Coca chronicles: Monitoring the UN coca review - Issue #7: Coca review denouement

Last June, we noted that for the World Health Organization (WHO), the critical review of the coca leaf “presents an opportunity to help correct the serious error of placing coca in Schedule I of the 1961 treaty, an injustice for which the organization bears significant responsibility.” We asked whether the WHO “can meet the moment” and “confront its colonial legacy and right a historic wrong.” Unfortunately, the answer has proven to be a resounding “no”. Far from meeting the challenge and taking advantage of the opportunity afforded by the coca review to correct its own historic mistakes, the WHO conducted and concluded the review in ways that perpetuate injustices and spotlight serious flaws in the UN drug scheduling system.

In December, the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) announced the outcome of its coca review, which recommends retaining the coca leaf in Schedule I of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. This disappointing and disputable conclusion of the WHO-ECDD reveals the defects and politicization of the treaty scheduling system and the WHO review procedure. The outcome also puts into question the capacity of the UN drug control system to rectify its foundational wrongs and inconsistencies, and to align itself with new scientific evidence and human rights obligations.