Cocaine

Botanical Origins

Cocaine is synthesized from the leaves of the coca plant. These plants grow in Bolivia, Peru, Columbia, Africa, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Formosa. The leaf contains between 0.5% and 1.5% cocaine and the processing methods extract pure cocaine from the leaves.

In the late 15th century, the Incan people thought coca leaves were direct gifts from the gods in order to help them through the brutal physical abuse of working long days and nights in the gold and silver mines at very high altitudes. These people used the leaves during their burial ceremonies and religious rituals; they were controlled as a very special blessing from supreme beings. By mixing the coca leaf with lime or ash, the chewers could "graze" for days - offsetting the effects of physical and mental exhaustion.

Invaders to the Incan and Andean cultures were divided over the "permitted" use of the coca leaves...
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