The Misunderstood Coca Leaf

We are off to visit Peru for ten days and my thoughts return to the letter I wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in early 2011 about the coca leaf.

http://sue-mcghee.blogspot.com/2011/01/coca-leaf-and-united-nations.html

My views on the coca leaf are somewhat vehement and biased due to my early association with the natives of Bolivia and Peru. Those of us who have traveled to the region are prepared for the availability of the coca leaf – a natural leaf grown extensively in western South America and often imported to the U.S. in order to manufacture cocaine.

But coca is not cocaine. The leaf contains fourteen alkaloids, one of which is cocaine and this single alkaloid represents about 1% of the entire leaf. You need a whole bunch of leaves to extract enough cocaine in order to manufacture the illicit drug, but only by adding other ingredients.

The coca leaf has been a staple of the indigenous culture throughout Peru and Bolivia for centuries – the Quechua and Aymara people , especially those who live in high altitudes chew a kind of quid, called the “acullico” to aid in digestion and combat the high altitude and fatigue; they used it for many other additional ailments too lengthy to list here. When consumed like this or in a hot tea called maté de coca, it is only a mild and harmless stimulant, less harmful some say, than caffeine or nicotine.

In 1961 the coca leaf was placed on the UN’s illicit drug list along with Opium and Heroin. It has never been removed in all these years, even though the World Health Organization and other agencies did the research and clearly found that the coca leaf is not only not a narcotic, but has health benefits that most of us are not privy to.

“In the 1990s, the World Health Organisation presented a report stating the coca leaf did not present any foreseeable health problems. In 2006, it released a further report, which identified the ability of the coca leaf to suppress appetite and increase endurance, as well as recognising the leaf’s historic use “for the relief of gastrointestinal problems and respiratory ailments and treatment of altitude sickness”. According to a 1975 Harvard study, the leaf is rich in phosphorous, calcium, riboflavin, vitamins, and iron.” The Sydney Globist 2012

As a child living in Bolivia, I was surrounded by native people who chewed the leaf. My parents drank the tea and when visiting diplomats arrived, they were served maté de coca to counter the effects of “soroche,” the high altitude sickness for which many visitors are unprepared.

This is not intended as a political statement, just a reminder that through an abundance of misinformation and deliberate lies, facts can be overlooked or thrown to the wind. The real truth is that the coca leaf is beneficial to all of us if used with moderation and intelligence. Grapes are not wine and barley is not whiskey. The poppy seed is not opium and coca is not cocaine.

Perhaps it is time for the "eagle to join with the condor;" perhaps it is time to learn from each other and respect one another’s rights to live our lives with respect, maintaining our dignity and traditions. If we learn to respect ancient tradition, perhaps then we can heal the rifts between the U. S. and left-leaning countries such as Bolivia and Venezuela. We cannot expect the entire world to follow our principles in governing and tradition, but that should not mean we can't get along; why can't we respect that?

See "When the Eagle Flies with the Condor," @ http://www.suemcghee.com/

When the Eagle Flies with the Condor: a novel of the sixties

A Review of my Book;  See below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
An Unforgettable Novel with Deep Thematic Elements

- October 7 2011-

There is a two thousand-year-old prophecy that says that when the eagle flies with the condor, there will be peace and brotherhood among the nations. When the Eagle Flies with the Condor: A Novel of the Sixties, by Sue McGhee, is a riveting tale based on this prophecy, set against the backdrop of the 1960s and spanning both North and South America.

Two American children growing up in Bolivia while their father builds roads in an attempt to bring commerce to its natives must return to the United States for reasons that they do not know or understand at the time, and have deep psychological reactions to being uprooted. Nicky joins the Army and is deployed to Vietnam and Bernie returns to South America to minister to the needs of the natives, who she recognizes as filled with knowledge, latent power, and untapped potential for good. As the turbulence of the 1960s claims blood sacrifices and brings political turmoil, Bernie hopes that the prophecy of the eagle flying with the condor will be fulfilled in her lifetime.

The story is rich in meaning and themes, taking it out of the realm of the ordinary—catapulting it into the sphere of the extraordinary and the truly literary, appealing to readers of all genres with its unique blend of plot elements and thematic elements. When the Eagle Flies with the Condor synthesizes a gripping story with compelling characters, interwoven with themes of brotherhood, social issues, and the struggle for meaning. Whether you lived through the 1960s or simply love a great story, McGhee’s heartrending novel is an absolutely unforgettable must-read.

McGhee’s prowess for storytelling is undeniable and readers are certain to fall in love with her gift, and will be anxiously awaiting her next release.

Contact:

Archer Anderson
BookReviewerList.com
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646.571.2246

The UN and the Coca Leaf

The United Nations is about to make another big mistake, reprising their decision to add the coca leaf to a compendium of illicit drugs including heroin and opium as they did in 1961. Unless, that is, Bolivia's request to amend the requirement to ban the chewing, brewing and other uses of the coca leaf for traditionally religious and medicinal purposes, is granted.

I am neither Bolivian, nor a part of any indigenous society. I am a U.S. citizen appalled by the injustice of the 1961 decision by the UN and the United States' role in condoning the ban as well as continuing the eradication of the coca leaf program as part as the war on drugs. I was raised in Bolivia for five of my childhood years and continue to identify with the natives as part of my own family. Yes, I learned about coca and drank coca tea on recent trips to Peru and Bolivia and I am not alone. You may be surprised to learn that mate' de coca is commonly served to visiting diplomats to counter the effects of "soroche," the high-altitude sickness for which many visitors are unprepared.

The indigenous peoples of Latin America have been using the sacred coca leaf for centuries for the reasons cited above -- it is their right to do so. It is our responsibility to keep some greedy so and so from isolating one of fourteen alkaloids in the coca leaf and mixing it with toxic substances to create cocaine (I am no chemist, but this is what I've read). I'm not sure what the U. S. can do to prevent it, but the abysmal failure of the "war on drugs" for the last forty years speaks volumes that IT is not the right way.

The U.S. should not be involved in abrogating the rights of the indigenous population of Latin America; it is in direct violation of the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples to which President Obama belatedly agreed in December while addressing an august body of over 500 federally recognized Native American nations.

There is an ancient prophecy extant in Latin America today that says that when the eagle flies with the condor there will be peace among nations. The eagle represents western civilization with its emphasis on technology, commerce and modern pill-popping pharmacology while the condor embodies the indigenous peoples of the world, respecting earth and earth's creatures as well as the natural curatives the earth provides (e.g. the coca leaf).

Perhaps it is time for the eagle to join with the condor; perhaps it is time to learn from each other and respect each others' rights to live our lives with respect, maintaining our dignity and traditions. If we learn to respect ancient tradition, perhaps then we can heal the rifts between the U. S. and left-leaning countries such as Bolivia and Venezuela. We can not expect the entire world to follow our principles in governing and tradition, but that should not mean we can't get along; why can't we respect that?

As Evo Morales said during his campaign for president of Bolivia, "Coca si, Cocaina, no."