A drink made from coca leaves is being sold in the Netherlands' capital Amsterdam. The coca leaves come from Bolivia, though the cocaine alkaloid is removed in the Netherlands. The drink's creators want to eliminate the preconceptions of the coca plant while creating a new market for the product.
It is not the first product to be made from coca. Coca-Cola has been importing coca leaves from Peru since the end of the 19th century. With the coca leaf liqueur ‘Agwa de Bolivia', the 'Coco Leaf Experience' company is trying to improve the negative image the coca leaf has in countries beyond the Andes. It's not surprising that a photograph of Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, hangs on the wall of the Amsterdam shop where the liqueur is sold.
At a UN drugs conference last year in Vienna, Mr Morales called for the plant to be removed from the UN's list of illegal drugs saying, "The coca leaf is not cocaine".
"We are unique in the world" says owner of the 'Coco Leaf Experience' Tommy Burke. "We want to let people see the positive side of the coca leaf, because there is a big difference between the coca leaf and cocaine". *RNW Translation (sr)
Tags: Agwa de Bolivia, alcohol, Bolivia, coca leaves, coca plant, Coca-Cola, cocaine, drugs, Evo Morales, Peru