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Legal notice

Narcotic; the coca leaf is internationally controlled under the 1961 UN Single Convention (Schedule I), as is the cocaine derived from it.

Legal regulation differs by country (e.g. legal traditional chewing in parts of the Andes, strict prohibition elsewhere). Inform yourself about the law that applies to you. This is not a permission to consume.

For education and documentation only. Not a consumption guide, not legal or medical advice. Possession, cultivation and use are regulated differently by country and species — check the law that applies to you.

Leathery oval leaves of the coca shrub (Erythroxylum coca).

© H. Zell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons

Coca

Toxic🐾

Kokastrauch (Coca) · (Erythroxylum coca)

Coca family (Erythroxylaceae)

Description

This evergreen shrub with small, oval leaves grows year-round in the tropical highlands of the Andes, where it is harvested several times a year and belongs to the coca family. Its leaves contain, besides cocaine, a range of further alkaloids including cinnamylcocaine, benzoylecgonine, ecgonine, tropacocaine, cuscohygrine and hygrine. Andean cultures traditionally chew the leaves or prepare them as tea, said to counter fatigue, hunger, cold and altitude sickness; historically, a leaf extract was also used for local anaesthesia. Its principal compound, cocaine, is nonetheless a powerful stimulant carrying a high risk of dependence, poisoning and cardiovascular harm, including arrhythmia and fatal overdose, with dangerous interactions with other stimulants and cardiac medication. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are strictly contraindicated. This entry is presented purely for botanical and historical information, not as guidance on consumption or cultivation.

  • TinctureLeafExternalTraditional use

    The alkaloid cocaine, isolated from the leaves in 1860, became from the 1880s the first clinically used local anaesthetic, in ophthalmic, dental and general surgery. A historical/medical use of the isolated compound — now largely replaced by synthetic anaesthetics.

    Sources: [1] [4]

Historical documentation only — do NOT use

These internal applications are historically documented. This plant is highly toxic — self-treatment can cause severe poisoning or death. For documentation only, explicitly NOT a recommendation.

  • RawLeafInternalTraditional use

    Traditional chewing of dried coca leaves (often with lime/ash as an alkaline additive) by Indigenous Andean peoples for millennia to relieve fatigue, hunger, thirst and altitude sickness. This is a historical-cultural practice, not a consumption recommendation.

    Sources: [1] [2]

  • TeaLeafInternalTraditional use

    Coca tea (mate de coca) brewed from the leaves is a common mild stimulant and folk remedy for altitude sickness in Andean regions — documented traditional use.

    Sources: [1] [2]
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