What happens if you eat coca leaves

If Americans would stop using it and selling it all day long production would basically cease I expected cocaine use to be highest in South America Those coca leaves are ok to consume and chew it in their natural state It serves well to people who use it, it can be abused for gain, the same as knifes, can cut the breads or the throats I can personally attest to the effects of these leaves.

Cocaine is an alkaloid and is readily available Tea bag form mixed with baking soda gives significant "on top of the world" feels. Particularly worrying is the use of smokable cocaine base paste PBC, paco, bazuco or crack in Latin America , as distinct from free-base and crack cocaine that is produced from cocaine in the United States and Europe. Smokable cocaine base paste is harmful and highly addictive. Why is the coca leaf banned? In the coca leaf was listed on Schedule I of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs together with cocaine and heroin, with a strict control level on medical and scientific use.

The inclusion of coca leaf in Schedule I was done with a dual purpose: to phase out coca chewing and to prevent the manufacture of cocaine. The Single Convention mandated to destroy coca bush if illegally cultivated Article 26 and that coca leaf chewing must be abolished within a year period Article 49 - i.

The ECOSOC report was sharply criticised for the makeup of its researchers, its arbitrariness, poor methodology, lack of precision and racist connotations. Nowadays, a similar study would never pass the scrutiny and critical review to which scientific studies are routinely subjected. Does the Convention still ban any use of coca? In an attempt to obtain legal recognition for traditional use, Peru and Bolivia negotiated paragraph 2 of Article 14 into the Convention , stipulating that measures to eradicate illicit cultivation and illicit demand "should take due account of traditional licit use, where there is historic evidence of such use.

Why should coca be removed from the UN list of prohibited drugs? The inclusion of coca has caused much harm to the Andean region and a historical correction is long overdue. The Single Convention enshrined the traditional Western view, which equates coca with cocaine, and treats both in exactly the same way.

A distinction needs to be made. There should be space to find a more culturally sensitive approach to plants with psychoactive or mildly stimulant properties, and to distinguish more between problematic, recreational and traditional uses. The provisions in the Single Convention are clearly at odds with the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights approved in , which promises to uphold and protect indigenous cultural practices.

He also announced that he would start the process to remove the coca leaf from the Single Convention. Parties have 18 months to express objections or comments on the Bolivian request, until January 31, This action will restore the dignity and lawful right to the people that consume coca leaf for traditional and medicinal purposes to legally exercise this cultural and harmless practice.

That means that only 17 of the countries that are Party to the treaty as amended by the Protocol have filed an objection. We call on them to still reconsider and withdraw their objection before the issue appears on the UN agenda for a decision.

Where is coca grown? Coca is traditionally cultivated in the lower altitudes of the eastern slopes of the Andes, or the highlands depending on the species grown, in particular in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. However, coca is a relatively easy plant to grow. In the late 19th century, colonial powers replanted coca outside its natural habitat. There was significant coca cultivation on the island of Java at the time part of the Dutch East-Indies, currently Indonesia and Ceylon Sri Lanka , as well as Formosa at the time a Japanese protectorate, currently Taiwan.

In the s Java was the major producer of coca in the world. I assume they would work relatively well for depression because they would increase dopamine, which is a mood elevator in your brain. The assertion that chewing coca leaf has nothing to do with the absorption of cocaine is just plain silly. Once the saliva is made alkaline and thoroughly mixed with crushed chewed leaf at body temperature, cocaine and several other alkaloids are very rapidly released and very efficiently absorbed through the oral mucosa.

It is a rapid and efficient process. No lab with beakers and flasks and organic solvents are required. That numbing sensation in your mouth? The local affect of cocaine. The CNS effects also take place of course. Chew enough leaf properly and one gets plenty of cocaine. The indigenous Bolivians I have been friends with and chewed with were very respectful of this whole process and their relationship with Mamma Coca.

They typically added one or two leaves at a time to what they had in their mouths. When I chewed in this fashion, I felt wonderful, but it is true, not exactly high. I was content as I was. The effects of rapidly chewing huge mouthfuls of it and yes, one does chew it; without crushing the leaf and mixing it with alkalinized saliva, no alkaloid extraction takes place , and then repeatedly chewing more and more leaves produces a very different effect.

If greedy and aggressive chewing is engaged in, plenty of cocaine is released and absorbed, with all the resulting euphoria and other affects generally associated with snorting a line. When I chew in this fashion, rather than being content and experiencing a lack of wants, all I want is to chew a little more leaf. Just a little. Just one more wad. The thing is, this is how it will go all day — more, then more, then more.

Hard a heck to stop. Then one feels unpleasantly wired. There is more tIndeed, I have many times experience distinctly greater cocaine effects from aggressive chewing than from snorting a line or two of the white powder.

I agree that many people, even with farly aggressive chewing, do not develop a drug problem. However, even for very experienced students of consciousness and drugs, if chewing is done in this highly aggressive manner, it is indeed very, very difficult to control and drug dependency is definitely a possibility.

I clearly see changes in the personality and habits of people I know that use it this way. I have been there myself more than I like to admit. It has disrupted my life and practice of mindfulness, to say the least. I find living like a lab rat desperate to keep pushing the reward bar to be a frustrating and not-so positive existence. Use this plant with respect and restraint and it is good. There are good reasons many native people consider it sacred.

Use it greedily, and you might not find the same kind of experience. Either way, the often heard assertion that chewing coca involves insignificant amount of cocaine is simply not true.

I recently bought a good amount of coca leaves at a local bolivian market as I recalled enjoying them during my time in Bolivia and Peru on treks and long bus rides a few years back. Anyway, after chewing a half a dozen times and varying the amount of leaves and the amount of bicarbonate, I must agree with Fred. Well, the debate will go on. I would assume the risks could be similar? Thank you for this post.

I ordered some premium coca tea bags and then some coca powder. I chewed it with some bicarb. Although its a pleasant sensation, many times I feel like that lab rat pushing the reward bar. Many nights I would binge dosing one after the other staying up all night.

Overall I dont believe its been a positive experience in my life. I agree, the effect of the leaves can be just as powerful if not more. Especially if dry ground leaves are mixed with bicarb and dampened like a chew. I use fresh leaves and lime and irregularly. Felizidades , me gustaba los comentos……chao for now! I thought this was very interesting to read. I actually was just curious about whether the coca leaf was similar to cocaine stimulation if just chewed.

It seems like it would never be enough to worry about turning into something like cocaine. Especially with something natural like this. I have more research to do, but I appreciated this and the comments. Thanks for sharing. How are you doing with the cancer?? Just was noodling around the web and saw your story. I live in Montero Bolivia and work in rural communities. While delicately destemming leaf by leaf is the gentlemens way about it, mashing in handfuls of leaves, chewing a bit, and lobbing in some bico is more common.

While I do enjoy the former when I have time and patience I normally just do the latter. It certainly works. I was born in Cusco — Peru… I consume coca leaves in tea fusions as an energizer and a digestive natural recipe. Coca leaves are spiritually sacred to people in my country due to their power in healing naturally sicknesses and contain chemicals on them like everything in nature. If you are one that likes to consume drugs… Sorry this it not it.

Coca leaves contain 14 different alcaloids and one of them is the cocaine, the other 13 are not yet discovered or extracted by science… On top; it contains calcium, vitamins, minerals and others. It is at all senses a super food.

The plants of coca grow at an specific climax and are mostly used by Andes populations for adjusting their bodies to complex medical behaviors due to altitude lack of oxigen, lack of digestion, lack of heart functionality, blood circulation, joints and bones, brain functional activities and others.

I am curious, could one create a growing environment in the USA where they might be able sufficiently grow coca leaves for chewing? I know the powder stuff takes a ton of plants and work, and it is a huge process. I actually have a love hate relationship with the powder stuff. Mostly hate, and I do not use it anymore. I have often seen the videos though of workers in the Andes chewing it, and it makes me think that would be a rather nice way to enjoy the coca plant without the up and down and paranoia and bloody noses.

This is the number one reason coca has become such an intricate part of Andean culture. These days, it is a favorite among miners and bus drivers for its long-lasting energy kick without the spike and crash effect of caffeine. Chewing coca supposedly makes hunger pangs go away. It can also be used as a dietary aid to discourage overeating.

Consuming coca leaves creates a numbing effect on pain and discomfort. The coca leaf is said to have been instrumental in assisting the Incas lug those huge stones all the way to Machu Picchu. The coca leaf is fantastic at reducing the unwanted symptoms of altitude sickness , which include nausea, breathlessness, insomnia, loss of appetite, fatigue and headaches.

Since this natural cure has been used for so long by the local population, it is widely known, and even hotels in high-altitude Andean cities often supply it to their guests.

The coca leaf has a variety of beneficial nutritional properties. Daily coca consumption is the perfect natural alternative to taking dietary supplements. A hot cup of coca tea is a great way to relieve the pain and nausea that comes with an upset stomach. This is handy while traveling through the Andes, where food hygiene may not be up to the same standards as at home.

When fighting anything from a case of the sniffles to full-blown influenza, doctors, grandmothers and everyone in between typically suggest a hot cup of tea.