Epilogue

 

In March 2009, Bolivian president Evo Morales Ayma stood before the United Nations with a formal request to correct the "historical error" of the 1961 Single Convention. He cited thousands of years of coca use for purposes social, spiritual, medicinal, and nutritional. Then he put a leaf of coca in his mouth, sparking applause from the assembly.

 

"Coca leaf chewing is one of the sociocultural practices and rituals of the Andean indigenous peoples. It is closely linked to our history and cultural identity. Today it is practised by millions of people in Bolivia, Peru, northern Argentina and Chile, Ecuador and Colombia . . . The objective of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 is to control drug abuse, not to prohibit 'habits' or sociocultural practices that do not harm human health."

 

The president's proposed amendment to the treaty was denied by the United States.

 

 

In 2010, Stepan Chemical Company coca imports tripled, since 2007, from 45 to 136 tonnes.

 

In 2011, Bolivia announced it would withdraw from the Single Convention and then rejoin again–an odd technicality that would allow the country to include a denouncement of coca prohibition amidst its obligation to the treaty. The denunciation took effect in January 2012.

 

Coca remains prohibited for ten million or so people who chew it.