BENEFITS OF COCA chasqui CLAIM IN FAVOR OF THE BENEFITS OF THE COCA
Mario Argandoña
Bolpress, Friday, January 20, 2006
The unjust war of extermination against coca
All States world came together to conduct a total war against coca from the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1) which stated:
Ø Wherever possible, Parties require the uprooting of all coca bushes which grow wild and destroy those that are grown illegally (Article 26).
Ø The coca leaf chewing must be abolished within 25 years after the entry into force of this Convention (Article 49 e).
The Preamble of the Convention sets out the excuses for these obligations and prohibitions:
The Parties
Concerned by the health and welfare of mankind.
But the English version of the same preamble surprised with a change of pretexts:
The Parties,
Concerned with the health and welfare of Mankind.
(which in English means Parties, Concerned with the health and welfare of humanity).
The substitution of the word comfort (for Anglophones) and moral (for English speakers) reveals, as we shall see later-colonialist vocation States rich and powerful and exposes the humanitarian and scientific fallacies of the Convention, to show one's own face of bullying and predation that had been covered with the trick of moralizing.
After the preamble to the Convention euphemisms used to declare war:
Recognizing that drug addiction is a serious evil for the individual and is fraught with social and economic danger to mankind .
Aware of its obligation to prevent and combat this evil.
whereas that effective measures against abuse of narcotic drugs require concerted action and universal.
then Section 1 of the Convention, which exhibits 25 definitions, avoids defining abuse and the definition of counterfeit drug (narcotic English) to proclaim that: j) "Narcotic drug" means any of the substances in schedules I and II, natural or synthetic.
A report of the Parliament of Canada (2) revealed that pressure UN U.S. had favored the group of industrialized nations that advocated strict control of the production of organic raw materials and drug trafficking, but defended its pharmaceutical industry, producing psychotropic substances States against the group of producers and users of traditional materials organic raw as coca, opium and cannabis. The group of "organic" had no power to oppose the prohibitionist position of the group of rich states, however, managed to negotiate the language of the Convention by introducing exceptions, delays and gaps, also managed development aid to offset losses causing prohibition.
In honor justice and truth, and against the arbitrary views globally propaganda disseminated by the U.S. and the UN should deny the slanderous epithets intended to characterize the coca leaf (drug that produces addiction) and must exorcise the demons that demonize (grave evil and danger to humanity), demonstrating that the traditional use of coca leaf and its modern adaptations is not only harmless but beneficial to the physical, mental and social, and also enhances the moral, economic favors the poor, and promoting democracy in Bolivia and the Andean countries.
The study WHO / UNICRI
The harmlessness and human health benefits of traditional use of leaves of coca have been tested with scientific rigor by the largest global study on cocaine to date, prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the United Nations Interregional Crime Research and Justice (UNICRI for its acronym in English) that developed between the years 1991 to 1995. The WHO Cocaine Project / UNICRI (3) gathered information from 22 cities in 19 developed and developing countries on 5 continents on the use of coca leaf and its derivatives, their effects on users and communities and the response of governments to the problem of cocaine . The 45 international researchers (including teachers from 5 universities in USA) who worked on the project were:
- 's 19 countries on cocaine
- key informant studies, from users to persons with extensive knowledge on the subject;
- The Study Natural History in 4 parts of South America and Africa.
Cocaine Project The WHO / UNICRI noted that the traditional use of coca seems to have no negative health effects and has therapeutic functions, sacred and social impact among indigenous peoples in the Andean region, and among some groups in Brazil. And that coca cultivation is the basis of the subsistence economy of many rural communities in Bolivia and Peru. The consumption of coca leaf is an integral part of the Andean cultural tradition and its worldview. Its main uses include:
- energizing, gives more energy to work or to combat fatigue and cold, but it reduces hunger, leaf coca not considered a food
- medical : infusions, syrups and plasters to diagnose and treat a variety of sociocultural conditions attributed to supernatural causes and express interpersonal conflicts or conflicts within social structures
- sacred to communicate with the supernatural world and get their protection, especially with offerings to Pachamama, personification, and spiritualize the earth
- social : to maintain social cohesion and cooperation among community members, is used in all communal ceremonies, reciprocal labor exchanges and relations of sociability.
Project The WHO / UNICRI describe the traditional consumption of coca leaf, called acullicu, which is to keep the mouth a ball of coca leaves moistened with saliva, together with an alkaline substance that helps to extract the alkaloids from the leaves. The ball is ready for a rest 10 to 20 minutes and then sucks for 2 or 3 hours [after which they exhale the leaves whole, not chewed] *. During the work, the structure acullicu periods of activity and rest. On an average day, 3 balls are used, equivalent to 25 grams coca leaf. If you have to work longer or is harder work than usual, more sheets are used.
The acullicu is practiced by both men and women. Its use is very stable, since it starts in adolescence, when one begins to work and may not be interrupted during the rest of life. [In 1980 Argandoña (4) reported that in Peru, the Chewing-in Acullicu-called Bolivia does not produce dependence, as they check every day the farmers that their military service, or those that migrate from the mountains to the coastal cities, situations in which they leave their habit without problems]. In the urban middle classes seem smaller acullicu [Although the traditional culture of the coca leaf is adapted to modern society in the form of teas, syrups, medicines, bread, pastries, soft drinks, etc., As well as new acullicar modalities, for example, chewing gum, baking soda, and others. It also confirms that as a result of these processes, some sacred and ceremonial uses of the coca appeared exclusively rural, including incense, divination, and healing rituals of sociability- seen with increasing frequency in cities]. All users of the coca leaf underscore the usefulness of increased energy and therapeutic applications, as well as symbolic and ritual importance. For most users, the coca leaf continues to have a sacred character.
in Cochabamba Informants stressed that indigenous farmers acullicar for decades and show no adverse effects from continued use. The Colombia report noted that there is no evidence that the habit of acullicu caused noticeable damage in the physical or mental health. Is likely to come to the same conclusion for other users of natural coca products such as tea bags or chewing gum.
Farmers in Cochabamba coca reports indicated that the economic benefits to Indian farmers because it helps to increase yield in agriculture, fisheries and mining . The informants Medellín point that shamans use coca leaves in religious rituals to strengthen his powers. [Local reports note that the carriers are essential to acullicu when driving vehicles at night, many academics and intellectuals claim that the acullicu allows them to concentrate on their studies and increases their understanding].
Scientists who participated in the study WHO / UNICRI made the following recommendations:
Although it - the possibility that use of the coca leaf can be linked to some health problems so far undetected, it is unlikely. It would be much more interesting to discover whether the acullicu can have positive health effects and whether these effects are portable, traditional settings to other countries and cultures.
- WHO should investigate the impact of various laws and drug control measures on individuals and specific populations.
- WHO should investigate the therapeutic benefits coca leaf.
The March 14, 1995, WHO announced the publication of the international press Cocaine Project WHO / UNICRI (5). A few days later, on May 9 de1995 in Committee B of the 48th General Assembly of Health, held in Geneva, the representative of the United States
"expressed his surprise to discover that the report Global Study of Cocaine, conducted jointly by WHO and UNICRI, seemed a strong argument in favor of the positive uses of cocaine, arguing that the use of coca leaf produced no visible damage on the physical or mental, the positive effects of chewing coca leaf could be transferred from their traditional settings to other countries and cultures, and that coca production was financially beneficial for farmers. "
added that his government would suspend financial support if the WHO is not dissociated from conclusions of the study and if it adopted a position that would justify the production of coca. In response, the Secretariat of the WHO said the study was an important and objective analysis of data collected in many countries and was conducted by international experts whose conclusions did not reflect the position of WHO . The U.S. representative said that the study was important and objective and should be reviewed by genuine scientists (peer review ) according to the strict rules to WHO, which was accepted by WHO (6). But the global study of cocaine has not been reviewed or published until now.
comments organization Transnational Institute (7) on the study WHO / UNICRI remember that:
"The peer review is a fundamental part of any scientific study, also in WHO. The announcement of the publication of the results of the 'initiative on cocaine "had been premature as a result of their spectacular findings. The Director of the Program on Substance Abuse (PSA) of WHO, Hans Emblad, had sent a copy to the United Nations Programme International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) in Vienna, where it caused a scandal. The conclusion of the review (peer review) was scheduled for September 30, 1997. In fact, from May 1995 were prepared lists of names of several scholars, who were sent to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA for its acronym in English) U.S. institution responsible for the selection . During nearly two years was an intensive exchange of faxed lists of names of persons nominated by the PSA and the responses of NIDA, rejecting them one by one. Was never formal end to this 'initiative on cocaine'. Most researchers who collaborated never knew what happened to their jobs. Some published their part in their respective countries. "
The role of WHO
The study of WHO / UNICRI, in addition to be the largest to date on the coca leaf and its derivatives, is the only scientific study of the coca leaf by WHO, which is why it should have been taken into account in responding Bolivia's government during the 36th session of the CND in March 1993 formally requested that 'the lifting of restrictions (on the coca leaf) under international conventions. " WHO failed in its duty established by the 1961 Convention, Article 3, paragraph 4:
Ø If WHO finds that a preparation given substances it contains, does not lend itself to abuse and can produce adverse effects and drug content can not be recovered easily, the Commission [Commission on Narcotic Drugs] may in accordance with the recommendation of WHO, add that preparation to Schedule III.
In this case it is necessary to clarify that the word "ready" appears in the English version as preparation, derived from the verb to prepare ( 7), one of whose meanings is: If you prepare food, you clean it, cook it, etc.. That so it is ready to Be Eaten (If you prepare food, clean, cook, etc. so it's ready to eat), corresponds to the process of harvesting, cleaning, drying in the sun, etc. coca leaves so that they are ready to acullicar. Now, back to Article 3, paragraph 4, there is scientific proof that the traditional use of coca is not liable to abuse, or adverse effects, nor is it easy getting their content into cocaine, which would meet the conditions to pass of the list I to the III. addition, since coca is a ready benefit to millions of people who use it in traditional way, WHO is in the studio WHO / UNICRI reason enough to recommend to the Commission to withdraw this "preparation" of the fraudulent lists Convention Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the Protocol of 1972.
However, the WHO prefierió obey U.S. rather than scientific evidence produced by the WHO itself , as demonstrated by the publication of the study sneak WHO / UNICRI . A circumstance which confirms this obedience is the 28th Expert Committee WHO Drug (8) held in Geneva from September 28 to October 2, 1992 (just as the study WHO / UNICRI was in its initial stages) ruled that:
Ø Chewing coca leaves were examined in the 3 rd and 4 th meeting of the Committee, which concluded that it was a form of "addiction" ... based on a study conducted in 1949 -1950. Since then, WHO has not conducted a formal evaluation of chewing coca leaves.
Ø The Committee believed that the coca leaf is properly included in the lists under the Convention Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, since cocaine is readily extractable from the leaf.
While the Committee acknowledged that WHO had not made an assessment he said, forgetting the ethics of science-that coca chewing was an "addiction" (word unscientific rejected by the same Committee on pages 2-5 of the 28 th Report that comment) and that cocaine is easily extracted from the coca leaf. That is, the Committee asserts that the coca leaf should remain on the list I because it violates the requirements of Article 3, paragraph 4, to remove it. What the Committee did not have the honesty to declare is that none of its 11 members, none of the 9 representatives of other organizations and none of the 3 members of the WHO Secretariat had knowledge or curiosity about the traditional use of the coca leaf. Hence the talk of "chewing" being in fact a suction, "addiction" that has never been seen or diagnosed, and easy to extract cocaine, being that this alkaloid extraction requires a very sophisticated process with costly inputs knowledge of chemistry, technical and chemicals, all of which are inaccessible to users of indigenous coca, farmers and urban workers.
Summary of the benefits of the coca leaf
To summarize, it identifies the main benefits of the traditional use of the road coca human health-physical, mental and social, and ecological health, as it is:
- gentle energizing improves productivity at work manual and intellectual
- relieving medicine and cultural conditions of everyday health problems such as headaches, stomach pain, rheumatic pains;
- the remedy for minor problems mental health and exhaustion, disappointment, depression, anxiety, stress ;
- a source of micronutrients and vitamins
- the facilitator of social relationships, solidarity and cohesion in communities and work teams;
- religious instrument of spiritual transcendence;
- the link with nature, so loved and respected in the Andean world view;
regards the moral goodness of the use of coca leaf, it should be recalled that Pope Leo XIII lent his likeness to Mariani wine label, made with coca leaves, and awarded a gold medal to the inventor, in recognition of the capacity of the beverage to "support the ascetic withdrawal of His Holiness" (10). For millennia, native Americans, not just the Andean highlands, wisely used the coca leaf so as to maximize its benefits and never incur excess or risks. The effect is extraordinarily complex (Nietzsche would say that is an effect Apollonian) that lasts while maintaining acullicu to disappear within a few minutes to complete it without any consequences for the organism. To give an idea of \u200b\u200bsuch an effect can be broken down into its components:
- exalts the spiritual and physical capacities of human beings;
- increases clear thinking and mental concentration;
- increases the desire and stamina to work and to bear the misfortunes,
- produces a serene and pleasant asceticism which dominates both the suffering and concerns as braking the temptations of gluttony, lust, sloth, anger, cowardice and impulsivity, facilitating moral action in relation to cultural norms and mores, and in relation to human rights and freedoms.
It is now necessary to return to the Preamble of the 1961 Convention, which notes the concern about the damage that cocaine causes the morale of the English-speaking . This is a tricky and treacherous proposition of colonialism ethnocentric than the old guise of hypocrisy Salvationist-used since the English conquistadors and missionaries, seeking to impose their own rules and customs, which considered only good for humanity, while all and every one of the manifestations of difference and otherness are disqualified and sentenced to the removal, with the unstated purpose of dominating and plundering the territories of cultures and nations who were baptized as "non-Western."
coca-cocaine relationship
That coca is not cocaine, is analogous to that corn is not alcohol or aspirin willow is not . It is obvious that a plant with the immense complexity of living beings is not the same as one of its molecules between the billions of molecules interacting within each of its billions of cells. Additionally, each molecule meets very complex functions within the plant that synthesizes and uses it to maintain shape life and the reproduction of his body and grow, multiply and evolve in their relationship with the biosphere, ecology, the planet and the cosmos of extracting light and other forms of energy and nutrients. This is so obvious that the 1961 Convention and 28 th Report of the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, WHO, have never said that coca is cocaine. The most that was dared to say that the "drug" is recovered or extracted from the plant easily, and that consequently, the plant is a concern for the health and morals and that drug abuse is a social and economic danger to mankind, reason must be eradicated. All this is humbug:
- First, because cocaine is not only energizing or stimulant drug (11).
- Second, it is not easy to extract cocaine from the plant since it is a difficult and complicated process that requires knowledge and modern techniques and expensive inputs that most produce only "developed" by comparison, alcohol extract (which does have effects drugs and narcotics) of grapes, fruits and grains, sugarcane or potatoes, it is so easy it has been possible since prehistoric times.
- Third, because the Convention does not define what can be understood by "addiction" and the Report of the WHO uses the word "addiction," despite the fact that this Committee is entitled to be expert on "drug", and defined on pages 2-5 of the 28 th Report, the scientific concept dependency, which is important because the word "addiction" has been rejected by science because of its pejorative connotations and criminal cases, moreover, has never been proven to produce coca addiction, addiction or dependence.
- Fourth, because you know that coca gives no cause for concern for the health and morals.
- Fifth, because the cultivation of coca is important, essential and beneficial for the subsistence economy and productivity of indigenous people, peasants and urban workers.
- And, sixth, because the example of Bolivia shows that users and advocates of coca are the only ones capable of building a democratic society.
However, scientifically rigorous compilation of FR Jeri, published by PAHO in 1980 (12), 16 research reports , 15 national reports on production, trafficking and use, and 7 literature review also included on page 143, a pseudo-scientific report, where the Argentinean Cagliotti stated that the habit of chewing Coca is a health hazard and is universally regarded as an addiction. Though false, this view has been the foundation of the policy of "zero coca", as one might assume that the centers of repression and health can be up to believe the opinions they agree while simply reject the scientific evidence do not like.
can not deny that the minimal content of cocaine in coca leaves produces a wonderful effect was deified by the ancient cultures who discovered it. According to Paly et (13), coca contains 0.5 to 0.65 grams of cocaine 100 grams of leaves in their study of native Peruvians chewers, at doses of 40 grams sheet, a acullicu contains 200 to 260 milligrams of cocaine absorbed by the body in minute amounts very slowly, reaching the concentration of cocaine in the blood, at 90 minutes into the acullicu up to 90 - 250 nanograms (ng) per milliliter of plasma (a gram has billions of nanograms), and then declined to 40 ng in the next 90 minutes. Changes in plasma levels of cocaine depended on the variety of leaf and experience of chewers studied. Compared hydrochloride users, pasta or crack, and often repetitively consumed daily doses of 5, 10, and more grams of pure cocaine (extracted from 1 to 2 kg and more coca leaf) , which are not absorbed slowly and in small amounts but which penetrate the brain in seconds, after crossing the blood-brain barrier. An experiment with smoking Peruvian coca paste were incarcerated (14) showed that 5 minutes of smoking half a gram of good quality pasta or pasta washed (extracted from 100 grams of coca leaf), the level cocaine blood plasma reached 975 ng, to quickly lower the blood to disappear after 60 minutes. The authors note that subjects who received 0.5 grams pulp were current smokers who consumed an average of 5 grams in each session, several times a day.
These experiments allow us to define the differences between uses and users of coca and cocaine, differences due to substance users, contexts and effects or consequences .
- The differences are related to the substances tested in both experiments Paly et al on the dose and pharmacokinetics of coca and cocaine . On the other hand in acullicu cocaine is not isolated but integrated into a complex of nutrients that regulate the pharmacokinetics of alkaloids in coca leaf.
- The differences between the traditional users of coca leaf and cocaine users are modern self-evident.
- contexts are different: the use of coca is protected and regulated by ancient customs that explain the strength and survival of Andean indigenous peoples despite the persecution and extermination campaign against them for over 500 years. The coca in Andean culture is exactly the opposite of a "drug" Western and modern, since their use is beneficial for the individual and the community . In contrast, the "drug or narcotic is a substance chemically isolated and cocaine users is also isolated from their community, so this" drug "is used in a context of secrecy and anomie (without social norms) criminalized and repressed by societies and modern states, precisely because it is included in the concept of "drug", ie chemical that harms the individual and the community.
- The effects also differ both uses, coca has beneficial effects on traditional users. Cocaine produces harmful effects on users who consume excessively, harmful or dependent.
However, cocaine is not satanic embodiment of evil and danger that beset mankind, its use has nuances and effects of broad spectrum, as revealed by the Project WHO / UNICRI that After five years of work concluded that:
there is no 'average user' but there is a huge variety of people who use cocaine, in very variable doses, frequencies, durations and intensities, for different reasons and with different consequences. Inhalation of cocaine hydrochloride was the most prevalent in the world, while the pasta or smoking crack, and cocaine injection were limited to minority and marginal groups. The researchers also stressed the need to increase education, treatment and rehabilitation to balance the emphasis on law enforcement. The study authors stressed that scientific methods (particularly qualitative) would be very useful for information on the use of cocaine or other drugs in other countries, as well as to monitor consumption trends and take appropriate action.
Conclusion
Although the government of Bolivia made in recent decades some attempts to remove the lists of drugs in plants and UN coca leaves were feeble attempts that were not followed. At a time when Bolivia's government and force will be led by a brave president who has personally suffered the atrocities of the global war against coca and coca growers, comes the hope that this allegation will contribute to the heroic struggle of Bolivian people to defend their sovereignty, their dignity, their rights and natural resources.
References
(1) United Nations 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs amended by the 1972 Protocol Amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961.
United Nations, Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961as Amended by the 1972 Protocol Amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961.
(2)Library of Parliament, 2001, The History and Development of the Leading International Drug Control Conventions , Canadá, en: www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/library-e/history-e.htm
(3) OMS/UNICRI,1995, Proyecto Cocaína , en: www.tni.org/drugscoca-docs/coca.htm
Argandoña, M, 2002, Coca delusional and Puritanism, PULSE, 4-10 October, La Paz
* The [] brackets indicate text added by the author the study WHO / UNICRI.
(4) Argano, M., 1981, Final report on the assistance provided to Peru's health ministry for programming the project entitled: prevention, treatment and drug rehabilitation, DMH-Peru 1501, PAHO / WHO Washington, D.C.
(5) WHO, Press Release/20 , 14 March 1995
(6) WHO, Forty-eighth World Health Assembly, A48/B/SR/6, 9 May 1995
(7) www.tni.org/drugs/reports/brief5s.htm.
(8) Collins Cobuild, 1988, Inglés Language Dictionary, London & Glasgow
(9) WHO, 1993, Committee WHO Expert on Drug 28 º Report, Technical Report Series 836, Geneva.
(11) WHO International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition , Geneva
Alegato
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