The Coca Leaf: Misunderstood, Shortchanged, Feared

Contact Your Elected Officials

Itโ€™s the Edward Scissorhands of botanicals.

I mentioned, in aย prior post about my journey to Machu Picchu, a freakishly large Idahoan ginger I met by happenstance in a Punoย farmaciaย after retardedly flying from near-zero elevation in Lima to 12,500+ in Puno with no allowances planned to cope with the altitude shift.

He recommended a local remedy for acute mountain sickness I had been obliquely aware of but had never taken seriously: the coca leaf.

As a captive receptable for government propaganda in public school in the 90s, I learned a lot about the evils of cocaine yet nothing of the coca plant itself, which for Kafkaesque reasons remains federally illegal in the United States โ€” nor cocaโ€™s storied history as folk medicine in South America.

(Once, circa 1995 or so โ€” when probably a solid fifth of my class was wired on Ritalin, which is not considered an illicit drug for some reason โ€” as part of the D.A.R.E. routine, our teachers made us sign pledges on postcards promising God or the state or whomever never to do drugs. We were then directed to encase them in red balloons that we released in a ceremony in the parking lot with the school address on them so when people in surrounding counties and states found the litter in their backyard they would mail it back to the school reporting where it had landed, the coordinates of which the secretary then marked on a giant map as some sort of mark of pride, the relevance of which to not taking drugs having never been explained.)

Via Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry (emphasis added):

โ€œAndean Indians have used coca leaves for centuries to enhance physical performance. The modern methods of obtaining cocaine were not known to the Andean cultureโ€ฆ

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if there were any subtle biochemical changes, which were influenced by chewing the coca leaves. Standard methods of assessing a personโ€™s response to continued exercise such as blood pressure, pulse rate, VO2 max and ECG changes did not show any significant changes between the two groups.

The experimental findings suggested that chewing coca leaves induces biochemical changes that enhance physical performance at high altitude. These changes appeared sustained and were detectable at the later stages of the experiment.โ€

Is the coca leaf the equivalent of cocaine, which is apparently the DEAโ€™s position as both are equally federally illegal?

Is a caterpillar a butterfly?

The chemical metamorphosis that coca leaves undergo to become cocaine renders it an entirely different thing.

Cocaine is the highly processed and concentrated extract of the cocaine alkaloid, usually mixed with a toxic cocktail of chemicals and stepped on by avaricious drug dealers to maximize profits; coca leaf is an unprocessed plant product with a cornucopia of alkaloids, vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial compounds. 

Via Transnational Institute (emphasis added):

โ€œWhile the coca leaf in its natural form is a harmless and mild stimulant comparable to coffee, there is no doubt that cocaine can be extracted from the coca leaf. Without coca there would be no cocaine. The ‘ready extractability’ of cocaine from coca leaves is currently the major argument to justify the current illegal status of the leaf in the 1961 Single Convention. The cocaine alkaloid content in coca leaf ranges between 0,5 and 1,0 percent.โ€

The two main takeaways here โ€” which I already absorbed deep into my bones in other contexts but which are only further reinforced โ€” are:

  • Public school is a government indoctrination camp disguised as an educational enterprise
  • Fuck the U.S. government, but most especially the DEA and the Department of Education

RelatedA Brave New Maxim For a Brave New World

Ben Bartee, author of Broken English Teacher: Notes From Exile, is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs.

Follow his stuff via Substack. Also, keep tabs via Twitter.

For hip Armageddon Prose t-shirts, hats, etc., peruse the merch store.

Support always welcome via the digital tip jar.

Bitcoin public address: bc1qvq4hgnx3eu09e0m2kk5uanxnm8ljfmpefwhawv

Ben Bartee
Ben Barteehttps://armageddonprose.substack.com/
BEWARE!!! Ben Bartee never minces words, so read at your own risk. Ben is a Bangkok-based American journalist, grant writer, political essayist, researcher, travel blogger, and amateur philosopher -- with opposable thumbs. He is the author of Broken English Teacher: Notes From Exile.

Armistice and amnesiaโ€ฏย 

In case you missed it too, June 25thโ€ฏmarked the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War โ€“ the first hot front of the Cold War.โ€ฏ

Candace Owens Gets Sued by Macrons

Candace Owens began a deep dive into the lives of French President Emmanuel Macron, his wife Brigitte, and the story of how they came to be together.

Fluoride โ€˜Tabletsโ€™ For Babies EXPLODE in Popularity Amid Water Fluoridation Rollbacks

Reportedly, NPCs are so distraught that their toddlers wonโ€™t be fed a neurotoxin through the public water supply that theyโ€™ve resorted to fluoride pills.

ChatGPT Goes Biblical about End Times!

There are some truly outstanding internet content creators, or...

Bangkok Indians: โ€˜You Are Lucky Manโ€™

In Bangkok, friendly prostitutes outside โ€œmassageโ€ shops tell me Iโ€™m โ€œso handsome man.โ€ Indian men prowling those streets tell me Iโ€™m โ€œlucky man.โ€

Education Department Probe Finds 5 Virginia School Districts Violated Title IX

Five school districts in No. VA violated Title IX by allowing students to access โ€œintimate, sex-segregated facilities based on subjective โ€˜gender identity,โ€™โ€

Washington State Sues to Prevent Trump Admin From Accessing Food Aid Immigration Data

Washington state is suing financial services company Fidelity Information Service to prevent it from sharing food aid data with the federal government.

5 Things to Know About Trump Adminโ€™s Settlement With Columbia University

Under agreement between President Trump and Columbia regarding anti-Semitism, school will pay a $200 million fine to regain federal money.

Trumps America: Welpโ€ฆ that backfired.

The official @TheDemocrats account posted chart with the caption โ€œTrumpโ€™s Americaโ€ โ€” but didnโ€™t seem to notice how their own graph actually works.

Ex-DOJ Officials File Lawsuit Against Bondi Over Terminations

Former DOJ officials filed lawsuit against AG Bondi and the fed. govt, saying they were terminated for work on cases related to Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

Odds of U.S.-EU Trade Deal Are 50โ€“50 Ahead of Tariff Deadline: Trump

President Donald Trump said thereโ€™s a 50โ€“50 chance that the United States will finalize a trade deal with the European Union before an Aug. 1 deadline.

Trump Pulls Habbaโ€™s Nomination for New Jerseyโ€™s Top Prosecutor, Making Her Acting US Attorney

President Trump withdrew his nomination of Alina Habba to serve as NJโ€™s top federal prosecutor, making her Acting US Attorney.

Trump Says He Wants Muskโ€™s Companies to โ€˜Thrive Like Never Beforeโ€™

On Thursday, President Trump said, โ€œI want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE like never before!โ€
spot_img

Related Articles