Coca and Cacao: Traditional Uses Indigenous "drugs"

 Coca is an indigenous plant of South America with numerous alkaloid components, the most well-known one of which is the psychoactive component, cocaine. 

• Its leaves have been a staple in the Andean lifestyle for thousands of years. 
• Strong interest in coca use has existed in the anthropological world for decades. Areas of study have not only attempted to understand traditional use during the Incan empire and coca’s role in folk medicine, but also focused on factors that influence the ability of this native tradition to continue in the face of increasingly strict regulations of coca production.
• The Aymara people are an indigenous population of the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America. “Khoka” is an Aymara word that means “the tree.” This is the origin for our modern usage of “coca”

Indigenous versus modern usage:

• In comparison to modern usage of cocaine isolates, the amount of the drug used by native peoples was and remains quite low with an estimated 60 grams of coca leaf chewed per day 
• In contrast, there is a large difference in what an average cocaine user is exposed to in modern times. A “line” of cocaine bought on the street contains an estimated 20–50 mg of cocaine hydrochloride
• Modern users may administer cocaine through several routes: insufflation, intravenous injection, smoking, ingestion, or mucosal application.
• Indigenous uses include teas and chewing of leaves

History

• Analysis of mummified human remains from Northern Chile indicates the use of coca as early as 1000 BC. These records establish that the use of coca has been ongoing for over 3,000 years in the native peoples of the Andes
• Under Incan rule, coca was used for numerous purposes, including ritual, social, and physiological uses 
• The Spanish conquerors then attempt to eradicate the use of coca in the native cultures. However, after the elimination of coca proved unsuccessful, the Spanish then decided to exploit coca growth. Subsequently, coca use became more widespread throughout the former Incan empire, and the custom of giving agricultural workers a ration of coca leaves along with their daily wage began. Coca use continues to be a daily staple in the life of many Andean workers.
• Today, the "War Against Drugs" proposed by the US and supported by the UN, has made Coca use ILLEGAL. Despite this, Evo Morales (President of Bolivia and of Amayra descent)
• The political battle rages between the U.S. government, the U.N. and the Bolivian President, Evo Morales, about his efforts to protect, legalize and preserve the symbol of the Andean indigenous identity: the coca plant. 
• He contends that the human rights of indigenous populations are being violated by culturally insensitive governments in compliance with U.S. and U.N. law. 
• The questions posed are: 
• Is coca cocaine? 
• What are the economic benefits of the production of coca and who benefits? 
• What is the relationship between coca and Bolivian identity? 
• What would be the impact in the global community if coca is eradicated permanently? 
• Evo Morales’s plan is to raise the cultivators of coca (los cocaleros) out of poverty through the production of coca and, at the same time, boost the economy of Bolivia. The problem lies with the regulations against the cultivation of coca, supported by the U.S. and the U.N. through their war backed with one hundred million U.S. dollars against the smuggling of drugs through the U.S. border.
• The coca plant is associated with cocaine in the eyes of the U.S. government; therefore the U.S. government has promoted the eradication of the coca plant
•  Evo Morales has industrialized the cultivation of the plant and has proposed the production of products made from the leaves of the coca such as coca pasta, coca toothpaste, coca arthritis medication, and even Evo-Cola
• The most recent triumph is the legalization of chewing coca, which is called “acullico” and has finally been recognized as an indigenous custom.
• Coca chewing and the drinking of coca tea is carried out daily by millions of people in the Andes without problems, and is considered sacred with indigenous cultures”
• Forced eradication by outsiders-impact:
• “In Peru and Bolivia manual forced eradication has led to clashes between coca-growers (cocaleros) and military forces, resulting in deaths and human right violations. Colombia is the country where forced eradication of illicit cultivation of coca is executed in the most aggressive way by aerial spraying with herbicides (fumigation)” (n.p.). For this reason, Evo Morales has vowed to defend the cocaleros, even increase the production of coca to benefit the cocalero population in Bolivia. Through the production and creation of alternative products made from the coca, Morales hopes that this method will protect the coca from the determined eradication by the U.S.

Coca and Bolivian Identity:

• Coca is the most important symbol of the indigenous people in Bolivia and is connected with the natural blessings in the form of herbs. Reverence of nature is a huge part of the way of life with all indigenous people.
•  partaking in acullico (the chewing of coca) after praying to the gods served as a spiritual connection to Pachamama (Mother Earth).
• Chewing coca also signifies a sense of group oneness which gives the indigenous population a sense of national identity within the context of their ethnic background.
• Coca also has profound cultural significance for the various Andean indigenous groups, most importantly the Aymara, who use the leaf in their seasonal rituals and consider it to be one of the four pillars of natural mysticism, as manifest in the Southern Cross constellation
• the coca leaf was considered a ritual component in the pre-Hispanic civilizations of the Andes millennia ago and has played a central role in their system of beliefs, customs, and knowledge, inserted in an original Cosmo vision
• Coca was promoted by the Spaniards who realized that the indigenous slaves could work longer and harder in the mines of Potosi if they chewed the leaf that fights off hunger and sleep-deprivation
• In modern times, therefore, coca is not only a sacred herb of indigenous people, but also the only source of monetary income for the indigenous population

Modern Uses

• Gastrointestinal Symptom Treatment

• Environmental Stress Treatment

• Hunger Treatment

• Altitude Illness Treatment

Barring Bolivia and Peru, coca is now banned, even for indigenous use. 

Despite this ongoing controversy, some practitioners who span the cultural and medical divide have proposed the use of coca for contemporary ailments. 

• Due to consumer demand for more natural forms of treatment, folk medicine may be considered in modern pharmacologic contexts. 
• Possible uses could include gastrointestinal conditions, fast-acting antidepressant, treatment for acute mountain sickness, as an energizer for persons involved in physical labor, and symptomatic treatment of toothache and oral lesions