Erythroxylum Coca is a plant that can only grow in a few regions in the world. Specifically, the plant that cocaine is derived from grows in the Amazon Jungle and the western edge of the Andes mountains. Coca-Cola attempted to grow the plant in Hawaii, after receiving the go-ahead from the US government, in the 1960s but the crop was wiped out to a fungus the plant has no defense to. It’s damn near impossible to grow the plant in the USA unless you have a really controlled environment. The only way to obtained coca leaves is to illegally import them from Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, or Colombia but that’s going to catch you a case.
Just like the marijuana plant, the coca has a lot of benefits, many of which are medicinal. The plant itself has a variety of mineral nutrients, oils, and varied compounds with a greater or lesser pharmacological effects. The leaf, has been chewed and brewed for tea in the Peruvian region among the indigenous people for years . It has been documented, since the Spanish inquisition, that it does not cause any actual harm to human health. Specifically, coca chewing and drinking of coca tea is carried out daily by millions of people in the Andes for hundreds of years without problems, and is considered sacred within indigenous cultures.
We visited many cities in Peru, where the coca leaf use is legal, and we loved it. It gave us energy, a nice smooth buzz, helped with hangovers, and helped us trek to Machu Picchu and Rainbow Mountain (no-homo) with no breaks. Mostly Americans and Australians (and Peruvians) were chewing the leaves since every other tourist behaved like some 1700s Puritan. We noticed, society wasn’t going ape-shit on this legal leaf and no one was in the parks jerking off (bath salts does that to you). The coca leaf was offered in its pure leaf form, candies, teas, etc. Society was functioning like a normal society, so why is the leaf illegal outside of Peru? Blame cocaine.
The plant and the drug were listed as a Schedule I Narcotic drug during the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Basically, a report was made that chewing coca leaves had no proven medical benefits (even though Science! proved otherwise) and it lead to addiction (only cocaine does that). World governments wanted to stop the manufacturing of cocaine and coca chewing (it gave the indigenous people “Super Powers” that generally allowed indigenous mine workers bear the brutal environment of working in silver mines). A bunch of bullshit if you ask us because there are many great benefits from using the coca plant.
Here’s some great reasons why it should be legalize:
Mild Stimulant and Fatigue Suppressant
When the coca leaf is in its natural form, its a harmless yet mild stimulant like that of coffee. You can put it in some hot water and drink it like its coffee or just chew on it. The flavor is similar to tea and it isn’t as bitter. You might be thinking, chewing the leaves or drinking this tea will have you wired like cocaine? Well in order to get the wire effect of one pure line of coke, you’d have to chew through pounds of leaves, which isn’t realistically feasible. You’ll get energy but it is not going to be like a cocaine wired. Think coffee, but better and without a caffeine crash.
During our visit in Peru, we were doing bumps at night and chewing the leafs and drinking tea during the day. A tea was a more natural way to wake up in the morning than two lines of yayo. Like coffee, this shit woke us up and did not make us feel wired like cocaine. It allowed us to function in society without being tired and without depleting our dopamine reserves. This allowed us to save our blow for the night.
We climbed mountains and trekked everywhere in high altitudes during the day. This would not have been possible if we did not have coca leaves and coca leave accessories. The coca leaf is a legit fatigue suppressant and its something we considered giving to athletes in order to make them elite. If this leaf can give us energy to walk and climb miles in high altitudes with little sleep and hungover, imagine the stuff it will do with athletes during training and during games.
Suppresses Pain, Hunger, and Thirst
The coca leaves has many medicinal benefits. We can get to the details about it but we’re not a medicine blog and you can just google it. Believes us when we say, this shit takes away any pain, headache, takes away your thirst and suppresses hunger (a la cocaine). The coca leaf is the perfect hangover remedy. When we were in Peru, we partied every day and in every city, we had coca leaves, candies or tea. In the mornings, this stuff would take away the headache, remove the dry mouth we had and suppressed any hangover we had. During the day, we went hiking and you’d think we complain about pain in the legs or back, but thanks to the coca tea, we had no pain.
Like cocaine and nicotine, the coca leaf takes away hunger. We’ve mostly experience this with cocaine and nicotine, but are sure the coca leaf has the same effects. Legalize the coca leaf, and we will be on the next, effective and efficient weight loss pill. Additionally, coca extracts have been used since the 1800s to stimulate digestion, sedate, treat asthma, colds, sore throats and other pains. It was used as a anesthetic for eye surgeries and other operations and doctors were all about it in the late 1800s. It has many uses, but since research is limited due to its ban, not much will be reported.
Increases GDP in Latin America
When we bought the leaves in Peru, we weren’t getting them from drug dealers or gun traffickers. We just pulled up to the grocery store and bought the leaves. The money went straight to the grocery store owners. The leaves were relatively cheap to everything else in the store. Hell, we even bought coca laced candies they did the job.
The coca plant is a cash crop. It provides the livelihood for thousands, if not millions of people throughout South America. Legalize it, and more cash will flow towards the farmers. Given the region and the conditions of the environment, its one of the only ways for many farmers in the areas to make a decent living because growing bananas and coconuts is not as profitable (governments tried luring people away from farming coca and it just lead to more people growing coca). In fact, indigenous communities in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru have used and traded coca historically for many uses and for years. In fact, after the Spanish Inquisition, the the native working the Spanish silver mines would rather get paid in coca than whatever currency they were using.
Today, coca is an agricultural plant with ample opportunities to transform coca into natural medicines and for agriculture use. By legalizing it, it allows to increase the cash flow to farmers. This kind of legalization lets the cash go straight to the farmers and not those focused in the cocaine trade (traffickers and armed groups). Legal production will open up industries in the Andean region and create an economy that benefits its people. It’s also takes us a step closer to legalizing cocaine.