Monday, 10 march 2008

Foreign Affairs minister David Choquehuanca announced that Bolivia is going to ask for a rectification of the 2007 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) that called for the abolition of coca chewing and coca tea.

The INCB needs to perform a reality check

TNI Press Release
March 5, 2008

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’.

Download the press release (pdf)

Wednesday 31 March 2010

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna in March 2010 was a rather uneventful event. One of the most controversial issues were the comments of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) in its 2009 Annual Report on the trend to decriminalize possession for personal use in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Both Argentina and Mexico voiced strong objections on the INCB remarks.

Sunday, 9 March 2008

Yesterday, President Evo Morales of Bolivia sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon rejecting the recommendations of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to "abolish or prohibit coca leaf chewing and the manufacture of coca tea." Morales qualified the attitude of the INCB as colonial and accused the Board members of lacking the necessary scientific background.

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.