Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Narcotics | January 20, 2011 [ 16:17 ]

The never ending battle over the coca leaf

LivinginPeru.com

If you visit Cusco, the former Inca capital, or Bolivia's capital La Paz, you will be given welcome cups of coca tea to mitigate soroche (altitude sickness). For centuries, people who live in the high Andes have chewed coca leaves, whose alkaloids act as a mild stimulant and help to ward off cold and hunger.

The Spanish conquistadors declared coca a tool of the devil, until they saw how it improved the work rate of the Indians they sent down the mines.

But refine the alkaloids in coca, and you get cocaine. In 1961 a United Nations convention on narcotics banned the leaves, giving countries 25 years to outlaw this ancestral practice. Half a century on, consuming coca remains legal in Bolivia, Peru, and some parts of Colombia, in defiance of the convention.

In Bolivia and Peru, some cultivation is legal too. In 2009 Bolivia, where a new constitution protects coca as part of the country’s cultural heritage, proposed an amendment to the convention that would remove the obligation to prohibit traditional uses of coca. Other South American countries agree.

The amendment would have passed if no objections were raised by the end of this month. But this week the United States spoke up, probably scuppering the change. The European Union (at Britain’s behest) may follow. They argue that tolerating the use of coca harms efforts to suppress cocaine. Bolivia insists it would continue to fight cocaine and limit coca cultivation. But cultivation in Bolivia and Peru has long outstripped traditional use, and is rising sharply.

 | | | |

  Latest news

• Lima : After 6 years, LivinginPeru.com will close on July 27th
• Travel & Tourism : UGM will evaluate plan to solve limited access to Machu Picchu
• Travel & Tourism : 130 pct increase in tourists visiting Machu Picchu, Peru
• Mining & Energy : 600,000 new natural gas connections for households in Lima
• International Relations : United States greets Peru on 190th independence anniversary

2 Comments

# Rick Crosby says :
January 21, 2011 [ 9:20 ]

There is nothing finer than a cup of mate de coca to feel relaxed. It really takes the edges off when I am uptight. 

# audie says :
February 10, 2011 [ 16:55 ]

typical american response...who craes about your culture as long as we protect the American 'culture' form the demand of its own people...ahhh 'democracy'  (where majority(moral) rules) don't ya just love it

Add your comment

Name

Email

Notify me via e-mail of new comments to this entry

Code :

Comment

• Comments are the property of their respective authors, and LivinginPeru.com is not responsible for the content of these comments
• Only comments in English will be published
• Por ahora solo se permiten comentarios en ingles.
• Any offensive, injurious, profane or disrespectful comments will not be published
• You must include a real email address (this WILL be verified) for your comments to be published
• Repeat comments, or comments of a similar nature written by the same person will not be published
• All comments are sent to a moderator before publication
• Referring to the topic indicated in the article will increase your chances of publication
• Repeat offenses of the above guidelines will result in the removal of your ability to comment