Bolivia's president Evo Morales took a coca leaf out of his pocket and ate it in front of many other important political figures in the UN today, the Independent reported today.
Mr. Morales made a statement saying that coca leafs are not drugs and that they don't do any harm to the human bodies.
He claims that coca leafs can be used as medicine, as the native Bolivians have been using them for decades.
The Independent reported today: "President Morales, a former peasant coca farmer, brandished the leaf during an impassioned speech, saying: This is coca leaf, this is not cocaine, this is part and parcel of a culture."
President Morales of Bolivia is in a long-term campaign to legalize coca leaf importation to the US and Europe.
His scope is to show the world that with the right treatment, the medical power of coca leafs can be used to cure some light and fatal illnesses.
However, the reality is more complex than what it seems. Why hasn't Mr. Morales been given the opportunity to export coca leafs if the scope of this action is to make medicines that, at the end of the day, will be used to help human lives?
Because unfortunately, if anyone were given the opportunity to export coca leafs there will always be a group of people who will always find their way to use the leaf for other purposes (drug making and drug dealing).
I believe that the US, Britain and Europe have already got too many drug problems and making one 'drug' legal will not do any good to us.
The picture used for this article was taken from http://vivirlatino.com/
Independent article used to write this story:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/this-is-a-coca-leaf-not-cocaine-insists-morales-1643098.html
Evo Morales' profile (Wikipedia):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales
Bolivia's Profile (Wikipedia):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia
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