Growing
coca-leaves has been a medicinal tradition throughout the Andes for
well over 1,000 years. The "matte de coca" for instance
is a tea made from dried coca leaves that indeed cures ailments and
increases strength and spirit. Cocaine, however, is a highly chemical
and toxic by-product of the coca leaves that has nothing to do with
Andean traditions but rather with the sociological and psychological
imbalance of today's modern urban societies. |
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Production
of coca and cocaine has exploded from the 1980s, fueled by a seemingly
ever-increasing demand from the United States in particular. A growing
movement throughout Latin America calls for the legalization of the
production of coca leaves with some going as far as calling for the
legalization of illicit drugs in order to fight organized crime and
money-laundering. |