Pubdate: Wed, 26 Jan 2011
Source: Macon Telegraph (GA)
Copyright: 2011 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.macontelegraph.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/667
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

THOUSANDS CHEW COCA IN BOLIVIA PROTEST

LA PAZ, Bolivia -- Thousands have taken to the streets in Bolivia to 
chew coca leaf in support of the country's bid to remove an 
international prohibition on the age-old practice.

The chief target of Wednesday's peaceful protest was the U.S. Embassy.

Coca is a mild stimulant of high religious and social value in the 
Andes. It fights hunger and alleviates altitude sickness. But it is 
also the raw material of cocaine.

Washington last week formally objected to Bolivia's proposal to 
remove a prohibition on coca chewing from the international Single 
Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

Bolivia's U.N. Ambassador Pablo Solon says that Bolivia does not seek 
to remove coca from a list of controlled substances.
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