Decriminalizing coca leaf production

Support and assistance should be provided for research on alternatives to cocaine, while at the same time the Andean reality of the coca leaf should be respected. It would be fairer and more constructive for the peasant producers of the Andes not only to benefit from an ancestral asset of their culture, but also to derive legal profit from the manufacture of many natural products made from coca leaf (tea, tonics, toothpaste, shampoo, dietary products and natural medicines, including products to help drug addicts overcome withdrawal symptoms). These two rights (the right to culture and the right to exploit natural resources) are embodied in the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Persons.

The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961), should be revised with respect to the single article concerning the coca leaf, with a view to decriminalizing its production and the trade in its natural by-products, thus putting an end to the harm done to indigenous peasant producers and allowing them to export and sell these products and derive a fair profit from them.