Coca, cocaine & related

Publications12 November 2025

From forest to dust: Socioeconomic and environmental impacts of the prohibition of the coca and cocaine production chain in the Amazon Basin and Brazil

Intersecção discusses how drug prohibition fuels deforestation, violence, and inequality across the region, linking the 'war on drugs' to the global climate crisis and calling for ecological harm reduction and rights-based regulation.

Events

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

Vienna, Austria

3 December 2025

Join researchers, policymakers and Andean community voices at CEU Vienna to explore coca’s cultural, scientific and political dimensions — and what the WHO’s review means for global drug governance.

News12 November 2025

Canada: “Hung out to dry” — DULF pair convicted but plan challenge

Despite proving their compassion club prevented overdoses, DULF founders were convicted and now plan a Charter challenge against the criminalisation of harm reduction.

News28 October 2025

The coca paradox: to regulate or eradicate?

Bolivia regulates via community limits respecting indigenous heritage, while Peru enforces forced eradication - as the WHO reconsiders coca's status, the stakes for farmers are higher than ever.

Events

From forest to dust: Socioeconomic and environmental impacts of the prohibition of the coca and cocaine production chain in the Amazon basin and Brazil-

Zoom

Ahead of COP30, this webinar will discuss the findings of a new report on the impact of drug prohibition in the Brazilian Amazon, showing how criminalisation has prevented meaningful climate justice.

IDPC in the Media20 October 2025

Cocaine trafficking through West Africa fuels local addiction

Thumb: The Africa Report - Issouf SANOGO/AFP

News15 October 2025

Descheduling the coca leaf is overdue justice - IDPC statement to the 48th meeting of WHO's ECDD

IDPC urged experts to end a colonial injustice, calling for the coca leaf to be descheduled and Indigenous traditions and rights fully recognised.

Publications14 October 2025

Statement by traditional coca leaf producers and consumers to the World Health Organization

Traditional coca leaf producers and consumers from Peru reject their government’s stance before the WHO, urging the organisation to deschedule coca, recognise its cultural and medicinal uses, and support research and rights-based policies

News14 October 2025

Coca isn’t just for cocaine, Bolivia wants the world to know

Bolivia's campaign to remove the coca leaf from the list of the world’s most dangerous drugs highlights the plant's cultural, medicinal and economic importance — and its potential to reshape global drug policy.

Events

Coca talks - Futuro coca

London, United Kingdom

17 October 2025

This dialogue at SOAS explores the coca leaf beyond prohibition — as a bridge between Indigenous knowledge, environmental justice, and drug policy reform. Featuring voices from Colombia and beyond.

News2 October 2025

WHO review: Coca not harmful, prohibition is

Explicit recognition of widespread public health harms of repressive control efforts could positively influence expert recommendation on the schedule of the coca leaf.

News25 September 2025

Decolonising drug policy: Protecting the coca leaf and Indigenous rights – Statement to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

IDPC and five other organisations called on the UN to correct historic injustices, respect Indigenous perspectives, and address the harmful impacts of current drug policies.

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