Pope plans to chew coca leaves in Bolivia: minister

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Pope plans to chew coca leaves in Bolivia: minister
Sun Jun 28, 2015 2:35pm EDT


Pope Francis has told the Bolivian government that he would like to chew coca leaves when he visits the Andean country next month, a Bolivian minister said on state television and radio on Sunday.

Situated at around 3,650 meters (11,975 ft) above sea level, La Paz is one of the world's highest capital cities and for centuries local people have chewed coca leaves to ward off the effects of altitude.

Although it is the key ingredient in cocaine, the unprocessed leaf is legal to use and still widely chewed in Bolivia and other Andean countries. Many indigenous people, including Bolivian President Evo Morales, defend its use and consider it a sacred plant.

"We offered (the Pope) coca tea or something for the altitude," Culture Minister Marko Machicao said an interview with broadcasters.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/28/us-pope-bolivia-idUSKCN0P80X220150628?rpc=401

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Good on the pope.

[drm604]

2. He probably wants to ward off altitude sickness.

Is the raw leaf all that different from coffee as a stimulant?

[Hulk]

5. Exactly! Visited Peru...and is necessary!

Last edited Mon Jun 29, 2015, 12:07 AM - Edit history (1)

When we visited Ayacucho and Cuzco, the elevation is so high that if you do NOT drink the coca tea you WILL have symptoms of altitude sickness, which can be awful.

We too a night bus from Lima to Ayacucho; and when we arrived my wife was vomiting and felt awful. It was from going from sea level to whatever the altitude is in the high mountains; but you simply MUST drink the tea or take something for the altitude.

We chewed the leaves when we visited Machu Pichu, and they were not so tasty. Is sort of like chewing a laurel leaf, or some leaf that you simply chew on. It is NOT any more a drug than are aregano (that damned iPad changes spellings of words at will...grrrr. Changed "aregano" to "guano"....which is not at all what I inteded.) or some other herb you might chew. It is used to make the cocaine, but so far from being similar.

Good for the Pope. He would likely be deathly ill if he didn't chew or drink the tea, or take some other drug/chemical/herb to address the elevation difference. It's a necessity.

[drm604]

8. I don't think that word means what you think it means.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guano

Guano (via Spanish, ultimately from the Quechua wanu) is the excrement of seabirds, cave-dwelling bats, pinnipeds, or (in English usage) birds in general. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to its exceptionally high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, three nutrients essential for plant growth. The 19th-century guano trade played a pivotal role in the development of modern input-intensive farming practices and inspired the formal human colonization of remote bird islands in many parts of the world. During the twentieth century, guano-producing birds became an important target of conservation programs and influenced the development of environmental consciousness. Today, guano is increasingly sought after by organic farmers.

[Hulk]

22. Damn iPads

Didn't even want to use the word "guano". Thanks for the fertilized lesson though.

I get so damned mad at Apple when their products switch the total spelling of a word to something totally foreign to what the writer intends to write. I have to be careful when I am writing on the iPad, as it seems to do this at will. Meant "aregano", the italian seasoning.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

25. You wouldn't have had that problem if you would have spelled it "oregano".

[Hulk]

27. Guess I don't spend enough time in the kitchen to get that one right.

Retired teacher here...but we make mistakes too.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

28. Only reason I know is I tried to smoke it once.

It doesn't get you high.

[Hulk]

29. On that note...

Got together with an old friend this past weekend, and we stopped in to one of the pot stores here in Vancouver, WA, and picked up a small package of marijuana. It's legal here, and this was my first time in a store since it turned legal.

OMG! I couldn't believe the business, the selection and how happy everyone was in there. We bought a little bag....like six "buds", for about $30; but it was the best weed I think I have EVER smoked. I don't smoke often, and hadn't smoked for 35 years since my Nam days; but this stuff was unbelievable.

Just funny you should mention that. And like with marriage equality, it's about time they legalize this herb. OMG! So good to be able to smoke LEGALLY and not worry about POLICE! Neighbors, maybe...but police - no!

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

30. Yeah, and that should happen in WI when heel freezes over OR we get rid of Snot Wanker.

It sure would be nice!

[drm604]

26. I figured it was an autospell problem.

But it's "oregano" not "aregano".

[alfredo]

14. Guarana is the correct spelling.

Guano is the main ingredient in smart pills.

[jtuck004]

17. Guano in Smart Pills. - I am thinking smarter salesperson. n/t

[alfredo]

18. Rabbit pellets are the original smart pills.

[Alkene]

3. Coca: popular with popes? “His Holiness THE POPE..."

"...writes that he has fully appreciated the beneficient effects of this Tonic Wine and has forwarded to Mr. Mariani as a token of his gratitude a gold medal bearing his august effigy.”

Vin Mariani was a tonic and patent medicine created about 1863 by Angelo Mariani, which was made from Bordeaux wine and coca leaves.[3]
The ethanol in the wine acted as a solvent and extracted the cocaine from the coca leaves, altering the drink’s effect. It originally contained 6 mg of cocaine per fluid ounce of wine, but Vin Mariani that was to be exported contained 7.2 mg per ounce, in order to compete with the higher cocaine content of similar drinks in the United States. Advertisements for Vin Mariani claimed that it would restore health, strength, energy, and vitality.

[truthisfreedom]

7. Temporarily, at least.

Sigh, oh for simpler times.

[Sunlei]

4. This is Legal? Free Trade Please!

[a la izquierda]

12. Of course!

It's legal in Bolivia and Peru to chew coca. You can get coca distilled liquors in Europe, if I'm not mistaken. It takes a whole lot of sketchy chemistry to make coca into cocaine. The leaves aren't addictive and they're nothing like cocaine.

[Sunlei]

13. but look that century old pope shoved leaves in a bottle of wine....

[appalachiablue]

6. In Peru before going up to Machu Pichu in a group the guides gave us coca tea.

It was very mild, light in color and had no noticeable effect. We only drank a half cup probably. Being young teens the idea seemed funny at the time. Until this post I never really thought of coco being used to prevent altitude sickness, bizarre.
Good for the Pope visiting Bolivia and going for chewing the coca leaves.

[99th_Monkey]

9. When you are in Rome

or so the saying goes.

[bmbmd]

10. Far out.

nt

[Helen Borg]

11. Why not smoke Cannabis?

Just saying...

[Comrade Grumpy]

15. The pope doesn't endorse recreational drug use, but he recognizes traditional use of coca.

They've been using it in the Andes as an appetite-suppressant and mild stimulant for several thousand years. When chewed or taken in a tea, it's on the same level as having a cup of coffee.

White guys outlawed it in the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, but Bolivia doesn't buy into that and, in fact, explicitly rejects that part of the convention.

I've had coca leaf mojitos in La Paz, Bolivia, but I digress...

Coca isn't a problem for the indigenous Andeans. Cocaine is pretty much a white man problem in their view.

[jtuck004]

16. He will probably think he can talk to God or something. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

19. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Judi Lynn.

[former9thward]

20. I had some coca tea when I landed in La Paz.

I don't drink very much tea but it tasted the same as regular tea to me. They told me not to drink alcohol, that it was bad for altitude. I immediately went to the hotel bar for drinks. Had no problems.

[joanbarnes]

21. I need to party with this dude.

[Joe Chi Minh]

23. I'd love to have seen Francis make a guest appearance in The Big Lebowski. Apparently,

Last edited Wed Jul 1, 2015, 06:47 PM - Edit history (2)

coca also used to counter the effects of altitude or some such, as well as for recreational purposes.

I've never taken recreational drugs, other than nicotine and occasionally alcohol in my younger days, but I love the associated ethos, as depicted in the Big Lebowski, before the economic right-wing had not yet managed to screw any and everything creative down, and reduced it to a shadow of itself as it was in the past.

When I think of the range of exuberant pop songs, often with crazy titles, and singers and groups with with crazy names, and the musak that's turned out today, it's very sad. Also, the words told a little story. They meant something to the listeners. But people had a disposable income in those days, and life seemed to full of possibilities. Who could have imagined that one day septuagenarian groups from the sixties would still be on the go today, people are so desperate for an echo of those days.


Now, I also see the darker side of drugs, and suspect that only mescalin and LSD would be beneficial, and that, only if properly regulated for purity and dosage. I believe for some, the effect is nightmarish, anyway.

[Doctor_J]

24. dude, you're getting a mitre