Production of the Coca Leaf

Abstract

There are three harvest times a year in March, June, October where 4 oz of leaves per bush can be obtained during the main harvest. It takes up to 2 days for two people to pick 12 kg and the grower (coquero) roughly makes $2.20/kg. Also, illicit growers may not get as good a yield from their plants due to their use of less potent species, and growing the plants under less favorable climatic conditions such as the Amazon basin. As can be seen, the peasant growers (coqueros) make little from their harvest, and they must sell their leaves to the government.

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The map in Fig. 6 shows the main countries in Latin America involved in the production of coca leaves. Based on metric tons of coca leaves harvested annually, and although exact figures are hard to verify, the following may give some idea as to the analysis, all of which accounts to a total of 112,000 t (Fig. 7).

Fig. 6

Main countries involved in coca leaf cultivation of Latin America

Fig. 7

The annual amount of coca leaf production in Latin America

There are three harvest times a year in March, June, October where 4 oz of leaves per bush can be obtained during the main harvest. It takes up to 2 days for two people to pick 12 kg and the grower (coquero) roughly makes $2.20/kg.

Also, illicit growers may not get as good a yield from their plants due to their use of less potent species, and growing the plants under less favorable climatic conditions such as the Amazon basin. As can be seen, the peasant growers (coqueros) make little from their harvest, and they must sell their leaves to the government.

There is early archaeological evidence (Ecuador) for the use of Coca (Divine Plant of the Incas), but the history of coca precedes the Incas by thousands of years. Mummies with coca leaves wrapped up with them found in Ecuador and Peru confirm that coca was cultivated as far back as 3000 BC. Each successive tribe had their own legends as to the source of coca, but it was the Incas who raised coca to new heights of religious significance after the thirteenth century AD. The Inca state controlled the cultivation and distribution of coca, reserving it for the upper classes, and the workers, presumably to get more work out of them; “Deaden man’s hunger and give him strength to live” (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8

Indios chewing the coca leaf as a social drug on special occasions

Today, coca is widely still used in the mountains of what once was the Inca empire. The government primarily controls coca, since coca leaves must be sent by growers (coqueros) to a government-owned factory. There the leaves are being pressed after which they are stored in a government’s owned coca warehouse.

Coca leaves have been chewed by South American Indians for many thousands of years to induce a mild, long-lasting euphoria. The Incas respected coca as it was used in magical ceremonies and initiation rites. In the Inca period, the sacred leaf was regarded as far too good for ordinary Indians. The invading Spanish conquistadors were more practical. They were impressed of coca’s efficacy as a stimulant and believed that the herb was so nutritious and invigorating that the Indians labored whole days without anything else. The Spanish also needed native labor in their silver mines. Work in the mines was extremely arduous, and taking coca reduced appetite and increases physical stamina. Therefore, there was a great surge in coca use and the number of coqueros (coca-chewers). The chewing of coca is a well-defined practice and has been around for centuries, where the coca leaf has long been used as a stimulant by indigenous peoples of the Andean region. Coca was chewed in its nature leaf like state. The chewing of coca leaves had been reserved for the noble class and was usually associated with religious activities. Thus, the coca leaf soon began to be chewed by more then just the noble class. Indians began to chew the leaves to conquer hunger, improve muscle stamina, and to counter motion sickness and oxygen deprivation. The leaves aren’t actually chewed, but rather moistened with saliva, softened by the addition of an alkali, such as lime (calcium carbonate – from vegetable ash or powdered sea shells) and sucked for about 30 min.

Coca leaf chewing today is more widespread than many appreciate. There are at least three million daily users of coca leaf in South America, primarily in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia consuming 2 oz (equivalent to 1/4 to 1/2 g cocaine) per day, which runs to over 25,000 t of coca leaves/year with an average daily cost of 13 cents/oz. Local laws vary and in some countries there is an official attitude of indifference to the remote Indian population using coca, even when it is officially banned elsewhere. In Bolivia and Peru the government “Coca Monopoly” controls the cultivation and distribution of coca. Both men and women use coca, however, in the mountains of Colombia women rarely and children never use it. This is also true in the Amazon basin where coca leaves are first toasted and then grounded into a powder before being put in the cheek together with lime. While the average daily consumption of coca leaves is about 2 oz, this translates roughly to a quarter to half-a-gram of cocaine per day. It must be emphasized that while this seems high even by the standards of cocaine abusers in the US, this amount of alkaloidal cocaine is taken slowly, over the course of several hours, and is hardly enough to sustain even mild plasma levels of cocaine in the user. As will be seen later, this is far from using the purified alkaloid cocaine by itself. In 1950, the United Nations began a campaign against the coca plant. In 1961 the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs called for the abolition of coca chewing and the destruction of plants within 25 years (signed by Peru – approved by Bolivia). In 1986, however, the coca harvest was as big as it had ever been.

For legal chewing 25,000 t and for pharmaceutical purposes as well as a flavor in beverages 2,000 t are being used, which leaves 85,000 t available for illicit exploit. As can readily be seen, while the cultivation of coca for chewing by the local population, beverage flavoring and pharmaceutical manufacture is legal, the majority (75%) is available for diversion to the illicit manufacturers of cocaine. It is unfortunate that eradication efforts have been more successful in removing the legal plants and less so when in comes to the illegal ones. One side effect of this has been the animosity on the part of legal chewers, who must now pay more for their leaves or go without entirely, with the resultant disruption of a centuries-old way of life.

In addition to coca chewing, “Coca de mate” a tea made from the leaves is also popular, since drinking coca tea tends to soothe the stomach and is good for digestive problems.