COCAINE.
(Before you read this, I have absolutely no vested interest in the subject. I say this because when I read it myself, I thought it read uncomfortably like a marketing pitch!)
I would guess that, in terms of UK crime figures, one of the major causes is the import and supply of Class A drugs – heroin & cocaine, including crack. Of these, as well as the criminal damage they inflict on society, heroin and cocaine cause a wide range of health problems. The damage done by heroin quite often results from the impurities added to reduce its purity.
Then we come to cocaine. Anything that requires industrial grade hydrochloric acid in its preparation as got to be suspect from the start! Pure cocaine is lethal: it 'hits' so quickly and massively that it creates a blood pressure surge that overwhelms the heart. That is why it has to be 'cut' with other substances to reduce its impact. Those adulterants themselves, as with heroin, do serious damage to the liver while cocaine corrodes the nasal passages and the habit leads to paranoia anyway! Yes, 'something must be done', as they say but nothing seems to work while Julian Critchley, former drugs adviser to the Cabinet now thinks that legalising -- and thereby regulating and monitoring -- narcotics is the only sensible policy.
A SOLUTION?
It seems to me that one way to seriously damage the entire cocaine industry would be to attack it financially, at source, by making it so prohibitively expensive that the market would wither. Fortunately, we in Europe have a relatively simple means of doing this that would have some major benefits. What I'm proposing is that we legalise the import and consumption of coca tea, a beverage widely and regularly consumed by nationals of those countries where coca is produced. Those countries have a long tradition of drinking it and its benefits are often ignored in the West, simply because it is used to produce cocaine. Of course, the same logic could be used to outlaw the consumption of grapes by children under 18 because they are the principal ingredients in wine and brandy!
COCA LEAF AND COCA TEA ARE NOT THE SAME AS COCAINE.
Apart from coca tea being readily available on tap in most hotels in the Andes and being a retail item -- teabags -- throughout the area, it is also available simply as a leaf: agricultural labourers just chew it, often for hours, because it gives them greater endurance, keeps them alert and helps keep hunger at bay. It is particularly beneficial at the high altitudes because it is also effective in combating altitude sickness, by improving the body's ability to absorb oxygen from the thin air.
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION SUPPORTS COCA TEA
Studies (Nutritional value of Coca Leaf, Harvard University, 1975) have shown that although cocaine is one of the chemical constituents of the coca leaf, it is present in such small quantities that you would actually need to drink around 500 teabags of coca tea in order to ingest the 1g of cocaine that is present in one single 'line' -- that's around 80 litres or 20+ gallons! At the same time, its effects are quite interesting:
-- it increases alertness and sustained concentration
-- it contains vitamins, potassium and trace elements
-- it improves stamina and ability to resist fatigue
-- it is a mild appetite suppressant
-- it is a very mild stimulant
-- it is particularly high in antioxidants
-- it helps with oxygen absorption -- hence its altitude sickness relevance
-- it is definitely non-addictive
-- it helps regulate the heart and circulation
-- it aids digestion
-- it is suitable for old and infirm alike
Anecdotal evidence from tourists to Peru and Colombia consistently supports the proposition that it is basically a risk-free and physically beneficial beverage. It's widely packaged and retailed in exactly the same way as Tetley Tea. Even today, Coca-Cola import around 30,000 tonnes of coca leaf for flavouring although it is stripped of its cocaine content at the insistence of the DEA, as a condition of import. The reason they insist on that process is because a chemical analysis of a coca leaf will certainly indicate the presence of cocaine. It's one of about 15 identifiable components, (I think) and a small one at that: there's no way you could get 'high' on coca tea. Even George Bush, on a visit to Colombia was drinking it as he held a brief press conference although he didn't know it at the time. It was his host's sneaky way of demonstrating its harmlessness and the fact that it did not have any great euphoric 'hit' to make you hunger for more!
EFFECT ON COCAINE TRADE
There are a number of benefits to this proposition. First, if coca tea became an acceptable beverage in Europe, demand for the coca crop would make its legitimate commercial exploitation far more attractive to the Andean farmers. This would raise its price to such an extent that the cost of producing cocaine would rise massively: at the very least, this would raise the street price so that it became prohibitively expensive for many who, at present, consider it cheap and affordable. All too often, the introduction to cheap cocaine draws in the younger and potentially more vulnerable user. The same would be true of its crack derivative. It may not kill the business completely but it would do it serious damage and in the process reduce the incidence of much of the petty crime and violence that surrounds the traffic. If the US followed suit, it could be a terminal blow for the cocaine trade.
BENEFITS FOR ANDEAN HILL FARMERS
A second major benefit would be to the growers themselves. Able to farm the crop legitimately and sell for a higher price than before, the economic circumstances of an impoverished group of farmers would be significantly improved. So too would the economies of their country, without the need for foreign aid because the coca bush requires the sort of growing conditions only provided in the Americas by the Andes or the Rockies at certain altitudes.
There would be other benefits, not so immediately apparent. As cocaine production declined and its market shrank, the peripheral apparatus that supports the trafficking would also shrink -- those who transport it, the use of 'mules', the various middlemen etc.
In short, coca tea has been enjoyed by natives of Peru, Colombia and Bolivia for centuries and should be made available to European consumers. It's beneficial, gives a lift, improves alertness and concentration, helps fight fatigue and is non-addictive. I commend it to the nation!