THE COCA LEAF

November 26, 2004 1:16 PM

When the Spaniards conquered South America, they at first ignored Indian claims that the leaf gave them strength and energyand declared the practice of chewing it the work of the Devil. But after discovering that these claims were true, they legalized and taxed the leaf, taking 10% of the value of each crop. These taxes were for a time the main source of support for the Catholic Church in the region.
Also the not so typical Thanksgiving recipe
posted by bureaustyle (10 comments total)

Best of the Web? Dude, at the very least, there are better writeups out there.
posted by Gyan at 2:54 PM on November 26, 2004

I'm not into the cocaine scene, but I would love to try munching on the leaves. Is it legal to do that in the countries where it's grown? Or is it illegal like the finished product?
posted by zorro astor at 4:12 PM on November 26, 2004

Dunno about the legalities, but they sell the stuff on the streets in many of the Andes states like Bolivia. It's good against altitude sickness too.
posted by sour cream at 7:04 PM on November 26, 2004

Should have said they sell it *openly* on the streets, so even if there are laws against it, they don't seem to be enforced, at least in the places I saw it.
posted by sour cream at 7:06 PM on November 26, 2004

mmmmmkay. you've got a link about the history of cocaine production, a how it works on crack, and a link to some pretty wacky anti-catholic nonsense about black magic and illuminati from a born again fundie group. I'm new, so cut me a break if I don't get it, but wtf?
posted by clubfoote at 7:24 PM on November 26, 2004

FWIW, I found the how crack works link fascinating and something I would otherwise have not looked up. Also, the chewing of coca leaves is something I've found references to in many different movies and books, so to me the catholic connection is also pretty interesting. The devil link is a bit out of context and perhaps several more links and some language that explains the poster's interest might be helpful, but are not necessarily required.

The guidelines call for a post to have content that most people haven't seen before, that links contain something interesting, and that they might stimulate discussion. I'm not sure how many people have seen these links before, but in general it would seem that the post meets the guidelines. It probably won't go in the Best of Metafilter compilation, but it is certainly better than many things that have appeared on the front page over the last three years.

All of that said, both you and I should probably have brought these types of comments over to Metatalk rather than posting them here.
posted by spaghetti at 8:28 PM on November 26, 2004

Cocaine Country
posted by homunculus at 8:36 PM on November 26, 2004

Wonderful link homunculus, thanks.
posted by spaghetti at 8:56 PM on November 26, 2004

When is it best to take crack cocaine?

from Gyan's link.
posted by telstar at 1:21 AM on November 27, 2004

Wonderful link homunculus, thanks.

Agreed. Incredible photos.
posted by rooftop secrets at 12:51 PM on November 27, 2004