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?
Coca Myths
The coca leaf has
been used and misused for many ends, each of them suiting different interests
and agendas. Even its very name has been appropriated by a soft drinks
producer, which still has difficulties in admitting that the plant is used to
produce its "black gold". Every day press accounts around the world use the
word coca in their headlines, when they refer in fact to cocaine.
Download the full briefing: Coca Myths, Drugs & Conflict Debate Papers 17, June 2009
On 12 June 2009, TNI submited a memorandum to the 'House of Commons Select Committee
on the cocaine trade' to allow the coca leaf in its natural form on the UK market, as a mild stimulant and as an infusion. The leaf is now still classified along with cocaine and heroin as a Class A drug.
The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) filmed the speech of the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, at the high level UN meeting in Vienna on March 11, 2009, in which he announced that Bolivia would start the process to remove
the coca leaf from the 1961 Single Convention as well as the suspension
of the paragraphs of that convention that prohibit the traditional
chewing of coca leaf. You can watch the video with English subtitles below.
In Peru, the commercialization of coca leaf powder or coca flour has seen a huge increase in popularity in the market for healthy food, with a fairly broad range of applications.
Following this, the legal status of both rural producers and traders and sellers of final products containing coca flour, requires legislative reform.
On March 12, 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 traditional chewing of coca leaf.
The Bolivian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugo Fernandez, announced that Bolivia will seek to
remove the coca leaf from the list of the 1961 Single Convention at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in March 2008. President Evo Morales has sent an official letter to UN
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon announcing the initiative.
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’.
Coca Yes, Cocaine No?
Legal Options for the Coca Leaf
Drugs & Conflict Debate Papers 13 - May 2006
A decade-old demand to remove the coca leaf from strict international
drugs controls has come to the fore again. Time has come to repair an historical error responsible for including the leaf
amongst the most hazardous classified substances, causing severe consequences for the Andean region.
Coca 
On 12 June 2009, TNI submited a memorandum to the 'House of Commons Select Committee
on the cocaine trade' to allow the coca leaf in its natural form on the UK market, as a mild stimulant and as an infusion. The leaf is now still classified along with cocaine and heroin as a Class A drug.
In Peru, the commercialization of coca leaf powder or coca flour has seen a huge increase in popularity in the market for healthy food, with a fairly broad range of applications. 
