Legal Commentary

Coca is Not Cocaine; Let the Farmers Be

By Jeralyn

From the award winning Canadian magazine Walrus: An audio photo essay about the coca farmers in Bolivia and their fight, assisted by the country's President Evo Morales, to keep cultivating the leaf for legal purposes.

Besides being a symbol of Bolivia's indigenous culture, the coca leaf is considered a cure for many ailments and an important source of work for farmers in this poor South American country.

Coca is not cocaine. However, the leaf is the main ingredient for the drug, and the United States and the United Nations would like to see the plant completely eradicated.

More...

Those are fighting words in Bolivia, where coca leaves have been grown and used in their natural form for thousands of years.

....Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, is a former coca grower who has pushed for an increase in the cultivation and legal uses of coca — while still clamping down on the illegal ones.

His new policy, "Coca Yes, Cocaine No." Again, the slideshow is here.

Background on Evo Morales and his efforts to keep coca growing legal is here .

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 08, 2008 (boomark / email).