‘Coca leaf is life itself’: Andean growers’ hopes fade as WHO upholds global curb

For thousands of years, Andean people living around what is now the town of Coripata, east of La Paz, Bolivia, have used coca leaves to relieve fatigue, hunger and altitude sickness (known as soroche), as well as to treat headaches and digestive problems.

Concerned about the future of this cultural and religious practice, Daynor Choque, heir to this ancient tradition, points to a pile of leaves on the table in front of him.

“We have been using coca without any problems since the time of our ancestors,” says Choque, leader of the commercial arm of local coca producers. “Now, producers are being pushed into the illegal cocaine market just to survive – unless we can sell our coca legally on international markets.”

The growers’ wishes were dealt a blow last December when, 65 years after the UN’s convention on narcotic drugs first declared that the coca leaf should be as restricted as its derivative, refined cocaine, the World Health Organization (WHO) refused to change the leaf’s status.

Even though a recent WHO critical review found that coca leaf (Erythroxylum coca) does not harm human health, the leaf – which contains 1% or less of the cocaine alkaloid – remains on the same dangerous drug list as heroin, fentanyl and cocaine.