This one has been brewing for some time. Bolivia wants the international ban on coca leaf chewing to be lifted, The USA wants to ban to remain in place and now it's showtime at the United Nations. Joshua Frens-String over at Hemispheric Brief does his usual top job in collating and synthesizing the story, so get in all in a quicktime dose over at his place by clicking here.
FWIW, your author has chewed coca leafs on many an occasion, as well as drinking gallons of coca tea. It's about as narcotic as a cup of coffee...a weak one with milk and sugar at that. What makes me laugh is how 1) whitey comes to South America 2) whitey discovers the benefits of the coca leaf 3) whitey wonders 'how does that work?', 4) whitey does clever science, isolates the cocaine alkaloid and makes a natural substance a gazillion times more powerful and suddenly dangerous then 5) whitey declares that the leaf is now a danger to humanity.