14/03/2024
La discusión en UNODP está como siempre centrada en defender intereses del nuevo orden mundial, se harán esfuerzos, pero aún estampesando sobre nosotros eztanprohibicion , de acullicar, de chacchar.Welcome to the United Nations
United Nations
United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime
Commission of Inquiry on the Coca Leaf
Sections
Methods of Work
Conclusions and Recommendations
Details
Pages: 41 to 47
Creation Date: 1950/01/01
OFFICIAL SECTION
Commission of Inquiry on the Coca Leaf
At the request of the Government of Peru, then of the Government of Bolivia, the United Nations sent, during the autumn of 1949, to these countries, a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the effects of chewing the coca leaf and the possibilities of limiting its production and controlling its distribution (see Bulletin on Narcotics, vol. I, no. 1, October 1949).
The Commission and its secretariat left New York on 10 September 1949 and returned on 4 December 1949. Its report was completed in May 1950: two parts of this report are hereby reproduced, namely, the methods of work of the Commission, and its conclusions and recommendations.
Methods of Work
Mindful of the instructions of the Economic and Social Council, and with a view to concluding its local inquiries as efficiently and speedily as possible, the Commission adopted the methods of work described below, both in Peru and in Bolivia.
CONTACTS WITH CENTRAL AUTHORITIES IN PERU AND BOLIVIA
Immediately on its arrival at Lima the Commission entered into official contact through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the central Peruvian authorities. After visiting the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Public Health, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Interior, the Commission and its secretariat consulted on particular points of interest for its inquiries with the higher officials of the above mentioned Ministries and of the Ministry of Finance and Agriculture. In addition to these consultations, the Commission applied to the competent authorities for statistical and other data more readily obtainable in the country's administrative centre.
In Bolivia the Commission, after establishing official contacts through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Bolivian authorities, held consultations with the Minister, of Foreign Affairs, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Economic Affairs, the Minister of Public Education, the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Public Health. As in Peru, these consultations were followed by conferences with the higher officials of the above-mentioned Ministries, who were asked to furnish information material similar to that requested of the Peruvian authorities at Lima.
APPOINTMENT OF OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE FOR LIAISON BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS CONCERNED AND THE COMMISSION
In order to facilitate its negotiations with both the central and the local authorities, the Commission requested the Governments of Peru and Bolivia each to appoint a government official as liaison officer for that purpose. The Government of Peru appointed Dr. Carlos Avalos, Chief of the Narcotics Department of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, representative of Peru to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, member, of the National Executive, Council against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and representative of the Ministry of Public Health on the State Coca Monopoly. The Government of Bolivia appointed Dr. Alfredo Quiroga, Director of the Nutrition Department of the Ministry of Public Health.
The appointment of liaison officers proved to be highly useful, and the Commission cannot too greatly emphasize how efficiently these officers co-operated with it.
CONTACTS WITH LOCAL CIVIL AUTHORITIES
The Commission had requested the central authorities of Peru and Bolivia to take the necessary steps so that it might enter into relations with the authorities of the areas to be visited.
These measures having accordingly been taken, the Commission was able in the course of its movements to obtain the full co-operation of the prefects, deputy prefects, mayors, and municipal and police authorities. Similar facilities were extended to enable the Commission to approach the local authorities representing the Ministries chiefly concerned; in Peru, these included the representatives of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Finance (and more particularly this Ministry's Deposit and Trust Fund), the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Education; and, in Bolivia, officials of the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance and the Coca Excises, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. In addition, the Commission made contact whenever necessary with officials not included in the above categories.
CONTACTS WITH THE MILITARY AUTHORITIES
Both in Peru and in Bolivia the military authorities lent their assistance to the Commission in its inquiries. The regional commandants and their staffs placed themselves at the Commission's disposal for any information required; the military medical officers in both countries deserve special mention.
CONTACTS WITH THE MEDICAL PROFESSION, PHARMACISTS AND ACADEMIC CIRCLES
In all the localities visited by the Commission the members of its medical section, sometimes joined by one or two members of its economic and social section, held conversations with local medical practitioners. In university towns the Commission did not fail to use the good offices of faculty members. The talks with representatives of local pharmacists were frequently found useful.
CONTACTS WITH EMPLOYERS AND WORKERS
Whenever possible the Commission endeavoured to make contact with existing agricultural, industrial and other employers' or workers' organizations. Particular reference should be made to the contacts established with coca-leaf producers and, in Bolivia, the Society of Landowners of the Yungas area, and with representatives of the mining companies and of workers' trade unions both in Peru and Bolivia.
CONTACTS WITH RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES AND MISSIONARIES
In a number of localities the Commission interviewed representatives of the religious authorities and members of Catholic and Protestant missions.
CONTACTS WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF PUBLIC OPINION INTERESTED IN THE COCA LEAF PROBLEM
Anxious to obtain as comprehensive a picture as possible of the currents of public opinion on the coca-leaf problem, the Commission was eager to establish contact not only with the medical and scientific circles mentioned above, but also with the Press and all organizations or persons interested in this problem. A number of Press releases on the Commission's work were issued. Interviews were given to journalists. Conferences were held with engineers, agronomists, jurists, politicians and other persons interested in the problem.
NATIONAL COMMISSIONS
The Governments of Peru and of Bolivia have each set up a National Coca Leaf Commission. It was part of the duty of these Commissions, which are responsible for studying the coca-leaf problem on a national scale, to co-operate with the United Nations Commission of Inquiry.
Both in Peru and Bolivia the United Nations Commission held a number of joint meetings with these National Commissions, which are composed of prominent persons, and furnished information highly valuable for the Commission's work. The membership of the two National Commissions is shown in annex IV of the present report.
CONFERENCES
In each of the principal localities visited in the interior of Peru and of Bolivia, the Commission, in order to obtain most promptly the greatest possible variety of views on the coca-leaf problem, held conferences at which the local prefect, deputy prefect or mayor usually presided. These conferences were usually attended by the members of the Commission and its secretariat, the principal civil and military officials, representatives of the medical profession, of the civil, military and police authorities, the Civil Guard, producers, merchants, manufacturers, engineers, agronomists, journalists, workers and others. Conferences of this kind were held in Peru at Arequipa, Puno, three at Cuzco Quillabamba, Tingo Maria, Huanuco, Cerro de Pasco, Trujillo and Cajamarca; and in Bolivia, Acha-Cachi, Huarizata Coroico, Chulumani Cochabamba and Catavi.
At Huanuco, for example, the meeting was convened by the local prefect and mayor, who published a notice in the local Official Gazette inviting all persons interested in the problem to attend the conference. These conferences, the Commission believes, did a great deal to provide valuable information and enable the Commission to hear expressions of public opinion on the coca-leaf problem.
DOCUMENTATION
The Commission endeavoured to assemble as much written information as possible on the coca-leaf problem, both by applying to central or local authorities, as mentioned above, for statistics and documents, and by asking the National Commissions, or organizations or private persons, to submit written reports on the question.
In addition to these written data, the Commission also made observations on the spot. It visited laboratories, hospitals, schools, missions, prisons, agricultural stations and farms, factories, mines, mining camps and co-operatives. In the course of its travels the Commission was able to observe living and housing conditions in widely separated regions. The Commission ascribes great importance to this part of its work, since it was able in this way to compare its field observations with the written data and the literature on the coca leaf.
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ALTITUDE BIOLOGY
This congress was held under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at Lima from 23 to 30 November 1949, and was attended by representatives of a number of countries who are specialists in the study of the biological problems connected with altitude. The experts of the Commission's medical section were invited to attend the meetings, and were thus enabled to obtain information, connected with its own terms of reference.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Under the resolution of the Economic and Social Council (159 (VII) IV, 10 August 1948, document E/968) the terms of reference of the Commission of Enquiry into the effects of chewing the coca leaf include the following two points:
A. Investigation of the effects of chewing the coca leaf in Peru and Bolivia, and;
B. Investigation of the possibilities of limiting the production and controlling the distribution of the coca leaf in the said countries.
Both questions have been dealt with in this report. On the basis of the investigation conducted in Peru and Bolivia, the Commission unanimously decided to submit the following conclusions and recommendations. Mr. Fonda dissenting only on the recommendation concerning "Gradual Limitation".
CONCLUSIONS
I. COCA CHEWING IS NOT AN ISOLATED PHENOMENON
The chewing of coca leaf must be considered not as an isolated phenomenon but as a consequence of the social and economic conditions under which large sections of the population of Peru and Bolivia are living. These conditions affect principally but not exclusively the indigenous agricultural and mining populations of the two countries. The great majority of chewers is to be found in those two population groups. Although the chewer is predominantly Indian, there are also chewers amongst the "mestizos". It is not always easy to draw a sharp distinction between the two; the living conditions of certain sectors of the mestizo population being very similar to those of the population regarded as Indian.
II. DANGER OF CHEWING
The leaves of the coca plant contain co***ne. In the present state of knowledge the indications are that the effects produced by chewing coca leaf are to be explained by the action of co***ne.
III. NATURE OF CHEWING
It does not at present appear that the chewing of the coca leaf can be regarded as a drug addiction in the medical sense.
The Expert Committee on Drugs liable to Produce Addiction gave the following definition of addiction at its meeting of 9 to 14 January 1950 (WHO Technical Report Serial No. 21, 1950):
"6. 1 Definition of drug addiction:
"Having considered the request of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the committee drafted the following definition of 'drug addiction':
"Drug addiction is a state of periodic or chronic intoxication detrimental to the individual and to society, produced by the repeated consumption of a drug (natural or synthetic). Its characteristics include:
"(1) An overpowering desire or need (compulsion) to continue taking the drug and to obtain it by any means;
"(2) A tendency to increase the dose;
"(3) A psychic (psychological) and sometimes a physical dependence on the effects of the drag."
Compared with this, the observations of the Commission show that coca chewing is not an addiction (toxicomania) but a habit. It may, however, in some individuals, become an addiction, but generally it can be given up like other habits.
IV. HARMFUL EFFECTS OF CHEWING
Briefly the harmful effects of chewing coca leaf, from the point of view of the individual and of the nation, are the following:
It inhibits the sensation of hunger and thus maintains, by a vicious circle, a constant state of malnutrition;
It induces in the individual undesirable changes of an intellectual and moral character. This is especially clear in exceptional cases, and it is much discussed how far this is general. It certainly hinders the chewer's chances of obtaining a higher social standard;
It reduces the economic yield of productive work, and therefore maintains a low economic standard of life.
V. NUTRITIVE VALUE OF COCA LEAVES
Coca leaves contain, as do other green leaves, vegetables and fruits, most of the known vitamins, especially B 1, B 2 and C in significant quantities. In spite of this fact it would by no means be advisable to supply these vitamins in the form of coca leaf chewing i.e., together with the toxic substance co***ne. In no way can the chewing of coca leaves therefore be regarded as a substitute for an adequate diet.
VI. ACCLIMATIZATION OF THE ANDEAN MAN
The Andean man is highly acclimatized to the life at great altitudes. All our knowledge up to the present time supports the conviction that it is unnecessary to regard the Andean Indian as a race for which special physiological laws must be assumed. We have no right to suppose that co***ne acts differently on him. No advantage of coca chewing for acclimatization and for continuous life at high altitudes has been shown scientifically, and persons of non-Andean origin have become acclimatized in large numbers to life in the high altitudes of the Andes without chewing coca leaf.
VII. SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM
Since chewing coca is not an isolated fact, but the consequence of a number of unfavourable social and economic factors, the solution of the problem involves two fundamental and parallel aspects: firstly, the need for improving the living conditions of the population amongst which chewing is a general habit, and secondly, the need for initiating simultaneously a governmental policy to limit the production of coca leaf, to control its distribution and eradicate the practice of chewing it.
VIII. GRADUAL SUPPRESSION OF CHEWING
The chewing of coca leaf is a habit which can be eradicated if the conditions under which it originated are suitably modified.
In view of the social and economic nature of the factors determining coca chewing, an immediate and radical suppression of the habit is not possible. Instead of solving the problem, such a suppression would only aggravate the existing situation. Consequently the Commission envisages only a gradual suppression of the habit, that is, a process which, while taking into account the complexity of the problem, should not be so long as to permit the harmful continuation of the habit nor so short as to damage the economic interests involved.
