propaganda press! freedom in Guyana

Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant, creating a euphoric sense of happiness and increased energy.

Though most often used recreationally for this effect, cocaine is also a topical anesthetic that was used in eye, throat, and nose surgery in the 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe and America. Cocaine can be psychologically addictive and its possession and distribution is illegal for non-medicinal / non-government sanctioned purposes in virtually all parts of the world. The name comes from the name of the coca plant plus the alkaloid suffix -ine.

For thousands of years, South American indigenous peoples have chewed the coca leaf (Erythroxylum coca), a plant that contains vital nutrients as well as numerous alkaloids, including cocaine. The leaf was, and is, chewed almost universally by some indigenous communities—ancient Peruvian mummies have been found with the remains of coca leaves, and pottery from the time period depicts humans whose cheeks are bulged with the presence of something on which they are chewing.^[2]However, it should be noted that there is no evidence that its habitual use has ever led to any of the negative consequences generally associated with habitual cocaine use today.^[3][4] There is also evidence that these cultures used a mixture of coca leaves and saliva as an anesthetic for the performance of trepanation.^[5]

When the Spaniards slaughtered their was across South America, they at first ignored aboriginal claims that the leaf gave them strength and energy, and 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 percent off the value of each crop. These taxes were for a time the main source of support for the Roman Catholic Church in the region. [and you take the pope and his minions seriously when they talk about morals and morality. please!!]
In 1569, Nicholas Monardes described the practice of the natives of chewing a mixture of tobacco and coca leaves to induce “great contentment”