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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
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LATIN AMERICA
NEWS BRIEFS
| Friday 14 January 2011 |
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Bolivia
to
Promote
Depenalization
of Coca
Leaf
LA PAZ -
Bolivian
President
Evo
Morales
said his
government
will
promote
the
depenalization
of coca
leaf,
which
use has
been
condemned
nearly
half a
century
by the
United
Nations.
Morales
announced
at a
press
conference
the
beginning
of an
international
campaign
to seek
the
support
of
governments
and
international
organizations
to take
coca
leaf
away
from the
UNâ�Ös
list of
controlled
substances.
The 1961
Convention
of the
UN
included
the coca
leaf as
a
controlled
substance
for its
alleged
toxic
effects.
Now the
Bolivian
government
requested
an
amendment
to the
document.
That
request
will be
discussed
next
January
21 in
the UN
general
meeting
in
Geneva.
Morales
said
that are
legal,
cultural,
social
and
scientist
arguments
for the
UN to
accept
an
amendment
to its
1961
Convention.
Morales
said
that in
some
countries
the use
of the
cocaine
in
minimum
doses is
legal.
Also
that
other
countries
and the
UN
remain
ignorant
to the
fact
that
chewed
coca
leaves
are high
in
valuable
nutrients,
containing
calcium,
iron,
phosphorus,
and
vitamins
A, B2,
and E.
Inal
Mama
leaf
(ritual
name by
which
the
plant is
known
among
the
Aymara)
is
consumed
since
ancient
times by
people
from
those
countries
for its
medicinal
powers,
is
revered
as the
basis of
its
presumed
impact
on the
good
fortune
,
happiness,
and
others.
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