La Paz, Bolivia: Where the Streets Are Paved with Coca Leaves

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For me, the highlight of our time in La Paz, Bolivia was our visit to the Coca Museum.


The exhibits at the museum explained the various ways the coca plant has been used, and we learned the following. The coca plant has been cultivated for thousands of years by indigenous people in the Andean region, which includes Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Coca is used in religious ceremonies and cultural celebrations. Incas applied coca leaves to anesthetize patients undergoing brain surgeries. Coca is still used for medicinal purposes, as I learned when a guide recommended that I drink a tea with coca leaves to soothe my upset stomach.

Coca is also a stimulant. The Spanish who operated the silver mines of Bolivia encouraged the indigenous people toiling in the mines to chew coca leaves, to maintain the energy to work long hours. Miners in Potosi continue to chew leaves to suppress their appetite and increase their energy. The museum also contained an exhibit on Coca Cola, which still uses coca leaves as a flavoring.

While walking around looking at the exhibits, Josh and I chewed handfuls of coca leaves. They tasted bitter, and after a few minutes our tongues felt numb. I felt more alert afterwards, but less jittery than after drinking a couple mugs of coffee. Coca also effects how the body processes oxygen, making it easier to breathe at high altitudes. We also purchased some coca candy at the museum, which had the same effect as chewing a handful of leaves without making our tongues green.

Cultivating coca is legal in two areas of Bolivia, but outlawed in the rest of the country. Its sale and consumption is legal everywhere, so it’s not uncommon to see leaves for sale in bulk on the street (The going price is about $2 US per half kilo.):


When we took a bus through Chapare, a region where coca cultivation is legal, our bus was stopped at two checkpoints and members of the Bolivian military searched for the precursor chemicals that are used to manufacture cocaine. Because coca leaves are legal, I didn’t have to worry about the drug-sniffing dogs finding my coca candy.

The sign reads, "Bienvenidos al Chapare/Estamos en lucha contra las drogas/unete a nosotros...denuncia al que la tiene” (Welcome to Chapare/We are in a fight against drugs/Unite with us...denounce those who have them)

Just down the street from the checkpoint, we saw a sign informing us that the road was being paved with funds from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Reflection
What does the Bolivian military and US foreign spending have to do with a plant used by indigenous people for thousands of years? This could have been just a light essay describing what I learned about how another culture uses a particular plant, if it weren’t for the United States’ War on Drugs. As part of the war on drugs, the US Drug Enforcement Administration sprays coca plantations in Latin America with pesticides, which destroy other crops and poison people living nearby. The US is now trying to encourage cocaleros (farmers who grow coca) to switch to other crops. Unfortunately, the alternative crops provided by the US, such as banana and pineapple trees, take longer to bear fruit and aren’t as profitable. Cocaleros have been fighting the forced and coerced eradication of their crops and livelihoods, leading to sometimes violent confrontations with their government. Nonethess, the US government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Bolivia with the goal of eradicating the coca fields.

Question
Should coca leaves be treated differently from tobacco leaves and coffee beans? How would you feel if coca leaves were sold in your corner store? Who should decide how coca leaves are regulated?