Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 7:53 AM
Subject: FW: UN Urges Bolivia to Make Coca Chewing a Crime, Report Says



Bloomberg.com
March 4, 2008


UN Urges Bolivia to Make Coca Chewing a Crime, Report Says

By Joshua Goodman

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations called on Bolivia and Peru to criminalize the chewing of coca leaves, a practice used by Andean peasants for centuries.

The report by the UN agency charged with enforcing narcotics treaties also urges the governments ``to establish as a criminal offense'' using the leaf to make tea, flour and other products. The report says consuming the leaves from the bushy Andes plant used to make cocaine plays a role ``in the progression of drug dependence.''

The annual report by the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board, an update on drug control efforts worldwide, may anger the leaders of Andean nations where coca is grown, especially Bolivian President Evo Morales, a former coca grower who has called for the legalization of the leaf.

``In Bolivia, there will never be a policy of zero coca,'' said Hilder Sejas, spokesman for the vice ministry of social defense. ``To do so would walk over the rights of millions of Bolivians for whom coca is a symbol of our cultural identity.''

The coca plant contains trace amounts, less than 1 percent, of the alkaloid that in large quantities can be used to make cocaine. Andean peasants chew it for its mild stimulant effect, which helps ward off hunger.

A 1961 UN treaty stipulates governments must gradually eliminate coca chewing and other traditional uses of the leaf as well as attempt to eradicate the plant. Trade in coca leaves is allowed only for scientific purposes or as a flavoring agent as long as the alkaloids are removed.

Narcotics Treaty

``Nobody doubts the medical value of coca, heroin or cocaine, just as nobody denies their illegality under the 1961 convention,'' Philip Emafo, the Nigerian president of the INCB, said in a telephone interview from Vienna. ``If the provisions of the convention are being breached, the board in its wisdom, or lack of wisdom, is obligated to act.''

Referring to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs ratified worldwide, the report calls on Peru and Bolivia -- the second and third largest cocaine producers in the world, after Colombia -- to ``consider amending their national legislation so as to abolish or prohibit coca leaf chewing and the manufacture of coca tea.''

Emafo said the agency can recommend an embargo on the import and export of drugs for countries with serious drug policy breaches. No action against Peru and Bolivia has been discussed, he said.

Bolivian Law

Bolivia -- in violation of its treaty obligations -- currently allows the use of coca in its natural form.

Wade Davis, a Washington-based author and botanist who studied coca in Colombia for his 1996 book ``One River,'' said coca's treatment as a narcotic as dangerous as heroin and cocaine in the UN convention is ``absurd.''

``Coca is as vital to the Andes as the Eucharist is to Catholics,'' said Davis, who is also a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence. ``There's no evidence of toxicity or addiction in 4,000 years of use.''

Policy Consortium, a network of drug policy experts, said the ban on coca was based on outmoded science and reflects ``harsh and narrow judgments that condemn countries that permit traditional coca use and the industrialization of coca.''

In a 2006 speech before the UN General Assembly, Morales lashed out at the criminalization of the coca leaf.

``This coca leaf represents Andean culture, it is a coca leaf that represents the environment and the hope of our peoples,'' Morales said, holding up the leaf.

Coca Cake

For his 80th birthday, Cuban President Fidel Castro received a cake baked with coca flour from Morales.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, also a critic of the U.S.-backed policy of forced coca eradication, said on Jan. 11 that he chews coca daily. The Venezuelan leader is also paying for the construction of a factory in Bolivia to produce coca tea, flour and other natural products.

David Johnson, U.S. assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, said the U.S. is concerned about Bolivia's stated goal to increase coca production for traditional uses from 12,000 to 20,000 hectares.

``We believe that the policy, as it's been articulated to me, is not consistent with Bolivia's obligations under international law,'' he said at a Washington press conference Feb. 29 to present the State Department's annual report on international anti-narcotic progress.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Goodman in Bogota at Jgoodman19@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 4, 2008 19:01 EST

I Think the UN is addicted to prohibition.

Coca, Bolivia, and Law 1008
DWR Friday, March 7, 2008

There's a fascinating 5-part series of videos on Bolivia and coca at vbs.tv. Definitely worth watching -- I learned quite a bit about the coca leaf. I was particularly interested in Law 1008 -- a law written by an American in English controlling what Bolivians could do with their coca leaves. A law, like every drug prohibition law, that had roots in racism and lies. And a law, like every other drug prohibition law, that actually caused the conditions for developing a massive international black market.

The first three parts of the video are the most interesting, and you do have to get past the smarmy fashion disaster correspondent, but it's worth it.
Thanks to Drug War Flipside



Coca Cookies and Constitutional Dreams By Jean Friedsky
Special to The Narco News Bulletin December 2, 2005

Decriminalization and How It Could Change Life for Bolivia’s Cocaleros


Coca leaves at market.
Photo: D.R. 2004 Jeremy Bigwood

The Contradictions of Coca Eradication in Bolivia By Reed Lindsay
Narco News Authentic Journalism Scholar
February 15, 2003

The drug war in Bolivia has hit a brick wall. While the Bolivian government wiped out more than 70 percent of the nation’s coca production in the late 1990s, the U.S.-backed eradication program has ignited a firestorm of opposition from coca growers, called cocaleros, in the Chapare region of central Bolivia. A growing movement of coca growers has not only stopped the eradication program in its tracks, it has gained widespread popular support that nearly swept cocalero leader, Evo Morales, into the presidency.

Behind the failure of the U.S.-promoted eradication policy in the Chapare region is a gross misunderstanding of the use of coca leaves in Bolivia and elsewhere, say activists and experts attending the Out of the Shadows drug legalization conference in Merida, Mexico.

Coca leaves have been consumed and used for thousands of years in Bolivia for medicinal and religious purposes. Today, coca is primarily “consumed orally,” in a manner similar to chewing tobacco, but it is also used to make tea and in indigenous ceremonies.


Peruvian Vintage Wine of Coca...
According to the Sears, Roebuck and Co. Consumers' Guide (1900)

A POLITICAL DRUG WAR IN BOLIVIA By Jens Gluesing
Is Coca the New Hemp? March 28, 2006

Bolivian President Evo Morales has put a stop to the eradication of coca plantations, triggering fears in Washington of a new wave in the illegal drug trade.


Bolivian President Evo Morales wants to make coca leaves the new hemp, but critics believe his promotion of the plant used to create cocaine will just boost the illegal drug trade.

The wine, a bit on the sweet side, is supposedly a remedy against Parkinson's disease and impotence and, according to the label, it is especially suitable for "athletes and singers." In small doses, that is, because the wine is pressed from coca leaves, enhancing the effect of the alcohol. If you get drunk, you don't have to worry about how you're going to feel the next day because "coca wine doesn't cause a hangover," says Melby Paz.


A Word From Our Sponsor...
His Holiness The Pope enjoyed the invigorating properties of coca wine. Leo XIII carried a personal hipflask to fortify himself in time of need. A grateful Pope awarded a Vatican gold medal to its distinguised orginator, the Corsican-born pharmacist and businessman Angelo Mariani. Mariani had a keen eye for the benefits of celebrity-endorsement.

ANDEAN DRUG WAR UPDATE By Bill Weinberg

Dissent Against Washington's Drug War Emerges as Chaos Spreads



Bolivia and Peru defend coca use


The UN lists coca as a controlled substance like cocaine or opium
Tonnes of coca leaves grown illegally in the village of Huaculi, central Bolivia, are burnt (Dec 2007)

The UN lists coca as a controlled substance like cocaine or opium
Bolivia and Peru have defended the continued, traditional use of coca leaves after they were criticised by a UN drugs agency report.


cocaine toothache drops (1885)

The INCB is out of control and needs to be stopped
DWR Thursday, March 6, 2008

Most people in the United States aren't even familiar with the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), but it has a lot of influence in the world. What is it?
It describes itself as the "quasi-judicial control organ monitoring the implementation of the United Nations drug control conventions." Quasi-judicial control organ sounds like something diseased that should be removed with surgery. And it should be (although apparently without anesthesia).

Libby Davies vs the United Nations INCB
March 5, 2008

DAVIES REJECTS REPORT ATTACKING SAFE INJECTION SITE

"The INCB’s claim that Vancouver’s InSite safe injection site and other harm reduction programmes are illegal is completely unfounded. In fact, the legal opinion of the UN’s own Drugs and Crime Program is that harm reduction programs like InSite do not violate international treaties," said Davies. "InSite is providing life-saving health services, and is in complete compliance with the law."

Thailand's War on Drugs OK?

US Grants Usd 45 Million Assistance To Thailand

CA Governor Signs Syringe Bill to Save Lives



A Duty to Censor
Paul O. Coffin | August/September 1998

U.N. officials want to crack down on drug war protesters.

The U.N.'s anti-drug apparatus--which includes the Drug Control Program, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)--seeks to wipe the world free of dissent as well as drugs. The INCB's 1997 report calls for criminalizing opposition to the war on drugs. The nations of the world have not followed through on that recommendation yet, but the spirit behind it has helped prevent a genuine international debate about drug policy.

*Americans: Stars in Bars
Does our high incarceration rate represent the right kind of toughness? Jacob Sullum (3/5)

* Better Dead Than High
The morally dubious logic of drug warriors Radley Balko (2/29)



The United States and International Drug Control, 1909-1997

This study provides a picture of US involvement with international drug control, from its inception to the late 1990s. It charts the American quest to internationalize the doctrine of drug prohibition and reveals the origins,...

Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
The international treaty against illicit drug manufacture and trafficking that forms the bedrock of the global drug control regime. Previous treaties had only controlled opium, coca, and derivatives such as morphine and heroin.



Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs Wikipedia

THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
OF THE
LEADING INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL CONVENTIONS

Prepared For The Senate Special Committee On Illegal Drugs
Jay Sinha * Law and Government Division * 21 February 2001

LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS

UN drug policy seems to have been written by American prohibitionists. The coca leaf, like cannabis is a gift of nature. Use it brothers and sisters to fight the hold of Babylon.

All that means to me is that it`s a good thing for you the world did not adopt Malay prohibition