Community-led consultation about the legal status of the coca leaf

CND 67th Session

 

Organized by: Ágora, FDM and ENCOD

 

Panelists

 

Dora Lucila Troyano Sanchez 

Ecologist working with coca farmers in the Andean Region

 

Francisco E. Thoumi is an Economist and former INCB member. Mr. Thoumi's first term as a Member of the International Narcotics Control Board started in May 2012. He was re-elected in 2014 and his term ended on 30 August 2020.

 

Giselly Mejia Zapata

Designer, artist, researcher, and co-founder of Coca Worlds, a curatorial research project that seeks to highlight the mystical, political, medicinal, and nutritional value of the coca plant through contemporary art. Author of the research article "Mama Coca Chronicles: Navigating Ancestral Heritage and Future Narratives" that will be published this year for the Journal of Futures Studies.

 

Dr. Martín Jelsma

Political scientist specialized in Latin America and international drugs policy. 

In 1995 he initiated and has since coordinated TNI's Drugs & Democracy Programme which focuses on drugs and conflict studies with a focus on the Andean/Amazon region, Burma/Myanmar and Afghanistan, and on the analysis and dialogues around international drug policy making processes (with a special focus on the UN drug control system). Martin is a regular speaker at international policy conferences and advises various NGOs and government officials on developments in the drugs field. He is co-editor of the TNI Drugs & Conflict debate papers and the Drug Policy Briefing series.

 

Jorge Valderrabano

 

Thank you for joining the session. My name is Jorge, I am moderating this session today. Currently I hold the position of Advocacy Officer in Ágora, a think and do tank promoting policies based on peacebuilding principles and social justice measures. 

 

Today we are going to be talking about the coca leaf, a plant with high cultural, historical, and significant economic importance for many communities around the world, and whose legal status has been the subject of debate and controversy for decades.

During the 66th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, in March 2023, Jilata David Choquehuanca, Vice President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, announced the activation of the process to review the current classification of the coca leaf as a narcotic drug in Annex I of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. This critical process is being carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO).

 

In this context, President Luis Arce Catacora sent a notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, at the end of June, in which Bolivia officially requested a critical review of the current classification of the coca leaf, which is at the core of the United Nations drug control treaty system, based on an inadequate and inconsistent classification of the coca leaf, placing it in Schedule I. This classification is incompatible with all established pharmacological and scientific drug classification procedures, thus violating Bolivia's legitimate rights, culture, and ancestral medicine.

 

The Plurinational State has submitted, as an annex to the formal notification, an objective supporting document to overcome the aspects of inconsistency linked to the classification of the coca leaf within the international legal framework in light of dozens of scientific research studies.

 

During a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom, announced to the Vice President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Jilata David Choquehuanca, that the organization has initiated official procedures to carry out a critical review of the current classification of the coca leaf in Annex I of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, scheduled to take place at the end of 2024. The present consultation aims to provide inputs to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the World Health Organization in this process.

 

Today, Forum Drugs Mediterranean, ENCOD (The European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies), and Ágora convene this meeting here to engage in an open and constructive dialogue on the challenges and opportunities surrounding the coca leaf. Our goal is to explore potential solutions, gather diverse perspectives, and lay the groundwork for informed decision-making.

I want to express my sincere gratitude to our panelists for their valuable contributions and to each participant for their active engagement. The contributions they make will play a crucial role in shaping our discussions and informing future policies.

 

Without further ado, let's delve into our agenda for today's consultation. Together, let's work towards a better understanding of the complexities surrounding the legal status of the coca leaf and pave the way for meaningful change. Thank you, and let's begin our journey of exploration and collaboration.

 

Francisco Thoumi

 

Yo fui miembro de la JIFE durante 8 años, y ahí me encontré con una serie de debilidades lógicas dentro de las convenciones. Primero, quiero insistir en que las convenciones no cumplen con ninguna de las normas actuales contemporáneas sobre cómo hacer política. La política moderna no aplica para nada. Para empezar, el problema que se quiere resolver de las convenciones nunca estuvo claro. Pero sí se empezó con la definición de la política misma. En el preámbulo de la Convención de 1961, se empieza diciendo que han convocado esta comisión para prohibir todos los usos médicos y científicos. En otras palabras, se empieza con una solución para un problema. Pero el problema mismo no se define. Desde ese momento, las convenciones han sido soluciones en busca de un problema que puedan resolver. Las Convenciones, además, tienen un sesgo autoritario muy fuerte. En el artículo 39 de la Convención del 61 y el 23 de la Convención del 71, se afirma que los países pueden tener políticas más rigurosas, drásticas y fuertes que las que se requieren para cumplir con la convención. En otras palabras, la política de guerra contra las drogas, o algo como lo que pasó en las Filipinas con Duterte, eso era perfectamente consistente con las convenciones.

 

En la Junta, se logró cambiar un poco la narrativa, para insistir en que las convenciones no requerían tener la pena de muerte, y que había que respetar todas las otras convenciones de derechos humanos. Otro problema es que no es fácil, y es casi imposible, evaluar las políticas mismas. Se empieza afirmando que los costos de la prohibición son inconmensurables. Por consiguiente, no te permite hacer una evaluación de la prohibición misma. Porque cualquier beneficio nunca va a ser mayor que los costos de la adicción. Sin embargo, es muy curioso que las agencias de drogas de las Naciones Unidas insisten en que las políticas de drogas deben estar basadas en la evidencia. Por ejemplo, se argumenta que la mejor manera de disminuir el consumo de cocaína es a través de prevención, tratamiento, rehabilitación y resocialización; pero no se permite evaluar la prohibición. En otras palabras, las Naciones Unidas argumentan que las políticas deben estar basadas en evidencias cuando apoyan una política que nunca se basó en evidencia. Esto implica que la prohibición sea tratado como un dogma, porque no hay forma de evaluarla, no se acepta evaluación. Esto, hace que países con culturas o con gobiernos autoritarios no tengan ningún problema para cumplir con las convenciones. Las objeciones al sistema surgen de países que respetan derechos humanos individuales, y que tienen y quieren construir sociedades abiertas. Es por eso que la gran mayoría de los países en el mundo, países donde está la gran mayoría de la población, no tienen ninguna objeción a las convenciones. De esa forma, lo que tenemos hoy en día es una lucha entre autoritarismo y democracia.

 

La sugerencia que yo he hecho en mis trabajos recientes es que hay que comenzar definiendo cuál es el problema. Por ejemplo, el problema real es el costo de la adicción, o en el caso de Colombia, mi país, el problema es que para nosotros los colombianos, las ganancias del mercado internacional de la cocaína son irresistibles. Es un problema de geopolítica internacional, donde aplicando la política de la dependencia, los colombianos decimos que es lo único que podemos producir exitosamente. Pero además, hay problemas culturales más profundos que los de las convenciones, porque la manera en la que se redactaron se centró en utilizar un enfoque civilizatorio desde los países desarrollados hacia los países atrasados. En ningún momento de la historia de la Coca, y que Martín Jelsma la conoce con profundidad, nunca se pensó que era razonable permitir al cocalero agricultor que consumiera Coca. Lo que se quería era civilizarlos. Esto es lo que llevó finalmente al gobierno de Bolivia a cambiar la constitución para aceptar los usos tradicionales de la Coca. A su vez, no ha habido una investigación seria sobre los efectos de esa política. Hace 20 años, la JIFE le pidió a la OMS un estudio para saber las implicaciones del mambeo o chacheo, y eso nunca se llevó a cabo. Así que, lo que tenemos en el fondo, es una política fundamentada en creencias, ya sea morales o religiosas, pero no en evidencia, y hoy en día, cuando tenemos un mundo polarizado, esa forma de hacer política parece que se está aceptando en muchos sitios, y para mí, ese es el gran problema. Para estudiar la coca en serio, y para ver si es posible generar fertilizantes u otros productos industriales. Así es que, para repetir, tenemos un sistema que prohíbe los usos de la coca, pero también de muchas sustancias psicoactivas, basadas en creencias muy religiosas y muy moralistas, pero no en la evidencia. Quiero parar ahí.

 

Jorge Valderrabano

 

Thank you very much for those words. I would like to pick up on some of the points you highlighted, and I believe that this report you mentioned, requested by the INCB, to investigate the effects of coca leaf use, is relevant because it also shows the lack of studies or the fact that this report has not been able to be published, which represents the obscurantism in which we live, and which is closely related to what you mention about the lack of evidence in public policies because with more research, understanding the impacts of public policies, the risks of drug use, etc., it is easier to make evidence-based decisions rather than decisions based on moral or religious issues. And that is also the challenge, this critical review, what happened with the reclassification of cannabis, and the decision that the WHO will now make and subsequently the CND, I don't know how much effect it will have on reforming the conventions so that drug policies are evidence-based. When you are moving and reclassifying substances, you do not necessarily meet the needs at the community level, and with what we have been advocating for from civil society. But well, this is something they can delve into further.

Perhaps Martin can explain a bit about how the negotiations are going, what has been discussed around the issue, and what we are also expecting to see.

 

Martin Jelsma

 

Thank you Jorge. Let me ask a technical question. Should I speak in english or in spanish? To me it is the same, but if those present speak in english, I can speak in english.

 

Jorge Valderrabano

Go ahead, present in English, and I can translate in the background to Spanish using the interpretation function. 

 

Martin Jelsma

Ok. Let me provide information about where the process stands. Bolivia initiated the process in July of last year by sending a notification to the Secretary-General, requesting this review.

Until now, it has taken time to determine the best approach. There was also some question about whether a review of the Coca leaf alone could be conducted, apart from also looking at coca paste, coca base, and cocaine. I believe that issue has now been resolved. After several preparatory discussions, they are now in the process of selecting the experts who will prepare the critical review report. In terms of the timeline, it's already clear that they will not be able to complete the critical report this year, so it will likely be finished next year. This means that the experts will need to discuss the report's outcome and issue recommendations, either to remove Coca from Schedule 1 of the Single Convention or to take no action.

Based on The WHO's recommendation, the earliest the vote could happen is December next year, or even March 2026. At the time of the notification, Bolivia, apart from the formal notification, also presented a quite detailed report with argumentation which I recommend everybody to read because it is rich in the history of the scheduling decision initially to put it in schedule 1, as Francisco pointed out, based on a lack of evidence, sort of colonial sentiments, and racist arguments. And it also has details more about how other plants are treated, what is the logic of raw materials and plants and extracts and preparations in the three conventions, and I think that is one of the key issues that will somehow have to be clarified when arriving at the point of the recommendations whether or not to reclassify. Some may have been surprised to see that the WHO goes into a critical review because most of their substance reviews start with a pre-review, and then, only if the expert committee decides that it is warranted to move towards critical review, then the next stage enters. So, the guidance document on the review process makes it very clear that if a state party of the convention requests a review of the substance, it immediately enters into a critical review process. Most of all the substances that have been reviewed in the past decade come from the early advisory system for new psychoactive substances from UNODC, or from the internal WHO mechanism. So, all those substances have to first go through the previous stages. In this case, no, that was not necessary. Also, Bolivia specifically asked and made clear they wanted to initiate a critical review, and mostly to prevent what happened in 1992. And what happened in '92? Supposedly, The WHO did approve the review of the program in '92. And they did not present at that point any new study, nothing at all. They just looked back at the old documents from which the original classification was based, and they said it was not necessary to go to the state of the critical review because cocaine can be easily extracted from the cocaine and therefore it is properly scheduled. So, to prevent that, that could again be an option and that there again would not be a proper WHO study and discussion about the properties of the coca leaf, they asked for a critical review.

 

So, the other points I want to point out are what could be the outcome of this review process and what difference would it make in practice for the traditional uses of coca leaf, but also for a potential opening in international markets with natural products. The important distinction is how the coca leaf is treated as a narcotic drug itself, while also, in the treaty articles, there are certain provisions about cultivation of coca bush and use of coca leaf with certain restrictions in its use as a plant for the production of narcotic drugs. So, in the moment that the coca leaf would be taken out of schedule 1 is no longer classified as a narcotic drug itself. Those provisions would still remain enforced, Article 26 of the 61 conventions, but also article 40 of the 1988 convention. But those who basically only require that producers are licensed, that there is state control over wholesale trade, and about import-export. But the marketing of natural coca products, if there is that licensing system and statements all over the wholesale trade, will open up. So, there will be the possibility then to also have both within the Andean region and but also for the international market, to start finally trading all the natural products based on the coca leaf, including the coca tea and the harina/ Flower and many other products that are currently on the market. So, the effect would be huge, and I was also very pleased to hear, I think it was on Thursday, the high-level side event here in Vienna. I'm still here in the CND, the side event where the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and then I'll quote him now, he said: This review holds significant potential to revise drug policies for the better, with corresponding impacts on the lives, livelihoods, and ancestral traditions of indigenous peoples the world over. Because also what if different would be successful? It also creates A precedent for possible revisions of the classification of other substances that have traditional uses of the psychedelics or other plants. So sure, finally. Yeah. Of course, we don't know what The WHO is going to recommend. From our side, we definitely hope that they will look seriously at all the evidence, including already the ones that are presented in the Bolivia's document, and I will recommend taking it out of schedule 1. And the restrictions on the use of coca cultivation for illicit production of cocaine will remain in place because that is in the Treaty articles themselves. So, we hope they will arrive at that conclusion recommendation. They have said that probably they will launch a call in October when the next expert meeting takes place, for civil society to provide inputs, even though it will not get be subject in the agenda of the October meeting of the experts. Finally, if they recommend rescheduling, then it still has to pass the vote in the CND, and that is, yeah, I think there's also the importance of civil society. I'll leave it there to hear the others.

 

Jorge Valderrabano

 

Thank you very much. Now, I have the honor to present Dora, who is in Colombia, working with cultivating communities. Dora, you have the floor.

 

Dora Troyano

 

An honor to share this moment with you. I am very grateful for the invitation. I am very pleased with this 67th United Nations meeting. First of all, it is a pleasure to see so many young people involved in this issue. For so many years, this has been led by older people, and for you to see the results of this work, of so many people who have put their dreams into this over the last 30 years. We saw it far away. Progress always seemed far away.

I wrote this speech to keep it concise. I appreciate the time you take to listen to us. I am in Colombia, Popayán, having very interesting conversations at the local level about the options women have in cultivating communities, in coca-growing communities, to take advantage of the benefits of coca use.

 

When the United Nations made the decision in the Ministerial Declaration of 2019, to establish within its actions to prevent, significantly reduce, as well as work to eliminate illicit crops, production, manufacturing, trafficking, misuse of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and in particular, address the socio-economic issues related to drugs related to illicit crops, including coca leaf and the production, manufacture, and trafficking of drugs, including through the application of drug control policies and long-term, comprehensive, and sustainable drug control programs, development-oriented and balanced; and to promote, in accordance with the three international drug control conventions and national legislation and in line with national constitutional, legal, and administrative systems. It continues with a practice initiated at least a century ago: the denial of the coca leaf as an entity that facilitates conversation in the Andean Amazonian territories. Coca leaf is not just a shrub, it is a sacred plant, with all the benefits and conflicts that this implies: it has phytochemical characteristics that open up a universe of possibilities for transformation in economic sectors such as textiles, nutraceuticals, food, and pharmaceuticals.

The Government of Colombia has issued the new drug policy 2023 - 2033 "Planting life, eradicating drug trafficking" that seeks for the territories, communities, and people to support the integral transition to lawful economies and the reduction of vulnerabilities of the territories and populations that depend on and have been affected by the illegal drug market, transforming their economic, social, and cultural conditions.

The dynamics and realities of the South American Andean territories have shown that there is the possibility of transitioning to lawful economies through alternative uses of the coca bush, such as the production of flours, edible products, dyes, organic fertilizers, among others. However, the development of these actions has not been considered as an option for fulfilling the commitments made in the ministerial declaration of 2019. In the framework of the drug control conventions, the UNGASS, and the declarations on the global drug problem, no actions have been established that allow for an international framework for the development of lawful activities with coca leaf and its non-narcotic derivatives. Since there is no evidence within the framework of the drug control conventions regarding the possibility of establishing alternative strategies for the legal use of the bush and coca leaf, it is requested that the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) allow Andean countries to carry out research associated with the legal use of the bush and coca leaf and their non-narcotic derivatives to generate evidence, so that the contribution of these actions to fulfilling the commitments of the 2019 Ministerial Declaration can be analyzed. These investigations include the development of pilots in territories and communities to generate evidence in terms of development, as well as pilots of legal uses of the bush and coca leaf under the principles of alternative development established in the Secretary's Note A/C.3/68/L.9. The evidence generated by the research will be monitored by a body designated by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) or the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), safeguarding the conventions in the matter, this work can be coordinated with the communities, authorities, and local economic actors.

This 67th meeting has been by far a great advance in the participation of civil society. I thank the persistence of colleagues from around the world and the invitation is to not falter, we are together building a conciliatory and responsible path in the cultivation and use of sacred plants where respect for others, their needs, and their knowledge prevails. Thank you everyone.

 

Jorge

 

Thank you. Now, for the closing, I'd like to call to Giselly, an artist and researcher based in NY, to present her project tiled 'Coca Worlds'. 

 

Giselly Mejia

 

I prepared this in English. However, now that Dora is here, I feel called to speak in Spanish, so I'm going to do it in Spanish to see how it goes. I've prepared some slides. Can you please tell me if you can see my face with my name?

 

Thank you for inviting me. It's an honor to be here alongside Francisco and Martín, learning a lot from you. Thanks to everyone who connected today. This is me, and here are some of the things I do. I'm going to specifically talk about the Coca Worlds project, where I am a co-founder with my colleagues from Colombia. This is us, Angélica Cuevas is connected, Juan Pablo too.

We are a collective that studies the relationship between plants and humans through art. We use art to facilitate it. Two years ago, we started this project, Coca Worlds, or Coca Mundo in Spanish, and Coca Worlds is a curatorial research project where we are collaborating with various Latin American artists who have been working with coca leaves for decades, some using coca as a material for different works, with different dyes, textiles, bioplastics, and clothing, others much more focused on the political aspect, especially focusing on the war on drugs, and others working on cosmology, with communities in the Andean and Amazonian region. In this project, we have had a lot of impact with the community, hosting several events, working with Colombian collectives in NY, and through art, documentaries, photographs, objects, etc. We had a workshop with Tatiana Arocha last year with her, again, collaborating with different artists, we have worked on the future of coca, to have the coca plant removed as a narcotic in the conventions.

 

In these events, we have had participants from Latin America, from Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Europeans, people from Asia who have visited us, and of course, people who live in NY, and we asked them what they would like to change about the current relationship we have with the plant and what the future they imagine would be like.

 

Within those conversations, we have found three main categories derived from what they have told us. Here are some quotes: "In a school in Florida, they taught me the South American capitals with words that began with the same letter. Bogotá for bullets, Colombia with cocaine. These violent associations need to end." And this is an example of the biased view we have of drugs. We know about the coca plant, or Colombia itself, because of its relationship with cocaine.

 

I found it very curious that in the invitation materials for this talk, questions were included, 'Do you know that coca is traditionally used by indigenous communities? Did you know it has medicinal, nutritional properties, etc.?' and of course, people don't know. And this has been amplified by Netflix shows and the media that have amplified this biased narrative of the plant and have made other stigmatizing narratives visible.

 

What a good approach to the plant could involve is that historical studies of the traditional use of the plant be included, and that it be something that is part of the educational systems. In Colombia, for example, in 2017, this topic was included in the history subject, although of course, there is a great disconnect. A good education involves talking about traditional, medicinal uses, and helping us reconcile with our indigenous roots, which many people in Colombia are unaware of. Obviously, having many more projects like this, or projects like Coca Worlds. Cocaine consumers should be informed about the damage that cocaine production has brought to Colombia, and other cultivating countries. The damage is not only to people, but also to territories. Displacement, human rights violations, etc.

 

Here in another category, public health, two comments from the participants we had at the events. One says that cocaine should be legalized, regulated for sale in pharmacies around the world, and increase research into pathologies'. 'Respect the user, involve them in these conversations, and extend the conversation outside of academic spaces, where these conversations always stay. Again, the focus of the war on drugs has been punitive, criminalizing, and that prevents research on the benefits, and the risks too. In the 19th century, there was a lot of research explaining how the substance could be used for local anesthesia, but all of this stopped with prohibition. The same thing happened with psychedelics, in the 60s there was a lot of research on how psychedelics could be used in treatments, and that stopped, although now it is resurging. This gives us hope that something like this will happen with coca.

Finally, another issue that has emerged with the participants is the issue of reparation. Here are two comments from the participants, where it says that 'indigenous people and peasants should have control over what happens with coca, and let community leaders decide', another participation said 'It is necessary to resist capitalism, creating spaces for indigenous people and peasants to be at the center of discussions'. Again, highlighting how reparations in this context can be possible, emphasizing justice, governance, and mentioning who should be at the forefront, making decisions. Will it be corporations, or will it be the communities that have been affected and have a different relationship with coca? Will decisions be made in Vienna, in the United States, or will they be consulted with the communities? Communities must be consulted, they cannot work in silos with people, they must be inclusive policies.

 

To conclude, I wanted to invite you to an activation, for those who are in NY. On March 8th, we open an expo where we invite three Colombian artists to exhibit their art, to talk about coca, and it will be open in NY. Tomorrow, Angélica, our colleague, will be giving a guided tour, so please come.

 

Jorge Valderrabano

 

Thank you. To conclude, I'd like to ask if there's someone who wants to raise a question or who wants to participate. 

 

Francisco Thoumi

 

I just wanted to finish with another point. I have insisted that prohibition needs to be evaluated. There needs to be a serious evaluation process. So far, within the INCB, it has always been acknowledged that societal problems, such as corruption, such as a weakening of social cohesion, tend to promote drug consumption. If we look at chapters 10 and 11 of the first chapter of the INCB reports, they conclude by saying, look, gentlemen countries, please, put an end to corruption, because if not, we cannot successfully enforce prohibition, or please, do not let social cohesion deteriorate. For the same reason, they in turn insist that the health and well-being of society without defining us, but the WHO defines social health, and social health includes all the problems that someone might think of. That opens a Pandora's box because that implies that we need to study what the effect of drug prohibition is on social health. That is the link that closes the circle, where factors such as problems of corruption increase the demand for drugs, and in turn, production increases corruption, increases violence, etc. These links are not accepted in the UN, but it is evident that it is very necessary to begin to demand that the UN confront them because prohibition itself has very different effects depending on the social structure and power structure of each society. There are societies much more vulnerable than others in terms of the effects of prohibition. That is not neutral. Prohibition as a policy has very different consequences depending on the country, and I believe that it is a topic that needs to be taken seriously, thank you.

 

Jorge Valderrabano

What you mentioned leads me very well to my question, although I'm not sure if we have time in this session to address it. But I want to know if with this critical review, or with the decision that the CND makes regarding coca leaf, we would be covering all of this, as you mentioned. In other words, will this serve to evaluate whether the prohibition policy has failed or not, the reclassification of coca leaf will serve to address issues of corruption, weakening of institutions, etc., who knows. What does seem important to me is to emphasize this aspect that you mentioned about the need or the responsibility that the WHO has to safeguard social health, and the importance as well of civil society being present, conducting research, presenting evidence, studies on what that social health means, and how we define it from the communities, the populations, and what could be the best strategy to confront institutions.

 

To conclude, I want to mention that this session will be available in youtube, as well as in other social media platform. I want to thank FMD and ENCOD for cosponsoring this event. 

 

Thank you very much,