{"id":794,"date":"2021-05-18T19:13:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T18:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/?p=794"},"modified":"2021-05-19T07:50:24","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T06:50:24","slug":"our-team-in-vice-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Team in Vice News: How Legalizing Cocaine’s Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our team worked with journalist Amy Booth on the article ‘How Legalizing Cocaine’s Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives<\/a>‘, published in Vice News.<\/p>\n

Read more here<\/a><\/p>\n

Extracts below…<\/p>\n

“There are some major differences between coca growing in Bolivia and Peru, as a recent comparative study<\/a>\u00a0has pointed out. Unlike in Bolivia, where production is concentrated in two main regions of Los Yungas and Chapare, Peru has 16 different growing areas and communities don\u2019t always see eye to eye. For instance, why would\u00a0cocaleros<\/em>\u00a0with large plantations agree to drastically reduce the size of their crops to accommodate a system where each farmer only gets a small patch?<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, Peru\u2019s coca growing unions are less powerful politically than their Bolivian counterparts, which control land access. \u201cThe Chapare union governs almost every aspect of a person\u2019s life,\u201d the study states. Bolivia\u2019s former President Evo Morales, who ruled the country for 14 years, rose to power as a coca union leader. Peruvian producers have never had this level of government involvement, and many have a deep-seated distrust of the state.<\/p>\n

Despite these challenges, entrenched issues with Peru\u2019s current policy make it clear that change is needed. The government\u2019s strategy of ripping illegally-grown coca from the ground could actually be making deforestation and indigenous land conflicts worse. Growers whose crops are eradicated seek increasingly remote, inaccessible spots to replant them, according to Alvaro Pastor, a sociologist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru who contributed to the comparative report.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the national drug policy hasn\u2019t adequately evaluated the impacts of its policy of constant eradication over the past 20 years,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just think that Huayllaga and Monzon [major coca cultivation spots in Peru] are no longer the drug hubs they used to be. They\u2019re not measuring where the coca that was there has gone [been displaced to].\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Bolivia and Colombia, Peru has long attempted to persuade its coca growers, known as\u00a0cocaleros,<\/em>\u00a0to substitute their plants for crops such as coffee. But these efforts, known as alternative development or crop substitution, have been plagued with problems.<\/p>\n

Marianne Zavala, a coca growers\u2019 union leader, said that attempts were made to develop bell pepper and peppercorn crops in her community. \u201cWe get excited about the proposals, so we take out loans,\u201d she said at a virtual side event to a UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs session, organized by drug policy and human rights NGO Andean Information Network. \u201cThen those groups disappear and we\u2019re left with the debt, without knowing where to sell the product.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent years, plummeting coffee prices have\u00a0pushed farmers back<\/a>\u00a0towards coca. Dr Thomas Grisaffi, a lecturer in human geography at the University of Reading and one of the authors of the comparative study on Bolivia and Peru, said growers were \u201cliterally ripping up coffee plantations that had been there for decades, that their dads and granddads had farmed, because they were like, \u2018Literally what else can we do? It’s that [switch to coca] or leave the area.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Most growers also produce other crops, and Grisaffi noted that harsh penalties for growing coca is a strong incentive for them to branch out. But it\u2019s hard to find a crop that offers a realistic alternative, since coca is light to transport, easy to cultivate, and can be harvested several times a year”…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our team worked with journalist Amy Booth on the article ‘How Legalizing Cocaine’s Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives‘, published in Vice News. Read more here Extracts below… “There are…Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266,"featured_media":667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[6],"class_list":["post-794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOur Team in Vice News: How Legalizing Cocaine's Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives - Drug Crops and Development in the Andes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Team in Vice News: How Legalizing Cocaine's Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives - Drug Crops and Development in the Andes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our team worked with journalist Amy Booth on the article ‘How Legalizing Cocaine’s Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives‘, published in Vice News. Read more here Extracts below… “There are...Read More >\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Drug Crops and Development in the Andes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-18T18:13:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-19T06:50:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/127\/2021\/02\/07mujeres-Cultivadoras-de-coca_-Sara-Aliaga-1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1709\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thomas Grisaffi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Thomas Grisaffi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/\",\"name\":\"Our Team in Vice News: How Legalizing Cocaine's Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives - Drug Crops and Development in the Andes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-18T18:13:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-19T06:50:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/#\/schema\/person\/2e588d7128be66f73932eecd221556ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Our Team in Vice News: How Legalizing Cocaine’s Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/\",\"name\":\"Drug Crops and Development in the Andes\",\"description\":\"Regional applicability of innovative crop control policy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/#\/schema\/person\/2e588d7128be66f73932eecd221556ee\",\"name\":\"Thomas Grisaffi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9be4fb46ef2684cd2329cea13cddbb52\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/31de824013dff45d7951d11a99a773e97488e6eb3888266080e4a8980117e13e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/31de824013dff45d7951d11a99a773e97488e6eb3888266080e4a8980117e13e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Thomas Grisaffi\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/author\/t-grisaffireading-ac-uk\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Our Team in Vice News: How Legalizing Cocaine's Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives - Drug Crops and Development in the Andes","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Our Team in Vice News: How Legalizing Cocaine's Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives - Drug Crops and Development in the Andes","og_description":"Our team worked with journalist Amy Booth on the article ‘How Legalizing Cocaine’s Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives‘, published in Vice News. Read more here Extracts below… “There are...Read More >","og_url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/","og_site_name":"Drug Crops and Development in the Andes","article_published_time":"2021-05-18T18:13:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-19T06:50:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1709,"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/127\/2021\/02\/07mujeres-Cultivadoras-de-coca_-Sara-Aliaga-1-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Thomas Grisaffi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Thomas Grisaffi","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/","name":"Our Team in Vice News: How Legalizing Cocaine's Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives - Drug Crops and Development in the Andes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-05-18T18:13:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-19T06:50:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/#\/schema\/person\/2e588d7128be66f73932eecd221556ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/our-team-in-vice-news\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Our Team in Vice News: How Legalizing Cocaine’s Base Ingredient Could Save Indigenous Lives"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/","name":"Drug Crops and Development in the Andes","description":"Regional applicability of innovative crop control policy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/#\/schema\/person\/2e588d7128be66f73932eecd221556ee","name":"Thomas Grisaffi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9be4fb46ef2684cd2329cea13cddbb52","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/31de824013dff45d7951d11a99a773e97488e6eb3888266080e4a8980117e13e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/31de824013dff45d7951d11a99a773e97488e6eb3888266080e4a8980117e13e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Thomas Grisaffi"},"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/author\/t-grisaffireading-ac-uk\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/266"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":801,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions\/801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/coca-cocaine-bolivia-peru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}