WHO upholds coca leaf ban, defying evidence and ignoring Indigenous rights
London, 2 December 2025 — The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) expresses deep dismay at the World Health Organization’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) recommendation to keep the coca leaf in Schedule I of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The WHO will officially present this recommendation to the UN’s drug-policy making forum, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in Vienna on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th December.
The coca leaf was placed under international control in 1961 — effectively banning its cultivation and traditional use — on the basis of flawed, racially biased studies that ignored its cultural, religious, nutritional, and medicinal significance for Indigenous Peoples across the Andean and Amazonian regions. The ECDD’s recommendation follows the first-ever critical review of the plant, initiated at Bolivia’s request, supported by Colombia, after repeated calls to end its global prohibition in recognition of its sacred status.
Despite a year-long scientific assessment, the Committee’s decision disregards clear evidence that, in its natural form, the coca leaf poses minimal health risks, sidelining millennia of Indigenous knowledge by asserting there is no “robust basis” for its therapeutic use. The Committee also failed to give any weight to the internationally recognised rights of Indigenous Peoples to self-determination, to the use of their natural resources, and to preserve their culture, traditional medicines and health practices.
Traditional coca leaf farmers and consumers, and representatives of Indigenous peoples issued a joint declaration during the process, highlighting how “The coca leaf has been a fundamental element of our cultures for millennia. Its consumption is part of our identity, worldview and community practices, linked to rituals, health, nutrition and overall well-being”, adding that “the criminalisation of the whole plant is affecting our culture, human rights and harasses a plant that is sacred for our Indigenous Peoples”.
There is mounting concern that political pressure — particularly from governments alarmed by rising cocaine markets in Europe — influenced the outcome. Yet fears that descheduling coca would fuel cocaine production are unfounded. Producing cocaine requires complex chemical processing and vast quantities of leaf — approximately one metric tonne of fresh coca to yield just 1.45 kg of cocaine, according to the UN drugs agency. De-scheduling would apply only to the natural leaf; cocaine would remain strictly prohibited. States would still be required to criminalise cultivation intended for cocaine production, while being able to license coca grown for traditional, medicinal, or industrial purposes.
Ann Fordham, IDPC’s Executive Director, stated: “The WHO’s decision is deeply disappointing and profoundly troubling. This was not a routine review — it was a critical test of the UN drug control system. The Committee has shown it cannot objectively assess evidence or consider the human rights consequences of prohibition. Instead, it has chosen to reinforce the racist and colonial foundations of international drug control. This decision makes clear that the system is broken and resistant to meaningful reform.”
IDPC calls on governments to challenge the ECDD’s recommendation and pursue alternative pathways — nationally and internationally — to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights to their sacred plant. Domestically, this includes removing criminal penalties for traditional use of the coca leaf and protecting it as cultural heritage. Internationally, Member States could appeal the recommendation to the UN Economic and Social Council, potentially triggering a vote, and explore options to depart from the Convention’s specific provisions on coca leaf prohibition.
The international community still has an opportunity to confront and dismantle the colonial legacy embedded in the UN drug control regime. Whether governments are prepared to show the necessary leadership remains an open question.
—ENDS—
For media enquiries, please contact:
Marie Nougier, mnougier[@]idpc.net, +44 7807 077617
Notes to editors:
- For additional background, see: IDPC Blog, ‘A historic opportunity: why the global liberalisation of the coca leaf matters on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples: https://idpc.net/blog/2025/08/a-historic-opportunity-why-the-global-liberation-of-the-coca-leaf-matters-on-the-international
- “Coca Chronicles” by the Transnational Institute: https://www.tni.org/en/article/coca-chronicles-monitoring-the-un-coca-review
- Joint declaration from Indigenous groups and individuals on the critical review of the coca leaf: https://zenodo.org/records/17281859
- Critical review report: coca leaf (draft)
- Final ECDD recommendation (forthcoming)