Bolivia and Colombia to ask UN to decriminalize coca leaves

Gustavo Petro and Luis Arce, presidents of Colombia and Bolivia, respectively, plan to ask the United Nations (UN) to remove the coca leaf from the list of prohibited substances to be accepted for supposedly medicinal use and ceremonial purposes.

Specifically, according to the Colombian vice-minister of multicultural affairs, Laura Gil, both governments will formally present the proposal at the 66th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, to be held in March.

“At this moment, Bolivia and Colombia consider that it is time to put the issue back on the table,” she said.

In recent years both countries have seen substantial increases in their coca leaf production rates.

For example, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Colombia had 204,000 hectares of coca leaf crops at the end of 2021 (an increase of 43% compared to previous studies), setting record figures in this area.

In the case of Bolivia, the same office determined that by 2021 there were 30,500 hectares of coca crops, an increase of 4% over previous years.

In the Andean country, the former government of leftist Evo Morales decriminalized coca cultivation at the national level.

With information from LGI