LA PAZ (AFP) – Bolivians chewed coca leaves in demonstrations around the country Wednesday to push for a change in a 1961 UN convention to remove a ban on a practice that has been part of indigenous cultures here for millennia.
Protesters gathered outside the US embassy in La Paz to chew the leaf as part of a day of demonstrations around the country celebrating the coca plant and demanding that the UN Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs be amended.
The United States has said it would oppose the Bolivian proposal, calling the 50 year old convention "an important tool in the global struggle against narcotics trafficking."
Its not like these people are getting high, they are just trying to live and breathe at high altitude. Probably the best thing for altitude sickness.
Interesting. I did not know about the leaf chewing practice and know less about what is involved. Why is it that there is always someone out there that knows what is best for you? Chewing coca leaves is not equivalent to drug trafficking. If anything it is an internal issue for Bolivians who obviously do not perceive it as an issue.
The Economist had an article about this last week and noted that the US Embassy in Bolivia advises flatlanders visiting here to chew coca leaves to fight the effects of high altitude sickness. Contradiction?
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
