The sacred Indigenous origins of the coca leaf

Indigenous groups have been cultivating the coca leaf for 8 millennia, across South America. But when the coca leaf became the base ingredient for cocaine, its story changed. In 1961, the United Nations classified the coca leaf in the same category as cocaine itself, regulating it at the same level. But the coca leaf is not a narcotic drug—it is a mild natural stimulant, venerated as sacred by many. An international movement has been trying to decriminalize and destigmatize the coca leaf. This episode spotlights the Indigenous origins of the coca leaf, and what its future could be.