The UN review of the international status of the coca leaf (2023 - 2026)
Aymara yatiri (shaman) performing a coca leaf reading on the summit of Mount Uchumachi near Coroico (Bolivia) during celebrations related to the winter solstice (Aymara New Year).
Ali Margeaux Pfenninger
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The coca leaf has been at the centre of a longstanding tension between the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the punitive global drug control regime. In July 2023, Bolivia officially requested that the World Health Organization (WHO) initiate a critical review of the coca leaf’s status under the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
The review was a pivotal opportunity to address decades of colonial and racist policies that sought to eradicate the plant and its traditional uses. Yet in December 2025, the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence recommended that the coca leaf remain under the strictest level of international control, disregarding clear evidence on the minimal health risks of the leaf in its natural form and failing to give due weight to the rights, knowledge and demands of Indigenous Peoples.
IDPC developed this page to help you understand the review process, its implications, and why the process's outcome is so troubling. The resources below explore the historical context, the human rights case for descheduling the coca leaf, the evidence considered during the review, and the alternative pathways still available to governments committed to upholding Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
