U.N. International Narcotics Control Board calls on Bolivia to outlaw coca leaf

Bloomberg is reporting that the U.N. International Narcotics Control Board has recommended that Andean nations outlaw coca chewing, coca tea, and other “traditional” forms of coca consumption on the grounds that these are illegal narcotics. I found this so unbelievable that I went to the U.N. report to see the original statement. It is on page 37 and worth quoting at length (emphasis added):

214. The Board is concerned that the cultivation of coca bush for purposes that are not in line with the 1961 Convention is continuing in some countries. Uses of coca leaves contrary to the provisions of the 1961 Convention are also continuing, and some of those uses are even being expanded.

215. The Board reminds all Governments concerned that coca leaf is a narcotic drug in Schedule I of the 1961 Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol. Governments should ensure that the production, export, import, distribution, use and possession of, as well as trade in, coca leaf are limited to medical and scientific purposes, just as they would be limited in the case of any other narcotic drug. In addition, coca leaves may also be used for the preparation of a flavouring agent that should not contain any alkaloids, and, to the extent necessary for such use, production, trade in and possession of such leaves may be permitted. Governments permitting the cultivation of coca bush should set up an agency to carry out certain functions, as required under articles 23 and 26 of the 1961 Convention.

216. The practice of chewing coca leaves continues in Bolivia and Peru and, on a limited scale, in some other countries. The Board wishes to point out that, within 25 years following the entry into force of the 1961 Convention, coca leaf chewing should have been abolished in those countries where it was taking place. As the 1961 Convention came into force in 1964, coca leaf chewing should have come to an end in 1989.

217. In addition, coca leaf is used in Bolivia and Peru for the manufacture and distribution of mate de coca (coca tea). Such use is also not in line with the provisions of the 1961 Convention. The Board again calls on the Governments of Bolivia and Peru to consider amending their national legislation so as to abolish or prohibit activities that are contrary to the 1961 Convention, such as coca leaf chewing and the manufacture of mate de coca (coca tea) and other products containing coca alkaloids for domestic use and export.

This statement is not just “absurd,” as Wade Davis is quoted as pointing out, but downright offensive. It is reminiscent of past attempts to forcibly de-indigenize indigenous peoples — strip them of their cultural practices, “modernize” them, and denigrate both their past histories and their contemporary right to difference (which are, ironically, upheld by the U.N.).

In addition, anyone who has ever had mate de coca or chewed coca leaf knows that the effects are milder than coffee, which is legal everywhere despite its potentially deleterious affects. Also, the production of coca before the cocaine trade was certainly less harmful that that of sugar, which is also addictive and has a long history of production by exploited (originally slave) labor.

I rank this right up there with the idea that indigenous people cannot be educated in their own languages or practice their own religions. It is the result of a willful ignorance born of bigotry, and I expect better from an organization such as the U.N. No doubt this will be one of many protests against these statements concerning coca.

The U.N. International Narcotics Control Board should issue an immediate apology to the peoples and governments of the Andes, and recant these embarrassing claims.