Rethinking coca: Indigenous knowledge, science, and international drug policy

When? Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Where? CEU Auditorium (Vienna Campus) - Quellenstrasse 51, 1100, Vienna

Register here

The coca leaf has held an important place in the cultures of the Andes for its nutritional and medicinal benefits. In the modern era, however, coca came to be identified internationally with its isolated alkaloid, leading to global controls that today limit its traditional uses. New research and public debate are prompting policymakers and communities to reconsider coca’s cultural, scientific, and economic significance, and to question how law and policy can keep pace with evolving evidence.

The Shattuck Center for Human Rights invites researchers, policy experts, and Andean community voices to ask: What potential does coca hold for innovation, and what barriers remain in law, science, and global politics? How can policy keep pace with cultural realities and emerging evidence? This event provides a platform for nuanced discussion on the ongoing WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence critical review of the coca leaf and its implications for global drug governance, cultural rights, and evidence-based policymaking. 

The program features a panel discussion and a Q&A with speakers followed by a wine reception. Participants will also be able to interact with an exhibition of textile pieces produced by Agroarte. The event is open to all.

Speakers:

• Opening remarks by Mr. Simon Walker, Chief, Rule of Law and Democacy Section, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
• Anyi Ballesteros leads Agroarte, an agroecological organization with two decades of continuous work in sericulture, founded in 1989 by the initiative of a group of ten campesino families. Since then, the women of this community have persisted in the organic and sustainable silk production chain, dignifying the work of artisans and preserving knowledge in mulberry cultivation, thread harvesting, natural dyeing, and handwoven textiles. The colors of the coca leaf inspire their collection "Essence, Memory, and Transformation."
• Andres Lopez Velasco is a Colombian chemist (National University of Colombia) with over 16 years' experience in drug policy across public, private, and academic sectors. He specializes in international drug control, regulatory models for controlled substances, synthetic drugs, new psychoactive substances, and cannabis for medical, scientific, and industrial use. Former General Director of the National Narcotics Fund (2016-2019), advisor at the Ministry of Justice (2013-2016), Regulatory Manager in a medicinal cannabis company (2019-2023) and is currently an independent consultant. He led Colombia’s implementation of UN drug policy recommendations, significantly improving access to controlled medicines, and has been an invited expert on cannabis regulation at numerous international academic events.