) dose; (2) route of administration; (3) binding to plasma proteins; and (4) rate of metabolism [13]. Most pharmacologic effects of cocaine are neuroexcitatory in nature, with resultant agitation, combativeness, hyperactivity, and seizures [24]. Cocaine is sought out for its euphoric effects, but it can also cause agitation, anxiety, panic, and psychosis [25]. Both hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke are known consequences of cocaine use [16]. Because of the potent vasoconstrictive effects on vascular smooth muscle, cocaine leads to widespread vascular dysfunction. This vasoconstriction and its anesthetic properties are the mechanisms behind the widespread effects of cocaine on multiorgan systems. In addition to vasoconstrictive effects, cocaine is also an inhibitor of tPA. This is the mechanism for accelerated atherosclerosis in users [16]. Cocaine also acts as a sodium channel blocker which can result in dysrhythmias [16]. Physiologic consequences of cocaine in a medical context are well described in the literature.

The antiquity of coca use is well established through archaeological studies in South and Central America. Analysis of mummified human remains from Northern Chile indicates the use of coca as early as 1000 BC [26]. These records establish that the use of coca has been ongoing for over 3,000 years in the native peoples of the Andes.

Under Incan rule, coca was used for numerous purposes, including ritual, social, and physiological uses [27]. In 1532, a Spanish expedition conquered the Inca. The Spanish conquerors then attempt to eradicate the use of coca in the native cultures [28]. However, after the elimination of coca proved unsuccessful, the Spanish then decided to exploit coca growth. Subsequently, coca use became more widespread throughout the former Incan empire, and the custom of giving agricultural workers a ration of coca leaves along with their daily wage began [28, 29]. Coca use continues to be a daily staple in the life of many Andean workers.

Interest in coca was prompted in the nineteenth century in Europe and the United States as discussed in an article by Dr. Weil [30]. Mantegazza spent years practicing medicine in Peru. Based on his experience with the local peoples, he became convinced of the widespread benefits of coca including reduction of fatigue, improvements to one’s mood, and even the increase of sexual vigor [31]. Editorials on coca made their way into the British Medical Journal [32], and even writings of Sigmund Freud reflected the belief that whole coca could be a psychological cure-all [33]. The interest in whole coca quickly diminished after the isolation of cocaine. The bulk of research has been conducted on the cocaine isolate rather than the fourteen other alkaloids known to be contained in the coca plant [34]. This has led to a paucity of scientific knowledge of whole coca along with any potential medicinal effects that it may have.

The Euro-American enthusiasm for coca quickly cooled in the early twentieth century with the increasing concerns of the addictive properties and poor side effect profiles witnessed with the use of cocaine [29]. Coca importation has since been banned in the United States.

5.1. Gastrointestinal Symptom Treatment

The South American Indians continue to rely on coca as a medicinal remedy in addition to its general usages for stimulant and social purposes [35]. One of the more traditional roles that coca plays in Andean life is for the relief of gastrointestinal upset. Coca leaf tea is taken to combat stomach pain, intestinal spasm, nausea, indigestion, and even constipation and diarrhea [30]. It is essentially viewed as a comprehensive remedy that restores balance to the digestive system. Coca is masticated or held in the mouth for relief of painful oral sores and also to aid in the healing of oral lesions [30]. Similarly, this plant is used for toothaches as well.

5.2. Environmental Stress Treatment

One of the usages of coca that continues to intrigue the medical community is as a remedy for dealing with the stresses of life at high altitude [36]. Given the strong belief in the inherent energizing effects of coca, this could explain the benefit of using this leaf in the high stress environment of high altitude. Coca is also believed to possess properties that help the user withstand hypoxia, cold, and hunger. A series of experiments in the 1970s aimed to test the hypothesis of whether coca chewing was associated with the feeling of warmth. Hanna and Little found that hand and foot temperatures were lowered in Andean people who used coca [37, 38]. Although the thermal difference between control and experimental subjects was not great, this small difference could be advantageous in decreasing the amount of heat loss in extreme environments.

5.3. Hunger Treatment

Coca chewing is thought to decrease the feeling of hunger in Andean peoples. Further investigation of this phenomenon has discovered that coca has effects on glucose homeostasis. Chewing coca leaves has been found to elevate blood glucose above the fasting level [39]. This finding led Bolton to believe that coca has a fundamental metabolic function for those Indians with difficulties in glucose homeostasis. This finding of elevated glucose after coca chewing also lends scientific credibility to the native belief that coca staves off hunger pains [40].

5.4. Altitude Illness Treatment

As the drive to understand coca’s place in Andean culture increased, there was a flurry of work to pin down the mechanism in which the benefits of taking coca existed. Specific to the realm of high altitude medicine, coca chewers report less head pain and dizziness associated with working at high altitudes [41, 42]. Fuchs et al. used available ethnographic and physiologic data to propose a working hypothesis of how coca chewing was aiding individuals who lived and worked in high altitude settings [43]. Through collation of data, it was shown that the percentage of native peoples using coca increases with altitude. This generalization extends to other cultural groups and the female gender, which typically do not exhibit the high acceptance and use of coca as Quechua or other high altitude cultural groups.

Although previous work had shown that physiological adaptations to cold may be enhanced by coca use [37, 38], Fuchs et al. noted that the frequency of coca use does not necessarily correlate with climate. Mineworkers use coca extensively, and yet this is an environment not solely defined by frigid temperatures or high altitude [44]. An interesting new hypothesis was that coca’s beneficial properties may lie in the mitigation of effects of hypoxia. Polycythemia is a standard response to the sustained hypoxia of high altitude environments [45]. However, controversy now exists as to whether this beneficial physiologic change can become a maladaptation when taken to the extreme. A detrimental effect of polycythemia is increased blood viscosity, thought to be the mechanism in chronic mountain sickness. Ultimately, Fuchs et al. proposed that the alkaloids present in whole leaf coca pharmacologically inhibit the stimulation of excessive red blood cell production caused by hypoxia. The decreased polycythemic stress decreases the symptoms of mountain sickness and alters the mechanisms by which the body adjusts to the high altitude environment [43].

The belief in coca as an uplifting agent for those individuals working in a high altitude environment is not without its naysayers. Many have argued that it is merely a “spurious correlation” between coca chewing and high altitude [46]. Other theories propose that coca use is thought to be a function of how “Indian” a given society is or that it is used for its general stimulant properties rather than as a specific treatment for symptoms related to high altitude [46]. It remains to be seen if any consensus will be arrived at in the anthropological quest to integrate traditional patterns of coca consumption within a biological or physiological framework.

Anthropologists continue to examine patterns of coca use among natives to the Andean regions of South America in order to assist in the preservation of this ancient practice. Possession of coca is illegal in many countries due to one of its products, cocaine. International treatises have called for the destruction of all coca farming. Barring Bolivia and Peru, coca is now banned, even for indigenous use. Despite this ongoing controversy, some practitioners who span the cultural and medical divide have proposed the use of coca for contemporary ailments. Due to consumer demand for more natural forms of treatment, folk medicine may be considered in modern pharmacologic contexts. Possible uses could include gastrointestinal conditions, fast-acting antidepressant, treatment for acute mountain sickness, as an energizer for persons involved in physical labor, and symptomatic treatment of toothache and oral lesions [30]. Because the known toxicity and pharmacologic profiles almost exclusively pertain to the pure isolate of cocaine, and not whole coca, controlled trials would need to be undertaken prior to any recommendation for coca in a medical context.

Although most of the theories produced by these scientists are based on observational and not experimental data, merit is to be given for attempting to understand a custom that has been ongoing for thousands of years. The pursuit of continued research from a physiologic or medical perspective will add to the respect of cultural traditions by trying them to give them a venue in which to thrive in our modern world.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Coca leaf: Myths and Reality

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Contents:

1. What is coca?
2. What is its relationship to cocaine?
3. Why is the coca leaf banned?
4. Does the 1961 convention still ban any use of coca?
5. Why should coca be removed from the UN list of prohibited drugs?
6. Where is coca grown?
7. How much do coca producers benefit from the drugs trade?
8. What methods have been used to tackle the cocaine problem?
9. Why is cocaine and drugs eradication not working?
10. What other ways are there to tackle cocaine use?
11. What is TNI doing on the issue of Coca?

Related primers
Human Rights and Drug Policy
Fact Sheet: Coca leaf and the UN Drugs Conventions
The UN Drug Control Conventions

1. What is coca?

Coca is a plant with a complex array of mineral nutrients, essential oils, and varied compounds with greater or lesser pharmacological effects – one of which happens to be the alkaloid cocaine, which in its concentrated, synthesized form is a stimulant with possible addictive properties.

The coca leaf has been chewed and brewed for tea traditionally for centuries among its indigenous peoples in the Andean region – and does not cause any harm and is beneficial to human health.

The traditional method of chewing coca leaf, called acullico, consists of keeping a saliva-soaked ball of coca leaves in the mouth together with an alkaline substance that assists in extracting cocaine from the leaves.

When chewed, coca acts as a mild stimulant and suppresses hunger, thirst, pain, and fatigue. It helps overcome altitude sickness. Coca chewing and drinking of coca tea is carried out daily by millions of people in the Andes without problems, and is considered sacred within indigenous cultures. Coca tea is widely used, even outside the Andean Amazon region. Coca has an established use spread among all social classes, in two Northern provinces of Argentina. There is an increasing use of coca flour as a food supplement.

Because of its stimulant effect coca leaf was originally used in the soft drink Coca Cola. In 1903 it was removed and a decocainized coca extract is one of the flavouring ingredients.

• Further reading: Coca Myths, Drugs & Conflict Debate Papers Nr. 17, June 2009

2.  What is its relationship to cocaine?

While the coca leaf in its natural form is a harmless and mild stimulant comparable to coffee, there is no doubt that cocaine can be extracted from the coca leaf. Without coca there would be no cocaine. The ‘ready extractability’ of cocaine from coca leaves is currently the major argument to justify the current illegal status of the leaf in the 1961 Single Convention. The cocaine alkaloid content in coca leaf ranges between 0,5 and 1,0 percent.

Cocaine, was isolated about 1860 and was synthesized to be used in manufacturing popular patent medicines, beverages and “tonics” until the early years of the 20th century. Concern about cocaine use began in many countries in the 1910s and 1920s, centred on dependence on the drug and subsequent “moral ruin”, particularly among the young. Laws restricting the availability of cocaine saw a drop in consumption in most of the countries surveyed from the 1920s until the 1960s.

Particularly worrying is the use of smokable cocaine base paste (PBC, paco, bazuco or crack in Latin America), as distinct from free-base and crack cocaine that is produced from cocaine in the United States and Europe. Smokable cocaine base paste is harmful and highly addictive. When sharing homemade pipes, which is often part of the crack use ritual, crack users get sores on their lips and gums and are susceptible to diseases such as herpes, tuberculosis, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.

• Further reading: The WHO cocaine project
• Further reading: ‘Paco’ Under Scrutiny, Drugs & Conflict Debate Papers Nr. 14, October 2006

3. Why is the coca leaf banned?

In 1961 the coca leaf was listed on Schedule I of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs together with cocaine and heroin, with a strict control level on medical and scientific use.

The inclusion of coca leaf in Schedule I was done with a dual purpose: to phase out coca chewing and to prevent the manufacture of cocaine. The Single Convention mandated to destroy coca bush if illegally cultivated (Article 26) and that coca leaf chewing must be abolished within a 25-year period (Article 49) – i.e. by December 1989, 25 years after the coming into force of the treaty.

The rationale for including the coca leaf in the 1961 Single Convention is mainly rooted in a report by the ECOSOC Commission of Enquiry on the Coca Leaf in 1950, after a brief visit to Bolivia and Peru in 1949.

It concluded that the effects of chewing coca leaves were negative, even though it “does not at present appear that the chewing of the coca leaf can be regarded as a drug addiction in the medical sense”. The WHO expert Committee on Drug Dependence later withdrew this argument, labeling coca use as a form of cocainism.

The ECOSOC report was sharply criticised for the makeup of its researchers, its arbitrariness, poor methodology, lack of precision and racist connotations. Nowadays, a similar study would never pass the scrutiny and critical review to which scientific studies are routinely subjected.

• Further reading: History: UN and Coca
• Further reading: Fact Sheet: Coca leaf and the UN Drugs Conventions

4. Does the 1961 Convention still ban any use of coca?

In an attempt to obtain legal recognition for traditional use, Peru and Bolivia negotiated paragraph 2 of Article 14 into the 1988 Convention, stipulating that measures to eradicate illicit cultivation and illicit demand “should take due account of traditional licit use, where there is historic evidence of such use. “

In 1994 the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) – the monitoring body for the implementation of the UN international drug control conventions – mentioned that drinking of coca tea “which is considered harmless and legal in several countries in South America, is an illegal activity under the provisions of both the 1961 Convention and the 1988 Convention, though that was not the intention of the plenipotentiary conferences that adopted those conventions.”

Nevertheless, in their 2007 annual report the INCB retracted on its earlier position and called on countries to “abolish or prohibit coca leaf chewing and the manufacture of coca tea.”

• Further reading: Abolishing Coca Leaf Consumption? The INCB needs to perform a reality check, TNI Press release, March 5, 2008
• Further reading: Fact Sheet: Coca leaf and the UN Drugs Conventions

5. Why should coca be removed from the UN list of prohibited drugs?

The inclusion of coca has caused much harm to the Andean region and a historical correction is long overdue. The 1961 Single Convention enshrined the traditional Western view, which equates coca with cocaine, and treats both in exactly the same way. A distinction needs to be made.

There should be space to find a more culturally sensitive approach to plants with psychoactive or mildly stimulant properties, and to distinguish more between problematic, recreational and traditional uses.

The provisions in the Single Convention are clearly at odds with the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights approved in 2007, which promises to uphold and protect indigenous cultural practices.

To avoid any uncertainty that cocaine production would remain under strict control, it would be sufficient to include ‘concentrate of coca leaf’ (as a generic term for coca paste or cocaine base) in Schedule I, replacing the coca leaf.

In March 2009, the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, sent a letter sent a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, requesting the suspension of the paragraphs 1c and 2e of Article 49 of 1961 UN Single Convention that prohibit the chewing of coca leaf. He also announced that he would start the process to remove the coca leaf from the 1961 Single Convention.

On July 30, 2009, the Bolivian proposal to amend the 1961 Single Convention by deleting the obligation to abolish the chewing of coca leaf was on the ECOSOC agenda (UN Social and Economic Council). Parties have 18 months to express objections or comments on the Bolivian request, until January 31, 2011.

From Bolivia’s point of view, the international community holds in its hands a historic opportunity to correct a misconception regarding coca leaf chewing by eliminating both paragraphs of the Single Convention. This action will restore the dignity and lawful right to the people that consume coca leaf for traditional and medicinal purposes to legally exercise this cultural and harmless practice.

The final count after closure of the January 31 deadline to file objections to the Bolivian amendment  came to 17 objections: the US, UK, Sweden, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Russian Federation, Japan, Singapore, Slovakia, Estonia, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Latvia, Malaysia and Mexico. That means that only 17 of the 184 countries that are Party to the treaty (as amended by the 1972 Protocol) have filed an objection. We call on them to still reconsider and withdraw their objection before the issue appears on the UN agenda for a decision.

• Further reading: Correcting a historical error: IDPC calls on countries to abstain from submitting objections to the Bolivian proposal to remove the ban on the chewing of the coca leaf, International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), January 2011
• Further reading: Aide-Memoire on the Bolivian Proposal To Amend Article 49 of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Government of Bolivia
• Further reading: Coca chewing out of the UN convention?, Transnational Institute, March 2010
• Further reading: Coca chewing out of the UN convention? ECOSOC adopts procedure for Bolivia’s amendment, Martin Jelsma, TNI, August 21, 2009

6. Where is coca grown?

Coca is traditionally cultivated in the lower altitudes of the eastern slopes of the Andes, or the highlands depending on the species grown, in particular in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru.

Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

However, coca is a relatively easy plant to grow. In the late 19th century, colonial powers replanted coca outside its natural habitat. There was significant coca cultivation on the island of Java (at the time part of the Dutch East-Indies, currently Indonesia) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), as well as Formosa (at the time a Japanese protectorate, currently Taiwan). In the 1920s Java was the major producer of coca in the world.

Coca could easily escape the Andes for other tropical regions if enough pressure to eradicate the plant is applied. Occasionally rumours crop up that coca is grown in the Congo, but there has been no definitive confirmation of its diversion to other continents.

7. How much do coca producers benefit from the drugs trade?

For cocaine the cost of production and refining in the source countries is only one to two per cent of retail price in developing or transitional countries. The overwhelming majority of those involved in the drug trade make very modest incomes. A few individuals in the trafficking, smuggling and wholesale sector make great fortunes but that accounts for a small share of the total income.

8. What methods have been used to tackle the cocaine problem?

a) Forced eradication

The main strategy to curb cocaine use is to decrease demand at home and supply from abroad. Since the 1980s aggressive strategies have been applied to eradicate coca cultivation in the Andean region – mainly instigated by the United States.

In Peru and Bolivia manual forced eradication has lead to clashes between coca-producers (cocaleros) and military, resulting in deaths and human right violations. Colombia is the country where forced eradication of illicit cultivation of coca is executed in the most aggressive way by aerial spraying with herbicides (fumigation).

Aerial fumigation sets in motion a destructive vicious circle of chemical pollution, livelihood destruction, migration into even more vulnerable areas, deforestation, displacement and expansion of the areas of illicit crop cultivation, which then are again fumigated, etc. This leads to erosion of state legitimacy, violation of human rights and increased peasant support for guerrilla movements. This vicious circle urgently needs to be broken, in defence of the peasants whose livelihoods are destroyed, to preserve the environment and to improve prospects for conflict resolution.

• Further reading: Vicious Circle: The Chemical and Biological “War on Drugs”, Martin Jelsma, TNI Briefing, March, 2001

b) Alternative development

Another strategy is to provide coca-growing peasant with alternative development projects, substituting coca with other viable crops. The record of success, however, is a questionable one. The major impediment has been the issues of ‘conditionality’ and ‘sequencing’. Conditionality refers to making alternative development assistance conditional on prior eradication of coca crops. Sequencing refers to the right sequence of interventions – e.g. ensure that eradication measures do not take place unless small-farmer households have adopted viable and sustainable livelihoods.

TNI advocates to make development assistance unconditional on reductions in illicit coca cultivation, and to ensure that eradication is not undertaken until small-farmer households have adopted viable and sustainable livelihoods and that interventions are properly sequenced. Producers’ organizations should be recognized, should take part in debates and decision making at all levels, with their own governments, donors and the UN.

c) Bolivia: voluntary eradication

With the election of the former coca grower Evo Morales as president of Bolivia, the government changed policies. Bolivian law now permits a certain amount of coca bush cultivation to satisfy demand for traditional uses.

Affiliated members to coca peasant unions are allowed to grow a small plot, known as a “cato” (0.16 hectare), to sustain their livelihood. This policy has pacified the coca-growing region, which was formerly overshadowed by violent confrontations and human right abuses.

Excess cultivation, which is considered to be for cocaine production, will be eradicated. However, conflicts still occur over designation of traditional cultivation areas and eradication campaigns.

9. Why is cocaine and drugs eradication not working?

The period of 25 years as deadline for the ultimate extinction coca set in 1961 Single Convention has clearly not been met. In 1998, at the UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs (UNGASS), ignoring decades of lack of success in addressing the issue of illicit crops, set the year 2008 as yet another deadline by which to eliminate or significantly reduce coca, opium and cannabis. That target has not been met either.

A Report on Global Illicit Drugs Markets 1998-2007, commissioned by the European Commission, found no evidence that the global drug problem has been reduced. The global number of users of cocaine expanded over the period. Wholesale and retail prices show a downward trend while purity is rising, which means there is no shortage on the market.

The basic presumption underlying forced eradication is that one can intervene in the workings of the illicit market, and substantially alter the demand-supply equation by simply cutting down the latter. On a purely hypothetical level this presumption holds some truth: if there is less available, less can be consumed. In reality, however, supply restores itself as long as there are places to go to and people willing to grow it – the so-called balloon effect, describing the tenden­­cy of cultivation to move to new areas in response to local eradication campaigns (when squee­zing one part of a latex balloon, the balloon will bulge out elsewhere).

In the case of Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, the Andean and Amazon regions are an inexhaustible potential growing area, and there are dramatic numbers of impoverished and internally displaced people desperate enough to do anything to survive.

There is an astonishing lack of sound argumentation about the consequences and impact of policy interventions on the illicit market. If price and purity developments are a useful indicator of drug availability, there is no data to suggest that eradication efforts and the many seizures of shipments have ever reduced  availability on the consumption markets. The control efforts seem, rather, to have contributed to increased production to balance the losses.

10. What other ways are there to tackle cocaine use?

Cocaine-related problems should be kept in perspective. Use of cocaine leads to feelings of enhanced energy and may lead to greater stamina, confidence and creativity.

Health problems from the use of legal substances, particularly alcohol and tobacco, are greater than health problems from cocaine use. Cocaine-related problems are more common for intensive, high-dosage users and either unknown or very rare for occasional, low-dosage users.

Cocaine use should be treated by providing correct information on its health effects and addictive qualities, not by incarcerating users. First and foremost, an evidence-based health based approach should be given priority over law enforcement. Comprehensive treatment strategies should be available at all times.

A clear distinction needs to be made between recreational use and problematic use of cocaine. Prevention, treatment and health care measures should focus on problematic use.

Harm reduction measures should be developed according to local circumstances and applied to the most problematic users, particularly those using smokable cocaine base paste (PBC, paco, bazuco or crack in Latin America), which is harmful and highly addictive. When sharing homemade pipes, which is often part of the crack use ritual, crack users get sores on their lips and gums and are susceptible to diseases such as herpes, tuberculosis, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.

Harm reduction measures could include dispensing condoms, pipes, pipe stems, tissues, vaseline and lip balm to counter infections and sexually transmitted illnesses, and should provide information about preventing unsafe crack smoking habits. Comprehensive strategies with community participation should create mechanisms for social inclusion.

A possible strategy is to set up user rooms with medical supervision, including the introduction of marijuana substitution treatment, to ease withdrawal symptoms. These strategies, combined with social projects for homeless people, could help reduce the high mortality rate among crack users and the violence associated with use and dealing.

11. What is TNI doing on the issue of Coca?

• TNI supports efforts to have a more modern, up-to-date and evidence based assessment of the issue.
• TNI supports the Bolivia government in its efforts to unschedule the coca leaf and the suspension of the provisions that prohibit the traditional chewing of coca leaf.
• TNI raises the issue at the relevant policy making levels, such as the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).
• TNI criticizes the views of the INCB that urges Bolivia and Peru to abolish chewing of coca leaf.
• TNI distributes relevant documentation on the issue that is hard to find or has been suppressed.
• TNI publishes reports and briefings promoting the unscheduling of the coca leaf, and against the negative consequences of forced eradication, fumigation in particular.

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Chew – not sniff?

Bolivian President Evo Morales, propagandist of traditional Indian values ​​and radical left ideas, a fighter against imperialism and capitalism, signed a new law doubling the area on which it is allowed to grow coca bushes, from 12,000 hectares to 22,000. He made this decision despite the protests of many foreign leaders, international and national law enforcement agencies, as well as local opposition, warning that the increase in the volume of harvested coca leaves violates the obligations of Bolivia and will inevitably lead to an increase in illegal production of cocaine.

Today Bolivia ranks third in the world, after Colombia and Peru, in terms of production of both coca leaves and cocaine obtained from them after chemical processing, recognized by the UN as the second most dangerous drug in the world, the massive use of which has become a real socio-economic problem in many countries. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as of mid-2016, about 48 percent of the world’s coca bush is in Colombia, 32 percent in Peru and 18 percent in Bolivia. At the same time, North and South America account for 70 percent of the world’s consumption of the drug cocaine, and another 22 percent – for the most developed countries in Europe.

Cocaine, which they tried to smuggle illegally in a soapbox to Europe. 2016

Coca, a thorn-like bush, has been cultivated in the Andean mountain range for more than 5,000 years, and according to the latest data, people who settled in these regions with a harsh climate began to chew the leaves of wild coca more than 8,000 years ago. Locals use it both in traditional medicine and in religious ceremonies. The use of coca usually consists of chewing the leaves for the secreted juice, swallowing them, or brewing tea from them. Coca, containing many vegetable proteins, vitamins and other nutrients, in addition to the alkaloid itself, which affects the mental state, quickly relieves fatigue and symptoms of the so-called “mountain sickness” caused by oxygen deficiency and strong pressure drops, and also suppresses hunger, thirst, drowsiness and pain. Among the peoples of the Andes during the period of Spanish colonial rule, even distances and time were often measured in units of “cocada”, that is, portions of coca that had to be chewed whole, moving from one place to another. Andean Indians, primarily in Bolivia and southern Peru, almost always carry a bag of coca with them for one or two days (about 60 grams per day).

At the same time, the coca leaves themselves contain only about 0.5-0.7 percent of the total mass of the alkaloid-cocaine, and the sensations from one serving of chewed leaves are comparable to drinking two or three cups of strong coffee. Cocaine, known today as a strong drug from the class of stimulants, scientists learned how to produce from coca leaves only in the second half of the 19th century. Once it was even part of the original recipe for the Coca-Cola drink (which got its name). However, today both cocaine and coca leaves are included in the so-called “First Schedule” of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 years, implying the strictest international control, and their production is considered illegal.

Evo Morales with members of the Coca Producers’ Union in the province of Chapare. 2015

Bolivia, at least officially, has previously complied with relevant international agreements in the field of combating the production and trade of narcotic substances and has limited the area under coca plantations, although the cultivation of coca leaves for medical and religious purposes has never been completely banned. But when Evo Morales came to power in the country in January 2006 (who had already served three terms in this post and in 2019hoping to secure a fourth term nomination), the situation began to change. Coming from a poor Aymara Indian peasant family living high in the Andes, who himself grew coca bushes in his youth, Morales, as president, began to actively support the “traditional fishery”, that is, the cultivation and use of coca and food and cosmetic products from it. In particular, he still formally remains the chairman of the “Federation of Trade Unions of Coca Producers” of the Bolivian province of Chapare, where these plantations are the most in the country.

To accusations from all sides that Bolivia remains the world’s largest supplier of raw materials for the production of cocaine, which is mainly produced in clandestine laboratories owned by criminal cartels in Colombia and Mexico, he does not respond, continuing to remind the world that coca, which he calls “the cultural heritage of the nation,” and cocaine are not the same thing.

Bolivian Coca Cola. Indistinguishable in taste from the real Coca-Cola of a hundred years ago, when three-quarters of the drink was an extract from coca leaves

“We want to guarantee that every citizen has access to a supply of coca that will last him for the rest of his life,” said Evo Morales , announcing the other day in a special speech in the Legislative Assembly of Bolivia on the adoption of a new law, according to which in the country with From 12,000 hectares to 22,000, the permitted area for the cultivation of coca bushes will be increased:

– Maybe this is the problem of illegal cocaine use in Western culture. They use some of our coca leaves like that in this western culture of theirs. However, we do not belong to them, all this cocaine use is not our heritage! We all know, I tell you this with sadness, that, for medical reasons, due to health problems, I will now have to leave the country from time to time. And I recently heard: “Evo wants to run away so as not to pass the coke law. ” So right now, I want to proudly announce that I am here to solemnly announce the adoption of the law to increase the production of coca, which was previously approved and passed by our multinational Legislative Assembly.

Evo Morales apparently quickly signed the Coca Law, largely under pressure from his supporters from the peasant trade unions, who staged multi-day protests in La Paz and other cities in Bolivia in late February after reports that the government, on the contrary, was preparing to limit zones legal cultivation of coca bushes. These clashes ended in clashes with the police and the detention of hundreds of demonstrators, joined by other supporters of the Bolivian president – demanding a second referendum on the possibility of nominating Morales for a fourth presidential term in future elections scheduled for late autumn 2019of the year. Exactly one year ago, this referendum has already passed – and the majority of Bolivians voted against it. It is interesting that once a law limiting the tenure of the President of Bolivia to two terms was adopted at the initiative of Evo Morales himself – at a time when it was beneficial to him in the fight against former political rivals. The first presidential term, by the way, Morales was not officially counted due to legal casuistry, so in 2014 he was formally re-elected president only for the second time.

Evo Morales on the podium of the UN General Assembly with a coca leaf in his hand

The health problems complained about by the current Bolivian president have also come under international scrutiny, especially after reports that doctors allegedly found a malignant tumor in him – as previously with the heads of other Latin American states, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez (who died in 2013) and former presidents of Brazil and Argentina, Dilma Rousseff and Cristina Kirchner (who have recovered). A week ago, Evo Morales unexpectedly flew to Cuba for a medical examination due to a sore throat. Cuban and Bolivian doctors say that Morales first developed sinusitis and a stomach virus, and then a small neoplasm on the vocal cords, which they claim is benign. In the near future, Evo Morales will fly to Cuba for treatment for the second time. Whether his ailments are due to the habit of frequently chewing coca leaves, the doctors do not say.

Colombia. About it. Why did coca leaves become a souvenir in Bolivia, but not here?

Colombia is out of luck.
The country, which has a huge cultural, historical and natural potential for the development of tourism, is primarily associated with coca and its derivatives.

When talking about a trip to Colombia, half of the people ask how safe it is, while the other half smile knowingly: ahh, well, well, then you’ll tell me what’s there and how. At the same time, by “what and how” they mean not natural beauties and not historical monuments.

At first I wanted to be silent, believe me… Oh, it seems that someone wrote this before me.
I wouldn’t write a separate post on this topic, but under almost all my stories about Colombia there were comments: have you seen coca? found plantations there? Is cocaine still cheap and good there? It’s a pity that there is no coca museum in Colombia.
And with a refrain – why else would you go to Colombia?!

Therefore, I will try to tell you, without going into details, about plantations, coca and what is there in Colombia.

Let’s start with a little historical digression.

From time immemorial (according to some sources – more than 4 thousand years) the inhabitants of Latin America, where Colombia, Peru, Bolivia are now located, have been growing coca. Or rather, what to grow it – the weed bush grew well on its own without any participation of people.
Since ancient times, the inhabitants of this region noticed the medicinal properties of coca and actively began to use it in traditional medicine and as a tonic. Later it turned out that it has a mild narcotic effect, and it was used in religious rituals.

Until now, if you find yourself in the highlands in Peru or Bolivia, you will be offered dried coca leaves as a remedy for altitude sickness. In any cafe you can order coca ti – tea brewed from coca leaves.

1.

In the guesthouses, in the hotels where we stayed during our trip to Bolivia, along with ordinary tea bags, tea bags made from coca leaves or just dry leaves were always on the table.
These leaves could be bought at any market. You want a small bag, you want a huge bag.

Bolivia has made coca a tourist attraction. One of the most common souvenirs is magnets with laminated coca leaves. Or coca lozenges. Or T-shirts with funny slogans that play with this plant.

2.

And I was surprised for a long time that in Colombia the topic of coca in public spaces and as souvenirs is somehow not disclosed. It looks like it’s taboo.

But the more I read and watched about coca in Colombia, the more it became clear why.

For thousands of years, the Indians (and other natives of Bolivia, Peru and Colombia) have cultivated and consumed coca leaves. And everything was fine until, in the 19th century, German chemists thought of making a white powder from coca leaves, well known to everyone as cocaine.

However, even then there was no particular misfortune.
The problems began at the end of the twentieth century, when serious people took up the cultivation of coca bushes, production of drugs and distribution and began to do it on an industrial scale.

And this is where Colombia is out of luck. A huge country, half of whose territory is practically not controlled by the government, has become a very convenient clearing for growing coca. Now more than 50% of coca bushes in the world grow in Colombia.
Plus the business acumen of the locals, who were the first to set up the chains of collection, production and sale of drugs and practically flooded America with cocaine.

Drug cartels have become states within a state.
Cartel wars have begun, drug cartel wars with the government.
In total, more people died in the cocaine wars of the late XX – early XXI centuries than in all armed conflicts in Latin America from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day.

In addition, the constant kidnapping of tourists by organizations supporting drug lords, in order to achieve their goals in negotiations with the government, put an end to tourism for many years.

If you’re interested in the details, watch, for example, the movie “Escobar” and polish with the movie “Cocaine”.
And it will become clear why in a country where human life was worth nothing, where people were shot as targets, where there was a real war on the streets, they don’t want to make a cute souvenir from coca to attract tourists.

Apparently, this is too painful a topic for the country. It seems to me that if someday a museum is created in Colombia that tells about coca and the events of the late twentieth century, when the main wars were fought, then it will not be an entertaining and educational museum, but a terrible museum, like the Museum of the Genocide in Rwanda.

Now the country has more or less stopped the cocaine wars. The government is actively working to make the country attractive and safe for tourists. And he is trying to get rid of the image of the country that people have now.

Although, it is believed that over the past two years the situation with the drug business in the country began to worsen again.
And yes, the country still produces 70% pure cocaine, which is becoming increasingly popular among the wealthy population of the US and Europe.

But I’ll still answer the frequently asked questions:
– How are you doing in Colombia? Was? Well, that’s the most…

Of course it was. But only within the law.
As I have already written, the use of coca leaves in the countries I have listed is not illegal or unusual.

Any tourist who has traveled to the highlands of Peru will tell you that the guides always offered to chew the leaves to cheer up a little and get rid of a headache.

During my travels in Bolivia, of all the drinks offered, I most often chose tea made from coca leaves. Not because it’s so delicious. But because it seems to be a tradition of the region.
I won’t say that I experienced any effect.
Neither tonic nor narcotic.

Chewing the leaves also did not cause any effect, except for the taste of an oak broom in the mouth.

In Colombia, although coca leaves are not sold on every corner, as in Bolivia, but being in small towns, in villages you can buy them.
Especially in the region where the Indians live, the use of coca leaves is an integral life ritual for them.
Simply put, they constantly chew coca leaves.
True, if in Bolivia everyone chews coca leaves and drinks tea from it, without gender differences, then in Colombia chewing coca leaves is an exclusively male affair.

But, we are tourists, we can do without distinction.

So yes, we had coca leaves with us.

3.

We also had coca leaf powder, so to speak, for greater effect. However, no narcotic effect, of course, was not expected.
The narcotic substance in coca leaves is contained in very low concentrations.
Once in Bolivia, I asked how many leaves you have to chew to feel something like that.

– Three kilograms, – the guide answered me.

Can you imagine how much this is? This is a lot. Even chewing a simple chamomile in such volumes, in my amateurish opinion, can give an absolutely mind-blowing effect.

We also had a guide, Wilson, who, although he is very worried about drug problems in the country and wants as many tourists as possible to come here, however, unlike the government, he does not consider the topic of drugs as a taboo.
Not in the sense of usage. In terms of stories.
Therefore, one evening he gave us a detailed lecture, where he fully covered the issues of obtaining a white powder from the leaves.

4.

The white powder in the glass in the next photo is not what you might think.
These are crushed shells, the powder from which the local Indians use together with coca leaves. For calcium helps something there to be better absorbed and gives a greater tonic effect.

During religious practices, the Indians use coca leaf powder with the addition of shells and can go for several days without sleep and food.

They throw the leaves behind the cheek with spoons, and take out the shell powder from a special vessel – popuro – with a thin stick moistened with saliva.

And this moment is very important.
Because having found powder from crushed shells, we decided that calcium would not hurt us either.

As a result, the next day, during the journey, the most curious added some shells to ordinary coca leaves.

5.

Well, just a little… A small pile on the tip of a spoon.

What can I say. The effect was impressive. The mixture tasted absolutely disgusting. Vivacity is something no one has increased. But all those who participated in the experiment, until the end of the day, complained of problems in the mouth, similar to a burn of the mucous membrane. It was very painful and uncomfortable.