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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?
    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.

    Coca Myths
    June 2009
    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.

    Drugs & Conflict Debate Papers Nr. 17
    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....

    Eradications and conflict in Colombia
    May 2008
    Amira Armenta
    While the coca farmer is treated as a criminal the road to peace in the Colombian countryside will remain closed.

    Although more and more coca is being eradicated, production levels remain steady. According to the latest Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB...

    Los indígenas del Cauca defienden la soberanía de sus territorios y la revalorización de la hoja de coca
    March 2008
    TNI
     Dora Lucila Troyano Sanchez

    En Colombia, las organizaciones indígenas han sido perseguidas por el Estado de una manera brutal. El atropello más reciente se produjo durante el Consejo Comunitario del presidente Uribe. Durante el evento, no sólo se les negó la palabra de manera descortés, sino que el mismo presidente Uribe...

    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...

    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’.

     

    Crop spraying
    December 2007
    Drugs and Democracy

    The United States is putting strong pressure on the Afghan government to officially adopt the strategy of eradicating the opium poppy through aerial spraying of the crops with the herbicide glyphosate.

    Drug Policy Briefing 25
    Coca, Petroleum and Conflict in Cofán Territory
    September 2007
    Moritz Tenthoff

    Under the guise of the war on drugs and terror, the way is being cleared for major economic interests in the Lower Putumayo (Colombia). This paper examines the impact of coca cultivation, petroleum activity and the armed conflict on the ancestral territory of the Cofán community.

    Drug Policy Briefing 23
    Opium jihad
    July 2007
    Martin Jelsma
    Tom Kramer

    With Afghanistan now responsible for more than 90 per cent of the world’s opium production, there is massive international pressure for repressive policies. But quick-fix solutions like opium bans and eradication don’t work, write Martin Jelsma and Tom Kramer, who report back from Afghanistan on...

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