Bolivia has embarked on an international mission to try to end the ban on chewing coca leaves. But the United States plans on getting in its way.
Coca has been used in the Andes for thousands of years as a mild stimulant and herbal medicine, but it is also a raw ingredient in the drug cocaine.
Bolivia, which argues that chewing coca leaves is part of indigenous culture, hopes to take coca leaves off a UN treaty on banned drugs, BBC News reports.
President Evo Morales, a former leader of a coca growers’ union, argues that it is discriminatory to classify coca as an illicit drug and launched a global campaign after his election in 2005 to legalize it.
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Spain has already given its support to Bolivia’s campaign.
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The United States plans on formally objecting to Bolivia’s proposal on Wednesday, AP reports. It argues that changing the convention would pave the way for other nations to challenge the inclusion of certain narcotics based on parochial reasons.
(Read more from globalpost.com)