Unscheduling of the coca leaf

The coca leaf has been chewed and brewed for tea for centuries in the Andean region – and does not cause any harm and is probably beneficial to human health. Yet the leaf is treated as if it is comparable to cocaine or heroin. The inclusion of the coca leaf in the list of narcotic drugs raises questions about the logic behind the current system of classification under the UN conventions. Is there 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?

Press release: The UN Narcotic Control Board's attack on Bolivia is irrational

February 2012

The UN International Narcotics Control Board's irrational attack on Bolivia for its reservation on one aspect of the 1961 Single Convention on Drugs is further evidence of its incompetence and overreach.

Lifting the ban on coca chewing

March 2011

Nr. 11 -

Martin Jelsma

This briefing paper analyses the reasons behind Bolivia’s proposal to remove from the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs the obligation to abolish the practice of coca chewing and the opposing arguments that have been brought forward.

The WHO cocaine project

February 2010

TNI

In 1995 the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) announced in a press release the publication of the results of the largest global study on cocaine use ever undertaken.

History: UN and Coca

February 2010

TNI

In 1961 the coca leaf was listed on Schedule I of the UN Single
Convention on Narcotic Drugs together with cocaine and heroin. The
inclusion of coca 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.

Coca Myths

June 2009

Nr. 17 -

Pien Metaal

Anthony Henman

The present issue of Drugs & Conflict intends to debunk and disentangle the most prominent myths surrounding the coca leaf. It aims to clear the air and help steer the debate towards a more evidence-based judgement of the issues.

Towards a world market for coca leaf?

June 2009

TNI

Pien Metaal

When we think of people like Pope Paul VI, the Queen of Spain or Britain’s Princess Anne, most of us do not think of them as criminals. But that is what they are, under the current international drug law. Their crime? They all sipped coca tea on their arrival to the Bolivian capital La Paz. Bolivia is planning to submit a formal request to the UN to declassify coca as a narcotic drug, emphasizing in its arguments the traditional uses, such as the chewing of the leaf.

Indigenous Rights in the Andes and Licit Uses of the Coca Leaf

December 2008

Some Andean governments and the region’s indigenous groups have sought to distinguish clearly between coca, a plant long used by indigenous peoples for health, religious and cultural purposes, and cocaine, an illicit drug. Yet both coca and cocaine have the same status in the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

The Bolivian government’s aim of declassifying coca as a narcotic drug under the UN Conventions has sparked significant international debate.

Report criticizes governments over consumption of coca leaf

March 2008

TNI

In a culturally insensitive and irrational move, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has called for the governments of Bolivia and Peru to abolish all uses of the coca leaf, including coca leaf chewing.

In its 2007 annual report, the INCB asks Bolivia and Peru to make possessing and using coca leaf criminal offenses--a move that would affect millions of people in the Andes and Amazon, according to the Transnational Institute (TNI), a group that studies drugs and conflict in the region.

Coca leaf is widely consumed in both countries, both as a part of daily life and in indi

Abolishing Coca Leaf Consumption?

March 2008

TNI

The Transnational Institute condemns the decision by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) in their 2007 annual report released today, which calls on countries to ‘abolish or prohibit coca leaf chewing and the manufacture of coca tea’.

Per le strade dell'Afghanistan - osservando i risultati della guerra contro l'opio

June 2007