Responses to U.N. on coca leaf

Predictably, there have been a number of responses to the U.N. International Narcotics Control Board’s report that we reported on earlier.  It is also unsurprising that all of them agree that this report was ridiculous and uninformed at best, and downright offensive at worst.

The AP is reporting that the Bolivian government intends to invest in promoting legal products made from coca leaf.  Open Veins accuses the U.N. of relying on racist science of the 1950s.  Jim Schultz gives a short history of use of the leaf, commenting that the U.N. attempt to ban coca is “roughly akin to banning corn because it might be used to make moonshine.” Sabino Mendoza, an Aymara man in constituent assembly, is quoted in the Financial Times asking why the U.N. doesn’t ban Coca-cola, which is flavored with coca leaf, if they are so interested in getting rid of it altogether.

I have not seen a single report supporting the U.N. decision (please post a link in the comments if you have).  That should tell the U.N. something.  It is time to reconsider how we think about coca, and time to end the War on Drugs.