Why is coca leaf left out of the drug research renaissance?

Years of bad science have blurred the line between plant and drug
Inverse (US)
Wednesday, August 3, 2016

coca2While marijuana, magic mushrooms, and ayahuasca have all found their way into research labs, coca leaf, the mother of cocaine, seems to be off-limits, despite evidence that the plant is a nutritional powerhouse and potential wellspring of medical cures. “In theory, coca would be eligible for medical uses,” says Pien Metaal of the Transnational Institute (TNI). “But it has never been seriously recognized because of the stigma it has, caused by its content of the alkaloid cocaine.”