The US Releases its Annual Report on the War on Drugs

Today, March 1, is what people in the field refer to as “Certification Day.” Every year on this date the US State Department issues its annual: International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, a six-continent review (nothing on Antarctica) of the anti-drug policies and achievements of almost every country (except the US) on the planet. One year I would love to see a coalition of reviewed counties offer up their own report evaluating the US’s inadequate efforts to provide drug treatment, or the way in which US criminal laws treat drug offenders.

The report offers everything from complaints about Canadian marijuana and Belgian ecstasy (the drug, not the state of mind), to praise for Australian law enforcement.

Bolivia, a producer of the coca leaf, is always high (no pun intended) on the report’s South American radar screen. This year it got mixed reviews amidst the schizophrenic “You're okay, You’re not okay” relationship the US maintains with the Morales government. You can read the Bolivia section of the report here.

On one hand, the U.S. cast a positive light on Bolivia’s new approach to alternative development, “…which notably raised the income levels of farmers in the Chapare, shifted to a more integrated approach, with an emphasis on sustainability and increased participation by communities in developing, implementing and monitoring programs.” One of the major failures of US alternative development programs for years is that it didn’t take such an approach and instead basically burned people’s coca plants (and sole source of income) while nudging them into dubious banana and pineapple growing programs that never worked out too well.

On the other hand, the US criticized the Morales government, modestly, for its coca eradication efforts, “The Government of Bolivia (GOB) met its coca eradication goal of 5,000 hectares by mid December 2006. However, this year represented the lowest level of eradication in more than ten years.”

The bottom line is that the US and Bolivia remain divided on the essential philosophy behind the war on drugs. The MAS government’s stated approach is “Coca Yes, Cocaine No.” To be sure, there is still a lot of Bolivian coca headed for uses that don’t involve people chewing leaves or brewing coca tea. This is the basis of the US’s stated concerns about the growth of the country’s coca crop.

That said, the US policy of, essentially, “Coca is Cocaine” is wrongheaded and shortsighted. The coca leaf has been a part of Bolivian culture for thousands of years and no amount of US propaganda or political pressure is going to change that, nor should it. As I have written here before, if the US wants an approach that is practical and not just blind ideology it should help lift the international ban on coca tea and let Bolivia seek a flourishing market for it in the US, Europe, and elsewhere.

The US Embassy in La Paz formally recommends Bolivian coca tea in its health advisory on altitude sickness, “Camomille (manzanilla) and coca tea may help alleviate nausea.” If it is good enough to recommend officially, why shouldn’t Bolivians be able to legally sell it in health food stores in California? That would create a market that is a good deal better for everyone than selling it outside on the street as something else.