Voice of America reports:

Bolivia Set to Nearly Double Land Allowed for Coca

A woman chews coca leaves during an event commemorating the tradition of coca leaf chewing in La Paz, Bolivia, Jan. 11, 2017. Coca has been cultivated in the Bolivian Andes since at least the Inca era. [people forget that the Inca and his elite used it as a drug, and also give it to their peasants/slaves so that they could work without feeling any hunger nor being tired … now, tell me if that is not a drug?!]

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA — Bolivia’s Senate passed a bill Friday to nearly double the amount of land that can legally be planted with coca, bringing the South American nation’s expected production to 30,000 tons of leaves. [Bolivia is dangerously seeming more like Somalia, a failed State …]

The bill, which was approved by the Andean nation’s lower house Thursday [02/23/2017], will allow farmers to plant up to 22,000 hectares with coca, the main ingredient in cocaine, compared to 12,000 hectares under a previous law enacted in 1988.

Leftist President Evo Morales, a former coca grower, is expected to sign the bill into law.

Sacred and medicinal

People in the Andes have for centuries chewed coca leaves to ward off the effects of high altitude [and hunger, physical effort]. Coca is also brewed into tea and considered sacred by many indigenous people, including Morales. [these people forget that coca was used mainly by the elite and most of their population did not have access at all … so, there is nothing about being “sacred” it was forbidden to the populace!]

“The important thing has been to stop demonizing the coca leaf, to decriminalize it, to release it,” Bolivian Senate President Alberto Gonzales said. “We are talking about a noble, sacred leaf that did not deserve to be stigmatized in the way it was for almost 30 years.” [this petty individual fails to recall that a Brazilian soccer player was tested of having cocaine by just having coca tea …]

Bolivia needs about 25,000 tons of coca for traditional and religious rituals, said Cesar Cocarico, the minister of rural development and land. He said about 6,000 ton could be industrialized and legally exported to countries including Ecuador and Argentina. [outrageous BS to “justify” the production of the prime input to cocaine!]

Farmers want no limits

Opposition lawmaker Wilson Santamaria said it was not necessary to increase the area planted for coca, noting that studies showed 14,000 hectares was sufficient to meet the demand for legal and cultural usage.

Coca farmers who would like to abolish limits on coca planting altogether threw rocks in protests in La Paz earlier this week, causing the police to release tear gas. [a narco State in the horizon, like Somalia, we could become a failed State]

http://www.voanews.com/a/bolivia-coca-acres-set-to-nearly-double/3739493.html