A short drive north of Bolivia’s capital La Paz, deep in the lush green valleys of the Yungas, Alicia Calle, a middle-aged Indigenous cocalero (coca farmer), plucked the leaves off the shrubs on ...

Based out of Illinois, the Stepan Company is the only commercial entity in the United States which is allowed to import coca leaves. With permission from the DEA, Stepan imports upwards of 100 ...

To mitigate the effects of altitude sickness, many Peruvian locals offer foreign visitors coca leaf tea — a traditional ...

with the reservation of allowing traditional coca leaf chewing throughout its territory. In 2016, chewing of the coca leaf was declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Plurinational State ...

His government successfully secured an exemption in 2013 for traditional coca leaf chewing after temporarily withdrawing from the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Colombian Justice ...

The event brought together indigenous communities and officials who emphasized the coca leaf's traditional use in a variety of rituals and products that have been central to Bolivia's heritage for ...

Bolivia is pushing for the global decriminalisation of coca leaf – the main ingredient of cocaine – to export the plant and ease its economic crisis. But a "landmark" recent decision by the ...

In 2023, the South American country set a new record last year for coca leaf cultivation and cocaine production, which rose 53 percent from 1,738 tonnes (1,915 US tons) to 2,600 tonnes ...