Coca+Leaves

=**Coca Leaves **=

 In the high mountains of the Andes, there is one substance that is the best substance to counteract the effects of altitude sickness. The coca leaves grows on a bush that is found in Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador. The leaves are very useful in Cuzco where the altitude is very high, causing symptoms to visitors such as shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness, nausea, hallucinations, and in some cases death. Coca leaves are considered a miracle drug in the Andes region because if you chew them, the symptoms will be relieved.

 Coca has been used to ease the discomforts associated with the altitude dating back 8,000 years when native tribes chewed the leaves. This is known because archeologists discovered the leaves buried with mummies and depicted in art on pottery. Today coca is used in the same way, especially by locals. There is also coca tea, which if consumed, it helps relieve the symptoms the same way chewing it does. Coca tea is often served in hotel lobbies to help visitors combat the sickness of the mountains.

 Coca also has religious value to the Quechua people of the Andes who give it as offerings to their Gods. The leaves can also be used as part of a ritual process in which four leaves are held in front of the face and blown in the direction of the Apus, or mountain god. Then the leaves are burned, a way of offering them to the Gods.

 When you hear coca, you might think of cocaine. Well that's because cocaine, the addictive psychoactive alkaloid drug that causes euphoria and psychoactive, is derived from the coca plant. Don’t worry thought because the effects of chewing coca leaves is much different than those associated with the illegal cocaine. Coca is a mild stimulant that combats thirst, hunger, pain and fatigue, and it is not addictive. Because coca leaves can be used to make cocaine, the whole plant is illegal in most parts of the world, aside from Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina where it is grown as a cash crop for the mild purposes, and hard drug distribution.

 Coca was also once used in Coca Cola, hence the name, but has since been removed from the list of ingredients because of its relation to the illegal drug cocaine. Since it is illegal in the U.S., make sure not to get tricked into buying it as a souvenir because you will not get it past the airport. So leave the coca in Peru and use it as needed to avoid getting sick at the high elevations.

By: Hannah Jackson