Coca Yes, Cocaine No?
May 9 2006
Coca Yes, Cocaine No? A simple leaf of an ancient plant will feature prominently on the international agenda this year. As international relations and specialised mechanisms for managing the international drugs trade have evolved, a decade-old demand to remove the coca leaf from strict international drugs controls has come to the fore again in recent months. Time has come to repair an historical error responsible for including the leaf amongst the most hazardous classified substances, having caused severe consequences for the Andean region. This issue of Drugs and Conflict explains the motives, context and range of this petition, as well as the procedures that need to be followed to reach this objective. For every member of the international community, this year will become a moment to decide whether to maintain coca under the control of the UN Conventions, or to dare recognize this mistake and show the will to correct it.
A simple leaf of an ancient plant will feature prominently on the international agenda this year, from the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in March, and the EU-LAC Summit and World Health Assembly in May, up to the UN General Assembly in September. As international relations and specialised mechanisms for managing the international drugs trade have evolved, a decade-old demand to remove the coca leaf from strict international drugs controls has come to the fore again in recent months. For a large and impoverished share of the Andean population, many of whom are indigenous peoples, the coca leaf has come to symbolise hopes for a more equal and inclusive future. This symbolism draws on a rich tradition of uses for the leaf, with archaeological evidence revealing its widespread and varied use in the pre-colonial period, as opposed to its modern fame, which associates it mainly with the extraction of one of its alkaloids - cocaine. Since the coca leaf is currently listed together with cocaine and heroin on Schedule I of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, public awareness of the intrinsic difference between the leaves and their cocaine derivate has gradually vanished. At the recent 49th CND session, the Bolivian delegation announced that it would ask the international community to reconsider the inclusion of the coca leaf in these schedules. The reasons for this, and the process by which it might be achieved, need urgent clarification if the motivation behind this demand and its context are to be fully understood by a broader audience. There is enough scientific evidence to substantiate the claim that the traditional use of coca has no negative health effects; that it serves positive therapeutic, sacred and social functions; and therefore that its classification as a narcotic drug was a mistake. However, in order to withdraw the coca leaf from the UN drug control system, the argument concerning the "easy recoverability" of its cocaine content, the other justification for its inclusion in Schedule I, needs to be tackled. Whilst the slogan "coca is not cocaine" is a valid assertion, it cannot be denied that the leaf contains cocaine. Moreover, this cocaine content is part of the reason that the coca leaf has attained importance in Andean culture. Those seeking the revalorisation of the coca leaf need to face up to the complexity and integrity of the leaf, including cocaine. It also needs to be recognised that the mass protests against forced eradication in Bolivia, which contributed to the country's political shift, involved a common effort between farmers producing coca for traditional uses and those that grow coca for the international cocaine market. Beyond revalorising the leaf's traditional uses, there is a need to challenge the false premise that attacking poor farmers can resolve the world's problem with cocaine consumption. Peoples' rights to a sustainable livelihood rather than repression should be the starting point for policy-making. This issue of Drugs and Conflict will consider past, present and future scenarios related to the coca leaf. The real options for a rescheduling will depend on a series of factors, not least the political will to face all dimensions involved in this complex issue from an objective, evidence-based perspective. The inclusion of coca in the 1961 Convention has caused much harm to the Andean region and a historical correction is long overdue, for the sake of further conflict prevention and out of respect for the Andean culture. For every member of the international community, this year will become a moment to decide: do we really stand by the cultural insensitivity and scientific nonsense that led to the decision to place coca under the control of the UN Conventions, or do we have the courage to say 'we apologise for the pain our prejudices have caused these past decades, we stand corrected.' |
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