Coca plants/leaves = illegal?
 

Is it legal to grow a coca plant, or import coca leaves/tea in the USA?

No, it is not legal due to laws from the times of Elliot Ness. And with the Religious Right running things in a campaign year it is not likely to change. A company in Bolivia has been encouraged by the new leader there to manufacture coca products since it is the unsung major economy of the area, and they ran into problems with the USA almost immediately. You can still buy the stuff abroad, but since the smell of coca is very distinctive there is no product that would get through the sniffer dogs at the post office.

You could possibly get away with it if you were running your own botanical garden. From a brief Google search:

The Alnwick Garden in Britain is opening the “Poison Garden” in August of 2004. The Poison Garden will feature some familiar plants such as belladonna and foxglove (which can both be seen in the UBC Physic Garden), but visitors to the Alnwick Gardens will also see many plants that they are unlikely to encounter elsewhere, such as coca and strychnine.

Arsenic and old lace, anybody?

Here is part of an article on what I was telling you about in Bolivia. You will get your coca in chocolates and other sweets if the new president of that country has his way. That obviously beats the indigenous method, of stuffing your cheek with soggy chewed leaves and a touch of lime for flavoring :drool:

http://hojadecoca.blogspot.com/

My translation from the Spanish from President Morales' speech to this year's Latin American States Summit Meeting:

"The leaf of the coca plant - whose scientific name is Erythroxylon coca— according to medical studies has nutritive properties comparable to those of milk and meat, it is applied for therapeutic and religious ends by the indigenous population for thousands of years and its traditional use is legal in Bolivia."

Translated from one of the "scientific studies" which is referenced also on the above link:

".....the coca leaf contains almost three times more fiber than beans, 14 times more than fruit and 15 times more than vegetables, besides having Vitamin A.

The coca fiber detoxifies and strengthens the digestive system and eliminates fats, cholesterol and triglycerides, and combats colitis, constipation and other digestive ills....

Coca leaves..... aid in eliminating hemorrhoids, repairs and strengthens intestinal flora and is a good supplement for diabetics, besides preventing cancer of the colon and rectum and provides calcium, being ideal for persons with arthritis, joint problems and osteoporosis.

.... this Andean plant can be used as an ingredient in flours, foods and drinks, in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, as well as in the production of cloths, cartons, papers, coloring agents and other products."

Well gee whiz, this is better stuff than any snake oil ever sold in THIS country!

The illustrious President of Colombia, Hugo Chavez (admirer of Pat Robertson) wants to sell the stuff in BREAD. No doubt he has worked out an agreement with Bolivia to trade coca leaves for the oil which he has nationalized?

"The Venezuelan commander observed that traditionally many Andean natives 'chew it and take a good part of their nutrition' from the leaf.

Chávez declared that he saw on a television news program where the idea was spread to make bread from coca, which has gained popularity among some in Bolivia and Peru.

Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala, an ally of Chávez, has suggested that if he is elected he would distribute bread made with coca flour as part of the school lunches for children of the poor in his country.

Chávez mentioned the idea of baking bread including coca dust while the organizer of a cooperative described the work of a communal kitchen in which they teach culinary techniques in a poor slum to the west of Caracas.

'We ought to try it here within this effort, in order to, well, take away the demonization of that product which our natives have produced for centuries', Chávez said."

This is right up there with declaring ketchup a vegetable in the US school lunch program. I predict conservatives of all nations will quickly embrace this idea, since coca is an appetite suppressant, and they can get away with feeding the little poor kids half of what they would normally have to. The money thus saved could go into the war on drugs or the war in Iraq or whatever other war is currently in fashion. :eyebrow:

Arsenic isn't a botanical. It's a metallic element.
I doubt there would be much advantage gained; the fraction of food stamp/welfare/AFDC funds spent on coca products would probably remain constant.

Pedantic much?

REALLY????? I thought it was an old movie starring Cary Grant. :eek:

My dealer prefers cash to QUEST cards (Colorado food stamp card). I hear he won't take WIC or commodities, either. I guess I'm just going to have to find someone more reasonable. Thanks for the tip. :cool:

My apologies, Hugo Chavez is the President of VENEZUELA. I just noticed I typed it wrong in my translation above and for some reason there is no edit button on my post.

I'm guessing that "Old Lace" wasn't referring to Queen Anne's Lace, either.

No, that's Arsenic and Old Lace. Originally a stage play, of coiurse.
Do what everyone else does: sell the food stamps for cash. Of course, that's why Colorado is using a card system now, I'd imagine.

Pedantic note

A species of sponge has been discovered that apparently takes up arsenic without harm to the sponge. If someone were to eat one of these sponges - and I know you secret sponge eaters are out there - the results would be as lethal as taking your arsenic from the table of periodic elements.

Whether this sponge could, thus, be construed as a botanically poisonous organism, I leave to more learned minds than mine.:rolleyes:

Oh and pretty much every state uses those cards - not just Colorado. Its a pain in the ass selling one of those cards for cash - for one thing, Colorado, anyhow, does not give out generous food stamp awards. For one person the range is $10.00 - $130.00/month. Suppose you could find someone who would take your card and give you about half the value on it. If that's how you supplied your drug habit, you'd be down stealing the little kids' coca bread within a day or two.

Pennsylvania's ACCESS card serves as your identification for point of entry for a lot of different services, including medical care (although most people also have a managed medicaid HMO card along with it), food stamps, and it works like an ordinary ATM card for cash withdrawals up to a certain amount.

A few surprising places that I have seen the little teal and yellow "ACCESS accepted" sign include Wal-Mart, KFC, and Payless Shoe Stores. I forget whether it's on the list of accepted cards at the gas station, Wawa and the 7-11, but I'll try to remember to look next time.

Some farmers' markets accept ACCESS cards, too.

I'm not used to farmer's markets having the ability to accept anything other than cash.

Oh. You mean something that CALLS itself a farmer's market but is really in the city, don't you?