The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), made up of some 200 NGOs from around the world, expressed this Tuesday its “deep dismay” at the recent decision of the WHO to maintain the coca leaf in Schedule I of the Convention against Drugs, that is, among dangerous substances.
As the IDPC recalls in a statement, the international control of the coca leaf and the prohibition of its cultivation and traditional use starting in the 1960s were a consequence of “defective and racially biased” studies.
The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) evaluated the coca leaf following a petition presented by Bolivia in 2023 and supported by Colombia, and decided this week to keep it in List I of the 1961 Single Convention with the most dangerous substances and under stricter international control, such as heroin and cocaine, among others.
According to IDPC executive director Ann Fordham, the WHO decision is “disappointing and worrying” and reinforces the “racist and colonial foundations of international drug control, making clear that the system is broken and resists meaningful reform.”
The IDPC advocates for drug policies that promote social justice and human rights.
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The WHO study – which will be presented this week in Vienna during a meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs – recognizes the traditional uses of the coca leaf and some indications of a possible therapeutic use, but concludes that the available scientific evidence is insufficient to modify its status.
The IDPC assured that the scientific evaluation and the Committee’s decision ignore the “clear evidence” that the coca leaf, in its natural form, presents minimal health risks, while “ignoring millennia of indigenous knowledge” by stating that there is no solid basis for its therapeutic use.
Furthermore, he highlighted that the recognized rights of indigenous peoples to “self-determination, the use of their natural resources and the preservation of their culture, traditional medicines and health practices” were not taken into account.
On the other hand, the NGOs highlighted the “growing concern” that political pressure, particularly from governments alarmed by the rise of cocaine markets in Europe, has influenced the outcome of the evaluation, while describing as “unfounded” fears that the declassification of coca will boost cocaine production.
In this sense, the Consortium remembers that the production of cocaine requires complex chemical processing and large quantities of leaves, as a metric ton of fresh coca leaves only 1.45 kilos of cocaine, according to the United Nations Organization against Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
For this reason, the IDPC reiterates its demand to declassify only the natural coca leaf, while cocaine must remain strictly prohibited.
With information from EFE
