For the past two years, Bolivian President Evo Morales has shifted drug policy in Bolivia toward a program he calls "Coca Si, Cocaina No." Though the "zero cocaine" program continues to work against illegal cocaine production and trafficking, it also allows an increase in the cultivation of coca for legal purposes.
A Legal Market for Coca
Published March 10, 2008
The U.N.'s International Narcotics Control Board said last week that Peru and Bolivia should outlaw the chewing of coca. Those are fighting words in Bolivia, where coca leaves are widely grown and part of traditional Andean culture. Bolivia's president Evo Morales is a former coca grower who has pushed for increasing the legal uses of coca leaves — while clamping down on the illegal uses. He calls his policy "Coca Yes — Cocaine No" — that means encouraging legal coca growers — but cracking down on drug traffickers.
Roberto (Bear) Guerra has been nominated for a National Magazine Award in the photojournalism category f
Pulitzer Center-supported documentary "La Hoya," Gabrielle Weiss' film about Bolivia's coca culture, was shown at the Philanthropy New York documentary series.
Grantee
Ruxandra is a writer and producer with experience working in radio, print journalism, and multimedia. She has reported from the Caribbean, South and Central America, as well as the U.S.-Mexico...
