Editing Coca (section)

== History ==
[[File:Coquero (Figure Chewing Coca), 850-1500 C.E..jpg|thumbnail|left|Coquero (Figure Chewing Coca), 850–1500 C.E. [[Brooklyn Museum]]]]
[[File:Arbeiders die cocabladeren fijnstampen op Java.jpg|thumb|Workers in [[Java]] prepared coca leaves. This product was mainly traded in [[Amsterdam]], and was further processed into cocaine ([[Dutch East Indies]], before 1940).]]
Traces of coca leaves found in northern Peru dates the communal chewing of coca with [[Lime (material)|lime]] (the [[alkali]]ne mineral, not the [[Lime (fruit)|citrus fruit]]) 8,000 years back.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Dillehay|display-authors=etal|year=2010|title=Early Holocene coca chewing in northern Peru|journal=[[Antiquity (journal)|Antiquity]]|volume=84|issue=326|pages=939–953|doi=10.1017/S0003598X00067004|s2cid=162889680}}</ref> Other evidence of coca traces have been found in [[mummies]] dating 3,000 years back in northern Chile.<ref name="Rivera">{{cite journal|author=Rivera MA|author2=Aufderheide AC|author3=Cartmell LW|author4=Torres CM|author5=Langsjoen O|date=December 2005|title=Antiquity of coca-leaf chewing in the south central Andes: a 3,000 year archaeological record of coca-leaf chewing from northern Chile|journal=Journal of Psychoactive Drugs|volume=37|issue=4|pages=455–458|doi=10.1080/02791072.2005.10399820|pmid=16480174|s2cid=28661721}}</ref> Beginning with the Valdivian culture, {{circa|3000 BC}}, there is an unbroken record of coca leaf consumption by succeeding cultural groups on the coast of Ecuador until European arrival as shown in their ceramic sculpture and abundant caleros or lime pots. Lime containers found in the north coast of Peru date around 2000 BC as evidenced by the findings at [[Huaca Prieta]] and the Jetetepeque river valley. Extensive archaeological evidence for the chewing of coca leaves dates back at least to the 6th century AD [[Moche (culture)|Moche]] period, and the subsequent [[Inca]] period, based on mummies found with a supply of coca leaves, pottery depicting the characteristic cheek bulge of a coca chewer, spatulas for extracting alkali and figured bags for coca leaves and lime made from precious metals, and gold representations of coca in special gardens of the Inca in [[Cuzco]].<ref name="Petersen">{{cite web |title=NIDA research monograph #13: Cocaine 1977, Chapter I |url=http://www.nida.nih.gov/pdf/monographs/13.pdf |author=Robert C. Petersen, Ph.D. |date=May 1977 |access-date=2007-05-26 |archive-date=2009-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929005611/http://www.nida.nih.gov/pdf/monographs/13.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Carroll">{{cite web |url=http://sad.health.org/pub/AD03991.pdf |title=Coca: the plant and its use |author=Eleanor Carroll, M.A. |access-date=2007-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926135600/http://sad.health.org/pub/AD03991.pdf |archive-date=2007-09-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Coca chewing may originally have been limited to the eastern Andes before its introduction to the Inca. As the plant was viewed as having a divine origin, its cultivation became subject to a [[state monopoly]] and its use restricted to nobles and a few favored classes (court orators, couriers, favored public workers, and the army) by the rule of the [[Topa Inca]] (1471–1493). As the Incan empire declined, the leaf became more widely available. After some deliberation, [[Philip II of Spain]] issued a decree recognizing the drug as essential to the well-being of the Andean Indians but urging missionaries to end its religious use. The Spanish are believed to have effectively encouraged use of coca by an increasing majority of the population to increase their labor output and tolerance for starvation, but it is not clear that this was planned deliberately.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.taironatrust.org/about-the-kogi/the-culture/logi-culture-and-cultivating-harmony|title=Tairona Heritage Trust|website=www.taironatrust.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-03-31|archive-date=2022-03-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325090141/https://www.taironatrust.org/about-the-kogi/the-culture/logi-culture-and-cultivating-harmony|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Andean people first started chewing coca leaf (Ertyhroxylum) and its popularity has been spread throughout the Northern and Central Andes, making its way down to Southern Central America, including areas like Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The coca leaf itself includes the active cocaine alkaloid which may be released through chewing or consumed in a powder-like form. This powder is usually extracted and made from burnt plant ashes, limestone or granite, and seashells. Andean people living in Central America have used a method to withdraw the lime from the coca plant using containers with sticks and have been able to indicate whether the coca leaves were either chewed historically even though many coca leaves haven't been discovered by archaeologists. There have been numerous effects that have been noted from the coca leaf as they are milder and more concentrated compared to pure cocaine. When Andean people began to first use the coca leaf, they noticed that it could produce a "high" and can be very addictive compared to tobacco if consumed in large quantities. Many Andean and Inca civilizations used to chew the coca leaf instead of consuming it as it provided a better "high" experience. Because of its strong addiction and high, the Incas only allowed this substance within honorary celebrations and rituals. Workers dealing with rigorous tasks such as long-distance travels, and more were allowed to take the substance as it eased their hardships along the way. There is little history before Andean people and the Incas to indicate if coca was restricted before these times and what instances it was initially used in. Sometimes coca leaves from the plant were used as offerings in rituals. Due to the nature of politics and religion in the Inca Empire, wealthy inhabitants handed out coca leaves during ritual ceremonies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quilter |first=Jeffrey |title=The Ancient Central Andes |publisher=Routledge World Archaeology |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-367-48151-3 |edition=2nd |location=New York, NY |pages=38–39, 279 |language=English}}</ref>

Coca was first introduced to Europe in the 16th century, but did not become popular until the mid-19th century, with the publication of an influential paper by Dr. [[Paolo Mantegazza]] praising its stimulating effects on cognition. This led to the invention of [[coca wine]] and the first production of pure cocaine. Coca wine (of which [[Vin Mariani]] was the best-known brand) and other coca-containing preparations were widely sold as patent medicines and tonics, with claims of a wide variety of health benefits. The original version of [[Coca-Cola]] was among these. These products became illegal in most countries outside of South America in the early 20th century, after the addictive nature of cocaine was widely recognized. In 1859, [[Albert Niemann (chemist)|Albert Niemann]] of the [[University of Göttingen]] became the first person to isolate the chief alkaloid of coca, which he named "cocaine".<ref>{{cite book
  |last = Inciardi
  |first = James A.
  |title = The War on Drugs II
  |publisher = Mayfield Publishing Company
  |year = 1992
  |page = 6
  |isbn = 1-55934-016-9}}</ref>

In the early 20th century, the Dutch colony of [[Java]] became a leading exporter of coca leaf. By 1912 shipments to Amsterdam, where the leaves were processed into cocaine, reached 1000 tons, overtaking the Peruvian export market. Apart from the years of the First World War, Java remained a greater exporter of coca than Peru until the end of the 1920s.<ref name="Musto">{{cite journal |last=Musto|first=DF |title=International traffic in coca through the early 20th century |journal=Drug and Alcohol Dependence|year=1998|volume=49 | issue = 2 |pages=145–156|doi=10.1016/s0376-8716(97)00157-9|pmid=9543651 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Other colonial powers also tried to grow coca (including the British in India), but with the exception of the Japanese in [[Formosa]], these were relatively unsuccessful.<ref name=Musto/>

In recent times (2006), the governments of several South American countries, such as Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela, have defended and championed the traditional use of coca, as well as the modern uses of the leaf and its extracts in household products such as teas and toothpaste. The coca plant was also the inspiration for Bolivia's [[Coca Museum]].