workingPaper
Documentos OCCO: Coca and its medical applications: prospects, obstacles and lessons learned
Fecha
2022-10-26Registro en:
Eventon, R., Restrepo, D. & Bewley-Taylor, D. (2020). Coca and its medical applications: prospects, obstacles and lessons learned. Documentos OCCO. The Colombian Observatory of Organized Crime Working Paper Series Number 1, Bogotá: Universidad del Rosario.
Autor
Eventon, Ross
Restrepo, David
Bewley-Taylor, David
Institución
Resumen
What possibilities exist for the industrialisation of the coca leaf? In this report, we review the creation of regulated markets for products derived from opium and cannabis, and discuss the lessons learned. While most coca-based products are currently alimentary - including teas and soft drinks - this report takes a step further and, based on the latest scientific research, analyses the potential medical applications of the coca leaf. The preliminary research, which still needs to be expanded significantly, appears promising. However, unlike cannabis and opium, coca does not rely on a large base of pre-existing users; the incentives for businesses are therefore less prominent than in the other cases. The report highlights the prominent role the state can play in encouraging research and product development. In Colombia, the market for coca-based products is less developed than in Peru and Bolivia, and the products that are produced fall into a legal grey area. The creation of a regulated market and the industrialisation of the coca leaf would not be an answer to the problem of illicit drug cultivation in Colombia. Nonetheless, it could allow for a new agricultural product to enter the market, with the potential for the creation of value-added goods with medical applications. Before this can occur, however, a number of legal and political obstacles in Colombia need to be overcome