14. Coca(ine)

According to Canadian anthropologist Wade Davis, "Coca is no more cocaine than potatoes are vodka" (18). 1 He seems to imply that we should disconnect cocaine as an object from its material origin, the coca plant.The reason why he makes such a strong statement is his aversion to the stimulant cocaine and the violent conflict it has given rise to, together with a profound wish to protect the coca plant and the indigenous cultures attached to it.Cocaine was discovered by Albert Niemann, a German graduate student, in 1860.Among critics, the reduction of cocaine to a capitalist commodity is common, as is the veneration of the coca leaf as a raw, natural material-one that carries with it a distinctive spiritual power.Coca and cocaine are thus seen as two entirely different things with separate histories (Britto 14).From such a perspective, the "war on drugs" rhetoric unjustly demonizes both the alkaloid and the plant.Or, to put it differently: the forced eradication of the coca leaf is the consequence of a flawed strategy.Not only should the coca leaf not be reduced to its chemical derivate, cocaine (other uses are increasingly being explored), but also the eradication of the illegal drug traffic should be oriented toward decreasing consumption (in the Global North) instead of destroying production (in Latin America) (Davis 30).Much can be said about this discussion, but first, it is useful to observe that the dichotomy between coca and cocaine breaks down if we take a closer look.The perception of the coca leaf as a "raw material" is problematic.As Adam Drazin states, it is necessary to attack "the myth of rawness," as it seems to be based on the "mistaken notion that materials are more 'natural' than objects" (24).This implies an "ideology of nature," according to which indigenous cultures are portrayed as a pristine territory with immaculate rituals.In fact, the coca plant has always been part of cultural negotiation and gave way to different cultural processes and dynamics from as early as 2000 BC (Davis 24).The coca leaf was already a symbol of power and authority during the Inca empire.Later, yet long before cocaine became a global commodity, the Spanish converted the coca

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