News stories from the coca world

The world of coca farming is pretty much most other forms of farming - worrying about this season's crop, dealing with the government, trying to find new markets and develop new products - but for coca, all the more complicated due to the illegality of cocaine. Still, the coca farmers of Colombia, Peru and Bolivia continue centuries old-traditions of coca farming, while hoping one day that one of the governments find some new, huge, legal market for their crops. Learn more about this dynamic world of coca farming through the following news stories.

Coca Farming News

• The recreational use of marijuana enters into force in Germany.
  - El Pais, 01 April 2024

• The largest shipment of cocaine of the year is seized in the Caribbean waters offshore of Colombia. About 3.7 tons of cocaine was seized, worth about $113 million.
  - El Colommbiano, 26 March 2024

• Police in Colombia seized 1.7 tons of cocaine camouflaged among avocados in Santa Marta. The shipment of the alkaloid seized in the port of that city was destined for Setúbal, in Portugal.
  - El Colommbiano, 26 March 2024

• US magnifying glass on President Petro's anti-drug effectiveness. The biggest alert is the explosion of drug crops due to the change of emphasis dictated by the Colombian government.
  - El Pais, 22 March 2024

• This is the reason for the recent crimes of FARC dissidents against indigenous communities in Cauca. Colombia. The dissidents seek to exercise control over the reservations, take advantage of the territory for their illegal economies and strengthen their structures through the recruitment of indigenous children.
  - El Pais, 22 March 2024

• The DEA needs to stop interfering with the practice of medicine. Its crude policies to control opioids by limiting production not only makes it harder to for doctors to treat pain, but will force many patients to buy more deadly illegal opioids.
  - New York Times, 22 March 2024

• The president of Mexico says that he will not fight drug cartels in his country, under the orders of the United States, calling it a "Mexico First" policy. "We are not going to act as policemen for any foreign government."
  - Associated Press, 22 March 2024

• Intense fighting occurs between the Military Forces of Coloimbia and a group of FARC dissidents in Argelia, Cauca
  - El Pais, 22 March 2024

• Police in Bolivia have carrier out the second-largest drug bust in the history of Bolivia, seizing more than 7.2 tons of cocaine destined for Belgium with a street value of nearly half a billion U.S. dollars. The drugs were hidden in two trucks transporting scrap iron for export to Europe through Chilean ports on the Pacific.
  - Reuters, 19 March 2024

• This is life in Micay Canyon, the stronghold of FARC dissidents in Cauca, Colombia. The township of El Plateado is under the domain of alias Ivá:n Mordisco and the self-proclaimed Central General Staff. The Colombian government has failed to take power in this area. This is the largest coca growing area in Cauca, where 75% of the crops in that province are concentrated.
  - El Pais, 17 March 2024

• Climate change threatens harvests of the Arabica variety of the coffee bean. Can coffee producers in Vietnam develop a variety of the Robusta coffee bean that is sweeter and smoother, more similar in quality to the Arabica bean?
  - Al Jazeera, 17 March 2024

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  - El Colombiano, 16 March 2024

• "Deaf, blind and silent". President Petro of Colombia questions the role of the UN in the fight against drugs. The president attacked the current model of the fight against narcotics.
  - El Pais, 14 March 2024

• President Gustavo Petro of Colombia criticized the United Nations: "Coca leaves are part of our history, that is not Vienna's problem." The president demanded forcefulness on the part of the international organization and warned that in Colombia he will defend the cultivation of the coca plant.
  - El Colombiano, 14 March 2024

• Concern in the United States over record production of cocaine in Colombia
  - El Pais, 13 March 2024

• Juan Orlando Hernández, an ex-president of Honduras (from 2014 until 2022), is found guilty of drug trafficking in a fdeeral court in the USA. He had been accused of conspiring to import cocaine into the USA and working with notorious drug traffickers like El Chapo.
  - New York Times, 08 March 2024

• In 2024, the goal of eradicating crops for illicit use will be 10,000 hectares in Colombia, as announced this Friday by the government of President Gustavo Petro. This is a 50% reduction from the goal set last year.
  - El Colombiano, 08 March 2024

• Police in Barcelona, Spain, seize 419 kilograms of cocaine concealed within a shipment of coffee from Costa Rica. 631 shrink-wrapped cocaine tablets with a combined weight of 419 kilograms were seized.
  - Tico Times, 05 March 2024

• Coffee farmers in Costa Rica are forced to innovate as the amount of rainfall declines greatly during the dry season.
  - Tico Times, 27 February 2024

• The Colombian Military Forces dismantled a "cocaine megalaboratory" in Nariño, and found four tons of the drug. Inside, the troops found more than four tons of cocaine hydrochloride and more than 132 tons of coca base paste. The "megalaboratory" in which cocaine was processed is in the El Dorado village, in the Cumbal municipality, in Nariño.
  - El Colombiano, 25 February 2024

• In Seville, Cauca, a demobilized FARC member and two bodyguards transported 74 kilograms of cocaine in a truck belonging to the National Protection Unit of Colombia.
  - El Colombiano, 24 February 2024

• Colombian coffee growers complain about the prioritization that the Government made to deliver relief. 75.7% of coffee-growing municipalities are excluded from the subsidy. Coffee growers will be left without relief to face the losses left to them by the El Ni&ntildfe;o phenomenon.
  - El Colombiano, 23 February 2024

• The Parliament of Germany approved the recreational use of cannabis in adults. According to the new law, it will be possible to obtain up to 25 grams of that drug per day for personal use.
  - El Colombiano, 23 February 2024

• Former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni on trial accused of taking more than $250,000 in bribes from the Italian Mafia in Buffalo, New York. He also encouraged other DEA agents to spend less time investigating Italians and more time on Blacks and Hispanics, "niggers and spics", he was alleged to have racistly called them.
  - Yahoo New, 21 February 2024

• The former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Herández, is charged in a court in New York, accused of protecting drug traffickers while president, accepting millions of dollars in bribes from cocaine traffickers, and informing them of planned raids.
  - BBC, 21 February 2024

• The shadows behind the first license to sell a coca biofertilizer. In December, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the delivery of the first license to market an agricultural fertilizer with coca leaf. The permit was given to a Canadian multinational (Power Leaves) that extracts the alkaloid, without any regulation from the authorities, as El Espectador confirmed. Tour of a project that today is stopped and under the shadow of Samuel Tumbo, a questioned merchant from Cauca. Victoriano Piñacué is the voice of the project in the territory.
  - El Espectador, 21 February 2024

• More than two tons of cocaine hydrochloride were seized in Jamundí, Valle de Cauca, Colombia. The value of the drug would be approximately $10 billion Colombian pesos (about US $2.5 million). The drugs belonged to a guerrilla group.
  - El Pais, 17 February 2024

• Authorities in Colombia accidentally discover submarine containing 4 tons of cocaine while searching for missing fisherman. The 4 tons of cocaine is speculated to be worth over $137 million and represent over 10 million doses.
  - Fox News, 12 February 2024

• Costa Rica asks for help from the European Union to fight the surge in the trafficking of drugs and violence, due to the insatiable demand for cocaine in Europe and the USA
  - Q Costa Rica, 12 February 2024

• In Necoclí, Colombia (a small town on the coast of the Caribbean sea): a shipment of more than five tons of cocaine that belonged to the Clan del Golfo is seized by authorities.
  - El Pais, 12 February 2024

• Guatemala seizes over a half of a ton of cocaine hidden in a container that arrived at a Pacific port from Costa Rica
  - Tico Times, 10 February 2024

• Does Colombia today have 250,000 hectares of coca under cultivation? The US Ambassador, Francisco Palmieri, is alarmed by this statistic, and calls for the government of Colombia to advance efforts to substitute coca for other (less profitable) plants.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 10 February 2024

• "On lands with titles, the probability of coca crops being planted is much lower." This was said by Anupama Rajaraman, USAID Mission Director in Colombia, who this week, accompanied by Kevin Murakami, director of the Anti-Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs section of the US Embassy in Colombia, visited Cali.
  - El Pais, 04 February 2024

• The DEA infiltrated Venezuela to investigate drug trafficking; one of the targets was President Maduro. The covert operation could be considered a violation of international law.
  - El Pais, 01 February 2024

• Did drug traffickers in Mexico donate millions of dollars to the first presidential campaign of President López Amador? Witnesses told the DEA that the money was provided in return for a promise that a future López Obrador government would tolerate the operations of the drug traffickers. OBFRN
  - ProPublica, 30 January 2024

• "There is a greater demand for illicit crops and drug supply in Colombian cities". The Secretary of Security in Medellín, Manual Villa, said that microtrafficking is fuel for criminal groups.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 27 January 2024

• The Security Assistance Roadmap (E-SAR), Ecuador's plan financed by the US to combat drug trafficking. It will be 93.4 million dollars over five years.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 27 January 2024

• Cali, Colombia, would have places and times to consume psychoactives (marijuana, coca paste, inhaling heroin). Given the announcement by the Mayor's Office to issue a decree to regulate consumption in public spaces, in response to a Court ruling, experts point out that the rule should focus on prevention and not on prohibition nor repression.
  - El Pais, 27 January 2024

• "Operation Cauca", the final crusade against drug trafficking in the Pacific of Colombia. Director of the Police, General William Salamanca, indicated that they will consolidate the presence of the State in the department to dismantle criminal structures and seize their illicit finances.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 26 January 2024

• The urbanization that is an example of converting organic waste into compost. The pilot test, in La Pintada, could be replicated by several municipalities and even Medellín itself.
  - El Colombiano, 26 January 2024

• The national government of Colombia will allocate $16 million to rescue coconut production in seven municipalities in the department of Nariñno and three in Cauca. The purpose of the government spending s to save coconut crops, threatened by a pest for more than 25 years.
  - El Espectador, 26 January 2024

• Federal prosecutors are expanding their investigation into a bribery scheme involving two former Drug Enforcement Administration supervisors (one is Manny Recio), turning their attention to two Miami defense attorneys (David Macey, Luis Guerra) suspected of profiting from repeated leaks of confidential DEA information.
  - Associated Press, 22 January 2024

• The main leader of the Colombian FARC dissidents - known as "Oliver Sinisterra" - who rejected the 2016 peace process to dedicate himself to cocaine trafficking, was arrested in Ecuador. The accused criminal allegedly committed crimes related to drug trafficking and terrorism in Ecuador.
  - El Colombiano, 22 January 2024

• The Supreme Court of Colombia has opened a preliminary investigation into the alleged mafia ties of Senate president Jose Name and his clan, according to local media. Name and his cousin, former Senate president Jose David Name, allegedly paid mafia bosses from Barranquilla to buy votes in the Caribbean city ahead of elections.
  - Colombia Reports, 22 January 2024

• The new 'tranquility': a mega-laboratory for cocaine production is discovered in Cauca. The laboratory was destroyed by the Colombian Army. The cocaine complex had the capacity to manufacture nearly two tons, that is, 2,000 kilos of drugs per month. It would have a cost of about $1.3 million, in the area of the village of Santa Ana outside of Santander de Quilichao.
  - El Pais, 22 January 2024

• The United States believes it is necessary to do more to eradicate illicit crops. A priority is the combined effort between Colombia and the United States against the scourge of cocaine and coca. Interview with Ambassador Francisco Palmieri.
  - El Tiempo, 22 January 2024

• The main transportation routes of Bolivia dawn with blockades by coca growers and peasants and the intervention of the Police: blockades in Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and the roads to the west, between La Paz, Oruro and Chuquisaca. The pressure measure was called last week by the organizations of the Unity Pact of the 'Evista' bloc of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), which demands the immediate resignation of the judges of the Judicial Branch who extended their mandates. until a judicial election is held and new magistrates and councilors are installed.
  - El Deber, 22 January 2024

• The main transportation routes of Bolivia dawn with blockades by coca growers and peasants and the intervention of the Police: blockades in Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and the roads to the west, between La Paz, Oruro and Chuquisaca. The pressure measure was called last week by the organizations of the Unity Pact of the 'Evista' bloc of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), which demands the immediate resignation of the judges of the Judicial Branch who extended their mandates. until a judicial election is held and new magistrates and councilors are installed.
  - El Razon, 22 January 2024

• A million-dollar shipment of cocaine is siezed in Santa Marta, Colombia, that was headed to Holland. It was camouflaged in banana containers. About 2 and a half tons were seized.
  - El Tiempo, 20 January 2024

• Up to a US $300 fine for consuming drugs in public spaces in Medellín: the mayor, Federico Gutiérrez, signed a decree. The measure has been criticized by several sectors who consider that it criminalizes and stigmatizes consumers.
  - El Colombiano, 18 January 2024

• Without delay, in the short period of their mandate, several mayors in Colombia have already taken measures prohibiting the consumption of hallucinogens in some public spaces such as parks and school environments. In school environments, parks, sports venues and even sites of historical and cultural interest, carrying and consumption is prohibited.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 17 January 2024

• An assistant attorney general in Ecuador has been assassinated, while he was investigating an attack on a television station committed drug traffickers.
  - CNN, 17 January 2024

• Regional guerilla units of the ELN and Segunda Marquetalia (SM - FARC dissidents) said they will unite forces in southwest Colombia, in the province of Nariño. Regional units of the ELN and SM joined forces in the northwestern Arauca province in late 2021.
  - Colombia Reports, 16 January 2024

• Flower growers in Colombia warn that the falling dollar can deal a hard blow to exporters. In addition, flower producers indicated that it is still worrying that the great increase in illicit crops (such as coca) could be generating an immense supply of currency. And with high labor costs, exports from Colombia will have an uncertain future.
  - El Colombiano, 15 January 2024

• The General Law for Coca (Law 906) of Bolivia establishes the planting of coca in three provinces of Cochabamba and three others in La Paz, however, currently the leaf is planted in four provinces of Cochabamba and in 10 of the 20 provinces of La Paz.
  - El Deber, 15 January 2024

• Coca cultivation in 4 national parks in Bolivia grew 23 times in the last three years. Choré is the reserve where there are the most coca fields and is followed by Amboró. In Carrasco and Tipnis the harvests decreaseds
  - El Deber, 15 January 2024

• The former Minister of Security of Costa Rica, Gustavo Mata: "In one year, Costa Rica could become a narco-state. "Ecuador and Costa Rica are on a very similar path. In the sense that Ecuador does not produce coca, but rather became a coca producer. in a large warehouse of cocaine that arrived from Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela.
  - Costa Rica Hoy, 11 January 2024

• The Minister of Government of Bolivia, Eduardo Del Castillo, reported that during 2023 the Police and the Armed Forces eradicated 10,300 hectares of coca leaves in the country, including in protected areas
  - El Deber, 11 January 2024

• Santa Cruz is the department in Bolivia where second-the most coca was eradicated in 2023 -- 1,482 hectares. En Cochabamba, 7,636 hectares were erradicated.
  - El Deber, 11 January 2024

• Mayor Alejandro Eder is asked to delimit the areas for the consumption of psychoactive substances in Cali. The City Council urged the protection of minors in school zones, parks and others places.
  - El Pais, 10 January 2024

• In a mega-operation by sky, sea and land against the financial structure of the Clan del Golfo in two provinces of Colombia, the wives of three bosses of the Clan del Golfo were captured for money laundering. The women are accused of illicit enrichment, conspiracy to commit a crime, money laundering, among other crimes.
  - El Pais, 10 January 2024

• The coffee harvest in Costa Rica has declined 13% due to a decreased amount of rain, and a shortage of workers from Panama who pick the coffee beans.
  - Q Costa Rica, 10 January 2024

• The government of Bolivia highlights five key pillars in the fight against drug trafficking in 2023
  - La Razon, 08 January 2024

• Colombia and Ecuador end the operations of a criminal organization, the Los Curva gang headed by two Colombians, responsible for sending up to five tons of cocaine per month to the USA and Europe
  - Reuters, 07 January 2024

• For almost two months, Colombian businessmen dedicated to foreign trade have been warning about the intermittency in the services of the National Tax and Customs Directorate (Dian), which is jeopardizing a large volume of operations. Businessmen have been warning of the difficulties in carrying out some procedures. It is not good for the industrialization of the coca leaf. la Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales (Dian), lo que tiene en jaque a un gran volumen de operaciones. los empresarios vienen alertando de las dificultades para adelantar algunos trámites. No es bien para la industrialización de la hoja de coca.
  - l Colombiano, 07 January 2024

• Did a dissident, Idelber Cruz, sneak into an official event to discuss substitution of illicit crops? Although the man presented himself as a social and peasant leader, he was identified by the dissidents of the FARC Central General Staff as a member of the Second Marquetalia, an enemy faction.
  - La Colombiano, 30 December 2023

• The Clan de Golfo controls drug and migrant trafficking in Panama. Up to 60% of the 120 tons of drugs seized during 2023 correspond to shipments belonging to the Gulf Clan, which maintains operations on the Pacific coasts of Panama, Darién and in the Atlantic.
  - La Prensa, 30 December 2023

• Another massacre causes mourning in Colombia: Five people are murdered in the Canoas indigenous reservation, Carbonero sector in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca. In two isolated events, a teacher and his family were murdered, and hours later two young people were gunned down. There are already 93 massacres in Colombia. Armed men entered the house of Jhon Freiman Ramos Ocaña, a community member and teacher at the Las Aves Educational Institution, and murdered him along with his wife, Yisel Menza, and his 15-year-old daughter.
  - El Colombiano, 22 December 2023

• Another massacre causes mourning in Colombia: Five people are murdered in the Canoas indigenous reservation, Carbonero sector in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca. In two isolated events, a teacher and his family were murdered, and hours later two young people were gunned down. There are already 93 massacres in Colombia. Armed men entered the house of Jhon Freiman Ramos Ocaña, a community member and teacher at the Las Aves Educational Institution, and murdered him along with his wife, Yisel Menza, and his 15-year-old daughter.
  - El Pais, 22 December 2023

• Álvaro Córdoba, the brother of Piedad Códoba (a senator from the Historical Pact political party), will plead guilty to drug trafficking charges on January 2 in federal court in New York.
  - El Pais, 22 December 2023

• How the drought affecting the Panama Canal will hurt the profits of drug traffickers, which ship a lot of cocaine on containers that pass through the ports and the Canal.
  - Insight Crime, 18 December 2023

• Cocaine crystallization laboratories in Chapare, Bolivia, doubled in three years. The drug trafficking map is concentrated in the tropics of Cochabamba, which is the political stronghold of Evo Morales.
  - El Deber, 18 December 2023

• President Petro: overturning the legalization of cannabis (which sought to regulate the consumption of cannabis for adult use) increases the profits of drug trafficking and its violence in Colombia.
  - El Tiempo, 13 December 2023

• "Those who kept cannabis use illegal, they receive birbes": the response of President Gustavo Petro to those who voted down a proposed law to allow adult use of cannabis.
  - El Pais, 13 December 2023

• Minister of the Interior of Colombia, Luis Fernando Velasco, regretted the fall of the recreational cannabis project and launched harsh comment. "Here we tear our clothes because we don't want a child to see someone smoking marijuana, but in December we are happy with the glass of whiskey telling our children: pour the soda and let's toast. The government does not believe that it is scientific and sensible to put people who have this health problem in jail."
  - El Pais, 12 December 2023

• The reform that sought to regulate the consumption of cannabis in Colombia for adult use collapsed at its fourth round of discussions, the project failing in the Senate, which approved a public hearing to discuss (again) the project with 46 votes for and 40 against further discussions. A classic delaying tactic, as there is no longer enough time for the hearing before December 16, when the regular sessions end. The legalizatio process will have to start from scratch next year.
  - El Pais, 12 December 2023

• The reform that sought to regulate the consumption of cannabis in Colombia for adult use collapsed at its fourth round of discussions, the project failing in the Senate, which approved a public hearing to discuss (again) the project with 46 votes for and 40 against further discussions. A classic delaying tactic, as there is no longer enough time for the hearing before December 16, when the regular sessions end. The legalizatio process will have to start from scratch next year.
  - El Colombiano, 12 December 2023

• The reform that sought to regulate the consumption of cannabis in Colombia for adult use collapsed at its fourth round of discussions, the project failing in the Senate, which approved a public hearing to discuss (again) the project with 46 votes for and 40 against further discussions. A classic delaying tactic, as there is no longer enough time for the hearing before December 16, when the regular sessions end. The legalizatio process will have to start from scratch next year.
  - El Tiempo, 12 December 2023

• The reform that sought to regulate the consumption of cannabis in Colombia for adult use collapsed at its fourth round of discussions, the project failing in the Senate, which approved a public hearing to discuss (again) the project with 46 votes for and 40 against further discussions. A classic delaying tactic, as there is no longer enough time for the hearing before December 16, when the regular sessions end. The legalizatio process will have to start from scratch next year.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 12 December 2023

• Spain seizes 11 tons of cocaine in shipping containers. Most of the drugs were hidden between pieces of frozen tuna.
  - El Pais, 11 December 2023

• The controversy over Decree 2114 of 2023 continues. The new chapter of the countless criticisms that President Petro has received was stated by Francisco Santos, Colombian ambassador to the United States between 2018 and 2021 and former vice president of Colombia during the eight years of government of former President Ávaro Uribe Vélez. Santos stated "Incredible, this is what the 'first misinformer' in Colombia says. This is you, President Petro, in case you don't feel addressed."
  - El Pais, 11 December 2023

• President Gustavo Petro continues to clarify what Decree 2114 of 2023 is about, which he approved this December 7, with the support of the Ministry of the Interior and Defense, through which it is intended not to criminalize the carrying and consumption of the personal dose of narcotics in the country. "All the criminalization rules for drug marketing and drug trafficking remain in force," he explained. Former presidents Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque, consider that this will strengthen microtrafficking will increase and the consumption of these psychoactive substances in young people.
  - El Colombiano, 11 December 2023

• After learning of the decree that limits some functions of the Colombian Police to combat micro-trafficking, President Gustavo Petro pointed out that "all the rules for penalizing drug marketing and drug trafficking remain in force."
  - El Colombiano, 10 December 2023

• The National Government of Colombia issued decree 2114 of 2023, by which it is determined not to criminalize the possession and consumption of the personal dose of narcotics in Colombia. In legal terms, what the new order does is render invalid Chapter 9 of the title of part 2 of book 2 of Decree 1070 of 2015, that is, the Sole Regulatory of the Administrative Sector of Defense, added by Decree 1844 of 2018, which was in force. Decree 1844, specifically regulated partially the National Police and Coexistence Code, regarding the prohibition of possessing, having, delivering, distributing or marketing prohibited drugs or substances. The measure seeks, according to decree 2114 of 2023, to guide the institutional effort to attack and counteract organized crime organizations dedicated to micro-trafficking and drug trafficking.
  - El Colombiano, 09 December 2023

• By sowing life, we eradicate drug trafficking: ambassador to the US. Luis Gilberto Murillo maintained that the bilateral relationship is in one of its best moments, and regarding the problem of illicit crops, he said that the Biden government supports the substitution program (which has been a complete failure).
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 10 December 2023

• "If the cannabis bill is not discussed next week, it will sink." The legislative act that seeks to modify Article 49 of the Constitution of Colombia and regularize cannabis for adult use. The initiative must be on the agenda this week in the plenary session or otherwise, it would have to be filed again and its discussion begin from scratch.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 09 December 2023

• Costa Rica finds itself divided over the latest request of President Chaves to legalize recreational marijuana. "For many years, Costa Rica was a net exporter of marijuana, but now we are importing very large quantities. ... As long as marijuana remains illegal, these ships that bring marijuana into the country will continue to be sponsored."
  - Tico Times, 09 December 2023

• The curse of gold that leaves deaths, massacres and displacements in Antioquia, Colombia. The decline in the sale of cocaine and the profitability of gold made this mineral become fuel for war.
  - El Colombiano, 07 December 2023

• Dairy farmers in Colombia close the year with difficulties in selling their production. In addition to the drop in the price paid to the producer and the lower consumption of milk, there were announcements of lower acquisition of milk by buyers.
  - El Colombiano, 07 December 2023

• The latest murder: Pedro Pablo Salas, a renowned peasant leader, is murdered in the rural area of Putyumayo. 157 leaders have been assassinated in Colombia in 2023.
  - El Pais, 04 December 2023

• Moskitia, the Honduran jungle that is drowning in cocaine. Drug traffickers take over vast areas and the indigenous people who live there are increasingly poorer.
  - El Pais, 04 December 2023

• The indigenous leader, Rogelio Chate Peña, is murdered in the rural area of Santander de Quilichao, Cauca, Colombia. He was former governor of the Pueblo Nuevo Indigenous Reservation.
  - El Pais, 03 December 2023

• Grassroots coffee growers in Colombia claim that there is a crisis in the union, while the National Federation denies it. A movement of coffee growers claims that the sector is in crisis because they are losing 500,000 pesos (about $1250) for each load.
  - El Colombiano, 30 November 2023

• Adding to the strong clash that the Attorney General of Cplombia, Francisco Barbosa, and the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro have had in recent hours, is a new statement from the head of the investigative entity in which he describes as "tendentious and false" the accusations that the President made in the last few hours through his social networks, alleging links between the Director of the CTI of Buenaventura and drug trafficking.
  - El Pais, 28 November 2023

• President Gustavo Petro is arguing that Colombia's deputy Attorney General, Martha Mancera, has been trying to cover up the alleged drug trafficking activities of the director of the Technical Investigations Unit of the Attorney General's office in the port city of Buenaventura. Instead of investigating Martinez, the Attorney General's office filed drug trafficking charges against two undercover agents who informed her about the regional CTI director. Mancera wants to be the next Attorney General.
  - Colombia Reports, 28 November 2023

• The president of the Republic of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, once again attacked Martha Mancera, the vice-Attorney General of the Nation, and accused her of of "exporting cocaine." "They said that there is no evidence against 'Pacho' (Francisco Santos, Colombian ambassador to the United States between 2018 and 2021 and former vice president of Colombia during the eight years of government of former president Álvaro Uribe) but here they even present recordings. "How is it possible that they have used the prosecutor's office to export cocaine in Buenaventura and have protected the alleged criminal?" Petro wrote. An investigation by Semana magazine revealed: the secret story of two undercover agents of the CTI of the Prosecutor's Office, who denounced alleged illegal acts committed by the director of the CTI in Buenaventura, Francisco Javier Martínez.
  - El Pais, 27 November 2023

• A new 'clash' of trains involves the Attorney General of the Nation, Francisco Barbosa, and the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, after the scandal over the alleged links of the director of the CTI of Buenaventura with drug trafficking. Petro: "If there have been friendly conversations for months between the head of the Buenaventura CTI and a drug trafficker, why is he still in office? Why did they protect him? "How much cocaine has been exported using that position in the prosecutor's office?" Barbosa returned the threat: "He reminded the President that he is not in power for 20 years, he has two more to go, he will continue to be President until August 7, 2026 and then he will be a citizen like everyone else when we stop holding these public positions."
  - El Pais, 27 November 2023

• ÁUribe took the "little rags in the sun" to Juan Manuel Santos: "The best president, according to him, and he still left 220,000 hectares of coca." Uribe accused the Nobel Peace Prize winner of producing more people in arms than demobilized during his mandate.
  - El Pais, 25 November 2023

• Salvatore Mancuso, the former commander of the now-defunct paramilitary organization AUC, has told the war crimes tribunal (JEP) of Colombia that former President Alvaro Uribe was involved in a 1997 massacre. Mancuso accused Uribe of being involved in the planning of the 1997 El Aro massacre in the north of the Antioquia province in an unclassified testimony before the JEP. Uribe was governor of Antioquia when a group of more than 100 AUC fighters executed at least 12 locals, stole all of the cattle in El Aro, and burned down most of the homes in the town.
  - Colombia Reports, 20 November 2023

• The Monsanto subsidiary of Bayer is ordered by a state court in Missouri to pay more than $1.5 billion over claims that its RoundUp weed-killer caused cancer. The most active ingredient in RoundUp is glyphosate, which has been used to eradicate coca leaves in Colombia, at great harm to coca growers and the environment in Colombia.
  - The Messenger, 18 November 2023

• The container terminal at the port of Moín in Costa Rica is the largest transhipment point for cocaine in Costa Rica, and is one of the largest in Central America for transporting cocaine from Colombia to North America.
  - Tico Times, 17 November 2023

• Would the increase in cocaine consumption in the US change anti-drug policy in Colombia? The current Government aims at the voluntary eradication of illicit crops, however, this program has not begun because details of the PNIS (Comprehensive National Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops) are being refined and collective agreements are being negotiated with farmers.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 15 November 2023

• The military of Colombia allegedly agreed to leave control of a major drug trafficking route in the Micay Valley (province of Cauca) to guerillas. The agreement that was reportedly signed by government and guerrilla representatives would be against the law.
  - Colombia Reports, 15 November 2023

• Police officials and customs agents in Hong Kong find $50 million of cocaine hidden in a marshmallow shipment from South America
  - South China Morning Post, 09 November 2023

• In candy shades and eggy shapes, many of today's most popular vaping devices look like toys. Experts worry they will addict a new generation of users to nicotine.
  - New York Times, 09 November 2023

• A federal jury convicted two longtime Drug Enforcement Administration supervisors of leaking confidential information to defense attorneys as part of a bribery conspiracy that prosecutors say imperiled high-profile cases and the lives of overseas drug informants. Recio and Costanzo join a growing list of more than a dozen DEA agents convicted of federal charges in recent years.
  - Associated Press, 08 November 2023

• Farmers in Afghanistan lose income of more than $1 billion after the Taliban banned poppy cultivation
  - Associated Press, 05 November 2023

• Local elections in the Caribbean region of Colombia have consolidated the power of clans with ties to organized crime and political corruption. These clans include the Chars and Gneccos, and powerful individuals with criminal connections.
  - Colombia Reports, 30 October 2023

• The military intelligence agencies of Mexico have linked the Sinaloa drug cartel to a bank, Serfinanza, that is controlled by the Char family that controls the Caribbean coast of Colombia around Barranquilla
  - Colombia Reports, 25 October 2023

• War for cocaine and gold strangles south of Bolívar, Colombia. The Ministry of Defense ordered offensive actions against the Gulf Clan, which is expanding in areas where there are guerrillas.
  - El Colombian, 20 October 2023

• Police in Costa Rica seize over 2 tons of cocaine in Limon. The drugs were shipped from Colombia and were heading toward Belgium.
  - Tico Times, 22 October 2023

• The United States renews emergency declaration due to the threat of Colombian drug trafficking. President Joe Biden announced the decision was made in a letter sent to Congress. "The actions of major drug traffickers based in Colombia continue to represent an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States and cause an extreme level of violence, corruption and damage in the United States and abroad."
  - El Tiempo, 18 October 2023

• A massacre in the Cauca province of Colombia: 4 people are assassinated in a rural zone of Caloto, a town about 90 minues south of Cali
  - El Pais, 13 October 2023

• You can't import Elf Bar, an e-cigarette from China? Change the name to EBCreate. The product/company name change reflects the inability of the FDA to stop the flow of unauthorized e-cigarettes into the USA, being outsmarted by these illegal nicotine drug traffickers who compete with legal nicotine drug traffickers in the USA.
  - Associated Press, 13 October 2023

• New York seeks to limit addictive social media from capturing too much attention of children. Legislation would require parental consent for anyone under 18 to access the algorithm-based feeds on TikTok, Instagram and other addictive social media platforms.
  - New York Times, 13 October 2023

• President Gustavo Petro of Colombia accused the illicit crop substitution program of former President Juan Manual Santos' government of being a "den of corruption".
  - El Colombiano, 12 October 2023

• The use of glyphosate is connected to epidemic levels of chronic kidney disease
  - Phys.org, 11 October 2023

• A record amount of the production of cocaine in Colombia is negatively impacting the oil industry of Colombia. Major oil-producing regions, like Putumayo, overlap with high-density coca cultivation zones, fueling conflicts and disrupting oil operations. The rampant theft of oil from key pipelines, driven by the demand of the cocaine industry for gasoline, harms the environment.
  - OilPrice.com, 11 October 2023

• The former head of security for the vice president of Colombia, Francia Márquez, is in the sights of the authorities for his controversial fortune of $5 billion pesos (about $1.2 million). An anonymous source indicates that this fortune could be linked to bribes for allowing drug shipments to pass through Santa Marta.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 11 October 2023

• President Gustavo Petro of Colombia accused the crop substitution program of former president Juan Manuel Santos of being corrupt. Without presenting evidence, the president called the Santos government's illicit crop substitution program a "den of corruption". His own policy, 14 months after he came to power, has not started. In this regard, Petro accused alleged intermediaries of stealing public resources that were intended for farmers who agreed to join the Comprehensive National Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 11 October 2023

• President Gustavo Petro of Colombia accused the crop substitution program of former president Juan Manuel Santos of being corrupt. Without presenting evidence, the president called the Santos government's illicit crop substitution program a "den of corruption". His own policy, 14 months after he came to power, has not started. In this regard, Petro accused alleged intermediaries of stealing public resources that were intended for farmers who agreed to join the Comprehensive National Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops.
  - El Colombiano, 11 October 2023

• President Gustavo Petro of Colombia accused the crop substitution program of former president Juan Manuel Santos of being corrupt. Without presenting evidence, the president called the Santos government's illicit crop substitution program a "den of corruption". His own policy, 14 months after he came to power, has not started. In this regard, Petro accused alleged intermediaries of stealing public resources that were intended for farmers who agreed to join the Comprehensive National Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops.
  - El Colombiano, 11 October 2023

• "The crisis and the economic ruin of coffee-growing families are deepening": coffee producers reiterate their call to the Government. According to the Union of Coffee Growers of Colombia, after presenting their requests to the Government, no solutions have yet been given, which is why they warned of "justified protest actions".
  - El Colombiano, 11 October 2023

• Low production, imports and plummeting prices: the coffee crisis that is about to explode in Colombia. The aging of coffee plantations, low productivity, the collapse of prices and imports have the coffee sector in a critical state. Producers continue to make calls to the Government.
  - El Colombiano, 11 October 2023

• The criminal justice system of Colombia is targeting one of the notorious crime families in the Caribbean, the Gnecco crime family. The matriach, Cielo Gnecco, was arrested for allegedly ordered the kidnapping and assassination of two government contractors of the Cesar province in 2002. Monsalve, the son of Cielo, was called to trial over corruption with funds meant to provide school meals to poor children when he was governor of Cesar between 2012 and 2015. The Gnecco crime family rose to prominence in the 1960s when the father of Cielo, Lucas Gnecco, got involved in drug trafficking. The Gnecco family's involvement in the command of the now-defunct paramilitary organization AUC allowed the crime family to expand its power over politics in Cesar. The crime family gained major influence over public opinion through Gnecco's daughter-in-law, Vicky Davila, who was appointed director of Semana magazine in 2020.
  - Colombia Reports, 11 October 2023

• Mallinckrodt, an opioid drug trafficker and one of the largest manufacturers of opioids, receives approval of a court to eliminate/steal more than $1 billion of payments meant for the treatment of addicts, while handing control of the pharmaceutical company and drug trafficker to its lenders.
  - MWSJ, 11 October 2023

• Illegal e-cigarettes are being sold in greater quantities in stores as the FDA struggles to combat imports. Some vapes are appearing with increasing nicotine levels that approach those in a carton of cigarettes. U.S. regulators did not authorize them, but have failed to keep them off shelves. Trafficking nicotine is just too popular.
  - New York Times, 10 October 2023

• Coconut oil is considered "pure poison and one of the worst foods that exist". However, in Colombia it is legal to sell coconut oil, not coca tea.
  - El Pais, 10 October 2023

• Third debate on proposed law that seeks to regulate cannabis for adult use in Colombia. The project includes a transitional article so that municipalities and departments can generate resources on behalf of the use of cannabis.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 09 October 2023

• With 85 Yes vote, the Chamber of Representatives approved in a second debate a proposed law to regulate the recreational use of marijuana in Colombia by adults.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 09 October 2023

• Jaime Gilinski Bacal, a Colombian banking and real estate entrepreneur, has taken control of Metro Bank in the United Kingdom. The Spaldy Investments fund owned by Gilinski Bacal will contribute $124 million to the bank, increasing its stake to 53% from 9% currently.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 09 October 2023

• FARC dissidents defend their new cocaine enclave with bombs. Behind the car bombs in Jamundí, Timba and Buenos Aires (Valle de Cauca, Colombia) there is a lucrative business.
  - El Colombiano, 08 October 2023

• How West Africa can reap more profit from the global chocolate market that is totally controlled by large authoritarian chocolate companies. Resource-rich countries like Ghana are often cut out of lucrative parts of the business like manufacturing. The "fairchain movement" wants to change that.
  - New York Times, 08 October 2023

• First Peru, now Ecuador - more profiting from the coca leaf by the USA military. The USA Southern Command escalates its 'war on drugs' in South America, a 'war' that is a lie. If Washington were serious about tackling the violence generated by the drug cartels, the first thing it could do is pass legislation to stop the southward flow of guns and other weapons produced in thge USA. But that would hurt the profits of arms manufacturers. And if it were remotely serious about tackling the major cause of the drug problem -- the rampant consumption of narcotics within its own borders -- it would never have let Big Pharma unleash the opium epidemic. And once it had, it would never have let the corporate drug traffickers walk free with the daintiest of financial penalties.
  - Naked Capitalism, 08 October 2023

• The online gaming industry is using the same tactics of Big Tobacco to get people addicted to online gambling and to obtain favorable public opinion.
  - Vice, 08 October 2023

• Measures adopted in Colombia so that coffee growers do not enter into crisis. Congressmen warn that the country could face the worst coffee crisis in its history.
  - El Tiempo, 04 October 2023

• In Valle del Micay in Colombia they will develop a pilot anti-drug policy plan. President Petro assured that there will be no repressions against coca growers.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 04 October 2023

• The pilot plan of the national government's new anti-drug policy will be developed in the Micay Valley, a coca-growing complex located in southwestern Colombia.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 29 September 2023

• The presence of illicit crops in some of Colombia's national natural parks is one of the great threats to these protected areas, where they have mainly affected the tropical humid forest ecosystem. Next in importance of damage are wetlands and tropical lake areas. "84% of the area with coca in 2022 is concentrated in five parks: Paramillo, La Paya, Nukak, Catatumbo-Barí and Sierra de La Macarena."
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 29 September 2023

• Perú has eradicated 16,000 hectares of coca leaf this year between January and September. The potential production from this quantity is 150 tons of cocaine.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 25 September 2023

• Coffee growers who protested in front of Juan Valdez's offices postpone the union's national strike scheduled for this Monday
  - El Colombiano, 25 September 2023

• Coffee growers protest in front of Juan Valdez offices: "You sell a cup of coffee for 4,500 pesos (about $1.11), but pay us 4,000 pesos (about $1) for a pound of our coffee beans".
  - El Colombiano, 24 September 2023

• Luis Fernando Velasco, Minister of the Interior of Colombia: "Marijuana is today an illegal market. It must be legal and produce wealth."
  - El Tiempo, 24 September 2023

• Will the 'cocaine of poor men', captagon (fenethylline), fuel the next drug crisis in the USA. The cheap and highly addictive stimulant Captagon shows signs of following in the 'footsteps' of fentanyl (an opioid). Officials in Europe recently sounded the alarm about counterfeit Captagon, an amphetamine-like drug that produces many of the same physiological effects as cocaine. Captagon is cheap and easy to make, and is highly addictive while avoiding some of the bizarre side effects of other drugs.
  - Zero Hedge, 21 September 2023

• Former President Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga of Bolivia argued yesterday that the general coca law was an implicit legalization of drug trafficking, because it endorsed 7,700 hectares of the Cochabamba tropics, which is not for pijcheo (traditional uses), but instead goes to drug trafficking.
  - El Deber, 18 September 2023

• For three months, the Peruvian Navy has been leading a joint military operation with the Police to eradicate coca crops, which, according to official data, exceed 12,000 hectares distributed along the border with Colombia, a line that extends for 1,626 kilometers. The destruction of 12,000 hectares of coca leaves, mixed with pancoger crops, threatens food security and fuels massive displacement in the area.
  - El Colombiano, 18 September 2023

• The Vice Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances of Bolivia, Jaime Mamani, stated this Monday that some figures in the country "use the fight against drug trafficking as a political flag", after former presidents Evo Morales and Carlos Mesa questioned this government fight after a new disqualification of the United States.
  - El Deber, 18 September 2023

• The 'arcista' faction of the Movement Al Socialism (MAS) in La Paz, Bolivia, promotes the modification of the General Coca Law enacted in 2017 by the government of Evo Morales. The objective is to end the "privileges" that the current law grants to the Cochabamba tropics and reduce the hectares and surplus crops that are diverted to drug trafficking. The initiative is well regarded by the current leadership of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of La Paz. The conflicts in Yungas began precisely in rejection of Law 906 approved by the MAS in the last administration of Evo Morales.
  - El Deber, 15 September 2023

• Cocaine will surpass oil as the main export product of Colombia. "We estimate cocaine export revenues will rise to $18.2 billion in 2022, not far from oil exports of $19.1 billion last year."
  - El Colombiano, 15 September 2023

• Due to an interagency operation between the Colombian Air Force and the National Army, coordinated with the National Police and with the Attorney General's Office, this offensive was carried out that strongly hurt the finances of a criminal group, since they produced approximately 5 thousand kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride monthly. At the site, a ton of cocaine hydrochloride and 228 kilograms of solid inputs such as caustic soda, cement and potassium permanganate were found, as well as 285 gallons of liquid inputs and equipment such as ovens and grameras, materials used for the processing of this psychoactive substance.
  - El Nuevo Liberal, 13 September 2023

• A report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on the expansion of coca plantations in Bolivia will be released in October.
  - Yahoo News, 13 September 2023

• The Government of Colombia's strategy to fight drug trafficking and illicit crops lacks a strategic vision. Therefore, and judging by the increase in violence and crime in some territories as a consequence of these activities, the Executive's plan to confront them is not working.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 13 September 2023

• Thousands of people register to legally experience the use of magic mushrooms in the state of Oregon, as the state's novel experiment with psilocybin begins
  - Yahoo News, 13 September 2023

• Deaths due to overdoses of drugs, mostly opioids, quadrupled from 1999 to 2020. The origins of the current epidemic are due, at least in part, to a 1986 World Health Organization pronouncement that pain treatment is a universal right. As such, cancer pain treatment guidelines were developed, which included the provision of opioids. In 1995, OxyContin was approved for the management of pain, paving the way for the widespread and legal trafficking of opioids. Drug trafficking families such as the Sacklers, who earned billions from trafficking opioids (which they are allowed to keep - they are white) while killing hundreds of thousands of people, forced drug users to buy fentanyl from other drug traffickers, fentanyl being more more stronger and deadly than heroin.
  - Tech Xplore, 12 September 2023

• Fentanyl, drug cartels or a simple market glut: what is behind the collapse of the coca market in Colombia? As the price of coca has slumped, the rural families who depend on the shrub are wondering how they are survive economically
  - The Guardian, 13 September 2023

• The government of Gustavo Petro in Colombia will prioritize the voluntary eradication of coca crops and completely discards the use of glyphosate. The Government said goodbye to glyphosate and seeks to legalize cannabis and the legal uses of the coca leaf.
  - El Colombiano, 12 September 2023

• Coca crops grew 77 percent in Putumayo, Colombia: what factors influenced it? The increase in coca crops on the border of Ecuador, Perú and Venezuela.
  - El Tiempo, 12 September 2023

• The Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (FELCN) in Bolivia describes Evo Morales' accusations as "false" and reminds him that cocaine laboratories found in Villa Tunari represent a threat. FELCN responded frontally to former President Evo Morales about the accusations he launched against said institution, in light of the latest operations carried out by the uniformed men in the tropics of Cochabamba.
  - El Deber, 11 September 2023

• Dissidents of FARC attack and rob a branch of Banco Agrario in the municipality of Jumbaló, Colombia, a community where coca is grown
  - El Pais, 10 September 2023

• Acreage of coca farms in Colombia reach a record 230,000 hectares in 2022. The statistic represents a 12.7% increase from 2021.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 09 September 2023

• In Colombia, 13% of the annual deforestation is due to plantings of coca bushes.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 09 September 2023

• Néstor Osuna, Minister of Justice of Colombia: "Prohibitionism and the punitive approach does not work in the fight against drugs."
  - La Silla Vacia, 08 September 2023

• Colombia seeks Latin America to declare failure of prohibition and the war on drugs. "We recognize the failure of the 'war on drugs', which has prioritized eminently punitive actions and indirect biases, being ineffective in solving the underlying problems and exploiting and exacerbating the vulnerability of our territories and societies."
  - La Silla Vacia, 08 September 2023

• Legislators in California have passed a new law to legalie the possession and personal farming of magic mushrooms
  - The Intercept, 08 September 2023

• There is tension in Bolivia due to operations in coca-growing redoubts and record numbers of drug flights. The government's anti-drug target is the Cochabamba tropics, the political stronghold of former President Evo Morales. In addition, the legislator considered that the operations carried out by the FELCN during all this time "do not have the purpose of fighting against drug trafficking, but rather of criminalizing the entire region of the Cochabamba tropics with a discriminatory and racist nature".
  - El Deber, 06 September 2023

• How Portugal has succeeded with the decriminalization of drugs, while the USA and Latin America have failed
  - New York Times, 04 September 2023

• "Let there be no impunity", says the USA on the proposal for reconciliation with drug traffickers in Colombia. This was said by Kevin Murakami, director of the Law Enforcement and Counternarcotics Affairs Section, a United States agency that works on drug trafficking and drug policy issues.
  - El Tiempo, 03 September 2023

• This month in Colombia, the government of President Gustavo Petro will present to the country the new drug policy for 2023-2033, whose text is based on the National Development Plan. The initiative was created with the participation of 2,700 social leaders and 274 organizations in Colombia.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 03 September 2023

• The Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (FELCN) in Bolivia destroyed on August 31 a mega-laboratory for cocaine crystallization on the banks of the Piraí River, in Ichilo (Santa Cruz), affecting drug trafficking worth $US 800,000. The laboratory had a production capacity of 400 to 500 kilos of cocaine per day.
  - La Razon, 03 September 2023

• The veiled and underhanded racism in the media in Colombia, for example, in the magazine Semana
  - La Silla Vacia, 01 September 2023

• There is little quality evidence on the benefits of marijuana, according to a new analysis of more than 100 clinical trials and meta-analyses. Much of the most convincing evidence in the study, in fact, pointed to the potential harms of using marijuana, especially for pregnant women, anyone with a mental health disorder and the adolescents and young adults who currently make up the majority of cannabis users.
  - CN, 30 August 2023

• In Bolivia, the cocalero leader Arnold Alanez affirmed yesterday that the political break between President Luis Arce and the ex-president and leader of the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS), Evo Morales, has created consequences for him and his sector. Alanez denounced that President Luis Arce seeks to "subdue" the cocalero movement through pressure from the Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, for electoral purposes.
  - La Razon, 30 August 2023

• Users of marijuana have statistically higher levels of lead and cadmium in their blood and urine than people who do not use marijuana. Marijuana users had 27% higher levels of iron in their blood, and 21% higher levels in their urine. Marijuana users also had 22% higher cadmium levels in their blood than non-users, and 18% higher levels in their urine.
  - CNN, 30 August 2023

• Coca legislators in Bolovia who support the return of Evo Morales to power rejected the "drug trafficking map" that the Minister of Government, Eduardo Del Castillo, presented on Monday. In addition, they questioned the authority for hurting the image of the country and "faliing" in the fight against drugs. Senator Leonardo Loza lamented that a drug trafficker like Marset has lost respect for the Minister of Government and defended Chapare coca.
  - El Deber, 30 August 2023

• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recommended in a letter that marijuana be reclassified as a lower-risk drug. Marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it is deemed to have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. The letter called for marijuana to be reclassified as a Schedule III drugs, defined as drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence. Coca tea has even a lower potential than marijuana for physical and psychological dependence.
  - CNBC, 30 August 2023

• The Minister of Government of Bolivia, Eduardo del Castillo, assured this Monday that coca destined for drug trafficking was found in the parallel market, which is installed in Villa El Carmen in the city of La Paz and is directed by Arnold Alanes. The aforementioned Alanes responded that they treat him like this because he is "evista" and denounced that they want him imprisoned and "even dead".
  - El Deber, 29 August 2023

• The Bolivian Minister of Government, Eduardo Del Castillo, presented yesterday "the unprecedented" map of drug trafficking which shows that the largest number of cocaine factories, whether for base paste or refining, is in the Chapare region of the province of Cochabamba. The area identified by the minister was considered by many to be the political stronghold of the MAS (political party) because the social mobilizations against the "coca zero" policy promoted at the beginning of the century were created from that region.
  - El Deber, 29 August 2023

• TikTok, unlike cocaine, is a never ending drug, according to a Stanford University expert. "Today we have new versions of drugs and more variety, for example, from video games, from social networks."
  - El Tiempo, 27 August 2023

• "We have never negotiated nor will we ever negotiate with drug trafficking." Peace commissioner Danilo Rueda explains details of the reconciliation project proposed by President Petro. He says there won't be any. pardons or amnesties.
  - El Tiempo, 27 August 2023

• The governor of the province of Nariño, Colombia, requested a declaration of a state of emergency for the region, a request to the national government. The presence of drug crops has been another problem in the province.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 27 August 2023

• Artisanal ketamine, the new risk for the consumers of drugs in Bogotá
  - New York Times, 27 August 2023

• The marijuana industry in Thailand is poised to grow fast. Thailand's legal marijuana business -- a rarity in Asia -- is struggling with oversupply, illegal imports and regulatory ambiguity. Investors are piling in anyway.
  - New York Times, 27 August 2023

• The Regional Instance of the Ceasefire Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (MMV) was established in Pasto, Nariño, in front of local and ethnic authorities, between the Government of Colombia and the ELN National Liberation Army (ELN).
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 26 August 2023

• ¿What future could the national reconciliation law proposed by President Petro have? The Colombian President sparked another controversy in the country, telling drug traffickers that "there is also a path" for them.
  - El Pais, 26 August 2023

• Claudia Ordoñez is murdered, a leader of the El Guabal township and candidate for the Council of Jamundí, Colombia. She was a woman who "was fierce in the defense of Human Rights and the protection of the territory."
  - Tico Times, 25 August 2023

• Coronel Elías Melgar Urbina, a top-ranking military official in Honduras and who works with the USA in joint drug war operations, has been linked to a convicted drug trafficker and a security company accused of assassinating activists
  - The Intercept, 25 August 2023

• The hypocrisy of complaining about President Petro's plan to negotiate a cease fire with drug traffickers. Colombia has always negotiated with drug traffickers. Colombia siempre ha negociado con los narcotraficantes. What happens is that it has done it in a perverse, utilitarian way and protecting the mafia power embedded in the elites.
  - La Silla Vacia, 25 August 2023

• A semi-submersible submarine intercepted this Wednesday in Golfito, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, was carrying more than two tons of cocaine. This handcrafted vessel, made of fiberglass, was stopped by the Coast Guard 200 kilometers offshore from the Osa Peninsula.
  - Tico Times, 25 August 2023

• The Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (FELCN in SPanish) destroyed seven drug factories in the municipality of Villa Tunari, Chapare province of the department of Cochabamba, Bolivia
  - El Tiempo, 25 August 2023

• Doubts about the reconciliation with drug traffickers proposed by Petro. President Petro assured that he will present a proposed law, but the Ministries of Justice and Interior do not know the scope of this initiative. The Peace Commissioner says that there will be no amnesties nor pardons for drug trafficking.
  - El Tiempo, 25 August 2023

• "Drug traffickers have a path here." President Gustavo Petro talks about the national reconciliation law in Colombia. Petro has clarified that this rule would include drug traffickers, who have no political status and can only demobilize and take refuge in the law, without being able to participate in the current peace agreements.
  - El Tiempo, 23 August 2023

• "Drug traffickers have a path here." President Gustavo Petro talks about the national reconciliation law in Colombia. Petro has clarified that this rule would include drug traffickers, who have no political status and can only demobilize and take refuge in the law, without being able to participate in the current peace agreements.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 23 August 2023

• Is the therapeutic potential of hallucinogens -- such as LSD, mdma, psilocybin -- risky and overhyped?
  - The Guardian, 19 August 2023

• How narco traffickers unleashed violence and chaos in Ecuador, using profits of sales from drugs to the Christian USA and Europe -- which refuse to solve the problems of the coca world
  - New York Times, 18 August 2023

• Binge drinking among adults ages 35 to 50 occurred at record prevalence in 2022, with nearly 30% of people in this age group reported binge drinking in 2022, up from 23% in 2012. Use of marijuana in this group also reached historical levels, with 28% reporting the behavior, up from 13% in 2012. No one binge drinks coca tea.
  - Boston.com, 18 August 2023

• Europe braces for a $3 per pill drug, captagon, the 'poor man's cocaine', to flood streets after crackdown in the Arab world. The Islamic government of Syria leads the captagon drug cartel, needing the profits in light of USA economic sanctions.
  - Zero Hedge, 18 August 2023

• How the FDA approved an antipsychotic drug, brexpiprazole, that failed to show a meaningful benefit but raised the risk of death. Yet the FDA won't approve coca tea with the coca alkaloid, which causes no deaths.
  - British Medical Journal, 17 August 2023

• As countries legalize the psychedelic drug MDMA/Ectasy (but not coca tea, which is not psychedelic), recreational use of Estasy is more common, with over 20 million users worldwide
  - New York Times, 18 August 2023

• In the third committee of the House of Representatives, a debate on political control was held, called by Representative Christian Garcés together with Representative Oscar Darío Pérez and Holmes Echeverría with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce and the Bank of the Republic, due to national concern about the impacts of drug trafficking on the Colombian economy
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 17 August 2023

• The European Union wants to cure the smartphone addiction of teenagers. Coca tea is not addictive.
  - Zero Hedge, 16 August 2023

• In an operation carried out by the Colombian National Army, an illegal laboratory used for the production of cocaine hydrochloride was located and destroyed in the village of El Paraíso, in the Mallama muncipality, province of Nariño, where more than 1,250 kilograms of cocaine were found, from which drug trafficking organizations could extract close to two million doses
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 16 August 2023

• In an operation carried out by the Colombian National Army, an illegal laboratory used for the production of cocaine hydrochloride was located and destroyed in the village of El Paraíso, in the Mallama muncipality, province of Nariño, where more than 1,250 kilograms of cocaine were found, from which drug trafficking organizations could extract close to two million doses
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 16 August 2023

• The controversial comparison of Presidente Petro in a coffee forum: "Cocaine, oil and coal work the same way in Colombia"
  - El Pais, 16 August 2023

• Child welfare advocates filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to force the Biden administration to block imports of cocoa harvested by children in West Africa. The major chocolate companies pledged to end their reliance on child labor to harvest their cocoa by 2005. Now they say they will eliminate the worst forms of child labor in their supply chains by 2025.
  - Associated Press, 15 August 2023

• Who is Juan Carlos López Macías, the drug trafficker who could have supported Gustavo Petro's presidential campaign in Casanare? The President of the Republic affirmed that he did not receive contributions in said province of Colombia.
  - El Pais, 14 August 2023

• Did the cocaine market in the US collapse, as Gustavo Petro says? Some statements by the President of the Republic, in his analysis of the drug market, challenge the investigations of the UN and other experts.
  - El Colombiano, 14 August 2023

• The cocaine market in the US did not fall because of fentanyl. UN investigations and experts contradict Gustavo Petro's thesis that "the cocaine market collapsed in the United States."
  - El Colombiano, 13 August 2023

• This is how the transformation of Pasto, Nariño, progresses as a great capital. Pasto has 17 townships, most of its territory is rural, with a lot of coca nearby.
  - El Espectador, 13 August 2023

• The CIA would support Colombia in a shock plan against fentanyl
  - El Tiempo, 13 August 2023

• President Gustavo Petro says that: "The new area of greatest cocaine production in the world is located along the Colombian-Ecuadorian border, on the Colombian side." The president warns that this, perhaps, would be the reason for the death of the presidential candidate in Ecuador, Fernando Villavicencio.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 12 August 2023

• The illicit crop substitution program has been prioritized by the Government of Colombia within its policy against drug trafficking, however, these efforts have not made any progress. This was asserted by Hernán Barío Cadavid, representative for Antioquia on behalf of the Democratic Center party. Additionally, the parliamentarian presented a bill to prevent tolerance of drug trafficking in the media and other fields.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 11 August 2023

• The Colombian Navy, in the enforcement of different comprehensive maritime security and control operations, intercepted three vessels, in which 2,408 kilograms of narcotics were being transported across the Pacific Ocean towards Central America. The crew members and materials were transferred to the dock of the Tumaco Coast Guard Station.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 11 August 2023

• US President Joe Biden released a memorandum this Friday in which he asks Secretary of State Antony Blinken to continue helping Colombia in the fight against drug trafficking.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 11 August 2023

• César Apaza y Freddy Machicado, the two main coca grower leaders in Bolivia, prisoners in the San Pedro prison, will have to remain in that confinement for another three months. The prosecutor, Bladimir Bolívar, said hopefully that he hopes to conclude the investigation in that time.
  - El Deber, 11 August 2023

• How America's massive addiction to drugs, and refusal to have a rational drug policy, has caused the drug violence of Colombia to spread into once peaceful Ecuador, a once-tranquil country now awash in violence fueled by drug gangs exploiting Christian America's massive addiction to drugs.
  - New York Times, 11 August 2023

• A federal judge in the US sentences the head of a drug cartel in Colombia, Dairo Antonio Úsuga David, known as Otoniel, to 45 years in prison. He was the lead of the notorious Gulf Clan, which he ruled "violently and without mercy". He was responsible for an "uncountable" number of murders. He will also forfeit $216 million. Question? Who caused more deaths - Otoniel or the Sackler family? Who made more money trafficking drugs - Otoniel or the Sackler family? If the Sackler family, why are none of them in jail, and they get to keep billions of dollars? Reflection of a racist drug policy?
  - New York Times, 08 August 2023

• A presidential candidate in Ecuador is assassinated during an election rally. The candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, had been vocal about ties between the state and organized crime, in a country roiled by violence tied to drug trafficking of cocaine.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 08 August 2023

• More children are being exposed to toxic nicotine from the liquids inside e-cigarettes
  - New York Times, 08 August 2023

• During the development of joint operations between the Colombian Navy and the National Army, with the support of the Colombian Aerospace Force, five laboratories used for the processing of coca base paste in the province of Chocó were located and destroyed
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 08 August 2023

• The United States will restart the monitoring of coca leaf farming in Colombia in 2024
  - El Colombiano, 07 August 2023

• 'The Economist': Some areas of Colombia are awash in cocaine. "The global demand for cocaine seems insatiable." Parts of Colombia, a nation that produces 60% of the global cocaine supply, are awash in coca paste, sending prices of this illegal product plummeting.
  - El Colombiano, 07 August 2023

• Churches that offer magic mushrooms are being established in San Francisco, giving residents the ability to buy illegal hallucinogenic drugs at storefront locations -- and for now, the politicians in the city do not appear how to respond. Two churches are relying on a Federal law that gives some religious groups the right to use illegal drugs for spiritual reasons.
  - SF Gate, 07 August 2023

• President Luis Arce, in his message to the country on the occasion of the celebrations for the 198th anniversary of the independence of Bolivia, admitted yesterday for the first time that three great scourges are present in his government: corruption, drug trafficking and crisis in the system judicial. However, he argued that these evils have been present in all governments throughout the country's history. "Drug trafficking has been immersed in the spheres of Bolivian politics, leaving disastrous balances for our country."
  - TCD, 06 August 2023

• Investigadores de la Universidad de Gotemburgo descubrieron que, además de ser una de las formas más omunes de basura, las colillas de cigarrillos (o filtros) también filtran miles de toxinas y fibras plásticas al entorno circundante, y son especifícamente tóxicas para las larvas acuáticas.
  - TCD, 06 August 2023

• The two police officers, anti-narcotics experts, trained by the DEA, are arrested for ties to the drug mafia
  - El Tiempo, 06 August 2023

• President Petro was unaware of drug money in his campaign, says Nicolás, his son. "The campaign did not receive any money of an illicit nature."
  - New York Times, 05 August 2023

• The Taliban's massively successful eradication of opium in Afghanistan raises questions about how the US failed to eradicate for 20 years, if that was truly a goal of the USA.
  - Mint Press, 04 August 2023

• The Government of Colombia probably will not meet its goal (20,000 hectares) of eradication of drug crops (coca, marijuana, poppy) in 2023. The manual eradication of coca leaf crops fell by 84% between January and June 2023, period in which only 6,310 hectares of these illicit crops were destroyed.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 03 August 2023

• An estimated 8.7 million people are killed from tobacco each year, according to the World Health Organization
  - Statista, 31 July 2023

• As little as one alcoholic drink a day increased systolic blood pressure - the top number in a blood pressure reading - even in men and women with no existing hypertension. The negative impact of alcohol on systolic blood pressure continued to rise over the years, the study found, even in men and women who drank little each day. Small amounts of alcohol also raised the lower, or diastolic blood pressure reading, but only in men.
  - El Deber, 31 July 2023

• Cocaleros from Yungas, Bolivia, leave their plantations and go to the rivers to extract gold. There are at least 13 communities in the Nor Yungas province of La Paz that are now engaged in mining. This migration is due to three factors: decrease in the price of coca, smuggling of Peruvian coca and free sale of the coca leaf.
  - El Deber, 31 July 2023

• The evidence for $250,000 received from a former drug trafficker and a man related to paramilitaries ended up leading Nicolás Petro Burgos to become the first son of an active president to be captured in Colombia. He could pay up to 30 years in jail for money laundering and illicit enrichment.
  - El Colombiano, 29 July 2023

• On Saturday, July 29, the son of of President Gustavo Petro, Nicolás Petro, was arrested by Colombian Prosecutor's Office for money laundering and illicit enrichment. In an interview with the director of Semana, Petro's ex-wife, Day Vásquez, said that Nicolás Petro received about US $1.5 million from former drug trafficker Santander Lopesierra.
  - El Pais, 29 July 2023

• A new proposal regarding the use of the coca leaf was made by President Gustavo Petro from César, Colombia, which consists of taking the plant and turning it into a 'clean' fertilizer. As stated by President Petro, the proposal consists of setting up factories for the purchase of coca leaf and creating a lawful use.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 28 July 2023

• Bolivia and México address the decriminalization of coca and a fund for economic culture. In March, the Vice President of Bolivia, David Choquehuanca, participated in a session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in Vienna, Austria, and defended the traditional use of the coca leaf. The chancellor of México, Alicia Bárcena, is in agreement.
  - La Razon, 28 July 2023

• Who resolves the legal titles on the eradication of coca and cannabis crops in Colombia? The government issue a key decision. The decree that provided that titles should be processed before the Council of State is suspended.
  - El Tiempo, 27 July 2023

• Hedge funds seek to steal $1 billion meant for victims of opioid drug trafficking by large pharmaceutical companies. The drugmaker Mallinckrodt is talking to hedge funds about filing for bankruptcy and avoiding payments intended to help people addicted to opioids. Mallinckrodt was the largest drug trafficker of opioid pills in the USA from 2006 to 2014.
  - New York Times, 27 July 2023

• After several unsuccessful hearings, the defense for the cocalero leader, César Apaza, managed to win the case to free him from jail. There was a judicial victory this Wednesday after the First Criminal Chamber of the Departmental Court of Justice of La Paz, decided to ratify that the preventive detention of the defendant should end on August 3rd.
  - El Deber, 26 July 2023

• "The illicit crop substitution program did not reach Jamundí and that was a blunder": William Fernando Prieto, outgoing director of the Third Brigade in Valle de Cauca, Colombia.
  - El Pais, 26 July 2023

• Using cannabis may cause changes in the human body's epigenome. The epigenome functions like a set of switches, activating or deactivating genes to change how our bodies function. Multiple epigenetic changes associated with cannabis use had previously been linked to things like cellular proliferation, hormone signaling, infections, neurological disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and substance use disorders. Drinking coca tea does not cause epigenetic changes.
  - Science Alert, 21 July 2023

• How gang warfare due to drug trafficking caused by America's huge addiction to drugs, gang warfare has jumped for the prisons of Ecuador to the streets, causing a huge crisis in public security
  - CNN, 26 July 2023

• Researchers determine that 89% of sports drinks are inaccurately labeled, and 12% included unlabeled banned drug substances. Yet the United States does not permit coca leaf extracts in sports drinks.
  - CNN, 26 July 2023

• Subsidy or coca: the Ministry of Justice of Colombia proposes an incentive to peasants who stop cultivating coca. According to Minister Néstor Osuna, in this way they seek to recover the Colombian jungles and "bring the legal economy" to the coca cultivation areas.
  - El Colombiano, 25 July 2023

• Due to the rigorous demands of the European Union with the entry into enforcement of the 'Green Pact', Colombia could lose US $1.9 billion of its agricultural exports to that continent if it does not transform the way it produces food such as coffee, bananas and oil palm, among others
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 25 July 2023

• Despite an agreement, tension between rice farmers and the Government of Colombia remains latent. The Ministry of Agriculture issued a resolution for an incentive to store rice for three more months. Producers say that this will not be enough.
  - El Colombiano, 25 July 2023

• The coca business collapses and suffocates rural Colombia. The fall in prices and high inflation have translated into forced displacement and food insecurity for thousands of peasants whose economic pillar has been the coca monoculture and the sale of coca base paste.
  - El Pais, 23 July 2023

• The marijuana farmers of Colombia want to thrive outside of the 'shadows'. Will their government ever legalize their harvests and businesses? More than 200,000 farmers of drug crops live in criminality in Colombia because their harvest is illegal (while drug traffickers such as the Sacklers earn billions and do not go to jail).
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 23 July 2023

• The Attorney General's Office of Colombia identified the alleged members of a criminal network that could be linked to the various links in the drug trafficking chain, from the production of cocaine hydrochloride in the network's own laboratories located in North Santander to the export of the drug through the coasts and ports of the Colombian Caribbean.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 23 July 2023

• During offensive military operations by the Navy, Army and the Air Force of Colombia, in coordination with the National Police, the location of a laboratory for processing cocaine hydrochloride was discovered in the rural area of the municipality of Cumaribo - Vichada.
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 23 July 2023

• The brains that dominate the global business of drug trafficking. Although there is no "capo of capos", each person is essential in the production, export and distribution networks.
  - El Colombiano, 22 July 2023

• "Coffee prices have fallen 23% in recent months.", Germán Bahamón, manager of the National Federation of Coffee Growers. The leader of the coffee union requested government support in light of the changes in the market.
  - El Pais, 22 July 2023

• Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis issued an executive order instructing police officers in the city to, in essence, ignore the purchase and use of certain illegal psychedelic drugs, such as psychoactive mushrooms
  - New York Times, 21 July 2023

• Cocaleros from Chapare, Bolivia, threaten to expel more than 50 'illegal' gold mining cooperatives in the rivers of Villa Tunari. They ask the Government to carry out greater control and operations in the sector, otherwise they themselves will evict the illegals.
  - New York Times, 21 July 2023

• Coffee growers in Colombia announce protests in August over ganancias decrecientes. They assure that the fall of the dollar is affecting their profit margins. "Starting with a drop in the price, which today is below US $33, when taking production costs into account, the arroba of coffee is selling for almost US $13 below the price [of production]."
  - El Colombiano, 20 July 2023

• In India, fantasy gaming is causing addiction and financial ruin. Lack of regulation and massive advertising campaigns by fantasy gaming apps have raised addiction concerns. The government is treating online games similar to cigarettes and alcohol, hoping that the high taxes will make people not want to play them.
  - Al Jazeera, 20 July 2023

• The influence of Mexican drug gangs and increased cocaine output in Colombia, to feed the massive US addiction to drugs, have pushed murders toward record levels in Costa Rica, a top official said, casting a shadow over a country that has long been a beacon of stability in the region.
  - Reuters, 19 July 2023

• "It is highly irresponsible to suspend the monitoring of illicit crops in Colombia." Republican Mario Díaz-Balart, who chairs the committee that allocates resources for Colombia, said that there are no approved funds and that they will depend on the actions of President Petro.
  - El Tiempo, 19 July 2023

• "In this moment, there are no American funds for Colombia". Mario Díaz-Balart, one of the most influential legislators inside the Republican party, speaks with El Tiempo.
  - El Tiempo, 19 July 2023

• A new anti-drug policy in Colombia, which hasn't released publicly, but already has detractors. The Ministry of Justice has not issued the document, but the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa, has already announced his negative vote against the initiative.
  - El Colombiano, 18 July 2023

• The Public Ministry of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, ordered the arrest of the head of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (Felcn) at the Viru Viru airport, after evidence was found against him for sending half a ton of cocaine to the Barajas-Madrid airport.
  - El Deber, 18 July 2023

• Authorities at the Belgian port of Antwerp seize almost seven tons of cocaine in a shipment of bananas from Ecuador
  - El Deber, 18 July 2023

• Harsh criticism from the Attorney General's office of the Petro government's strategy against drugs in Colombia. The initiative for the years 2023-2033 is discussed in the (useless) National Narcotics Council.
  - El Tiempo, 17 July 2023

• This is how the FARC perpetrated the extermination of the Awá people in Nariño, Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 17 July 2023

• Cocoa, to gain the most out of the export market. In Colombia there are more than 4 million hectares of high aptitude for cacao. Greater business and state investment is required to take advantage of its potential.
  - El Colombiano, 17 July 2023

• When Sigmund Freud and Carl Koller discovered the benefits of cocaine
  - El Espectador, 17 July 2023

• Nariñ, Colombia: an indigenous leader is kidnapped and assassinated, worsening the humanitarian situation. The victim was a young man, &AAcute;lex Germán García Guanga, from the indigenous guard of their reservation in Ricaurte.
  - El Tiempo, 14 July 2023

• Republicans criticize the decision to suspend the monitoring of illegal cultivations in Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 14 July 2023

• Mexico claimed that Americans are the ones who traffic 85% of the fentanyl seized at the border - "it's not the migrants but the Americans." Americans are subject to fewer checks at border crossings or inside vehicles.
  - El Colombiano, 14 July 2023

• "If your son consumes coca, it is Petro's fault," Francisco Santos (former Colombian ambassador to the United States) reacted explosively. (And if your child consumes nicotine or alcohol?) following the announcement by the United States to stop monitoring coca crops.
  - El Pais, 13 July 2023

• The Human Rights Council of the United Nations will investigate a conspiracy led by Nestor Martinez, the former Prosecutor General of Colombia, in collaboration with the US Drug Enforcement Agency, to sabotage the peace process in Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 13 July 2023

• How a peaceful country became a gold rush state for drug cartels. In Ecuador, an intelligence official said: "People consume abroad, but they do not understand the consequences that take place here."
  - New York Times, 13 July 2023

• "Nepotism": the harsh claim of Gustavo Bolivar for the scandal of the contract with Sjoerd van Grootheest, the husband of the Minister of Mines, Irene Veléz. He has just received a contract for $2,600 per month through the Colombia in Peace Fund to lead the communication strategy on the substitution of illicit crops in Colombia.
  - El Pais, 12 July 2023

• "No more excuses for your failure, President" - a harsh message from a US congresswoman to Petro, for the growth of illicit crops. María "No more excuses for your failure, President" - a harsh message from a US congressman to Petro, for the growth of illicit crops.
  - El Pais, 12 July 2023

• Attention: the United States suspends monitoring of coca crops in Colombia. Now they have another target in their sights, such as fentanyl.
  - El Pais, 11 July 2023

• What do the Colombian Police say about the end of the measurement of coca crops by the United States? General William René Salamanca indicated that the institution has its own measurement system.
  - El Tiempo, 11 July 2023

• VIDEO: Will the voluntary substitution of illicit crops (of coca) be consolidated?
  - Noticias Caracol, 11 July 2023

• What do the Colombian Police say about the end of the measurement of coca crops by the United States? General William René Salamanca indicated that the institution has its own measurement system.
  - El Tiempo, 11 July 2023

• The United States suspends monitoring of coca crops in Colombia: these are the reasons. Washington has begun to pay more attention to the fight against fentanyl trafficking, and coca production - although still important - is of less concern to them.
  - El Tiempo, 11 July 2023

• The Colombian Army destroyed a cocaine mega-laboratory that was operating in El Peñol (east of Medellín. The illegal complex belonged to the feared El Mesa gang and represented income of up to $2.1 billion pesos a month (about US $500,000/month).
  - La Razon, 10 July 2023

• The Prosecutor's Office in La Paz, Bolivia, admitted a complaint against Arlen Lovera, former Vice Minister of Coca and Integral Development, accusing him of directing a "network of corruption" that benefited from the donation of large sacks of coca leaves (taques). The crimes for which he is being investigated are use of a counterfeit instrument and improper use of influence, which for now is a provisional qualification.
  - La Razon, 10 July 2023

• The United States Government, through the New York Court, ordered the capture of the leader of Sendero Luminoso in Peru, Víctor Quispe Palomino, alias comrade 'José'. The crimes that are imputed to him are terrorism and illegal drug trafficking. He should hire the lawyers that the Sackler family used.
  - El Comercio, 10 July 2023

• The unknown story of the anti-drug policeman who was an "infiltrator" of drug trafficking. The now former PNP non-commissioned officer Elmer Gamarra Briceño was trained by the DEA to be an anti-narcotics agent without the highly paid DEA first detecting that his family was a drug trafficking clan that operates in the triple border of Loreto. He left the police and is now accused of murdering Colombian traffickers.
  - El Comercio, 10 July 2023

• Cocaine produced in Bolivia generates billions, but those dollars 'leak' to Brazil and Paraguay. Bolivia produces the drug in large volumes in conjunction with criminal organizations from Peru. Before the pandemic, the illegal business generated close to $2.5 billion per year, according to studies. But Bolivia does not attract investment.
  - El Deber, 09 July 2023

• The government of Scotland wants to pass a law that decriminalizes all drugs to improve public health. The ruling Conservative Party in England completely opposes this humane policy.
  - Diario del Sur, 08 July 2023

• "It is urgent that we get into the psychedelic conversation." While Australia legalized the medical use of ecstasy since July 1, Adriana Correa launched 'Atajos Mentales', a podcast that -- along the lines of also a journalist Michael Pollan -- exposes related scientific advances. with these substances.
  - Diario del Sur, 08 July 2023

• The presence of illegal armed groups, the increase in coca cultivation and the increase in the number of cattle in some natural parks is a matter of concern in Colombia, according to Julia Miranda, a Congressional representative for the New Liberalism party
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 07 July 2023

• The announcement of the ceasefire of the National Liberation Army (ELN) causes joy and hope in Nariño, Colombia. This has been taken as a goodwill gesture by that organization that has many weapons.
  - Diario del Sur, 05 July 2023

• Coca cultivation in Peru reached an all-time high in 2022, with the highest growth of crops outside of traditional planting areas. Peru registered 95,008 hectares of land dedicated to coca cultivation last year. This historical figure represents an increase of 18% in one year, and almost 54% above the 61,777 reported in 2020.
  - Insight Crime, 05 July 2023

• Faced with Evo Morales's complaint that 17 tons of drugs that left Bolivia "with the endorsement" of the State, the Vice Minister of Controlled Substances, Jaime Mamani, warned that the former president discredits the fight against drug trafficking with "lies"
  - El Razon, 04 July 2023

• Bolivia is now listed as a supplier of cocaine to 31 countries on three continents - Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East
  - El Deber, 04 July 2023

• The former president and national head of the MAS political party, Evo Morales, denounces that 17 tons of cocaine left Bolivia with the guarantee of the State. He affirms that keeping the Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, in his position is synonymous with "defending corruption and drug trafficking at this time".
  - La Razon, 02 July 2023

• The Vice Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances for Bolivia, Jaime Mamani, affirmed this Monday that, by wearing down the management of the government of Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca, the fight against drugs is discredited "with lies" after former President Evo Morales spoke of a alleged shipment of 17 tons of drugs from Bolivia to Spain.
  - La Razon, 02 July 2023

• The largest trafickers of tobacco products, products that contain highly addictive and cancerous nicotine, will have to post eye-catching warning signs about the dangers of cigarette smoking in over 200,000 stores across America beginning Saturday. The signs will briefly explain the devastating health effects of smoking and environmental smoke from nicotine-delivery devices. Coca tea does not require such signs, not being dangerous.
  - CNN, 01 July 2023

• Researchers determine that Xanax and Valium and Klonopin, addictive benzodiazepines used by 12% of adult Americans, are associated with brain injury and suicide. Drinking coca tea is not associated with brain injury and suicide.
  - Zero Hedge, 01 July 2023

• Cali and Colombia continue to turn their backs on the environmental crisis in Los Farallones. The use of mercury for gold extraction has multiplied, to the point that it has already been detected in animals. Illegal mining is becoming more technical and aggressive. Complaints about corruption of government officials and the police persist.
  - El Pais, 01 July 2023

• Australia legalizes psychedelic drugs, such as MDMA and magic mushrooms, for mental health treatment
  - South China Morning Post, 01 July 2023

• The price of coffee in Colombia bounces off a ceiling of $2 million pesos. A batch of 125 kilos of coffee bean is valued at $1.36 million pesos, the lowest value so far this year. The Federation of Coffee Growers will change the formula for setting prices. The dynamics of these values coincides with a context of lower grain production. The Federation explained that these reduced prices correspond to the fact that the climatic variables have not been favorable for the processes of flowering and filling of coffee beans in the coffee-growing areas of the country.
  - El Colombiano, 30 June 2023

• Hipólito Mora, founder and former leader of the self-defense groups of Michoac´n, is assassinated in México. He led the groups that emerged to combat the cartel known as Los Caballeros Templarios, and he denounced multiple threats and attempted attacks against him.
  - El Deber, 30 June 2023

• The size of coca leaf crops in Perú increased by 18% during the last year: increasing from 80,000 to 95,000 hectares. Protected Natural Areas, Buffer Zones and native and indigenous communities total more than 30,000 hectares of coca leaf crops. We report on everything behind the government's double talk about the eradication of illegal coca leaf.
  - El Comercio, 30 June 2023

• Rice growers ask the government of Colombia for solutions to avoid bankrupcy. The Ministry of Agriculture provided close to $20,000 million to help leverage the harvest and surplus grain.
  - El Tiempo, 29 June 2023

• Families in Tumaco (Colombia) bet on the substitution of crops for illicit use. Communities of La Variante and Llorente have stated that they are committed to legal economies, which is why they have begun the eradication process.
  - Diario del Sur, 29 June 2023

• In the municipalities of Tumaco and Olaya Herrera, the Colombian Navy located and destroyed six spaces where coca paste was made, a laboratory for making cocaine, and a supply warehouse.
  - Diario del Sur, 28 June 2023

• Why are the police (the DEA) in charge of medical research and the practice of medicine? Clinical researchers have recognized the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for decades. In recent years, veterans groups and some lawmakers have also begun to appreciate this. But none of that matters if law enforcement disagrees, a law enforcement that is not trained in medicine. Science and the courts say that MDMA has medical uses, and should be on Schedule III - the DEA, rejecting science and the law, placed MDMA back on Schedule I.
  - American Council of Science and Health, 28 June 2023

• Magic mushrooms. LSD. Ketamine. The drugs that power Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs including Elon Musk and Sergey Brin are part of a psychedelic movement that proponents hope will expand minds, enhance lives and produce business breakthroughs.
  - Wall Street Journal, 28 June 2023

• The national Indigenous Guard of Colombia is a lightly armed confederation of defense groups that have sought to protect broad swaths of Indigenous territory from violence and environmental destruction that is linked to the country's long internal conflicts involving politics and the coca leaf
  - New York Times, 27 June 2023

• Victory in Peru as corporations denied right to exploit Indigenous lands for mining of metals, and extraction for oil and natural gas
  - People's World, 27 June 2023

• Is the prohibition of marijuana in Colombia viable and lasting? The collapse of the constitutional reform, which would have given free rein to the use of marijuana by the adult population, leaves many lessons. It failed in the last (eighth) debate with several absences. Its passage came close, and there are reasons to think that such a measure will be passed sooner or later. This has happened in several countries, to the extent that the characteristics of cannabis have become better known, which is already used in fundamental activities such as medicine.
  - El Espectador, 25 June 2023

• "You have to stop being afraid of cannabis", says Fabio Villa Rodríguez, director of the School Against Drug Addiction in Antioquia. He believes that Colombia missed a valuable opportunity to regulate cannabis use. Datn El Tiempo, 23 2023 JUN

• "In the next legislature will be victory for the regularization of cannabis in Colombia." The representative Juan Carlos Losada and the senator María José Pizzaro, authors of the reform, discuss what is coming for the proposed law.
  - El Tiempo, 23 June 2023

• The government of Gustavo Petro responds to the United States about its concern about coca plants in Colombia. Defense Minister Iván Velásquez reiterated his position. voluntary substitution is prioritized.
  - El Tiempo, 23 June 2023

• The poor statistics of the fight against coca in Colombia that coincide with the concerns of the United States. Forced eradication is underway. It is at its lowest level in almost a decade and voluntary replacement plans do not get off the ground.
  - El Tiempo, 23 June 2023

• After 23 days of the 'narcoflight' case, which put the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (Felcn) in the eye of the storm, the General Commander of the Bolivian Police Álvaro José Álvarez Griffiths removed José Illanes from the position of director, and replaced him with Ismael Tito Villca.
  - Pagina Siete, 23 June 2023

• Sweet and fruity e-cigarettes, basically drug trafficking devices for highly addictive nicotine, thrive despite a crackdown on teen-vaping. Disposable e-cigarettes which expolit addictive nicotine, which have escaped FDA restrictions, comprise more than half of the vaping market and are produced in flavors such as cherry and watermelon.
  - Wall Street Journal, 23 June 2023

• Europe has banned the use of chlorothalonil, a cancer-causing pesticide, inside the European Union. So companies in Europe are exporting tons of the toxic chemical to developing countries, including Colombia. But Europe won't allow imports of the harmless coca tea.
  - Euronews.green, 22 June 2023

• Senator Giraldo gave misleading arguments against the legalization of cannabis in Colombia. On June 19, during the last debate on the proposed constitutional reform that sought to legalize the consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes and that failed to pass on June 20th, a Senator of the Conservative Party, Mauricio Giraldo, said that "legalization increases consumption," "increases the rates of suicide and traffic accidents, which increases spending on health," and that "marijuana has more toxic substances than cigarettes".
  - La Silla Vacia, 22 June 2023

• Gustavo Petro and Álvaro Uribe clash on Twitter over a proposed law for the recreational use of marijuana. Former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez wrote on his Twitter account on June 21, after the National Government of Colombia suffered another legislative defeat in Congress when the proposed law was archived that sought to regulate cannabis for adult use was archived, in the eighth debate. Uribe: "Good news to have prevented the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana. A great policy of authority is needed to prevent drugs from continuing to reach schools. The promoters of legalization should see what happens with violence, the increased consumption of various drugs, the growth of the illegal market, etc., in countries where it has been legalized." Petro: "Drugs reach schools precisely because the mafias manage it, thanks to criminalization. With the criminalization of drugs, many politicians get rich, finance their campaigns and build armies. With the money of the drug traffickers and these politicians get their votes with terror, so violence grows."
  - El Pais, 21 June 2023

• The record levels of illicit crops (such as the coca leaf) in Colombia continue to be a threat to the United States that must be faced using all available tools. So said the drug czar of this country, Rahul Guota. "We are reviewing the entire spectrum of cooperation that includes eradication, interdiction, and alternative development, since they are all tools that are required."
  - El Tiempo, 21 June 2023

• The small peaceful country of Costa Rica is being terrorized by drug cartels, that use Costa Rica to ship drugs from Colombia to the highly addicted United States which loves exporting the misery caused by its drug control laws
  - TicoTimes, 20 June 2023

• They did not obtain enough votes: the Senate of Colombia failed to pass a new law allowing the adult use of marijuana. The plenary session of the Senate had 47 votes in favor and 43 against, but it required 54 positive votes to pass. Another failure of the government.
  - El Colombiano, 20 June 2023

• Is the proposed law allowing the adult use of cannabis vanishing like a puff of smoke? The review in the Colombian Senate got stuck last night. If the proposed law is not approved this Monday, it will be dead and will have to start over again as a new proposed law.
  - El Colombiano, 20 June 2023

• With a lax attitude to shell companies and regulation as well as its lack of extradition treaties, the United Arab Emirates became home to the big drug lords, those known as the 'super cartel'.
  - Whale Hunting, 20 June 2023

• An increase in sales of 'magic' mushrooms fosters a revolution in the use of psychedelic drugs in the United States as consumption soars of psilocybin
  - Zero Hedge, 20 June 2023

• In the midst of investigations into the plane at the service of BoA that flew from Viru airport in Bolivia to Spain with half a ton of drugs, three deputies from the Creemos political party suspect that there is another case of a "drug flight" that would have occurred in February. For this reason, they requested reports from three ministries about the arrival of an aircraft that took a Bolivian woman to Guinea, Africa, presumably with a drug shipment.
  - El Deber, 20 June 2023

• Decriminalizing marijuana is the conservative thing to do. In the case of the war on drugs, state intervention has impeded the development of free, peaceful, and prosperous societies. As Gómez and Buckley, titans of conservatism in their respective countries, well understood, the truly conservative position on drugs is to decriminalize, limit the scope of the State and mitigate the harmful effects of consumption by strengthening the civil society.
  - La Silla Vacia, 18 June 2023

• The extended meeting of the 6 Federations of Coca Growers of the Tropic of Cochabamba held this Saturday closed ranks around the head of the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS), and former president, Evo Morales, whom declared that he is the "unique candidate" forthe 2025 national elections.
  - El Pais, 15 June 2023

• What happened? The last debate on the proposed law to regulate the trade of cannabis for adult use in Colombia has been postponed. The proposed law should be approved before June 20, since it will not possible to debate in extra legislative sessions because it is a legislative act that seeks to reform the Constitution.
  - El Pais, 15 June 2023

• A new wave of invasions of the sugarcane-producing farms in Valle and Cauca (Colombia) has caused a loss of sleep not only for industry producers, but also for authorities seeking to coordinate strategies to prevent this phenomenon from spreading. The properties have been illegally occupied again and invaders have destroyed 6,000 hectares, affecting production and, in this way, the job stability of 6,000 industry employees.
  - El Colombiano, 15 June 2023

• The Prosecutor's Office for Controlled substances has issued summons for all the heads of the special, elite, and High Intelligence groups of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, so that they can testify about the shipment of cocaine shipped at the Santa Cruz airport, Viru Viru, in February of this year, and transported in a plane rented by BoA to Madrid, Spain
  - El Deber, 15 June 2023

• Drinking alcohol weekly could be connected to 61 different diseases. Yet it is legal to sell, while coca tea, which is illegal to sell, is NOT connected to 61 different diseases.
  - Fox News, 15 June 2023

• The reverse opium war. Over 100 years ago, the companies in Christian West (led by Britain) flooded China with tons of opium (and fought two wars with China to trafick their heroin, ultimately extorting Hong Kong from China to British control). Now, in (unstated) revenge, China is allowing its companies to flood the West with modern day opium - fentanyl. Though you really can't blame China, but rather the opioid drug trafficking empire created by the Sackler family, their Purdue Pharma, and a large number of American companies that profited from the huge opioid problem plaguing the West.
  - Quillette, 14 June 2023

• Coca growers denounce that the Government of Bolivia donated coca to people who falsified credentials and community resolutions, with economic damage of 1.88 million bolivianos; defendants respond that it is "a fallacy and madness". The defendants are the Vice Minister of Coca, Armin Lovera; the leader of Cofecay related to the MAS, Ernesto Mamani, and an alleged partner, Naftha Otmar.
  - Pagina Siete, 14 June 2023

• According to a complaint from the Bolivian Confederation of Peasant Workers, the trafficking network for the donated coca mocked the police. There were nine verification filters in the Vice Ministry of Coca and those responsible for the lack of control are still unknown. From the Csutcb there is talk of "directed" seizures of the sacred leaf from the coca producers of the Yungas.
  - Pagina Siete, 14 June 2023

• Attacks on farms in Cauca set off alarms for invasions in Colombia. While the sugarcane farmers fear that the invasions will spread, their unions ask for solutions from the Government.
  - El Tiempo, 14 June 2023

• In the rural area of the municipality of Corinto, Cauca, the location and neutralization of a laboratory, by the police and army, for the processing of cocaine hydrochloride was achieved, presumably belonging to the residual organized armed group, structure "Dagoberto Ramos".
  - El Nuevo Liberal, 13 June 2023

• Excessive alcohol consumption may accelerate the worsening of Alzheimer's disease (which doesn't happen when you drink coca tea)
  - EurekaAlert, 12 June 2023

• The unreliable scientific evidence to support medical uses of cannabis
  - SF Gate, 12 June 2023

• In Tumaco, Colombia, 14,138 families are substituting crops grown for illicit use. Given the constant disclosures by PNIS beneficiaries, it has been indicated that the commitments agreed with the communities are being met.
  - Diario del Sur, 09 June 2023

• The vice president of Bolivia, David Choquehuanca, and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ghada Fathi Waly, met this Friday to discuss the actions that Bolivia is taking on the coca leaf.
  - Pagina Siete, 09 June 2023

• A little white pill has given Syrian President Bashar Assad powerful leverage with his Arab neighbors, who have been willing to bring him out of pariah status in hopes he will stop the flow of highly addictive Captagon amphetamines out of Syria.
  - SF Gate, 09 June 2023

• A byproduct of sucralose, an artificial sweetener in Splenda, is found to cause 'significant health effects' in new study, including: increased DNA damage, elevated cancer risk and/or a leaky gut. Drinking coca tea does not cause these problems.
  - Fox News, 08 June 2023

• The Colombian Congress discusses the bill to regulate the use of cannabis for cannabis tea, flowers and cigarettes. Alejandro Ocampo, the representative who promotes the initiative, distributed cannabis tea during the Congressional session to the attendees.
  - El Pais, 07 June 2023

• The drug trafficking of cocaine and gang violence have increased killings in once-peaceful Ecuador, with weary people in Ecuador looking to migrate to escape homicides and extortion
  - SF Gate, 07 June 2023

• For eight years, between 1955 and 1963, CIA agents ran a hidden brothel in one of San Francisco's poshest neighborhoods and tested LSD on unsuspecting Bay Area residents. A racist, George Hunter White, a loyal employee of the racist Harry Anslinger, ran the program for the CIA.
  - SF Gate, 06 June 2023

• The evidence and statements of those involved in the case of the drug flight, in which was transported 478 kilos of cocaine from the Viru Viru airport in Bolivia to Spain, involved the personnel of four State institutions. Minister Eduardo Del Castillo admitted that that an "international drug mafia" penetrated the Government using officials from different agencies.
  - Pagina Siete, 06 June 2023

• Between February and May of this year in Colombia, the National Police have eradicated 4,510 hectares planted with coca plants, which is equivalent to an average of 38 hectares per day. There are more than 200,000 hectares of coca in Colombia.
  - El Tiempo, 06 June 2023

• The First Commission of the Colombian Senate, with 15 votes in favor, and 4 for no, has just approved this Tuesday the seventh debate of the legislative act that seeks to regulate cannabis for adult use in Colombia, which will allow open sales. Now the proposed law goes to its last debate in the plenary session of the Senate.
  - El Pais, 06 June 2023

• Former President Evo Morales: I don't know where government "corruption and the protection of drug trafficking" is going to take the country?
  - El Pais, 04 June 2023

• This is the route of the coca semi-submersibles through the Colombian Pacific; but how do they build them? The Pacific Naval Force has intercepted 13 vessels and seized 64,458 kilos of cocaine hydrochloride.
  - El Pais, 04 June 2023

• Cocaine seizures fall: President Petro says that with its legalization, "violence in Colombia would automatically end"
  - Colombiano, 02 June 2023

• "Poison in every puff": each cigarette in Canada to carry this warning. Government says warnings about smoking dangers will be printed directly on cigarettes -- a first in the world. This warning is never needed for coca tea.
  - Al Jazeera, 01 June 2023

• Colombians start smoking from the age of 15. The percentage of young people between the ages of 12 and 21 who have smoked addictive cigarettes at least once is 15.6%.
  - Colombiano, 28 May 2023

• The political opposition in Bolivia compared the the Chapare region, Cochabamba, with the State of Sinaloa, Mexico, after the shooting carried out by drug traffickers and the discovery of several drug factories.
  - Pagina Siete, 25 May 2023

• The Surgeon General warns that social media is a drug that harms children and adolescents. The report by Dr. Vivek Murthy cited "a profound risk of harm" to adolescent mental health and urged families to set limits and governments to set tougher standards for use.
  - New York Times, 23 May 2023

• The war on drugs: an irrational crusade, when society permits sales of alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs, which kill many more people
  - Mises Institute, 22 May 2023

• The anti-drug forces in Bolivia destroyed 27 coca paste factories and 7 cocaine laboratories in the Tropic of Cochabamba, affecting the drug-trafficking economy by approximately 1.9 million dollars. Each laboratory had an approximate production of 80 to 100 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride per day.
  - Pagina Siete, 20 May 2023

• Did scientists accidentally invent an anti-addiction Drug? People taking Ozempic for weight loss say they have also stopped drinking, smoking, shopping, and even nail biting.
  - The Atlantic, 19 May 2023

• The United States recorded nearly 110,000 overdoes deaths in 2022, with 75,000 deaths due to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl
  - New York Times, 18 May 2023

• María Fernanda Cabal and her acid criticism of the decrease in the eradication of coca crops in the Petro Government. The opposition congresswoman warned that the eradication of illicit crops has fallen since the arrival of Petro to the Presidency.
  - El Pais, 17 March 2023

• The Prosecutor General's Office of Colombia has increasingly come over fire over top prosecutors' alleged involvement in covering up organized crime. The prosecutors, and some police officers, are alleged to be favoring senior mafia figures and paramilitary organization AGC.
  - Colombia Reports, 16 May 2023

• The addictive cellphone app, TikTok, profits by feeding teenagers a diet of darkness. Self-harm, sad-posting and disordered-eating videos abound on the popular addictive app.
  - Wall Street Journal, 15 May 2023

• Senator María Fernanda Cabal and her acidic criticism of the diminishment of the eradication of coca farm lands under the leadership of Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia
  - El Pais, 12 May 2023

• This is how they are using the Cauca River to move coca and marijuana to Cali, Colombia. Experts assure that the controls on this fluvial route are minimal, and that is why micro-trafficking has turned it into a new route for their activities.
  - El Pais, 12 May 2023

• A narco-submarine with three tons of cocaine, the largest in 30 years, was detected and intercepted by the Colombian National Navy together with the Colombian Air Force. It has a cargo of three tons of cocaine that would have been taken to Central America.
  - El Pais, 12 May 2023

• Indigenous leaders from Cauca justify the kidnapping of more than 20 soldiers: "The public security forces are not a guarantee of security."
  - El Pais, 11 May 2023

• The Colombian Army confirms that a group of soldiers was kidnapped by the community in the municipality of Patía, in Cauca (Colombia). Apparently, the uniformed officers were carrying out an operation against cocaine production laboratories.
  - El Pais, 11 May 2023

• Marijuana/cannabis growers in Thailand say that imports from the United States are hurting their incomes, because the imports are less expensive, the imports often half the price of locally grown cannabis
  - Al Jazeera, 08 May 2023

• Casual use of cannabis/marijuana by adolescents is determined to raise the risk of depression
  - Medical Xpress, 08 May 2023

• The National Police in Honduras seized over one million coca plants spread across 84 hectares, a nursery with two million coca seedlings, and facilities for processing cocaine in a protected forest reserve (Patuca National Park) in the eastern part of the country.
  - The Tico Times, 07 May 2023

• The cannabis industry in California is collapsing financially, with municipalities in the northern part of the state making plans for significantly reduced tax revenues as a result of a collapse in wholesale prices. Once selling for more than $4,000 per pound, bulk buyers are now shopping in the $300 to $500 range for fresh harvests, according to experts, and some growers reported clearing out their crops for less than $200 per pound for fear of being stuck with product.
  - Zero Hedge, 06 May 2023

• The University Santiago de Cali will host a unique event in the country with the First International Cannabis Forum that will take place in June at its Pampalinda campus, in the south of the capital of Valle del Cauca, between May 11 and 12. It will be a forum to discuss the scientific advances in relation to the medicinal benefits of the plant.
  - El Pais, 06 May 2023

• The healthy consequences of drinking coffee without sugar every day. The consumption of sugar-free coffee helps prevent and fight disease. Here we tell you 10 of these benefits.
  - El Pais, 06 May 2023

• Clashes between dissidents of the Farc and the ELN in Cauca (in the municipalities of Caldono and Jambaló) left a member of the Nasa indigenous guard, William Vargas, dead.
  - El Pais, 04 May 2023

• A new study reports that heavy use of marijuana increases the rate of schizophrenia in men. Thirty percent of cases of schizophrenia could be stopped by stopping the use of marijuana, especially increasingly potent marijuana.
  - Bloomberg, 04 May 2023

• It is time to heavily tax a deadly drug that kills more than 140,000 Americans each year - alcohol. The costs of alcohol-related harm -- including expenses related to health care, law enforcement and losses in workplace productivity -- have dwarfed alcohol tax revenues. Another parasitic socialist industry. Coca tea doesn't kill anyone.
  - New York Times, 04 May 2023

• How the FDA worsened the opioid epidemic. Bureaucratic error caused the failure of ketorolac, a promising nonaddictive painkiller.
  - MWSJ, 03 May 2023

• Gonzalo Lupaca is the first sentenced for the violent takeover of the coca leaf market 'parallel' to Adepcoca. Gonzalo Lupaca was apprehended and detained in November of last year, involved in the violent takeover and burning of the Villa El Carmen market building. A judge ruled for a sentence of three years in jail for Lupaca.
  - La Razon, 03 May 2023

• Terrorists assassinate a social leader in Cauca who had received threats from illegal armed groups. Indepaz reported the murder of Diego Fernando Papamija Chilito, who was a recognized social leader, who served as president of the Community Action Board of the corregimiento of Puerto Rico, in the rural area of the municipality of Argelia, Cauca, Colombia.
  - El Pais, 03 May 2023

• On the highway between Pasto and Popayán, three people were captured who were carrying more than eight kilos of coca paste.
  - El Pais, 03 May 2023

• Australia will ban recreational vaping of highly addictive nicotine, in a major crackdown on e-cigarettes as teen use soars. Around the world, teens and even young children are becoming addicted to vaping as an addictive habit.
  - CNN, 02 May 2023

• The crushed and flavored coca leaf changes an ancient taste in Bolivia. An interviewee points out that now customers ask for it crushed and "they prefer it mixed with a flavored sweetener".
  - Pagina Siete, 02 May 2023

• Gabriel Hilaya and his wife Elizabeth Villca, a couple that grows coca leaf, was assaulted by their own worker and an accomplice who was lynched. As a result, one of the assailants was found dead, while the victim and her son are hospitalized in La Paz, Bolivia.
  - El Deber, 02 May 2023

• The demands of the indigenous minga to President Petro, the ELN and FARC dissidents. Under a white shelter that housed the nearly 5,000 inhabitants of the southwestern part of the country for three days, the communities demanded a ceasefire and end of hostilities, and put together a proposal to guarantee their participation in the Total Peace process.
  - El Espectador, 01 May 2023

• The coca crisis: Argelia, Colombia, is agonizing due to the fall in prices. The Spectator newspaper traveled to Argelia, in Cauca, one of the epicenters of the coca economy in the country, and documented the collapse in prices that began in the in September 2022: the price of an arroba de coca leaf fell 45%, and a kilogram of coca paste fell 30%. The crisis is being experienced in a municipality that depends almost entirely on coca cultivation and that today has its economy on hold.
  - El Espectador, 30 April 2023

• The coca crisis in the Micay canyon, Colombia [video]: peasants on the brink of starvation. So are the peasants who depend on that crop - on the coca leaf.
  - El Espectador, 30 April 2023

• The coca-growing farmers of the Yungas feel betrayed by the current Adepcoca leadership, which on Friday allowed the Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, to participate in a sector assembly, in which the official asked to "close the wounds and work together", despite the fact that seven leaders are still in jail. "The minister who one day told us that we are a criminal organization appeared in our assembly with a political discourse that we do not believe, as well as the current leaders who no longer represent us. That is why the base supporters are dissatisfied."
  - Pagina Siete, 30 April 2023

• One day after seeing the Minister of Government, Eduardo Del Castillo, dance with Tomasa Medina, an Afro-Yunguan woman, and after he received a rooster as a gift, the cocaleros feel betrayed by the current leadership for having allowed the national official to participate in the Adepcoca assembly in La Paz, while there still are 25 defendants and seven leaders in prison in Bolivia.
  - Pagina Siete, 29 April 2023

• The Bolivian government managed to overcome the resistance in Adepcoca and began to convince the coca growers to work to solve all the problems that they suggest throughout this time. The Minister of Government, Carlos Eduardo Del Castillo, asked for work on four central issues: judicial, political, coca price, and eradication.
  - El Deber, 28 April 2023

• A group of bipartisan lawmakers reintroduced the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act in the House and Senate on Wednesday, after the legislation designed to free up banking services for the cannabis industry stalled in last year's Congress.
  - New York Times, 28 April 2023

• . The Bolivian government reached out to this Friday to the Assembly of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca), through the Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, who asked permission to meet with their representatives to discuss industry issues, and he even told them that it is time to close "old wounds".
  - Pagina Siete, 28 April 2023

• Blessed coca: for our ancestors it was a gift from the gods, for us it is a gift of nature
  - El Pais, 27 April 2023

• . A law for sodium consumption: these are the imported products that are going to be banned. The proposed law aims to improve the health of Colombians by limiting excessive sodium intake. Why a law against excessive sodium consumption?
  - El Tiempo, 25 April 2023

• Black smokers are at the center of a New York fight to ban menthol cigarettes - strongly opposed by nicotine trafficking tobacco companies - especially Altria and R.J. Reynolds. Decades of aggressive marketing by tobacco companies have caused Black smokers to consume menthol cigarettes, whose cooling sensation on the throat makes them more appealing and addictive. In California, where menthol cigarettes are banned, nicotine-trafficking tobacco companies have begun to try to bypass the ban by selling cigarettes that mimic menthol.
  - New York Times, 23 April 2023

• The opioid drug trafficking family, the Sacklers, bribed gave millions to institution that advises on opioid policy. Even as the nation's drug crisis mounted due to the aggressive drug trafficking of the Sackler family (none of whom ever went to jail - they are not black or Hispanic), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine continued to accept funds bribes from some members of the drug-trafficking Sackler family, including those involved with Purdue Pharma.
  - New York Times, 23 April 2023

• Chronic alcohol consumption makes some people more sensitive to pain through two different molecular mechanisms -- one driven by alcohol intake and one by alcohol withdrawal. This does not occur if one drinks coca tea.
  - Scripps Institute, 21 April 2023

• Americans bought more marijuana than chocolate in 2022 [video]
  - CNN, 20 April 2023

• The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General is investigating whether the Drug Enforcement Administration under chief Anne Milgram improperly awarded millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to hire her past associates. One no-bid contract being investigated is $4.7 million "strategic planning and communication" at costs far exceeding pay for government officials. Also under scrutiny is $1.4 million to Wilmer Hale, a Washington law firm, for a recent review of the DEA's scandal-plagued foreign operations that was widely criticized for giving short shrift to agent misconduct and how to prevent it.
  - Associated Press, 19 April 2023

• Oliverio Orfilio Pai Rodríguez, the feared head of the ELN in Colombia, who is fighting for control of coca in Ecuador. He is one of the most wanted criminals in southwestern Colombia.
  - El Tiempo, 19 April 2023

• New marijuana drinks in California have a huge dose of addictive THC. Traditional marijuana drinks have about 10 milligrams of THC. These new drinks have 100 milligrams of THC.
  - SF Gate, 18 April 2023

• Will students at Hong Kong University topple a statue of its founder - that of H.N.Mody, whose fortune came from the opium trade? Contemporary Hong Kong was founded upon opium; legal and licensed until 1941.
  - South China Morning Post, 17 April 2023

• In recent months, coca prices in Colombia have plummeted. The oversupply of crops, the transition of armed groups to other businesses, and the increase in crops in other countries has meant that many coca growers can no longer survive from this economy.
  - Cambio, 16 April 2023

• "For the United States, legalizing drug trafficking and consumption is a bad idea" - says US Ambassador Francisco Palmieri. After all, look at the deaths due to two highly addictive but legal drugs, nicotine and alcohol.
  - El Pais, 16 April 2023

• Farc dissidents and Brazilian gangs dominate the drug trade in the Amazon. Marijuana and cocaine are being navigated using the river highways, fattening the businesses of "Iván Mordisco".
  - El Colombiano, 15 April 2023

• Indigenous harvesters of Brazil nuts in Bolivian Amazon face hardships
  - Tico Times, 15 April 2023

• Consuming alcohol in moderation has no health benefits. The scientists found that light or moderate alcohol consumption is not significantly associated with lowering any risk of cause of death. Unlike coca tea, which does have health benefits.
  - El Espectador, 10 April 2023

• A social leader who had left Nariño due to threats from Farc dissidents is murdered in Cali. He was the representative of the community council, La Voz de los Negros.
  - El Pais, 10 April 2023

• The vice president of the Adepcoca, Reynaldo Laura, reported yesterday that the Fourth Constitutional Chamber of La Paz rejected the petition presented by the leader Arnold Alanes, of the MAS. The judicial action had the purpose of recognizing Laura as president of the cocalera organization.
  - Pagina Siete, 09 April 2023

• The Colombian Attorney General's Office dealt a hard blow to a network that was dedicated to building semi-submersibles to transport tons of cocaine through the Colombian Pacific bound for the United States and European countries.
  - El Pais, 08 April 2023

• The legal marijuana market in California is losing hundreds of marijuana farms each month, as farmers choose to quit the legal market. Low wholesale prices and high taxes have made it almost impossible for operators to run a profitable small business, pot industry insiders say.
  - SF Gate, 07 April 2023

• In Potosí, Bolivia, a 71-year-old "narco-grandmother" is captured when she was trying to transport cocaine in the middle of molded bread, and was traveling from Uyuni to Chile.
  - Pagina Siete, 06 April 2023

• Editorial: at least three events registered last week confirm that drug trafficking is healthy in Bolivia, and that its operators work closely with the dangerous First Command of the Capital (of Brazil), which represents a serious risk to national security.
  - Pagina Siete, 04 April 2023

• Forced eradication of coca: in what way? Where are the Colombian Public Force operatives going? The prioritized department is Putumayo, where 1,980 hectares of drug crops have been exterminated.
  - El Tiempo, 04 April 2023

• Moderate drinking has no health benefits, analysis of decades of research finds. The risk of a myriad of health problems increased significantly after less than two drinks a day for women and after three for men. Drinking organic coca tea has no such problems.
  - New York Times, 04 April 2023

• A lot of cocaine: an oversupply has coca growers holding with lots of coca paste. The oversupply in the market harms small coca growers and favors large producers.
  - El Colombiano, 02 April 2023

• An ex-combatant of the Farc is assassinated in Chocó. The details of the crime against Levinson Valoys Mosquera, perpetrated in the municipality of Bahía Solano, are unknown.
  - El Colombiano, 01 April 2023

• Moderate drinking has no health benefits, analysis of decades of research finds. The risk of a myriad of health problems increased significantly after less than two drinks a day for women and after three for men. Drinking organic coca tea has no such problems.
  - JAMA Network Open, 31 March 2023

• The FDA continues to permit the inclusion of phenylephrine, a useless ingredient in hundreds of cough and cold products. In 2001, the FDA did order the removal of phenylpropanoamine from flu drugs (it was linked to strokes). And in 2006, it greatly restricted the use of pseudoephedrine (which is easy to convert to the illegal methamphetamine). But it has to offer the public some placebo, so it allows phenylephrine, which is poorly absorbed and most it is decomposed in the body, with studies showing that at low doses it is no more effective than a placebo.
  - Science Based Medicine, 30 March 2023

• Consuming a large amount of alcohol creates a vicious cycle: the alcohol changes signaling pathways in the brain, which in turn affects cognitive functions such as decision-making and impulse control -- and makes the individual more likely to drink.
  - EurekAlert!, 30 March 2023

• President Gustavo Petro of Colombia criticizes the national prosecutor, Francisco Barbosa, for "confusing peasant farmers who grow coca leaves with rich drug traffickers, which is why the prisons are filled with peasants and drug traffickers fly around in helicopters"
  - El Colombiano, 28 March 2023

• El periódico, el Washington Post, informa sobre los crecientes problemas por drogas y delitos relacionados con las drogas en Costa Rica, víctima del enorme consumo de cocaína en Estados Unidos.
  - Tico Times, 27 March 2023

• "Costa Rica continues to be the main transshipment point for cocaine," affirms the United States. Another unwilling victim of America's huge consumption of cocaine.
  - La Nacion, 27 March 2023

• Colombia risks losing the support of the United States in the failed fight against cocaine, according to Colombia's Attorney General
  - Reuters, 27 March 2023

• People cannot obtain the ADHD medicines, thanks to drug policy mismanagement by the Drug Enforcement Agency. To avoid repeating history, the regulation of medically used controlled substances should be transferred from the D.E.A., a law enforcement agency with no expertise in medicine, to the Food and Drug Administration, which specializes in health.
  - New York Times, 26 March 2023

• It is obscene that in Colombia the manager of a farmers' union, in this case the federation that represents the Colombia's coffee growers, earns about $30,000 per month, while between 35% and 40% of the citizens suffer from food insecurity, that is, they suffer from hunger. It is even more obscene if one considers that of those 17.7 million people, hundreds of thousands of them are coffee growers that are hungry.
  - La Silla Vacia, 26 March 2023

• Farmers from multiple parts of Colombia say cocaine sales have collapsed after a surge in 2021 in the production of the illicit drug. A ack of buyers for cocaine in Catatumbo is causing a food crisis in the region whose economy almost entirely depends on the drug trade.
  - Colombia Reports, 24 March 2023

• Switzerland has approved plans to legalize the sale and consumption of cannabis in Zurich in a trial designed to assess social and economic benefits
  - CNBC, 23 March 2023

• "Holding hunger": the coca crisis spreads through Colombia. The purchase of coca leaf and paste in the country is in crisis. The coca farmers, the most vulnerable link in the chain, have not been able to sell an arroba of leaves or a kilo of base paste for months. 62% of the coca crops are concentrated in Nariño, Putomayo y Norte de Santander.
  - La Silla Vacia, 23 March 2023

• Germany is expected to introduce a bill in the coming weeks which, if passed, would greenlight the consumption and sale of cannabis in Europe's largest economy. Under the plans, cannabis would no longer be classed as a narcotic, and citizens over 18 would be allowed to carry up to 30 grams of the drug for personal use. Consumers would also be free to grow up to three plants at home, and licensed stores and pharmacies would be able to sell cannabis products.
  - CNBC, 22 March 2023

• The threats that will jeopardize the existence of coffee. Coffee production could be affected by climate threats in countries like Colombia.
  - El Tiempo, 21 March 2023

• The mayor of Cali, Colombia, Jorge Iván Ospina, spoke about the situation in some municipalities of Cauca, due to the drop in the price of coca leaf and coca paste, assuring that the armed groups have ordered a halt to the cultivation of this plant in this area of the country.
  - El Pais, 21 March 2023

• In Beni, Bolivia, members of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking find a 'megalaboratory'. The authority explained that the laboratory had the capacity to produce between 80 and 100 kilograms of cocaine.
  - Pagina Siete, 21 March 2023

• Nicotine drug-trafficker Juul Labs agreed to pay a $255 million settlement to resolve claims it concealed the addictiveness of its e-cigarettes to sell to consumers and minors
  - Top Class Actions, 21 March 2023

• Cannabis use in adolescent years may create reproductive complications in women. Exposure to THC at a young age could lead to depleted ovarian follicles and matured eggs in adulthood by nearly 50 percent. Coca tea does not cause this problem.
  - Medical Xpress, 21 March 2023

• Jamundí, Colombia, the land of the cholao (a fruit salad) fears the night and the mountain of coca. Under the shadow of fears, deaths of young people and threats, from this municipality they ask for attention.
  - El Tiempo, 20 March 2023

• People from Los Yungas, Bolivia, stand up politically and announce "a vote to punish the MAS". From Adepcoca and organic Cofecay they assure that the party in government (the MAS) has no footprint in that region. The organization related to the MAS says that it is false and an example is the mayoralties in which the 'blues' won.
  - Pagina Siete, 19 March 2023

• The strong alert in some regions due to an oversupply of drugs and insecurity. Governors of various departments such as Cauca, Nariño y Antioquia are concerned.
  - El Tiempo, 19 March 2023

• The Bolivian Ombudsman files a judicial appeal in favor of the cocalero César Apaza. On Thursday, when Apaza was returned from the La Paz hospital to the Chonchocoro prison. The defense indicated that that Apaza still has signs of partial paralysis in his extremities and "adjjustment disorder".
  - Pagina Siete, 18 March 2023

• Laughing gas, nitrous oxide, is a potent recreational narcotic drug, yet fully legal for sale. Doctors are now detecting an increasing number of cases of paralysis caused by inhalation of laughing gas.
  - Yahoo News, 18 March 2023

• Cartels other than those in México fight over the coca business in Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 17 March 2023

• Coffee plantations reduce the food supply of birds, as compared to the food supply provided to birds by forests
  - Phys.org, 17 March 2023

• Global cocaine production hits 'record high' as new trafficking hubs emerge
  - Zero Hedge, 17 March 2023

• Colombia produces the largest amount of cocaine that is snorted in the world. The country added 204,000 hectares of leaf and produced 1,400 tons of cocaine.
  - El Colombiano, 16 March 2023

• Why is the United States concerned about the anti-drug policy of the Petro Government in Colombia?
  - El Colombiano, 16 March 2023

• It is more profitable to plant coffee than coca in Cauca: what is happening? Coca leaf has dramatically lowered in price in Cauca, Colombia.
  - El Tiempo, 16 March 2023

• The government of Colombia has requested that the United Nations remove the coca leaf from the list of prohibited substances. The vice-minister of multilateral affairs, Laura Gil, argued that drug trafficking, not the coca leaf, is responsible for violence in the country.
  - El Pais, 13 March 2023

• Living with terror: the harsh testimonies of sugarcane cutters about attacks by indigenous people on farms in the north of the department of Cauca, Colombia, by a group of people who demand the right to land with blood and fire.
  - El Pais, 12 March 2023

• Evo Morales arrives in the Yungas of La Paz, Bolivia, despite the fact that he was declared persona-non-grata and that roadblocks were installed against him.
  - El Deber, 11 March 2023

• The town of La Asunta, Bolivia, declares Evo Morales "persona non grata and enemy" of the cocaleros. The former president will lead a political training workshop this Saturday together with Quintana and Huanacuni. "As the Federation of La Asunta, we cannot allow (Evo Morales), the person responsible for the division and fight between the Yungus coca-growing family, to show up to brainwash more comrades."
  - Pagina Siete, 11 March 2023

• Cocaleros in Bolivia reject that Evo Morales will lead a "political training workshop" in the Yungas. It was announced that the activity will take place Saturday in the municipality of La Asunta. The cocalero leaders affirm that he was responsible for several deaths and the imprisonment of the leaders of Adepcoca and Cofecay. Adepcoca and Cofecay request a resolution to declare Evo Morales "persona non grata".
  - Pagina Siete, 10 March 2023

• Coca eradication is restarted in Colombia. Police intervened at 769 hectares with coca plants. Uniformed officers faced 14 blockades in this process.
  - El Tiempo, 07 March 2023

• "There are no significant advances in its implementation": Ombudsman's Office on the Peace Accords of Colombia
  - El Pais, 07 March 2023

• JEP, the war crime tribunal of Colombia, has formally accused the former Prosecutor General (Nestor Humberto Martinez) and former International Affairs director (Ana Fabiola Castro) of fraud and concealing evidence for trying to extradite a former FARC leader (Jesus Santrich) on false drug charges that had been fabricated by US authorities (DEA agents in Colombia, and US attorneys in New York). The operation failed after the DEA agent flown in to coordinate the conspiracy found out that the JEP's prosecutor and magistrates were considerably less corrupt than his bosses and the DEA's partners in Colombia.
  - Colombia Reports, 07 March 2023

• Costa Rica está sobre abastecida de marihuana (todacía ilegal allí), debido a los nuevos suministros de marihuana procedentes de Colombia que compiten con los suministros de Jamaica
  - Q Costa Rica, 06 March 2023

• Vice President Francia Márquez made a new call to decriminalize the use of coca leaf in Colombia, at least in indigenous territories: "Continuing to criminalize the use of the leaf will not allow Colombia to achieve total peace."
  - witter, 06 March 2023

• Vice President Francia Márquez made a new call to decriminalize the use of coca leaf in Colombia, at least in indigenous territories: "Continuing to criminalize the use of the leaf will not allow Colombia to achieve total peace."
  - l Pais, 06 March 2023

• Massacres, criminal gangs and extortions: ¿is the Valle de Cauca in Colombia again in the middle of a drug war?
  - El Pais, 05 March 2023

• The coca leaf flourishes in Mexico in the shadow of synthetic drugs. The Mexican crops are still incipient, with some 36 hectares of coca eradicated.
  - El Tiempo, 04 March 2023

• The United States issues a warning to Colombia about the forced eradication of coca crops. "Peace requires robust forced eradication effort." Maintaining eradication, and dismantling the criminal organizations that are dedicated to this business, are the key points of the first report that reveals the Biden administration in the Petro era.
  - El Tiempo, 04 March 2023

• Two companies in British Colombia, Canada, can produce and sell cocaine and heroin, but only for scientific and medical purposes, with no sales to the general public
  - Vice, 03 March 2023

• The abuses of 'telehealth': why are ads for ketamine and other addictive drugs following me around the Internet?
  - New York Times, 02 March 2023

• The drug industry has agreed to pay more than $50 billion to settle lawsuits over its role in the opioid epidemic, earmarked for prevention and treatment programs in the states, municipalities and tribes that filed thousands of opioid-related cases. None of the drug-trafficking corporate executives went to jail.
  - New York Times, 02 March 2023

• These are the groups against which the ELN wages war to the death over coca. Intelligence agencies point out that the confrontations are taking place in five departments (provinces) in Colombia.
  - El Tiempo, 02 March 2023

• CIA documents reveal that the army of Colombia turned Medellin into the murder capital of the world in the 1980s, not the Medellin drug cartel. The documents contradict decades of government propaganda that falsely blamed the drug traffickers. The terrorism campaign was coordinated by 4th Brigade of the national army.
  - Colombia Reports, 01 March 2023

• Peace leaders in Putumayo, Colombia, bet their lives on coca crop substitution
  - Insight Crime, 01 March 2023

• Editorial: coca eradication goals in Colombia
  - El Pais, 28 February 2023

• Why do the statistics in the fight against drugs in Colombia not coincide? El Tiempo consulted to the Police and the Prosecutor's Office on the differences in the results.
  - El Tiempo, 28 February 2023

• The role of drug trafficking in the economy is 4.5% of GDP. Colombia reaches new highs in cocaine production.
  - El Tiempo, 27 February 2023

• The great challenges of the agricultural sector in Colombia. In 230 municipalities there is less harvested area than under conditions of severe or very severe erosion.
  - El Tiempo, 26 February 2023

• Three new politicians push for the normalization of marijuana use en Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 26 February 2023

• Using marijuana every day can raise a person's risk of coronary artery disease by a third compared with those who never partake
  - CNN, 24 February 2023

• Editorial: the United States has lost the war on drugs. It needs to end outdated anti-drug policies, invest in treatment, address why people need drugs to be happy, and make addiction treatment part of the national health system.
  - New York Times, 24 February 2023

• Not one hectare of coca was eradicated in January in Colombia. Interdiction also fell by 32%.
  - El Colombiano, 23 February 2023

• The government of Colombia will join that of Bolivia in asking the United Nations to remove coca from its list of prohibited substances
  - Colombia Reports, 23 February 2023

• "In January it is normal that we do not eradicate coca": director of the National Police responds to controversy over illicit crop targets in Colombia.
  - Semana, 22 February 2023

• The former head of the 'FBI' of Mexico, Genaro García Luna, is found guilty in a US court of of taking millions of dollars from the Sinaloa drug cartel when he was in charge of Mexico's bloody war on drug trafficking.
  - New York Times, 21 February 2023

• Cattle farming, not coca leaf growing, drives deforestation and clearcutting of the Amazon in Colombia
  - The Guardian, 19 February 2023

• How ketamine is legally being trafficked via telehealth. With loosened rules around remote prescriptions, a psychedelic-like drug has become a popular treatment for mental health conditions. But a boom in at-home use has outpaced evidence of safety. But still, these people cannot buy coca tea.
  - New York Times, 19 February 2023

• "The United States has to do more to control drug use": Luis Gilberto Murillo, the Colombian ambassador in Washington
  - El Tiempo, 19 February 2023

• The DEA goes after the drug network that involves the powerful ex-prosecutor of Colombia, Ana Catalina Noguera. The falsification of the signature of a federal agent would open the door to extraditions.
  - El Tiempo, 19 February 2023

• The coca leaf in the National Development Plan of Colombia, with at least one goal: "Promote the alternative uses of the coca plant"
  - La Silla Vacia, 18 February 2023

• A healthy drink with coca tea: ground green bean coffee
  - Tico Times, 17 February 2023

• The Prosecutor's Office and the Attorney General's Office oppose the suspension of eradication of mini-crops in Colombia. The Ministry of Justice has a draft resolution ready that protects Family Farming Units from coca eradication; it will be discussed in the National Narcotics Council.
  - El Tiempo, 16 February 2023

• César Apaza, mprisoned leader of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) in Bolivia, suffered an attack. an embolism and is hospitalized. The lawyer Evelyn Cossío held the Ministry of Government responsible for the delicate state of his health, because he was not treated in a timely manner in the Chonchocoro prison.
  - Pagina Siete, 15 February 2023

• US Attorney Damian Williams in New York published evidence that confirms that DEA agents allegedly conspired to traffic cocaine from Colombia in 2017. The conspiracy was meant to discredit the war crimes tribunal in Colombia, and to undermine the peace process in Colombia.
  - Colombia Reports, 14 February 2023

• Ana Catalina Norguera, the former chief of prosecutions for financial crimes, is arrested for her alleged involvement in the extortion of drug trafficking suspects. She and her colleagues tracked down alleged drug traffickers and demanded money to obstruct their extradition to other countries. The current Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa made Noguera his Financial Crimes chief after taking office in early 2020.
  - Colombia Reports, 14 February 2023

• Before his death, on the morning of this Saturday in the municipality of Mallama, Nariño, the indigenous leader Moisés Marcos López, was kidnapped by heavily armed men who were traveling in a high-end vehicle, a Mercedes Benz. He was the legal representative of the political movement of Colombian Indigenous Authorities in Nariño.
  - El Tiempo, 12 February 2023

• Is drug trafficking responsible for the excess of dollars in Costa Rica? January closed with a surplus of US$620 million in the foreign exchange market, a situation that also affects the historic drop in the dollar exchange rate.
  - Q Costa Rica, 09 February 2023

• About half a billion dollars worth of cocaine (about 3.2 tons) -- enough to service the New Zealand market for 30 years, the Australian market for 1 year -- was found floating in the Pacific Ocean
  - Insider, 08 February 2023

• Opinion: La Coca Nostra of Bolivia: the Chapare region is the headquarters of the MAS political party, it is the nucleus of political power in Bolivia, and it is the center for drug traffickers and coca paste and cocaine production.
  - Pagina Siete, 08 February 2023

• In Colombia, you can eat cannabis bread and tuna. Invima authorized the production of various cannabis-based foods. The health authority is studying 165 manufacturing licences.
  - El Colombiano, 07 February 2023

• Anxiety and fear are the feelings that overwhelm the sugarcane workers in northern Cauca, Colombia, after the events that occurred last Monday afternoon at the Ukrania farm, located in the village of El Tetillo, in which two workers lost their lives.
  - El Pais, 07 February 2023

• Vapers: a trend that affects the hearts of young people. There is currently no medication or method to cure nicotine addictions. Electronic cigarettes or vapers are just as addictive and harmful to health as tobacco. Yet, they are more legal than the coca leaf.
  - El Universal, 03 February 2023

• Australia will allow prescriptions for MDMA and psilocybin to treat mental illnesses that are resistant to other treatments
  - The Guardian, 03 February 2023

• A controversial proposed law by the Petro government could legalize up to 67% of the cultivations of coca lead in Colombia. The law proposed by the Ministry of Justice plans to legalize cultivations of coca leaf on plots of lands of less than 10 hectares. These lands are almost half of the coca farm lands in Colombia.
  - El Colombiano, 01 February 2023

• Juan Fernando Petro, the brother of the president of Colombia, maintained that there are cases of drug traffickers who seek to sneak in as peace managers by paying million dollar sums of money. He denounced that the drug traffickers are trying to enter into total peace. "They are using my name underhandedly."
  - El Colombiano, 30 January 2023

• The story of "Orion V", the ship that sailed from Colombia with 1,750 cows and landed in Spain with 4.5 kilograms of cocaine.
  - El Colombiano, 30 January 2023

• Can Colombia really replace oil and gas revenue, with income from renewable energy, tourism, and agriculture?
  - OilPrice.com, 30 January 2023

• One in eight Americans over 50 show signs of addiction to food with lots of added sugar and salt, such as fast foods and sodas
  - Univ. Michigan News, 30 January 2023

• The Surgeon General of the United States argues that social media should not be used by children under 13 years of age. This is much like alcohol and nicotine should not be used by children under the age of 13.
  - CNN Health, 29 January 2023

• Police in Spain seize $144 million worth of cocaine on a cattle ship that travelled from Colombia through Togo to Spain.
  - Yahoo News, 28 January 2023

• One benefit of using marijuana - that it makes people more creative - is not true. Marijuana does make you more jovial, which people falsely assume means that they are more creative.
  - Discover, 28 January 2023

• Daily consumption of caffeine temporarily alters the structure of your brain
  - Big Think, 27 January 2023

• Cannabis exports skyrocketed in Colombia: five provinces exported US $8.4 million in cannabis between January and November 2022
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 26 January 2023

• Federal agencies are questioning Snapchat's role in the spread and sale of fentanyl-laced pills in the United States as part of a broader probe into the deadly counterfeit drugs crisis.
  - Zero Hedge, 25 January 2023

• Did a top-ranking anti-drug security official in Mexico, Genero Garcia Luna, reveal the name of a DEA informant to a Mexican drug cartel, who murdered the informant?
  - The Intercept, 21 January 2023

• New guidelines for consuming alcohol in Canada state that "no amount" is healthy. The guidance builds on growing evidence, after decades of sometimes conflicting research, that even small amounts of alcohol can have serious health consequences.
  - New York Times, 20 January 2023

• California joins other states in suing three companies over insulin prices that are too high. The state is taking action against three major drug companies and the big pharmacy benefit managers in an effort to temper costs for people with diabetes, which can be hundreds of dollars a month.
  - New York Times, 19 January 2023

• Given the "historic" levels of coca plantations in Colombia, the United States believes that it is "fundamental" to use all available tools, including eradication.
  - El Tiempo, 17 January 2023

• Mexican cartels: the 'invisible' hand that manipulates the cocaine market in Colombia. The 'invisibles' are in charge of "financing, and for that they do not need to be visible, they do not need to have an entire armed force behind them, because they are not involved here in those territorial disputes over the drug-trafficking business"
  - El Pais, 16 January 2023

• "There will not be persecution of coca farmers, but only the capitalists of cocaine" [drug traffickers] - according to Colombia's director of Illegal Plant Farming Substitution.
  - El Tiempo, 15 January 2023

• The drug traffickers of America and the Caribbean know that some of the funniest moments of humor are enjoyed by reading, listening and observing everything that the governments, politicians, military, police, prosecutors and magistrates say and do against the drug traffickers with pompous proclamations, repeated promises and multimillion-dollar investments in weapons and equipment without obtaining positive results. The mafias are winning the global war on drugs.
  - El Tiempo, 14 January 2023

• Even a little amount of alcohol can harm your health. What qualifies as 'excessive alcohol use' is two drinks a day for men and more than one drink a day for women. Scientists think that the main way alcohol causes health problems is by damaging DNA./A>
  - New York Times, 14 January 2023

• In the period 2013-2020 in Colombia, there were 28,541 deaths associated with drug use were, "taking into account that (the victims) presented positive toxicology results associated with psychoactive substances; the main substances found were alcohol and cocaine". Not reported is that more people, in the same time period, died from consumption of sugary beverages in Colombia.
  - El Colombiano, 12 January 2023

• Cultivations of illegal coca plants: a reduction in the goals for this year sparks a debate. The police of Colombia are tasked with eradicating 20,000 hectares of coca leaf this year, 30,000 hectares less than the goals set last year by the government of former president Iván Duque.
  - El Tiempo, 12 January 2023

• Grupo Semana will acquire the El País newspaper. This assures the future of Cali's main newspaper, which has been published for 73 years, one of the leaders of the press in Colombia.
  - El Pais, 11 January 2023

• The increase in profits from drug trafficking, associated with the devaluation of the peso against the dollar, is not only triggering cocaine production in Colombia, but in the future it will make it difficult for armed groups to want to give up this bonanza to get involved in the "total peace" that promoted by the government of Colombia.
  - El Colombiano, 10 January 2023

• Since Colombia signed a free trade agreement with the United States, exports from Colombia to the United States have dropped 50%
  - Colombia Reports, 07 January 2023

• Since Colombia signed a free trade agreement with the United States, farmland used to cultivate coca went up 219%. Despite evidence indicating that the FTA destroyed the agricultural sector in Colombia, and boosted cocaine exports to the US, neither Washington nor Bogota want to renegotiate the FTA.
  - Colombia Reports, 07 January 2023

• Bolivia is preparing to celebrate the Coca Leaf Chewing Day. A law declared that January 11th of each year is the National Coca Leaf Chewing Day. The coca leaf is an Intangible Cultural Heritage of the country.
  - Pagina Siete, 07 January 2023

• Vaping: a pleasure that can affect the lungs and even the immune system. Contrary to what is believed, vapers or electronic cigarettes are addictive due to their nicotine content, and can cause damage to the lungs, kidneys, and even the immune system.
  - Semana, 06 January 2023

• The legal use of mushrooms that are hallucinogenic begins in the state of Oregon
  - New York Times, 03 January 2023

• The cocalero leader related to the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS - the ruling party), Arnold Alanez, asked Friday for the extension of the investigation of the "coup I" case to more than 20 members of the original Association of Coca Leaf Producers (Adepcoca) of La Paz, Bolivia. Alanez affirmed that these people allowed the then civic leader Luis Fernando Camacho to operate in 2019 from the coca-growing market of Villa Fátima. The leader of the parallel coca market said that he has corresponding evidence to support the accusation.
  - Pagina Siete, 01 January 2023

• The arrest of Governor Luis Fernando Camacho is considered by the opponents as a 'trophy' of the Government of Bolivia to correct the internal fights of the MAS and stop the constant questioning of the administration of President Luis Arce. However, the cocaleros, along with their leader and chief of the MAS, ex-president Evo Morales, were skeptical of the arrest of the Governnor and warned that he could be arrested as part of a "political calculation".
  - El Deber, 01 January 2023

• The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, in a message sent through his Twitter account, announced a bilateral cease-fire with major armed groups, lasting until June. "We have reached a cease-fire with the ELN, the Segunda Marquetalia, the Estado Mayor Central, the AGC y the Autodefensas de la Sierra Nevada groups."
  - El Tiempo, 01 January 2023

• The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, in a message sent through his Twitter account, announced a bilateral cease-fire with major armed groups, lasting until June. "We have reached a cease-fire with the ELN, the Segunda Marquetalia, the Estado Mayor Central, the AGC y the Autodefensas de la Sierra Nevada groups."
  - El Espectador, 01 January 2023

• TikTok is an addictive drug that the government of China is providing to Americans, says the incoming chairman of a new House select committee on China, Representative Mike Gallagher. He calls TikTok "digital fentanyl" because "it is highly addictive and destructive and we are seeing troubling data about the corrosive impact of constant social media use."
  - CNN, 01 January 2023

• The stock prices of most cannabis companies lost roughly two-thirds of their value in 2022 as a lack of change in federal laws. Worse, cannabis prices continue to fall as supply increases.
  - MarketWatch, 31 December 2022

• The government of Japan is encouraging people to drink more addictive alcohol, as tax revenues from alcoholic beverages decline. A standard drug trafficking tactic.
  - Yahoo News, 31 December 2022

• 2023: zero hour for the new drug policy in Colombia. The government of President Gustavo Petro has been slowly announcing its strategy.
  - El Tiempo, 31 December 2022

• Oscar Rodríguez, social leader and councilor of the municipality of Linares, located in the Colombian department of Nariño (southwest), was assassinated this Thursday. Rodríguez worked as a spokesperson for the organization Unión Campesina por la Paz de Linares and also led processes of substitution of crops for illicit use from the presidency of the Association of Workers of Coca growers (ASTROCAN).
  - El Deber, 30 December 2022

• 2022, the year in which Colombia was flooded with coca leaf. The bonanza of drug trafficking is unprecedented. The government of Gustavo Petro reduced restrictions on illicit crops.
  - El Colombiano, 30 December 2022

• The coca growers of the Six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba, together with the leader of the MAS, Evo Morales, debate and evaluate the administrative and political management of President Luis Arce and Vice President David Choquehuanca.
  - El Deber, 30 December 2022

• "We can't waste troops going after coca". General Luis Mauricio Ospina referred to relations on the border with Venezuela and Ecuador.
  - El Tiempo, 29 December 2022

• "Industrialize coca" for the small grower, the commitment of the Government of Colombia. Felipe Tascón is the director of the Illicit Crop Substitution Plan, which is part of the Territory Renewal Agency, and in an interview with EL TIEMPO he assured that President Gustavo Petro gave him a task of the industrialization of the lands where coca is planted and "to be the vanguard to achieve the presence of the State in those regions".
  - El Tiempo, 28 December 2022

• The 'narco juniors' of the Sinaloa Cartel have big plans for marijuana, and they are borrowing ideas from the dispensaries in California. Sinaloa Cartel members want to get a jump on the potential legalization of marijuana in Mexico.
  - Business Insider, 27 December 2022

• Three types of synthetic drugs circulate in Bolivia and their prices are six times more than cocaine. The drugs are ecstasy, fentanyl and tusi.
  - El Deber, 26 December 2022

• Analysis: the dangers that President Petro's strategy in the fight against drugs could bring to Colombia. The president, and the Global Commission on Drug Policy, have called for a paradigm shift in world drug policy since 2011, although without defining what it would mean. what is proposed, except for some fragmentary ideas which is far from a viable and comprehensive model.
  - El Pais, 25 December 2022

• Former President Evo Morales of Bolivia gave more information about his complaints against the current national government of Bolivia with regards to the protection of drug trafficking, and on this day the Vice Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances, Jaime Mamani (anti-drug czar), admitted that he pays the informants of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (FELCN) with cocaine.
  - Pagina Siete, 25 December 2022

• A national oversupply of marijuana in the United States is causing prices to plummet and is imperiling businesses. Ill-fated hopes that a Democratic-controlled Washington might loosen decades-old restrictions on the drug have given way to a market glut and plummeting prices that have put scores of businesses at risk of collapse.
  - Politico, 25 December 2022

• The insatiable demand of consumers for chocolate is destroying forests. Ivory Coast, for example, has lost 80 percent of its forest cover in the past 50 years, mainly due to the expansion of cocoa farms. In Indonesia and Malaysia, palm oil farming is causing severe deforestation (palm oil another ingredient in low-quality chocolates).
  - Al Jazeera, 24 December 2022

• Freddy Machicado, the young coca grower leader from the Yungas, who emerged as one of their leaders with the greatest support in his region, has been imprisoned in the San Pedro prison since September 2022. His bases support his leadership. From the point of view of Adepcoca, the coca producers see him as a leader with solid and inclusive ideas.
  - Pagina Siete, 23 December 2022

• The coca growers of Cauca, where the conflict is so intense that coca no longer makes them money. The prices of an arroba of coca leaf, for example, is less than half, while the products used to maintain the crop -- such as fertilizer and insecticides -- have doubled in price. This week, an arroba (about 11.5 kilograms) of coca leaf dropped to about 35 thousand pesos.
  - La Silla Vacia, 22 December 2022

• Ivory Coast is the top cocoa producing country in the world, but receives just four percent of the chocolate industry's estimated annual sales of $100 billion
  - Al Jazeera, 22 December 2022

• The Petro administration does not change its position with regard to the gradual reduction of coca cultivation. The United States asked for Colombia to move carefully in substituting coca crops for others. A spokesman for the US State Department told this publication that "the immediate transition from a forced eradication strategy to a voluntary one must be made to control the growth of illicit crops".
  - El Tiempo, 21 December 2022

• Coca violence crosses Putumayo into Peru. As the fighting rages, the number of uncounted massacres along the border river is increasing. The absence of a regional drug policy allows the spread of violence, while crops for illicit use continue to migrate to neighboring countries.
  - La Liga, 21 December 2022

• The world is crossing over into the "golden age" of cocaine with greater productivity. Behind this boom is a massive growth in cultivated area, as well as higher crop productivity.
  - La Republica, 20 December 2022

• So this is the route that President Gustavo Petro is taking to regulate cocaine. Petro wants that the money that comes to the country through international cooperation is not used to finance the war against drugs, but rather for "economic transformation programs." Each announcement of the President of Colombia is aimed at decriminalizing this drug.
  - El Colombiano, 20 December 2022

• The controversy continues over President Petro's green light to grow coca in Colombia. Petro is emphatic in saying that it is necessary to "remove the peasantry from an economy that no longer gives more than it gave", and he maintained that this should be gradual.
  - El Pais, 20 December 2022

• Why the Liberica variety of coffee beans could become more popular, joining the Arabica and Robusta varieties in the marketplace, since Liberica is better able to handle global warming and changes to the environment
  - Real Clear Science, 19 December 2022

• How MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company), the largest shipping company in the world, became a hub for trafficking of cocaine. As MSC grew into a dominant force in global trade, it also became a prime drug-trafficking conduit for Balkan gangs.
  - BusinessWeek, 19 December 2022

• President Gustavo Petro and Senator María Cabal had a new 'disagreement' over social networks and this time cocaine, dollars and drug trafficking were the issues that led to an exchange of responses between the two.
  - El Pais, 17 December 2022

• Faced with the controversy that has been generated by the proposal to allow peasants to continue growing coca leaves while they work on substitute crops, President Gustavo Petro maintained that "when we say that we are not going to attack a peasant, that instead we are going to transform the region so that it can become productive in legal economies, we are also not saying that we are going to allow cocaine."
  - El Colombiano, 17 December 2022

• Faced with the controversy that has been generated by the proposal to allow peasants to continue growing coca leaves while they work on substitute crops, President Gustavo Petro maintained that "when we say that we are not going to attack a peasant, that instead we are going to transform the region so that it can become productive in legal economies, we are also not saying that we are going to allow cocaine."
  - El Tiempo, 17 December 2022

• Quebec this week advanced the acceptance of psychedelic therapies by becoming the first governing medical body in Canada to publicly fund medical psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. Psilocybin is the primary psychoactive in 'magic' mushrooms.
  - Forbes, 16 December 2022

• President Petro unleashes a controversy: coca will be grown in parallel to other crops. He proposed that cocaleros can maintain their illicit plantations while the substitution is progressing. The pilot project will be in Catatumbo.
  - El Colombiano, 16 December 2022

• President Petro unleashes a controversy: coca will be grown in parallel to other crops. He proposed that cocaleros can maintain their illicit plantations while the substitution is progressing. The pilot project will be in Catatumbo.
  - El Espectador, 16 December 2022

• President Petro unleashes a controversy: coca will be grown in parallel to other crops. He proposed that cocaleros can maintain their illicit plantations while the substitution is progressing. The pilot project will be in Catatumbo.
  - El Tiempo, 16 December 2022

• Wholesale marijuana prices have crashed by as much as 95% since California voters legalized cannabis in 2016. Originally being sold for $2000/pound, marijuana is now sell for $400/pound, and some is selling for $100/pound.
  - SF Gate, 14 December 2022

• The US FDA is urged to ban the sales of tiameptine, the 'gas station heroin', a readily-available drug that can mimic opioid toxicity, and that is legally sold in most US states. Yet people can't buy coca tea, which is dangerous.
  - Fox News, 14 December 2022

• The Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, having lost a lot of illegal business to legal sales of marijuana in the US, are waiting for Mexico to allow recreational marijuana, so that the cartel can continue to profit from marijuana while obeying the law.
  - Business Insider, 13 December 2022

• To reduce nicotine drug trafficking, New Zealand on Tuesday passed into law a unique plan to phase out tobacco smoking by imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes. The law states that tobacco cannot ever be sold to anybody born on or after 01 January 2009.
  - Associated Press, 13 December 2022

• Opioid drug traffickers CVS and Walgreens to pay $10.7 billion in a multi-state settlement over their role in the drug trafficking of opioids. None of the white executives responsible for these crimes at these companies will go to jail.
  - Zero Hedge, 12 December 2022

• Opinion: the entire drug policy system of the United States (and thus the world) needs an overhaul
  - New York Times, 11 December 2022

• Nicotine drug trafficker, and e-cigarette maker, Juul settles more than 10,000 lawsuits for $1.2 billion. The lawsuits targeted the nicotine drug trafficker as a major cause of a US youth-vaping epidemic.
  - Zero Hedge, 09 December 2022

• A Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a class action lawsuit against Epic Games, the developers of the popular video game Fortnite. The suit was first brought to the courts in 2019 by three Quebec parents who claimed that Fortnite was designed to addict its users, many of them children, to the game. According to the original filing, the plaintiffs say their children exhibited troubling behaviours, including not sleeping, not eating, not showering and no longer socializing with their peers.
  - CBC News, 08 December 2022

• Are foods with cannabis and THC better, or at least less bad, than alcohol?
  - MWSJ, 07 December 2022

• The European Union enacts a new law to prevent import of good linked to deforestation. This ban will hurt the coffee and cocoa industries of Colombia.
  - South China Morning Post, 06 December 2022

• A higher percentage of daily energy consumption of ultraprocessed and added-sugar foods with high levels of calories was associated with cognitive decline among adults from an ethnically diverse sample. These ultraprocessed foods include frozen pizzas, fast food hamburgers and fries, and breakfast cereals that are high in sugars, fats and empty calories. Those who got 20% or more of their daily calories from ultraprocessed foods had a 28% faster rate of cognitive decline, and a 25% faster rate of executive-function decline, compared with the subjects in the study who ate the least processed foods. Someone following a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet who consumed 400 of their daily calories from ready-to-eat frozen meals, processed meats, breakfast cereals and sugar-sweetened beverages each day saw a faster rate of cognitive decline.
  - JAMA Neurology, 05 December 2022

• The DEA releases its annual report, "Drugs of Abuse". Reflecting the hypocrisy and racism of US drug policies, the report does not discuss the two most destructive, yet legal, drugs in the world, nicotine and alcohol.
  - US Drug Enforcement Agency, 02 December 2022

• Editorial: drug trafficking continues to flourish in Bolivia thanks to illegal coca plantations that are used to manufacture cocaine
  - Pagina Siete, 01 December 2022

• Honduran authorities seized on Tuesday a coca plantation of almost two hectares and a laboratory to manufacture cocaine during operations deployed in mountains in the northeastern part of the country. "Preliminarily, 2.5 manzanas of hallucinogenic crops equivalent to 18,000 bushes, already fully developed, of coca leaf, have been secured."
  - Tico Times, 30 November 2022

• Wade Davis: the differences between coca and cocaine. One is the use of coca taught by indigenous communities.
  - El Espectador, 30 November 2022

• Cannabis is no better than a placebo for pain relief
  - Real Clear Science, 30 November 2022

• In Bolivia, coca crops grew by 4% between 2020 and 2021. The Tropic of Cochabamba is the sector that presented the greatest increase in hectares of coca leaf cultivation.
  - La Razon, 30 November 2022

• According to the UNODC, in Bolivia, traditional coca leaf crops increased in the Yungas from 18,302 hectares in 2020 to 18,756 hectares in 2021. In the same period, in the Tropics of Cochabamba they increased from 10,606 hectares to 11,270 hectares.
  - Pagine Siete, 30 November 2022

• Cultivayiond of coca leaf crops grow 4% in Bolivia; UNODC says planted area is "contained and stable".
  - El Deber, 29 November 2022

• Members of the Bolivian Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking intervened at a crystallization laboratory for coca paste, located in the Amboró Union, a two-hour drive from urban area of Yacapaní, inside Parque Amboró.
  - El Deber, 25 November 2022

• . "It is a failure": President Gustavo Petro will speak in Mexico about changes to drug policy. "The American balance, from Alaska to Patagonia for the last 50 years has been a disaster."
  - El Espectador, 25 November 2022

• The drug problem in Colombia is worse than ever. But the new leftist government is proposing radical solutions.
  - CNN, 22 November 2022

• The recreational use of nitrous oxide, a mildly active drug that is available over-the-counter at a low price in Europe, is causing health problems: severe cold burns, lung injury, and brain and spinal cord damage. Drinking coca tea causes no such problems, but is illegal?
  - Reuters, 21 November 2022

• Is ayahuasca safe? 70 percent of the people using the psychedelic drug experience adverse physical events, though only 2.3% required medical attention
  - StudyFinds, 21 November 2022

• President Gustavo Petro says oil is his economy's worst addiction: "What is more poisonous for humanity is oil and coal, not cocaine."
  - New York Times, 16 November 2022

• This is how the Mexican cartels are operating in Colombia. In more recent times, cartels such as Jalisco Nueva Generación and Sinaloa have gained great strength in transnational crime, which has allowed them to develop all their activities linked to illicit income in connection with other countries, including Colombia. According to an expert, the two major Colombian routes are the Pacific coast of Nariño and Cauca, where 70% of the cocaine comes from, as well as the border with Venezuela, in the Catatumbo area. The Sinaloa cartel is the major buyer of the first route known as the 'Arc of the Pacific', while Jalisco Nueva Generación dominates the second, called the 'Arc of the Caribbean'.
  - El Pais, 16 November 2022

• A new study reports that marijuana and e-cigarettes can harm the heart as seriously as traditional cigarettes - all legal addictive drugs. Racist that chewing coca leaf - which is not addictive, which doesn't harm the heart, is illegal.
  - Medical Xpress, 15 November 2022

• Discovery and engineering of the cocaine biosynthetic pathway
  - J. American Chemical Society, 14 November 2022

• Corruption in the DEA because they know the drug war is not winnable. Cash bribes, parties, lots of sex as some DEA agents conspire with cocaine drug traffickers to enjoy the fun life. "You cannot win an not winnable war. The DEA knows this and the agents know this."
  - Associated Press, 14 November 2022

• If prohibition does not work to combat the abuse of psychoactive substances, while legalization eliminates the worst of drug trafficking, then Colombia must promote alternatives to prohibition
  - Dejusticia, 13 November 2022

• Editorial: The Adepcoca conflict continues latent in Bolivia. Control of the coca leaf market that comes from the Yungas is strategic, not only commercially, but also politically, and this is precisely the aspect that the ruling party seeks to hegemonize, and for this reason it has spared no resources to divide the leaders from the Yungas, defenestrate and persecute their representatives and finally install a parallel representation, which has fueled a fight that does not stop.
  - Pagina Siete, 12 November 2022

• In Yemen, farmers choose growing a narcotic plant with green leaves, qat, over other crops, draining groundwater around Yemen's capital and removing soil, threatening to exhaust precious resources in the climate-vulnerable nation
  - Yahoo News, 10 November 2022

• Big Tobacco, huge nicotine drug traffickers, heralds a healthier world while fighting its arrival. The industry continues to fight efforts to restrict certain products, like spending heavily to urge California voters to overturn a law banning tobacco flavors, flavors which make it easier to trafick the highly addictive nicotine.
  - New York Times, 08 November 2022

• Claudia Ximena Calero Cifuentes, president of Asocaña, the Association of Sugar Cane Growers in Cali: "Regarding the tax on sugary drinks, we have a bad taste about the tax, because we do not see fairness on the issue of the use of sweeteners."
  - El Pais, 06 November 2022

• A compound in the seeds of passion fruit (mayacuya), piceatannol, could be used to stomach cancer
  - South China Morning Post, 04 November 2022

• Egg whites can be transformed into a material capable of filtering microplastics from seawater
  - Phys.org, 04 November 2022

• Opioid drug trafficker Teva Pharmaceuticals, based in Israel, will pay over $523 million in a New York drug case settlement. None of the white executives are going to jail.
  - New York Times, 04 November 2022

• Chlorogenic acid, found in coffee, in laboratory experiments inhibits the ability of the Covid virus to infect cells
  - Phys.org, 03 November 2022

• A single dose of a synthetic version of the mind-altering component of magic mushrooms, psilocybin, improved depression in people with a treatment-resistant form of the disease, a new study found
  - CNN, 03 November 2022

• Opioid drug trafficking pharmacy chains, CVS and Walgreens, agree to pay more than $10 billion to settle lawsuits over their role in the drug trafficking of opioids. None of the white executives are going to jail.
  - MWSJ, 02 November 2022

• A CDC study estimates that, over five years, one in eight deaths of people ages 20 to 64 occurred because of alcohol-related injuries or illness. An example of racist US drug policies, since the deadly, addictive, alcohol is legal, while illegal cocaine is less addictive and less deadly but manufactured by non-white people.
  - New York Times, 02 November 2022 In Costa Rica, a proposed law to allow recreational marijuana copies 14 articles of the plan of Colombian Senator Gustavo Bolívar Moreno, who is close to President Gustavo Petro.
  - La Nacion, 02 November 2022

• Avocado farming by large agribusiness companies in Colombia is threatening the country's páramo, a natural fresh water 'factory'. The rapid expansion of avocado trees toward the uphill páramos could be threatening the frail ecological stability of these ecosystems and Colombia's water supply.
  - Mongabay, 01 November 2022

• The oil industry in Colombia is in jeopardy (accounting for 35% of all exports, and 3% of GDP), while cocaine production soars
  - Zero Hedge, 31 October 2022

• The menthol vaping ban ordered by the FDA shows that the FDA is not an agency based on a lot of science
  - Real Clear Science, 29 October 2022

• In Thailand, hold the drinks and pass the cannabis. Thais embrace new the 'ganja' craze (including 'happy brownies'), but adhere to draconian alcohol restrictions
  - Nikkei Asia, 28 October 2022

• In the midst of a growing conflict over the 2023 census and other regional demands from sectors in La Paz, three organizations of cocaleros from the Yungas are reorganizing, and announced that they will join today's march and begin a blockade of the north La Paz has been in place since November, demanding that the central government comply with the 13 points of its promises.
  - Pagina Siete, 26 October 2022

• Adepcoca announced that this Tuesday they will start a blockade of roads in the Yungas of La Paz from the first week of November, for which they asked the population to stock up on food and other products. They regretted that the Government has not responded to their requests for dialogue to resolve their demands.
  - Pagina Siete, 25 October 2022

• With the promise of legalization, psychedelic drug companies joust over future profits. Cash rich start-ups are filing scores of patent claims on hallucinogens like magic mushrooms. Researchers and patient advocates worry high prices will make the therapies unaffordable.
  - New York Times, 25 October 2022

• Cannabis users experienced 14% more pain in the first 24 hours following surgery than non-cannabis users. Additionally, cannabis users consumed 7% more opioids post-surgery.
  - Neuroscience News, 23 October 2022

• Coca overflows in Tipnis (Bolivia), and those who reject crops are banned. Leaders from the south of Tipnis say that the coca crops are about to enter the San Miguelito community. The indigenous people of those areas are being displaced because they are against the plantations in full reserve.
  - El Deber, 23 October 2022

• Cocaine is flooding into Europe as drug market continues to evolve. Smuggled into Europe in concrete blocks (to be processed in Europe), unmanned submarines, etc. - authorities are seizing only 1% to 10% of the drugs smuggled in. The cocaine sells for $65/gram -- wholesale price is double that of the US. The only thing more evil is that legal drugs such as nicotine, alcohol and sugar kill more people in Europe than cocaine.
  - Yahoo News, 21 October 2022

• Colombia broke in 2021 the historical record for coca crops. Harvests increased by 43%, going from 143,000 hectares in 2020 to 204,000 last year. Similarly, it is indicated that the potential production of cocaine also reached a record level of production. It reached its all-time high, going from 1,228 metric tons in 2020 to 1,400 metric tons in 2021.
  - El Tiempo, 20 October 2022

• Colombia accuses a former army captain of drug trafficking in Narino, one of many in the military helping drug traffickers all the way as high as former armed forces commander, General Leonardo Barrero
  - Colombia Reports, 19 October 2022

• With both the organization of the leaders of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) and the Federation of Neighborhood Councils (Fejuve) of La Paz, groups of the Movement Towards Socialism sealed last night an "alliance for defense of the Government" before the strikes announced in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
  - Pagina Siete, 18 October 2022

• Picking coca leaves in Colombia: the thankless job that Venezuelans are doing. Up to 13,000 migrants are working in Tibú, attracted by a job that pays relatively well. But opportunities are drying up as sales of coca paste recently nearly halted. The raspachines, as they are often called, are paid 1,000 Colombian pesos per kilo of coca leaf (22 cents).
  - El Pais, 17 October 2022

• Luis Carlos Reyes, director of DIAN (Colombia's tax agency), has joined other government officials and politicians calling to legalize cocaine
  - Colombia Reports, 16 October 2022

• Luis Carlos Reyes, director of DIAN (Colombia's tax agency), has joined other government officials and politicians who are calling to legalize cocaine
  - Colombia Reports, 16 October 2022

• Cocaleros in Bolivia supportive of Machicado will meet on Monday to appoint new leaders and define measures. At the meeting they will also define actions and pressure measures, to demand the release of their companions, prosecuted for the violent takeover of the Villa El Carmen market.
  - La Razon, 14 October 2022

• A legal psychedelic mushroom species, amanita muscaria, is being sold in the US. It can cause euphoria -- or "temporary insanity".
  - Yahoo News, 14 October 2022

• How a weight-less drug, semaglutide, could be useful for treating drug addiction. Some studies show it helps people reduce consumption of alcohol.
  - Yahoo News, 13 October 2022

• Editorial: it is time to legalize cocaine. The costs of prohibition outweigh the benefits.
  - Economist, 13 October 2022

• Booming production of cocaine in South America suggest - no, yells - that the war on cocaine has failed. Now, some politicians in Latin America and Europe are saying so publicly.
  - Economist, 13 October 2022

• Demand for cocaine has caused a surge in child labor in Peru. Children who grew up in coca-growing areas were unusually likely to be imprisoned for murder as adults.
  - Economist, 13 October 2022

• A new street drug, xylazine/Tranq, is causing havoc on the streets, and it could be worse than fentanyl. Yet the DEA does nothing, because the drug is a legitimate medicinal drug for horses supposedly sold only for veterinary use. But who knows, since the powerful addictive drug is not Scheduled by the DEA, unlike coca leaves which kill no one.
  - ACSH News, 12 October 2022

• How a Chinese American gangster transformed money laundering for drug cartels. Xizhi Li pioneered a new method that enriched Latin American drug lords and the elite of China. A DEA investigation found the Chinese government may have been involved.
  - ProPublica, 11 October 2022

• With a light blue scarf that, as a sling, holds his left arm, while still recovering from the loss of his hand due to a dynamite explosion, the coca grower Plácido Cota returned this Sunday to an assembly of cocaleros in their sector in the Las Mercedes area.
  - Pagina Siete, 09 October 2022

• Starting tomorrow, coca producers of the Yungas, from the Arnold Alanes sector, will sell the ancient leaf inside the market located in the Villa El Carmen area. On Friday afternoon the building was unsealed, which was burned on September 8 after a violent intervention. The cocaleros began cleaning and reconditioning yesterday.
  - La Razon, 09 October 2022

• Gudelia Botitano, the coca grower leader from Los Yungas, managed to be released and after her detention revealed that the Police beat her and wanted to force her to admit that she was there to incriminate other leaders.
  - El Deber, 30 September 2022

• The government of Colombia has reached a deal with cattle farmers to buy 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) of land, earmarked for poor rural farmers to push agrarian reform aimed at boosting food production and tackling poverty.
  - Reuters, 07 October 2022

• The U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Monday backed Colombia's recent efforts to rethink its drug policy and said the Biden administration and Colombia's newly elected government will work together on rural development programs and interdiction efforts, while sharing intelligence on drug trafficking groups. Petro said coca farmers in remote areas of Colombia should be granted land titles, so that they can be more easily integrated into the legal economy. He suggested the U.S. support a $7 billion scheme to buy land for landless farmers in Colombia, and said an international fund should be created to back projects that would pay some coca farmers to leave the drug trade and become protectors of the Amazon rainforest.
  - StarTribune, 03 October 2022

• How illegal marijuana farmers in the United States are exploiting immigrants. Lured with false promises of high pay and decent labor conditions, immigrants are held against their will by outlaw marijuana farmers who withhold their wages.
  - Politico, 02 October 2022

• A leader of coca growers is apprehended after presenting a letter to the Ombudsman. Gudelia Buditano, from Cofecay, was apprehended, while two other leaders managed to elude the police.
  - Pagina Siete, 28 September 2022

• How coca leaf production in Peru is helping the global boom in cocaine use
  - Insight Crime, 27 September 2022

• The addictive smartphone's role in dumbing down America by causing the oversimplification of most intellectual content
  - Zero Hedge, 23 September 2022

• Question of the day -- "Do you support the request to authorize a new coca market in La Paz?". By the end of the survey, 2,123 people had participated, of which 5.8% believe that a new market should be approved, while 94.2% believe that it should not.
  - Pagina Siete, 22 September 2022

• Bolivia does not agree with the Colombian government that has proposed the path of decriminalization of cocaine under the label of "regulation".
  - El Deber, 22 September 2022

  The Adepcoca led by Freddy Machicado, obtained the support of three organizations to carry out pressure measures, of a national nature, if the Government does not meet their demands on the coca leaf.
  - La Razon, 22 September 2022

• The cocalero leader César Apaza, president of the Adepcoca Committee on Self-Defense, was apprehended early Thursday morning and taken to the police in El Alto, Bolivia. He could be tried for at least 15 crimes for the events of the takeover of the parallel market on September 8th.
  - Pagina Siete, 22 September 2022

• The cocalero leader César Apaza, president of the Adepcoca Committee on Self-Defense, was apprehended early Thursday morning and taken to the police in El Alto, Bolivia. He could be tried for at least 15 crimes for the events of the takeover of the parallel market on September 8th.
  - La Razon, 22 September 2022

• In less than a week, the Bolivian Police have arrested four people for the conflict of the Adepcoca of La Paz, and linked all of them to the group of cocaleros led by Freddy Machicado, who is one of the four detainees in San Pedro. All the detainees are linked by the police with the possession of explosives and the seizure of the parallel market.
  - Pagina Siete, 21 September 2022

• A cocalero from the Adepcoca faction of Machicado is apprehended for carrying explosives. The Bolivian police identified hostile and violent messages on J. Díaz's cell phone, and compared the images on security cameras: Diaz participated in in the takeover of the Villa El Carmen market.
  - La Razon, 20 September 2022

• Andrónico Rodríguez, after his appointment as the acting president of Bolivia, suggested that technical roundtables be held to discuss and resolve the Adepcoca conflict, to help resolve the conflict through the establishment of a single directorship of Adepcoca.
  - Pagina Siete, 19 September 2022

• The leader of the Adepcoca, Arnold Alanes, reported this Monday that, through his legal team, that he will seek the restitution of the coca market in Villa El Carmen, which on September 8 was assaulted and burned by the faction led by Freddy Machicado.
  - La Razon, 19 September 2022

• Cesar Apaza, member of the Committee of Adepcoca and ally of Freddy Machicado, announced this Monday that they will support the creation of a "Workers Center" through a "unity pact" with other sectors.
  - La Razon, 19 September 2022

• The members of Adepcoca (Departmental Association of Coca Producers) will mobilize today for the release of its president Freddy Machicado, who is in pretrial detention. Meanwhile, the parallel group announced its that it will demonstrate, with a goal of having the Government legalize the coca market in Villa El Carmen.
  - Pagina Siete, 19 September 2022

• The members of Adepcoca (Departmental Association of Coca Producers) will mobilize today for the release of its president Freddy Machicado, who is in pretrial detention. Meanwhile, the parallel group announced its that it will demonstrate, with a goal of having the Government legalize the coca market in Villa El Carmen.
  - La Razon, 19 September 2022

• Children are waking up in the night to check their social media notifications on their cellphones, and are losing about 1 night's worth of sleep each week.
  - Business Insider, 19 September 2022

• The Government of Bolivia has allocated for this year an amount equivalent to $US 40 million to support the fight against drug trafficking. There are funds to maintain aircraft and vehicles, as well as as security equipment. The funding should also cover the costs of illegal coca eradication and prevention.
  - El Deber, 18 September 2022

• The Government and the Bolivian Police will activate an operational security plan on Monday, in light of the marches announced by factions of coca growers in conflict, one led by Freddy Machicado (detained in jail) and the other by Arnold Alanes. Likewise, the authorities urged those mobilized to avoid the use of explosive devices.
  - La Razon, 17 September 2022

• Cocaleros from the original Adepcoca, and the group of the MAS leader Arnold Alanes, separately, are ready to arrive in the city of La Paz, Bolivia, with two massive protest mobilizations, on Monday, September 19.
  - Pagina Siete, 17 September 2022

• At least 17 Yungas coca growers in Bolivia have arrest warrants against them. The leaders stated that they are not afraid of going to jail, and announced the formation of self-defense committees to lead the march on Monday, in case they are arrested.
  - El Deber, 16 September 2022

• Coca leaf crops in Peru have increased by almost 20,000 hectares in one year. The president of Devida, Ricardo Soberón, commented that for the moment the work of coca leaf eradication in the north of Vraem will not be resumed because the goal of eradicating 1,200 hectares has been reached.
  - El Comercio, 16 September 2022

• The Adepcoca conflict: the management dispute over the Yungas coca monopoly. The situation has a structural, corporate background, due to the coca monopoly and the resources that move around the ancient leaf.
  - La Razon, 16 September 2022

• The departmental prosecutor of La Paz, William Alave, reported this Thursday that the leader of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of La Paz, Freddy Machicado, was accused of 14 crimes: havoc and arson; serious injuries; illegal possession and carrying or carrying; deprivation of liberty; prevent or hinder the exercise of functions; home invasion; serious injuries; aggravated robbery; destruction or deterioration of State property; kidnapping; attack against members of state security agencies; illicit arms trafficking; criminal organization; and public incitement to commit a crime.
  - La Razon, 15 September 2022

• At dawn on Thursday, September 15, a court in Bolivia ordered the preventive detention for six months, in the San Pedro de La Paz prison, of the leader of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca), Freddy Machicado. His defense considers the determination unfair and the cocaleros will meet in emergency this morning.
  - Pagina Siete, 15 September 2022

• After confirming the arrests of the former mayor of the city of El Alto (Bolivia), Soledad Chapetón and the president of the Association of Coca Producers of La Paz (Adepcoca), Freddy Machicado, national assembly members and different opposition representatives condemned this judicial process, affirming that the true face of the government of Luis Arce is revealed.
  - El Diario, 15 September 2022

• At dawn on Thursday, September 15, a court in Bolivia ordered the preventive detention for six months, in the San Pedro de La Paz prison, of the leader of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca), Freddy Machicado. His defense considers the determination unfair and the cocaleros will meet in emergency this morning.
  - El Deber, 15 September 2022

• Rise in deaths spurs effort to raise alcohol taxes. Alcohol taxes have been stagnant for years. But after the pandemic sent alcohol-related deaths soaring, activists in Oregon said higher taxes could save lives.
  - New York Times, 13 September 2022

• The Minister of Rural Development and Lands of Bolivia, Remmy Gonzáles, condemned this Friday the "vandalism" with which the members of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) committed when they seized the headquarters of the parallel coca market in the Villa El Carmen area yesterday. "They are not in a position to demand anything."
  - Pagina Siete, 09 September 2022

• Regarding the petition of the Adepcoca coca growers, the Minister of Rural Development and Lands, Remmy Gonzáles, responded to the complaint this Friday by saying that this faction "is not in a position to demand anything at this time".
  - La Razon, 09 September 2022

• A few minutes before one in the afternoon, the members of Adepcoca broke through the police cordon installed in Villa El Carmen and, in the midst of confrontations with members of the faction of Arnold Alanes, entered the parallel coca market. From the roof of the illegal market, members of the Arnold Alanes faction were seen throwing explosives at the Adepcoca associates.
  - Pagina Siete, 08 September 2022

• With the cry of "yes we can", the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca), led by Freddy Machicado, today took over the parallel coca market in Villa El Carmen. Before entering these facilities, the members set off explosives, beat members of the parallel association, and intimidated the press.
  - Pagina Siete, 08 September 2022

• Leaf of Life, an importer of coca leaf powder, is criticized by the FDA over claims without reference to possible cocaine content
  - Nutra Ingredients, 07 September 2022

• San Francisco lawmakers have unanimously approved a measure calling for the decriminalization of psychedelics such as psilocybin and ayahuasca. The order does not immediately enact changes to criminal justice policy in San Francisco, instead urging police to deprioritize psychedelics as "amongst the lowest priority" for law enforcement, and that "City resources not be used for any investigation, detention, arrest, or prosecution arising out of alleged violations of state and federal law regarding the use of Entheogenic Plants listed on the Federally Controlled Substances Schedule 1 list."
  - Double Blind, 07 September 2022

• Opinion: the United States has led a war on drugs outside the United States for decades, and it has been a staggering failure, except for contractors and foreign militaries that earned billions to achieve nothing
  - New York Times, 07 September 2022

• A US appeals court rules that American food giant Chiquita Brands must face trial for financing terrorism in Colombia in the 1990's and early 2000's, according to victim representatives. Chiquita admitted that it had paid AUC, the leading paramilitary organization, $1.7 million through its Colombian subsidiary Banadex between 1997 and 2004 in a 2007 plea bargain with the United States Department of Justice. The new lawsuit is filed by families of people murdered by the AUC.
  - Colombia Reports, 07 September 2022

• The cocalero leader Arnold Alanes denounced this Monday that the leadership of Adepcoca "threatens" his supporters as they march for the closure of the parallel market of Villa El Carmen in La Paz, Bolivia. "They are threatening to purge them, to take away their producer's license authorization, they are threatening to harvest their coca crops, to burn their houses, they are threatening sanctions of large amounts of money.", Alanes said.
  - Pagina Siete, 05 September 2022

• Stock market returns are 1.2% lower at 10 days following a cannabis legalization event, especially medicinal marijuana, and that the implications of the annual sale from this reduction were in the billions.
  - Medical Xpress, 02 September 2022

• The Bolivian Minister of Rural Development and Land, Remmy Gonzáles, convened a meeting this Wednesday, with the leaders of Adepcoca, Freddy Machicado and Arnold Alanes to establish a "separate" dialogue to find a solution to the conflict over the parallel market for coca leaf from Villa El Carmen.
  - La Razon, 31 August 2022

• The Bolivian Minister of Rural Development and Land, Remmy Gonzáles, convened a meeting this Wednesday, with the leaders of Adepcoca, Freddy Machicado and Arnold Alanes to establish a "separate" dialogue to find a solution to the conflict over the parallel market for coca leaf from Villa El Carmen.
  - Pagina Siete, 31 August 2022

• Cannabis drinks are being launched as companies bet on the growing market for legal marijuana
  - CNBC, 30 August 2022

• More people in the United States are smoking marijuana (16%) than cigarettes (11%), as people avoid cancer-causing cigarettes with its highly toxic and highly addictive nicotine
  - NPR, 30 August 2022

• The coca of Peru produced in Vraem, in Sandia and Cojata, localities that are in the Peruvian valleys, goes through at least ten routes to reach Bolivia. This leaf is used almost entirely for the production of cocaine hydrochloride.
  - El Deber, 29 August 2022

• In Orán, Argentina, the coca leaf is offered for sale as in Bolivia. In this city, in northern Argentina and close to Bermejo, the coca that comes from the Yungas is collected to be sold in other cities in Argentina. But in this neighboring country, transportation is not legal, so the vendors decide to mix their merchandise: coca in the middle of large bags of clothes.
  - El Deber, 29 August 2022

• The Government of Bolivia admits the illegality of the Villa El Carmen coca market, and its necessity. The Vice Minister of Coca and Integral Development, Arlem Lovera, recognizes the conflict of having to comply with the law, while also respecting the right to market of Adepcoca producers in Villa El Carmen.
  - La Razon, 29 August 2022

• Between submission to justice and the coca-growing assembly of Catatumbo. Changes coming for extradition and forced eradication?
  - El Nuevo Siglo, 28 August 2022

• An analysis by Rodrigo Pardo: Drugs: a new path for Colombia? Will the Petro government's turn in drug policy work? Will the relations between Bogota and Washington affect, for better or worse?
  - El Espectador, 27 August 2022

• The Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca, Bolivia) of the Freddy Machicado faction warned this Friday of intensifying its protest measures with blockades of 1,000 street corners in the city of La Paz, and also on the highways, and the implementation of hunger strike pickets, in case the Government does not permanently close the market by Arnold Alanes.
  - La Razon, 26 August 2022

• Adepcoca threatens a hunger strike and blockades in the city of La Paz and on the roads to Yungas, in Bolivia. They argue that the parallel coca leaf market encourages drug trafficking. They maintain that the ministers who call for dialogue do not have decision-making power over the conflict.
  - El Deber, 26 August 2022

• Common pots to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for hundreds of cocaleros from the Yungas are part of the permanent vigil that was installed in the area,since Wednesday night on Arapata street, in Villa Fátima, at the doors of the Adepcoca building, for fear of a possible takeover of the market.
  - Pagina Siete, 26 August 2022

• Although it is barely a draft, the proposal to decriminalize the cultivation of coca leaf in Colombia and regularize that market -- which began to be heard just as the when the spraying of illicit crops with glyphosate was completely ruled out, it seems that there is a willingness in Washington to open the debate.
  - El Colombiano, 24 August 2022

• Psilocybin helped people with alcohol-use disorder to reduce their drinking. Psilocybin, the ingredient in magic mushrooms, along with talk therapy, showed significant benefit in the largest clinical trial of its kind.
  - NBC News, 24 August 2022

• The psychedelic compound psilocybin, commonly known as "shrooms" or found in 'magic' mushrooms, along with therapy helps people who struggle with alcohol dependence better manage their drinking, a new study found.
  - CNN, 24 August 2022

• Productive projects, land titling and education: requests from communities to stop growing coca. The communities have raised the need for the National Government to arrange conditions to stop the farming of illicit crops, with methods such as the titling of the properties, more education and health programs, as well as as productive projects for food security.
  - El Colombiano, 23 August 2022

• The new director of the National Police in Colombia, General Henry Sanabria Cely, announces that the forced eradication of coca leaf farms will be suspended in Colombia.
  - Colombia Reports, 23 August 2022

• The new director of the National Police in Colombia, General Henry Sanabria Cely, announces that the forced eradication of coca leaf farms will be suspended in Colombia.
  - El Colombiano, 23 August 2022

• Firefighters find dynamite packed with nails in the cocalero conflict zone in La Paz, Bolivia
  - El Pais, 23 August 2022

• The new president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, announces that he intends to regulate the use of illegal substances, including cocaine and marijuana. "Not even the United States, with all their might and money, can win the [Prohibition] war on drugs."
  - CNN, 21 August 2022

• The General Coca Law in Bolivia establishes only two markets for the commercialization of coca: Adepcoca, in La Paz, and Sacaba, in Cochabamba. Constitutional lawyer Williams Bascopé indicated that by allowing a third point of commerce, the Government of Bolivia "encourages the illegality" of Arnold Alanes, the cocalero leader related to the governing Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS). The MAS with its two thirds control in the Legislative Assembly, in 2017, approved the new regulations on coca.
  - Pagina Siete, 16 August 2022

• The former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, considers that the mobilizations in Santa Cruz for the census and the demonstrations by coca growers from Adepcoca in La Paz point to a "coup d'état", as he discussed on radio Kawsachun Coca. On the other hand, regarding the Adepcoca conflict, he indicated that that there is no political interference from the Cochabamba tropics to keep the parallel market open.
  - Pagina Siete, 14 August 2022

• Coca growers accuse the Bolivian Police of violations planting evidence and other violations of the rights of coca growers. Reports on false facts, illegal searches, implantation of evidence, threats, assaults and even robberies are some of the excesses denounced against members of the Bolivian Police, during the days of repression against mobilized citizens in Santa Cruz and La Paz, according to testimonies from detainees, neighbors and video images.
  - Pagina Siete, 13 August 2022

• The coca grower Plácido Cota, seriously injured by the explosion of dynamite during the conflicts between coca growers from Yungas at the government headquarters, awoke after undergoing surgery to repair his organs. However, he is still considered a critical patient, according to the medical report.
  - El Deber, 13 August 2022

• Judge Ximena Palacios ordered last night the house arrest of 19 coca growers, prosecuted for the use of explosives in protests against the parallel coca market in La Paz, Bolivia, opened by a group related to MAS.
  - Pagina Siete, 12 August 2022

• Two groups of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) called for a march next Monday in the city of La Paz. The traditional cocaleros, led by Freddy Machicado, called 100% of their bases to demand the closure of the parallel market; for its part, the MAS-affiliated group, led by Arnold Alanes, announced the a march for peace.
  - Pagina Siete, 12 August 2022

• The cocaleros mobilized in Bolivia, led by Freddy Machicado, consider that the attitude of the Minister of Government, Eduardo Del Castillo, referring to coca growers as "criminals" hampers the dialogue with President Luis Arce and "worsens " the situation with "unfair" detentions that violate human rights.
  - El Deber, 11 August 2022

• The Adepcoca executive, Arnold Alanes, in an interview in La Razón, remarked that his faction is willing to establish a dialogue table with the opposition blockade of Freddy Machicado to solve the conflicts of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of La Paz, which began in 2019 with the arrival of Luis Fernando Camacho.
  - La Razon, 11 August 2022

• This Thursday morning, police officers entered lodgings in the Villa Fátima area, in La Paz, from which they took the coca growers Guillermina Huayhua and Zulma Apaza. The women were sleeping in a hostel near the Adepcoca conflict zone when the uniformed officers entered the place to confiscate them, and transferred them to the facilities of the Special Force to Fight Against Crime (FELCN).
  - Pagina Siete, 11 August 2022

• Who do you think is responsible for the conflicts in Adepcoca? This is how our readers voted.
  - Pagina Siete, 11 August 2022

• Coca substitution in Colombia: proposals to the Petro government to restructure the PNIS (Comprehensive National Project for Substitution), which is trying to help almost 100,000 families.
  - El Espectador, 10 August 2022

• The cocalero conflict: in addition to the fact that his life continues to be in danger, Plácido Cota Huaylluco suffered the abandonment of his wife and the deprivation of a son in April. His family blames the cocalero faction related to the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS) for Plácido's misfortune.
  - El Deber, 10 August 2022

• The Bolivian Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, denounced the this Wednesday that coca grower leaders from the sector led by Freddy Machicado are hiring outsiders to confront police officers who guard the area of Villa Carmen, where the parallel market of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Asociación Departamental de Productores de Coca) is located.
  - La Razon, 10 August 2022

• On Tuesday night, tension returned to Villa El Carmen. Police used tear gas to disperse coca growers from the Freddy Machicado faction, from the Departmental Association of Coca (Adepcoca), after the complaint of a kidnapped police officer. The cocaleros denied the fact and accused the troops of surrounding the Villa Fátima market, and trying to enter the place in order to arrest them.
  - La Razon, 10 August 2022

• The Bolivian Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, describes cocaleros as "criminals" and denies that the police are causing injuries. He defended the "proportionate use of force" by the Bolivian Police. Of the 24 cocaleros that were arrested, 19 are men and five are women.
  - Pagina Siete, 10 August 2022

• The Minister of Government of Bolivia, Eduardo del Castillo, described this Wednesday, 24 coca growers whom he referred to as "infiltrators" in the mobilization of coca growers, whom he said were apprehended carrying home-made weapons during the clashes in Villa El Carmen .
  - Pagina Siete, 10 August 2022

• At least 24 coca growers were detained by the police after the clashes this day in the Villa El Carmen area, in the northern part of the city of La Paz, Bolivia
  - La Razon, 09 August 2022

• Police in La Paz, Bolivia, invade private properties to arrest cocaleros in Villa el Carmen. A large police group violently broke into several private homes in Villa el Carmen, in La Paz, to arrest more than a dozen coca growers.
  - Pagina Siete, 09 August 2022

• The Government of Bolivia, through the Vice Ministry of Internal Affairs and Police, yesterday will said that it will prosecute the president of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca), Freddy Machicado, for allegedly inciting violence in the conflict over the parallel market. Years ago, the former presidents of that sector, Franclin Gutiérrez and Armin Lluta, were also prosecuted for similar acts, denounced by the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS).
  - Pagina Siete, 09 August 2022

• The explosion of a dynamite cartridge left a demonstrator with serious injuries, a situation that yesterday aggravated the conflict between the Government and the members of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca). That faction announced that it will talk only with President Luis Arce before the closure of the parallel coca market, installed by the MAS cocaleros in the Villa El Carmen area, in La Paz, Bolivia.
  - Pagina Siete, 09 August 2022

• The vice president of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers of La Paz (Adepcoca), Reynaldo Laura, blamed the government for the events that occurred this Monday in the Villa El Carmen area, where a coca grower was seriously injured due to the handling of dynamite.
  - La Razon, 09 August 2022

• Plácido Cota (age: 30), a coca grower injured by the detonation of dynamite, has a high risk of death, according to the medical report of the Arco Iris Hospital in La Paz. The man is a native of the Las Mercedes community, in the La Asunta municipality (South Yungas), and is the father of two children. Plácido was injured by the detonation of a dynamite stick on 1st street in the Villa El Carmen area, when the protesters confronted the Bolivian Police, who repressed them with tear gas.
  - El Deber, 09 August 2022

• The cocalero injured in the clashes with the police this Monday is in a critical situation. According to information from the Ombudsman, "in the incident, he was the victim of the detonation of a dynamite stick on 1st street in the Villa El Carmen area".
  - Pagina Siete, 08 August 2022

• A coming tidal wave: The opioid epidemic is about to get a whole lot worse
  - BigThink, 03 August 2022

• The city of La Paz, Bolivia, was the scene this Tuesday of street clashes between police and coca leaf producers in a dispute over control of the coveted coca leaf commerce building, which left uniformed officers injured and a journalist injured, multiple sources reported.
  - El Pais, 02 August 2022

• The cocalero conflict in La Paz has no truce. Yesterday, after some time, there was a new confrontation in the La Paz area of Villa de Carmen. A march that came from the Yungas to the Government headquarters was repressed by the Bolivian Police in an attempt by marchers to close the parallel coca leaf market, which is administered by a faction affiliated with Movimiento Al Socialismo (the government party). Members of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers of La Paz (Adepcoca), from Freddy Machicado's faction, were the ones who clashed with the police officers, who were monitoring the parallel market after learning of the demonstration. Several hundred peasants, grouped by the Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) and by opponents of the government of leftist President Luis Arce, protested in a neighborhood north of the city of La Paz, to demand the closure of a parallel market of the plant, which they accuse of being illegal and having official support.
  - El Deber, 02 August 2022

• Balance Duque: this is how the president fared in the management of illicit crops and drug policy. Framing of crops for illicit use increased by 11.11% between 2018 and 2022.
  - El Colombiano, 29 July 2022

• Not even a week has passed since the installation of the new Congress and Communes Party (ex-FARC), and two controversial new laws were proposed related to the regulation of the "peasant guardians" and the regulation of the crops of illegal use. One project suggests "not to prosecute" small coca leaf growers in court.
  - El Colombiano, 29 July 2022

• The Communes Party, formerly the FARC group, filed a bill that seeks to ensure that people who participate in the cultivation of plants for illicit use are not prosecuted. The intention of these legislators is that small farmers linked to the cultivation of plantations for illicit use should receive differentiated treatment in criminal matters.
  - El Colombiano, 28 July 2022

• Coca production: the financial engine of criminal networks to challenge the government in Tibú, Colombia. The civilian population lives in the midst of anxiety due to the presence of illegal groups that are fighting for control of the area, putting pressure on activities associated with coca leaf cultivation, and finding an opportunity to avoid persecution on the complex border by the authorities.
  - El Tiempo, 24 July 2022

• President-elect Gustavo Petro called on the sugar association and indigenous of southern Colombia to negotiate the use of land in the southwest of the country. The Nasa people accuse the sugar plantations of damaging the environment by growing sugar cane instead of food. The sometimes violent expansion of land by regional elites has gradually reduced Nasa territory in the north of Cauca over the past 200 years.
  - Colombia Reports, 24 July 2022

• Faced with a confrontation between indigenous peoples and sugar mills in Cauca province, the president-elect, Gustavo Petro, invited them to settle this matter within the framework of the first regional dialogue for peace.
  - El Tiempo, 23 July 2022

• The marijuana industry's origin in northern Cauca. Colombia. The reality overcomes the prejudices. While the cocaine war continues to leave victims and violence in the territories, in full view of all, one of the great businesses of the 21st century is progressing in the country: the cannabis industry. In the north of Cauca province, not far from the areas where the war is reborn, the mountains bear witness to the marijuana boom.
  - El Espectador, 23 July 2022

• Two United States Republican Senators, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, proposed a new law to the Foreign Relations Committee the Senate that seeks that the FARC be re-designated as a terrorist group.
  - El Colombiano, 21 July 2022

• Book review: "American Cartel", how greedy executives, elected officials and government bureaucrats created the largest and deadliest drug trafficking industry in history - that of prescription opioids
  - Economist, 21 July 2022

• Giovani Yule is the new director of the Land Restitution Unit in Colombia which failed to compensate people who had their lands stolen under previous governments. Yule is a member of the Nasa people, one of the leading producers of coca tea in Colombia.
  - Colombia Reports, 20 July 2022

• Jorge Eliecer Mejía, an indigenous community guard of the Nasa people of Colombia, is murdered in the province of Cauca.
  - TeleSUR, 17 July 2022

• The Evo Cup in Bolivia: cocaleros expect to earn US $100,000, while hoteliers do not expect much revenue. The sports delegations have their lodging and special catering. The federations of the Cochabamba tropics say they will invest $50,000 in the U-17 international soccer tournament and that they have requested loans to raise the capital. The federations plan to collect twice as much money in tickets.
  - Pagina Siete, 17 July 2022

• A new law is being considered in California that will legalize psychedelic drugs like DMT and Ibogaine in the entire state of California
  - The Free Thought Project, 16 July 2022

• No amount of alcohol is healthy to drink if you are younger than 40, mostly due to alcohol-related deaths by auto accidents, injury and homicide, according to a new global study
  - CNN, 14 July 2022

• No amount of alcohol is healthy to drink if you are younger than 40, mostly due to alcohol-related deaths by auto accidents, injury and homicide, according to a new global study
  - The Lancet, 14 July 2022

• Sobering new study says that those under the age of 40 should never drink alcohol. The health risks associated with imbibing include auto accidents, injury and even murder, according to the study. Also, those under age 40 receive no health benefits at all from drinking alcohol.
  - Fox News, 14 July 2022

• According to estimates of the White House, the statistics for coca cultivation and cocaine production in Colombia decreased but remained high at 234,000 hectares and 972 metric tons, respectively.
  - El Pais, 14 July 2022

• According to estimates of the White House, the statistics for coca cultivation and cocaine production in Colombia decreased but remained high at 234,000 hectares and 972 metric tons, respectively.
  - El Colombiano, 14 July 2022

• According to estimates of the White House, the statistics for coca cultivation and cocaine production in Colombia decreased but remained high at 234,000 hectares and 972 metric tons, respectively.
  - El Tiempo, 14 July 2022

• 
  - La Razon, 06 July 2022

• Without glyphosate: Susana Muhamad's plans as President Gustavo Petro's new Minister of the Environment. She was blunt regarding the use of glyphosate. "There will be no glyphosate, we will work on the substitution of illicit crops through the agrarian reform which seeks to provide the peasantry with a forestry economy without generating those conflicts we have today."
  - El Pais, 05 July 2022

• Without glyphosate: Susana Muhamad's plans as President Gustavo Petro's new Minister of the Environment. She was blunt regarding the use of glyphosate. "There will be no glyphosate, we will work on the substitution of illicit crops through the agrarian reform which seeks to provide the peasantry with a forestry economy without generating those conflicts we have today."
  - El Colombiano, 05 July 2022

• A sniper assassinated Ronald Rojas, one of the reintegration chiefs of the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC, who had been denouncing death threats in southern Colombia since 2020. He was murdered at his farm in Palermo (Huila province).
  - Colombia Reports, 05 July 2022

• Corrupt officials and lawmakers received almost $119 million in kickbacks from funds meant for the peace process in Colombia, according to Blu Radio. The scandal involved funds that were meant for peace projects in priority regions that have been ravaged by the armed conflict. More than two dozen mayors complained that they paid kickbacks in order to have projects approved by the Comptroller General's Office, which is supposed to investigate corruption. Right-wing, Conservative Party senators and house representatives allegedly charged mayors a fee to secure the approval of peace projects and the transfer of funds from the royalties fund of Colombia.
  - Colombia Reports, 04 July 2022

• The former president of Bolivia and head of the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS), Evo Morales, alleged this Monday that the political parties of the right, which gave rise to the opposition groups Comunidad Ciudadana and Creemos, "are the real ones involved in the 'narco-links'".
  - La Razon, 04 July 2022

• UNODC says that 41% of the drugs destined for Europe come from Bolivia and Peru, being transported through Brazil. Part of the drug is also taken through Argentina.
  - El Deber, 03 July 2022

• President Luis Arce announced the the "reconstruction" of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking following the murder of three police officers, one of them a volunteer, at the hands of people linked to organized crime and drug trafficking in Bolivia.
  - El Deber, 03 July 2022

• From the Chapare region of Bolivia, most recently have departed authorities from the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (FELCN), the Vice Ministry of Social Defense and Controlled Substances and other key units in the fight against drugs.
  - Pagina Siete, 03 July 2022

• Corruption, drug trafficking, police casualties and the "coup" in Bolivia: the mistakes of the era of General Jhonny Aguilera, the former police chief of FELCN. An Interpol report indicates that the head of the Lima Lobo clan paid the former police chief $35,000 to avoid being extradited.
  - Pagina Siete, 03 July 2022

• President Luis Arce of Bolivia relieved the now ex-commander of the Police, General Jhonny Aguilera, of his position and replaced him with General Orlando Ponce on an interim basis, who was the deputy commander until yesterday, in the midst of armed executions and drug trafficking acts that involved members of the institution, casting doubt on its credibility.
  - Pagina Siete, 02 July 2022

• General Orlando Ponce was sworn in this Friday night as the new commander of the Bolivian Police, in an act in which President Luis Arce not only highlighted progress but was harsh with the police institution by denouncing that "some bad police chiefs" have been "sucked in by easy money", but also by demanding a "deep rebuilding of the FELCN anti-drug force.
  - La Razon, 01 July 2022

• Behind the scenes, McKinsey profited greatly by guiding public companies at the center of the opioid drug trafficking crisis. The consulting firm offered "in-depth experience in [legally trafficking] narcotics from poppy fields to pills more powerful than the OxyContin of the criminally-convicted drug trafficking Purdue Pharma owned by the Sackler drug trafficking family.
  - New York Times, 30 June 2022

• The government-appointed Truth Commission in Colombia releases report highly critical of US policies in Colombia, and Colombia's security forces in recent decades. It also delivered a sharp rebuke of United States drug policy in Colombia, saying that mounting a war against drug trafficking had disastrous social and environmental effects, turning poor farmers into enemies of the state and poisoning once fertile landscapes.
  - New York Times, 28 June 2022

• The UNODC reiterates in a 2022 report that coca crops in Bolivia grew by 15% in 2020. The Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, reported that the data shows the "incompetence" with which the fight against drug trafficking was managed during the government of Jeanine Áñez.
  - La Razon, 28 June 2022

• After the UNODC World Report on Drugs 2022 was made public, warning of a 15% increase in coca crops in Bolivia with data up to 2020, the Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, pointed out that that increase occurred during the government of then-president Jeanine Áñez.
  - Pagina Siete, 28 June 2022

• Editorial: more coca, more drug trafficking and more crime in Bolivia
  - El Deber, 28 June 2022

• The parallel coca trade market in La Paz, Bolivia, which was inaugurated by the MAS leader, Arnold Alanes, more than a week ago, and endorsed by the Minister of Rural Development and Land, Remmy Gonzales, who pointed out that there may be "multiple markets". The authority ruled out that the coca trading center in Villa El Carmen is a third market because, in its opinion, "it is also [part of] Adepcoca".
  - Pagina Siete, 28 June 2002

• Cocaleros from La Paz will define actions to prevent a third coca market from functioning. They do not rule out paralyzing the seat of government if the competent authorities do not take action.
  - La Razon, 24 June 2022

• The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it is banning the sale of cigarette products in the US of nicotine drug-trafficker Juul.
  - CNBC, 23 June 2022

• The FDA aims to reduce levels of smoking in the United States by slashing the levels of highly addictive, highly toxic, nicotine in cigarettes
  - New York Times, 22 June 2022

• They threaten the indigenous governor who fights against coca crops in Cauca. Henry Chocué, the indigenous governor of the Las Delicias reservation, is considered the most important leader in the sector today. However, he has received several death threats due to social struggles against the cultivation of illicit crops in the area.
  - El Espectador, 19 June 2022

• The government of outgoing President Ivan Duque deliberately destroyed the peace process with the FARC in Colombia, according to more than 275 NGOs. The resurgence of violence and armed conflict in Colombia during the peace process is the consequence of Duque's refusal to implement the peace deal.
  - Colombia Reports, 16 June 2022

• The US State Department wants to use drones to kill coca plants in Colombia. The State Department wants the drones because it says improvised explosive devices, ambushes, and hazardous wildlife are threats to personnel. Why? Why not industrialize and make legal profits?
  - Vice Motherboard, 09 June 2022

• In late April, the Colombian Navy located and destroyed 20 facilities for illegal cocaine production belonging to dissident groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The Colombian Navy executed the operations, in southeastern Colombia, in the departments of Putumayo, Meta, Guaviare, and Caquetá, with the support of the National Army, the Colombian Air Force, and the National Police. Two of the facilities were cocaine hydrochloride crystallizers, while the others processed coca base paste. In the illegal facilities, authorities found 3,033 kilograms of solid chemical precursors, more than 34,400 liters of liquid chemical precursors, more than 2,200 kg of cocaine hydrochloride, 448 kg of chopped coca leaves, and 164 kg of coca base paste in process.
  - Dialogo Americas, 08 June 2022

• Italian agents on Tuesday confiscated 4.3 tons of cocaine with a street value of nearly a quarter-billion euros (about US $60,000 a kilo) in the northeastern port city of Trieste, dealing a blow to Colombia's feared Gulf Clan in one of the largest drug busts ever in Europe.
  - ABC News, 07 June 2022

• Cannabis and the violent crime surge. Heavy marijuana use among youths, who are smoking more powerful strains of marijuana, is leading to more addiction and antisocial behavior.
  - Wall Street Journal, 07 June 2022

• How Colombia disenfranchised Indigenous Inga communities in Putamayo in favor of an oil company from Canada, Gran Tierra Energy
  - MongaBay, 02 June 2022

• The government of Canada has announced that it will temporarily decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illegal drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamines, in the western province of British Columbia that has been ground zero for the country's overdoses.
  - New York Times, 02 June 2022

• A drug crystallization laboratory with more than 800 kilos of cocaine was discovered in an operation carried out in the Isiboro Sécure national park, department of Beni, Bolivia. According to the investigation, the laboratory was used to process the base coca paste from Peru, and then convert it into cocaine hydrochloride.
  - La Razon, 02 June 2022

• Bolivia will export 100 kilos of coca to Australia for the first time, for the development of research aimed at manufacturing anesthesia based on the coca leaf. SENASAG will send to Australia 50 kilos of coca from the Chapare region and a similar amount from the Yungas region.
  - La Razon, 30 May 2022

• Since the national government of Bolivia began its plan in March 2022 for the eradication of surplus coca leaf crops under the 2022 administration, about 1,800 hectares have been eradicated out of a total of 10,000 that must be eliminated by the end of the year. Analysts and specialists argue that the pace is still slow.
  - El Deber, 24 May 2022

• Alcohol may be more risky to the heart than previously thought. If you do drink, limit your weekly consumption to less than one bottle of wine or less than three-and-a-half 500 ml cans of 4.5% beer.
  - EurekAlert, 22 May 2022

• John Costanzo, a current Drug Enforcement Administration agent, and Manny Recio, a former supervisor in the agency, were charged with leaking confidential law enforcement information to defense lawyers in Miami in exchange for $70,000 in cash.
  - Associated Press, 20 May 2022

• Cesar Giraldo, a campaign chief of former President Alvaro Uribe, and this year's presidential candidate Federico Gutierrez has reportedly been doing business for years with drug traffickers in Colombia's main coffee growing region around Pereira, in the providence of Risarlada.
  - Colombia Reports, 17 May 2022

• How nicotine drug-trafficking tobacco companies got Black American smokers addicted to menthol cigarettes
  - New York Times, 16 May 2022

• Two social leaders were brutally murdered in Valle de Cauca, one in Tuluá and the other in Buga. One, Didimo Rodas, was beheaded in Buga.
  - El Pais, 16 May 2022

• How nicotine drug-trafficking tobacco companies got Black American smokers addicted to menthol cigarettes
  - New York Times, 16 May 2022

• Complete failure: in the last four years under President Ivan Duque, Colombia has spent over $1 billion on its illegal drug policies, and achieved nothing (as usual). Illegal drug production has increased, weakening drug trafficking organizations was not achieved, and many community leaders working for alternatives were assassinated.
  - Colombia Reports, 15 May 2022

• C&eacue;sar Augusto Giraldo Montoya, has been the strongman of Uribismo in Risaralda, Colombia for the last decade, and is known in the region as "Calzones", is a Pereiran businessman and farmer very close to former President Álvaro Uribe. He has done business with drug traffickers or with people close to the mafia. His son, Cristian Camilo, promotes the presidential campaign of Federico Gutiérrez in Pereira.
  - El Espectador, 14 May 2022

• The Bolivian Prosecutor for Controlled Substances ordered an investigation and expert opinion with regards to a cell phone to find out audio, text and other conversations about the sale of a shipment of high-purity cocaine that the Ayoreos seized on Sunday from members of a drug trafficking network in the community of Suejay, 30 kilometers from Cuatro Cañadas.
  - El Deber, 13 May 2022

• After the intervention of several Ayoreos from El Porvenir to a shipment of drugs from Colombian drug traffickers in Cuatro Cañadas that had to be sent to Brazil, the president of the Ayoreo Degüi community, Eusebio Parangay, in an interview with the program 'Influential' from El Deber Radio lamented that the Ayoreo people are involved in this act, but considers that poverty and extreme needs led them to commit the crime. The leader clarified that the Ayoreos involved do not belong to his community; however, he said that the reality in which some Ayorean communities live, especially those in more remote areas, is of extreme poverty, so perhaps "because of their need they grabbed that drug to support their family".
  - El Deber, 13 May 2022

• Nathan Koen, a former DEA agent, is sentenced to 135 months in jail for accepting thousands of dollars in bribes from a drug trafficker.
  - Associated Press, 11 May 2022

• A highly respected prosecutor from Paraguay, Marcelo Pecci, who has been aggressively investigating drug trafficking in Paraguay, is murdered on the beaches of Cartegena, Colombia, allegedly by Colombians affiliated with drug traffickers in Paraguay.
  - SFGate.com, 11 May 2022

• A group of soldiers who were carrying out work to eradicate illicit crops in the Los Cuervos village, in the Tibú municipality, in Norte de Santander, Colombia, were surrounded by approximately 300 civilians who obstructed the work of the soldiers.
  - El Pais, 10 May 2022

• The British startup Clerkenwell Health opens the first commercial facility in Europe for psychedelic drug trials, initially focusing on the use of psilocybin to help people deal with the anxiety associated with a diagnosis of terminal illness, and to support them through their end-of-life care.
  - The Guardian, 09 May 2022

• Walgreens Boots Alliance, which owns a string of retail pharmacies, has reached a $683m settlement with Florida to resolve claims it exacerbated an opioid epidemic in the state. The case hinged on accusations that as Walgreens dispensed more than 4.3 billion opioid pills in Florida from May 2006 to June 2021, more than half of the prescriptions contained one or more easily recognized red flags for abuse, fraud and addiction that the company should have noticed and acted upon.
  - Al Jazeera, 05 May 2022

• Despite the fact that deputy Caleb Villarroel, of Creemos, raised the 'stink', deputy Gladys Quispe, of the Movimiento Al Socialismo, formalized a complaint against him, to which was added the chief of his political faction, Gualberto Arispe, for the alleged crimes of discrimination and racism; in addition, Caleb filed another complaint with the Ethics Commission of the Deputies of Bolivia.
  - Pagima Siete, 04 May 2022

• People who use marijuana have an increased risk of heart disease and heart attack. THC causes inflammation in endothelial cells that line the interior of blood vessels, as well as atherosclerosis in laboratory mice.
  - Medical Xpress, 02 May 2022

• People who use marijuana have an increased risk of heart disease and heart attack. THC causes inflammation in endothelial cells that line the interior of blood vessels, as well as atherosclerosis in laboratory mice.
  - Medical Xpress, 02 May 2022

• Former President Evo Morales insinuated that the Bolivian Ministry of Government is consulting the DEA to investigate his complaint of alleged protection of drug trafficking by some anti-drug agents. "The complaint based on recordings that demonstrate protection for drug trafficking deserves a serious and responsible response, with investigations and not with statements or contradictions. That they act as quickly as they acted with the tiktokers. It seems that they are still consulting with the DEA.", Morales wrote on his Twitter account.
  - Pagina Siete, 30 April 2022

• The former director of the Special Force to Fight Crime (FELCC), Maximiliano Dávila, who was preventively detained for legitimizing illegal earnings, could be the owner of at least 51 real estate properties, according to an investigation by the Public Ministry.
  - La Razon, 29 April 2022

• The Bolivian Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, affirmed this Thursday that in the testimonial statements, collected so far, a series of contradictions were found that do not match some audios presented on April 4 by former President Evo Morales to denounce an alleged protection for drug trafficking in the Cochabambda tropics. Given the "suspicions" of Evo Morales, the Ministry of Government reminded people that the police cannot make arrests without arrest warrants.
  - La Razon, 28 April 2022

• Colombian General Paulino Coronado Gámez and 10 other soldiers admit to crimes against humanity. In the first hearing of its kind, officials admitted to orchestrating extrajudicial killings of civilians in Colombia during the country's civil war.
  - New York Times, 27 April 2022

• Colombian General Paulino Coronado Gámez and 10 other soldiers admit to crimes against humanity. In the first hearing of its kind, officials admitted to orchestrating extrajudicial killings of civilians in Colombia during the country's civil war.
  - New York Times, 27 April 2022

• Among the proposals and suggestions for the 2022 Population and Housing Census in Bolivia, one question comes from the concerns of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers of La Paz (Adepcoca): "Do you consume coca from the Yungas or from the Chapare?
  - El Deber, 26 April 2022

• The Council of Peasant Federations of the Yungas (Cofecay) admonished with a criminal lawsuit against Creemos deputy Caleb Villarroel, who compared the smell of coca chewing with that of marijuana, and who pointed out that this ancestral practice "stinks". The MAS is also analyzing a lawsuit for racism and discrimination.
  - La Razon, 25 April 2022

• Some 1000 people have fled the Sierra Nevada natural park (in Magdalena, southeast of Santa Marta) since fighting broke out between paramilitary groups AGC and ACS on April 15. Drug traffickers have been using routes that cross the Sierra Nevada to transport cocaine from inland coca fields to the container terminals of Santa Marta and Barranquilla.
  - Colombia Reports, 25 April 2022

• Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación, the cartels that finance the most Colombian cocaine. The illegal money from these groups sustains the entire production chain. Their bosses have tentacles on the 5 continents. These cartels are the international organizations that invest the most resources in coca cultivation, chemical inputs, cocaine production laboratories, storage, maritime and air transportation of the merchandise.
  - El Colombiano, 24 April 2022

• The jailed warlord, "Otoniel", told the war crimes tribunal of Colombia that that politicians and police commanders are on the payroll of conservative AGC, a criminal paramilitary organization. Otoniel additionally claimed that AUC allies in the private sector additionally received 5% of the AUC's criminal activity, which consisted largely of drug trafficking.
  - Colombia Reports, 22 April 2022

• Deep in Colombia, rebels and soldiers fight for the same prize: drugs. The country signed a historic peace deal more than five years ago. But a power vacuum is fueling the rise of new armed groups competing to control the drug trade.
  - New York Times, 21 April 2022

• The former president, and head of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) of Bolivia, Evo Morales, argued this Thursday that there is a dirty war against this political organization with the use of surveys and even people involved in corruption and drug trafficking. "In their dirty war against MAS-IPSP, some right-wing media use alleged polls and people involved in corruption, including drug trafficking, to attack us and try to divide us. They victimize coup leaders who massacred the people, as well they insult and accuse us falsely."
  - La Razon, 21 April 2022

• The former president, and head of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) of Bolivia, Evo Morales, argued this Thursday that there is a dirty war against this political organization with the use of surveys and even people involved in corruption and drug trafficking. "In their dirty war against MAS-IPSP, some right-wing media use alleged polls and people involved in corruption, including drug trafficking, to attack us and try to divide us. They victimize coup leaders who massacred the people, as well they insult and accuse us falsely."
  - Pagina Siete, 21 April 2022

• Is the DEA sticking its nose in the Colombian elections? In a small country like ours, the DEA even gets involved in influencing what it believes is best for the United States, leaving in the garbage whatever the greatest number of Colombian voters desire.
  - El Espectador, 19 April 2022

• While the Government and the Prosecutor's Office say they have not found evidence against senior anti-narcotics police chiefs and against the Vice Minister of Social Defense, Jaime Mamani, who were involved in the audio recordings of the discovery of four laboratories in the Chapare region, the Ministry of Government and the General Command of the Bolivian Police ordered the immediate withdrawal to La Paz of policemen who were fulfilling duties in Umopar de Chimóre and who discovered the drug factories. Police describe this injustice and assure that they intervened in Valle Sacta in the discovery of Colombian drug factories, and only were obeying orders.
  - El Deber, 18 April 2022

• The legalization of recreational marijuana reduces demand for costly prescription drugs through state Medicaid programs
  - Cornell Chronicle, 18 April 2022

• The presidential campaign in Colombia got dirty after the leftist frontrunner, Gustavo Petro, was falsely accused by conservatives of making a deal with jailed politicians and a drug lord. His challengers retracted their attacks, after the evidence and testimony revealed by Noticias Uno suggested that the entire scandal was a hoax.
  - Colombia Reports, 18 April 2022

• After the former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, revealed that "patriotic police" have informed him of cases of drug trafficking and corruption, former police chiefs pointed out that there is a group of police troops who maintain loyalty to the former president, and they are "secretly campaigning" with Morales with aspirations of facilitating his promotions and occupying high positions, and also taking care of him for the next presidential election. One analyst said "patriotism is not to be confused with pandering."
  - Pagina Siete, 16 April 2022

• After the scandal of the narcoaudios case, parliamentarians and an analyst questioned the Bolivian Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, for giving the polygraph test only to subordinate members of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking and not to the authorities and high heads of the Bolivian Police.
  - Pagina Siete, 16 April 2022

• The government of Luis Arce and the Public Prosecutor's Office reported that they found no evidence that links groups dedicated to drug trafficking with Colonels Maximiliano Dávila, José María Velasco and Jaime Arancibia; although there are criminal proceedings against them, none are being investigated for trafficking in controlled substances, despite the fact that there are reports, testimonies, audio recordings and drug factories.
  - Pagina Siete, 15 April 2022

• The Bolivian Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, revealed the that national parks are used by drug traffickers to set up cocaine refining laboratories. In the country, there are about 300 illegally farmed areas. These areas are increasingly unprotected and at risk because coca plantations and drug factories still persist.
  - El Deber, 14 April 2022

• E-cigarette giant Juul Labs will pay Washington state $22.5 million and has agreed to a variety of reforms to prevent underage use and sales. Juul targeted underage consumers and deceived consumers about the addictiveness of its product.
  - Associated Press, 13 April 2022

• Victims and ex-Farc say that President Duque denied their participation in the UN Council. Representatives of the Comunes Party, the Defendamos la Paz movement, and organizations that follow the implementation of the Peace Agreement, have reservations about the way in which President Iván Duque will defend his Peace with Legality program in the Security Council of the United Nations.
  - El Espectador, 12 April 2022

• Evo Morales once again referred to drug trafficking. The former president presumes that the Drug Control Administration (DEA) operates in some State ministries and that there are "infiltrated coup leaders" in the Government of Luis Arce. "It is a national and international campaign to discredit the Cochabamba tropical area and, especially, its leaders, its leaders such as Evo Morales, Andrónico and Leonardo Loza."
  - El Deber, 11 April 2022

• After accusing the former anti-drug chief of covering up drug trafficking, former President Evo Morales affirmed yesterday that he suspects that there are infiltrators of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in "some ministries". "I do not know if that the DEA is within any ministry or ministries, which is trying to implicate or demonize the peasant movement of the Cochabamba tropics," Morales asserted.
  - Pagina Siete, 11 April 2022

• The Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, responded this Monday to the new statements of former President Evo Morales, and emphatically denied that he is coordinating with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
  - La Razon, 11 April 2022

• The Security Council of the United Nations, in violation of a deal, will not allow a social leader to speak at its quarterly session on the 2016 Peace deal with the FARC guerilla group. The social leader will not be allowed to comment on the lack of progress with the deal under Duque. The Security Council does not want any public contradictions of Duque's false report of progress.
  - Colombia Reports, 11 April 2022

• How president Ivan Duque condemned Colombia to a new cycle of violence, empowering guerilla and paramilitary groups such as the AGC, ELN and ex-FARC to strengthen their control, especially in coca growing regions
  - Colombia Reports, 10 April 2022

• Deputy Erwin Bazán, from the political group Creemos, affirmed that the former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, is trapped between drug calls and allegations of cover-ups by criminals in the Chapare. "Evo Morales is trapped by his ties to drug trafficking; his alleged denunciations accusing the administration of President Luis Arce of protecting drug trafficking end up complicating him. We are close to learning the truth about how Evo and the blues cartel ended up handing over the future of the country to drug trafficking," said Bazán.
  - Pagina Siete, 10 April 2022

• In the midst of the questions about the alleged protection, the Vice Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances of Bolivia, Jaime Mamani, assured this Saturday that his work is "transparent and relentless" in the fight against drug trafficking.
  - La Razon, 09 April 2022

• Former President Evo Morales affirmed this Friday that he denounced the the alleged cover-up of drug trafficking in the Tropics of Cochabamba in Bolivia, because his duty is to protect President Luis Arce from the "pro-imperialist coup leaders". "We denounce police chiefs for conspiring and covering up drug trafficking."
  - La Razon, 08 April 2022

• As a result of the scandal caused by the public denunciation by the cocalero leader Evo Morales about an alleged cover-up of drug trafficking, the Creemos bench asked for the resignation of the Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo and his Vice Minister of Controlled Substances, Jaime Mamani, for failing to fulfill their duties.
  - El Deber, 08 April 2022

• Former President Evo Morales appears on a list of people who will be summoned by the Prosecutor's Office as a witness for the alleged protection by police of drug trafficking. For this same fact, the Public Ministry issued arrest warrants against the three heads of the anti-drug police who on March 25 allegedly aborted an operation to destroy a cocaine factory in the Cochabamba tropics of Bolivia.
  - El Deber, 08 April 2022

• The former head of the Mobile Police Unit for Rural Areas (Umopar) (Chapare, Bolivia), Lieutenant Colonel Yerko Terán, revealed this Thursday that if the anti-drug forces carried out the coup on March 25 at four o'clock at the drug factory and the megalaboratory installed near the Sacta river, in the Cochabamba Tropics, operated by Colombians, they would have already killed the heads of that unit, because according to him they received money to cover up the infrastructure.
  - Pagina Siete, 07 April 2022

• The former head of the Mobile Police Unit for Rural Areas (UMOPAR)(Chapare, Bolivia), Lieutenant Colonel Yerko Ter&´n, revealed this Thursday that if the anti-drug forces carried out the raid on March 25 at four drug factories and the mega-laboratory installed near the Sacta river, in the Cochabamba Tropics, operated by Colombians, they would have already killed the heads of that unit, because according to him they received money to cover up the infrastructure.
  - La Razon, 07 April 2022

• The Third Sentencing Court of La Paz sentenced on Wednesday the former general of the Bolivian Police, René Sanabria, to 10 years in prison accused at a trial of links to drug trafficking in 2011.
  - La Razon, 07 April 2022

• The scandal that sparked a crisis among Bolivian police chiefs who were accused of protecting drug traffickers and aborting an anti-drug operation denounced by former President Evo Morales, caused the dismissal of the director of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking, José Mari´ Velasco.
  - El Deber, 07 April 2022

• The links of the Bolivian Police to drug traffickers are not new. In the government of Evo Morales there were four police chiefs so linked. Today, this case of cover-up that caused the dismissal of the director of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking, José María Velasco, similar to the one in which her predecessor Maximiliano D´vila played a leading role in 2019. Three former police chiefs of the 14-year administration of Morales: René Sanabria, &Oscar;scar Nina and Gonzalo Medina, went to jail for links to drug traffickers.< /A>
  - El Deber, 07 April 2022

• The Bolivian Public Ministry implicates ex-general Sanabria with the shipment of 144 kilos of cocaine to the United States. Prosecutor Mirtha Torres alludes to a meeting between the former head of FELCN and Milton Pantoja in Arica in 2010. In it, they agreed to protect the drug shipment.
  - El Deber, 07 April 2022

• After a series of denunciations of "irregularities", the director of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking, José María Velasco was fired, and the Special Force was ordered to subject all of the uniformed anti-drug officers to polygraph tests and renovate the High Command and police headquarters.
  - La Razon, 06 April 2022

• The scandal behind the operation in Valle Secta - a Colombian drug mega-laboratory and the official order to leave the place. A captain, surnamed Villegas, was told by the colonel that "the vice minister (of Social Defense and Controlled Substances) Jaime Mamani had called him, and he gave the order for them to leave the place", an order that was disobeyed by Coronel Terán, who maintains that he entered the place, took photographs, made a sketch of its location and confirmed that it was a structure in which "big shots" of the illegal drug business operated.
  - El Deber, 06 April 2022

• The leader of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), Evo Morales, enjoyed this Wednesday that the complaints he made on Monday about an alleged cover-up by drug traffickers, and the existence of a drug factory in the Cochabamba Tropics, were corroborated. However, he again warned about the possibility of 'sowing' evidence against him. "We have received complaints from junior police personnel who warn of an espionage and follow-up plan to sow evidence against us. We are not afraid."
  - Pagina Siete, 06 April 2022

• Following the complaint against anti-narcotics chiefs, Bolivian government authorities for allegedly protecting "big shots" from drug trafficking and after an order was released that stopped the drug trafficking. In drug factories in the Sacta Valley, in the Cochabamba tropics, the former head of the Mobile Police Unit for Rural Areas (Umopar) Chapare, Lieutenant Colonel Yerko Terán , went into "safety" because he fears for his life.
  - Pagina Siete, 06 April 2022

• Police chiefs and high-level anti-drug authorities in Bolivia are involved with drug traffickers. The commander of Umopar Chapare revealed that by orders of Vice Minister Jaime Mamani, the director of the FECLN (José María Velasco) and the national commander of Umopar (Jaime Aranciba) the intervention in drug factories in Valle Secta was abandoned. On March 25, Umopar troops found four factories and a cocaine megalaboratory in Valle Secta, where Colombian citizens worked. "When the troops tried to dismantle those factories, then they allegedly received orders from government authorities and the Felcn to leave the area without doing anything."
  - Pagina Siete, 06 April 2022

• Former President Evo Morales' denunciation of "protection of drug trafficking" led to accusations of "irregularities" within Bolivia's anti-drug force. Colonel Erick Terán denounced the commander of Umopar, Franco Jaime Arancibia, and revealed that the Vice Minister of Social Defense, Jaime Mamani, and the anti-drug director, José María Velasco, asked him to abandon an anti-drug operation carried out on March 25 in the Sajta area of the Chapare.
  - La Razon, 06 April 2022

• "TikTok Brain" explained: why some kids are addicted to social video feeds. The dopamine rush of endless short videos makes it hard for young viewers to switch their focus to slower-moving activities. An entirely legal way be a drug trafficker.
  - MWSJ, 05 April 2022

• Coffee beans are bigger and more plentiful when birds and bees team up to protect and pollinate coffee plants
  - Phys.org, 04 April 2022

• People with diabetes in the United States have been among the hardest disabled by the covid virus. Experts hope policymakers will take notice, and finally get serious about finding solutions for the nation's diabetes crisis, in much part, caused by excessive sugar consumption.
  - New York Times, 04 April 2022

• Accusing the governing party of Bolivia, the Movement towards Socialism, for not fighting effectively against drug trafficking, the deputy for the Creemos alliance, José Carlos Gutiérrez, denounced that armed invaders enter lands from where they appear protected, in the same way that it is done in the Chapare region.
  - El Diario, 03 April 2022

• The FARC dissidents are facing each other in the department of Putumayo for control of the areas where coca is grown and for the drug trafficking routes to the Pacific, which has affected the population, who also feel attacked by the Army's eradication efforts.
  - El Espectador, 01 April 2022

• "The war against drugs is a war against the peasants." In a meeting organized by the José Alvear Restrepo in Bogotá, spokespersons for a dozen peasant organizations denounced, among other problems, the precarious situation of families that depend on coca crops due to the slow implementation of the substitution program.
  - El Espectador, 01 April 2022

• The Defense Minister of Colombia, Diego Molano, claims that victims of an alleged military massacre were guerrillas killed in a "legitimate operation", accusing them of being narco-cocaleros. The UN human rights office says that this is a lie, that among the civilian victims would be a community leader, an indigenous governor and at least one 16-year-old boy.
  - Colombia Reports, 01 April 2022

• The FDA allows phenylephrine in nasal decongestants, despite it being completely useless for treating congestion. It still bans sale of pseudoephedrine over-the-counter, which is highly effective, because years ago, some people bought a lot and converted it into methamphetamine, which no one does anymore.
  - Science, 30 March 2022

• By studying the relationship between gene variants and alcohol consumption, scientists found no real cardiac benefit to drinking alcohol, even modestly
  - New York Times, 29 March 2022

• Can India end its huge addiction to the highly addictive, and deadly, nicotine? Over 270 million people in India are addicted to tobacco products, causing massive health problems. Yet India refuses to let people drink coca tea, which isn't deadly and isn't addictive.
  - South China Morning Post, 26 March 2022

• THC produced from low-THC hemp (by converting CBD synthetically into THC) is crushing prices of THC produced by marijuana farmers. The price of distillate for delta-9 THC has dropped from $50,000 per liter to $6,000 per liter in some areas.
  - Associated Press, 24 March 2022

• Demand for the psychedelic venom (containing 5-MeO-DMT) of the Sonoran desert toad is increasing rapidly. This demand if putting the population of toads at the risk of collapse. A synthetic version is just as psychedelic.
  - New York Times, 20 March 2022

• By 2030, 39% of the rice sector in Colombia could disappear. According to Fedesarrollo, changes are required before the opening of the FTA with the United States. Fedearroz says that steps have already been taken and government investment is needed.
  - El Tiempo, 20 March 2022

• In at least four regions of Pando, Bolivia, illegal plantations of coca have been identified: in the municipalities of Bolpebra, Puerto Rico, Bella Flor y en Santa Rosa del Abuná
  - Pagina Siete, 20 March 2022

• Bolivian police clash with drug traffickers, seize two helicopters and destroy a drug megalaboratory between Santa Cruz and the border with Beni.
  - El Deber, 19 March 2022

• There are 8 cocaleros in the Legislative Assembly in Bolivia.
  - El Deber, 18 March 2022

• Some people with pain, anxiety or depression who obtain medical marijuana cards may overuse marijuana within a short time frame, leading to cannabis use disorder while failing to improve their symptoms
  - CNN, 18 March 2022

• How your caffeine addiction is hurting marine life. Lab trials show caffeine (mostly from consuming coffee, tea and caffeinated sodas) has multiple negative effects on marine species.
  - Hakai Magazine, 16 March 2022

• The huge role of racism and white supremacy in decades of armed conflict in Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 11 March 2022

• Nicotine drug traffickers, unable to sell flavored e-cigarettes using natural nicotine, 'break' the law by using synthetic nicotine. Lawmakers are trying to pass a law banning the use of synthetic nicotine, as sales skyrocket and the nicotine drug traffickers exploit the huge addictiveness of nicotine to increase sales.
  - New York Times, 08 March 2022

• 20% of cannabis consumption in Bogotá is for medicinal purposes. The Colombian Ministry of Health surveyed 4,564 people who use derived products in Bogotá.
  - Tiempo, 05 March 2022

• The family of opioid drug traffickers, the Sacklers, will pay $6 billion to settle lawsuits over their role in the opioid drug trafficking crisis that has let to nearly 500,000 overdose deaths in the United States. Maybe because they are white or Jewish, none of them are going to jail for their many crimes they still deny committing, unlike cocaine drug traffickers who have caused less misery and few public health disasters.
  - Reuters, 04 March 2022

• The family of opioid drug traffickers, the Sacklers, will pay $6 billion to settle lawsuits over their role in the opioid drug trafficking crisis that has let to nearly 500,000 overdose deaths in the United States. Maybe because they are white or Jewish, none of them are going to jail for their many crimes they still deny committing, unlike cocaine drug traffickers who have caused less misery and few public health disasters.
  - New York Times, 04 March 2022

• The family of opioid drug traffickers, the Sacklers, will pay $6 billion to settle lawsuits over their role in the opioid drug trafficking crisis that has let to nearly 500,000 overdose deaths in the United States. Maybe because they are white or Jewish, none of them are going to jail for their many crimes they still deny committing, unlike cocaine drug traffickers who have caused less misery and few public health disasters.
  - Wall Street Journal, 04 March 2022

• Just one drink of alcohol a day can shrink your brain, but not one cup of coca tea
  - CNN, 04 March 2022

• Before psychedelic therapy and services becomes widely available (thanks to tens of millions in investments), there needs to be a better understanding of all the ways these experiences can go wrong
  - Vice Motherboard, 03 March 2022

• Lu Yu, the Tea Sage of China, who convinced the world to drink tea, not eat it. Lu Yu is chiefly responsible for making tea drinking the norm for most people around the world, thanks to his efforts in the 700s.
  - Atlas Obscura, 02 March 2022

• More people are microdosing for mental health (consuming 5 to 10 percent of a full dose of a psychedelic, such as LSD or psilocybin). But does it work? Scientists are split over whether the benefits some microdosers experience are a placebo effect or something more.
  - New York Times, 28 February 2022

• Major opioid drug trafficker and manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, and three major drug trafficking and distributing companies (McKesson, Cardinal Health and Amerisource Bergen) have accepted terms of their $26 billion offer to settle thousands of civil claims related to the deadly opioid crisis. Johnson & Johnson will pay $5 billion, with lawyers collected $2 billion in fees. There are no separate funds to compensate families and individual victims of the opioid crisis.
  - New York Times, 26 February 2022

• What is next for the coca leaf farmers of Colombia?
  - Borgen Magazine, 23 February 2022

• The National Government of Colombia, through Resolution 227 of 2022, regulated the industrial use of cannabis, in which it establishes the mechanisms for its implementation in food, beverages and textiles.
  - El Espectador, 21 February 2022

• The National Government, through Resolution 227 of 2022, regulated the industrial use of cannabis, in which it establishes the mechanisms for its implementation in food, beverages, and textiles.
  - El Tiempo, 21 February 2022

• Through an official statement yesterday, 36 former ministers of Evo Morales "closed ranks" around the former president and assured that he is not involved in drug trafficking, despite the fact that there are no formal accusations against Morales. Meanwhile, at least 40 other former ministers, including the presidents Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca, did not sign the letter and others such as Juan Ramón Quintana, Walker San Miguel, Claudia Peña and Nila Heredia, among others, are not listed. - Pagina Siete, 18 February 2022

• The national police of Colombia suspended the cooperation of former paramilitary commander "Otonial" with the country's Truth Commission that is investigating the armed conflict. The police ended the hearings after W Radio reported that Otoniel had begun revealing ties between the "world's most wanted drug trafficker" and the security forces of Colombia.
  - Colombia Reports, 18 February 2022

• The International Finance Corporation, one of the world's leading development bank, is accused of lending millions to companies allegedly linked to forced labor in Xinjiang. It has also made promises to help the world of coca, but done nothing.
  - CNN, 17 February 2022

• 36 former ministers come out in defense of Evo Morales and describe charges of drug trafficking as "infamy". "This campaign seeks to discredit Evo's image by maliciously associating him with illegal drug trafficking activities in which some former chiefs and police officers in Bolivia have been involved."
  - La Razon, 17 February 2022

• Drug production in Colombia has declined, while cultivation has increased. Todd Robinson, an Under Secretary of the US Government stated: "We need to continue with eradication."
  - El Pais, 17 February 2022

• The former commander of the armed forces of Colombia, and an ally of ex-president Uribe, ex-General Leonardo Barrero, allegedly helped paramilitary organization AGC control the drug trade in the southwest of the country, in the department of Nariño. Barrero allegedly helped a drug trafficker, Matamba, take over the drug trade in Nariño with the help of the military. The general was the commander of the armed forces between 2013 and 2014, and was sacked over widespread corruption and his alleged obstruction of investigations into extrajudicial executions. While running for governor in Cauca, Barrero allegedly helped Matamba do away with illegal armed groups vying for control over the drug trade in Nariño.
  - Colombia Reports, 15 February 2022

• Pollution of the world's rivers from medicines and pharmaceutical products poses a "threat to environmental and global health". Paracetamol, nicotine, caffeine and epilepsy and diabetes drugs were widely detected in a University of York study. The coca alkaloid breaks down in the environment.
  - BBC, 14 February 2022

• A highly ranked officer of the Colombian Army was removed from his position while his alleged alliance with a drug gang to confront FARC dissidents in the southwest of the country is being investigated. "Since it is in the interest of the institution to contribute to the clarification of the facts, General Jorge Herrera Díaz, who served as commander of the sixth division of the Army with jurisdiction in the south of the country, is relieved of his official duties." Dat Pagina Siete, 14 2022 FEB

• Former President Evo Morales accused this Saturday the US anti-drug agency, the DEA, and its "political and media agents", of executing a "destabilizing plan" in the country. "We warn the Bolivian people and the international community that the DEA, together with its political and media agents that operate in the country, is executing a destabilizing plan of lies and hate speech against the cocalero movement and its leaders. Their plan is to lie to divide."
  - Pagina Siete, 12 February 2022

• The former president and leader of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), Evo Morales, opines this Wednesday that the US Drug Enforcement Agency conspires in Bolivia and those who supposedly help the DEA "betray the struggle of the Bolivian people."
  - La Razon, 09 February 2022

• In Triángulo Negro, a former FARC stronghold, growing coca was exchanged for growing cocoa. The Ares Task Force deactivated operations in Vichada after managing to stop coca production.
  - El Tiempo, 08 February 2022

• Nicotine-trafficking electronic cigarettes are less useful in helping people to quit smoking than nicotine patches, gum or lozenges
  - CNN, 07 February 2022

• Drug overdoses among young Americans translate into over one million years of lost life, study finds. Approximately 22,000 young people between ages 10-24 died of unintentional drug overdose in the United States between January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2019. In those same four years, over 200,000 Americans died due to chronic consumption of sugary beverages. That is 10 million years of lost life.
  - Fox News, 06 February 2022

• The former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, considers that the accusations against him for drug trafficking "fail". Morales stated again that historically the United States and its "pro-imperialist political agents" attacked the cocalero movement in the Tropics. "I am convinced that the campaign of lies and hate fails because the truth, unity, dignity and responsibility of our people prevail."
  - La Razon, 04 February 2022

• The Government of the United States reported that it offered a reward of up to 5 million dollars, in exchange for information that leads to the conviction of the former Bolivian anti-drug chief, Maximiliano Dávila, accused of drug trafficking, which also made a formal request, for D´vila's extradition, to its Bolivian counterpart.
  - El Diario, 03 February 2022

• The Government of the United States reported that it offered a reward of up to 5 million dollars, in exchange for information that leads to the conviction of the former Bolivian anti-drug chief, Maximiliano Dávila, accused of drug trafficking, which also made a formal request, for D´vila's extradition, to its Bolivian counterpart.
  - La Razon, 03 February 2022

• The Government of the United States reported that it offered a reward of up to 5 million dollars, in exchange for information that leads to the conviction of the former Bolivian anti-drug chief, Maximiliano Dávila, accused of drug trafficking, which also made a formal request, for D´vila's extradition, to its Bolivian counterpart.
  - Pagina Siete, 03 February 2022

• The United States intensifies its anti-drug strategy. Through the Department of State's Reward program, from yesterday it will offer $US 5 million for information that supports the conviction of Colonel Maximiliano Dávila, who was the last anti-drug chief of the government of Evo Morales. The amount is similar to the reward offered in 2015 for the Mexican Joaquín 'Chapo' Guzm´n, the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel who in 2019 was sentenced to life imprisonment in a New York prison for crimes of drug trafficking.
  - El Deber, 03 February 2022

• Former President Evo Morales said that the DEA, the United States anti-drug agency, does not mention him in the report that was the basis of the accusation brought by a New York court against Maximiliano Dávila, the last anti-narcotics chief of his administration. "We have been informed that this supposed DEA report does not mention anything against Evo and some communications media, and the right, want to damage the image of the MAS, of the peasant movement," said the cocalero politician in his program radio Sunday.
  - El Deber, 01 February 2022

• Native American tribes have reached settlements over the toll of opioids totaling $590 million with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and the country's three largest drug distribution companies (AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson). One study cited in the settlement found that Native Americans have had the highest per capita rate of opioid overdose of any population group in 2015. The tribal settlements are part of about $40 billion worth of settlements, penalties and fines rung up over the years by companies over their role in opioids.
  - Associated Press, 01 February 2022

• Maximiliano Dávila, former director of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (FELCN), was part of the "ring of the Cochala uncles", a group of police officers who operated and had influence within the anti-drug force from 2018. "The Cochlea uncles is a group that was consolidated in 2018, when, without being qualified, Dávila was appointed as National Director of Intelligence by Carlos Romero and the general who declared himself a MAS militant (Alfonso Mendoza), when the position should have gove to a colonel two years older, and not to one who never occupied the first positions in his promotion", said a former member of the FELCN.
  - Pagina Siete, 30 January 2022

• The Drug Enforcement Administration operates in the region and is aware of drug trafficking activities that take place in Bolivia. The United States anti-narcotics office operates with undercover agents in the country, although the Government of Luis Arce ruled out the presence of the US entity.
  - El Deber, 30 January 2022

• The world could lose half of its best coffee-growing land under a moderate climate change scenario. Brazil, which is the currently world's largest coffee producer, will see its most suitable coffee-growing land decline by 79%.
  - Real Clear Science, 29 January 2022

• According to a study carried out by the Community, Action and Liberty Group, coca production skyrocketed in the Bolivian Chapare after the General Coca Law 906 came into effect. The regulation, promulgated in March 2017, made it possible to increase the extension of authorized areas for coca cultivation, from 12,000 hectares to 22,000. The law angered the La Paz cocaleros, who maintain that most of the coca from the Chapare goes to the illegal market. In the ruling party they attribute the increase to the lack of controls during the transitional government. The opposition points out that the anti-drug policy of the Movement Towards Socialism party was a failure.
  - Pagina Siete, 28 January 2022

• "They will never be able to verify that Evo has been an accomplice or a drug trafficker in his life", said the vice president of the Movement Toward Socialism party of Bolivia, Gerardo García, this Friday, in light of requests to include Evo Morales in the investigation against the former anti-narcotics chief, Maximiliano Dávila
  - El Deber, 28 January 2022

• The government of the Movement Towards Socialism party, from different sides, came out in defense of the administration of Evo Morales and to reject any connection with Colonel Maximiliano Dávila. They blamed former president Jeanine Añez and members of the opposition for the drug trafficking events involving former police chiefs, despite different elements showing the contrary.
  - Pagina Siete, 28 January 2022

• Bolivia's National Police Unit plans an international investigation into Evo's alleged links to drug trafficking. "It is not credible, at this point, that MAS assembly members can impartially investigate the head of the MAS", warned the statement of the opposition front.
  - Pagina Siete, 28 January 2022

• The Plenary Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Colombia began 2022 with a historic decision, declaring the state of affairs unconstitutional at one point in the implementation of the Peace Agreement with the former Farc guerrillas. The Court agreed with ex-combatants from all over the country who filed eight separate complaints alleging a lack of security guarantees in the territories, among other breaches of the Agreement by the State. To make this decision, the high court studied a presentation by magistrate Cristina Pardo, revealed by this newspaper last August, in which she clarified that there is a massive violation of the Peace Agreement, since the signatories have no guarantees that they will not be assassinated without the state doing something.
  - El Espectador, 28 January 2022

• The Plenary Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Colombia began 2022 with a historic decision, declaring the state of affairs unconstitutional at one point in the implementation of the Peace Agreement with the former Farc guerrillas. The Court agreed with ex-combatants from all over the country who filed eight separate complaints alleging a lack of security guarantees in the territories, among other breaches of the Agreement by the State. To make this decision, the high court studied a presentation by magistrate Cristina Pardo, revealed by this newspaper last August, in which she clarified that there is a massive violation of the Peace Agreement, since the signatories have no guarantees that they will not be assassinated without the state doing something.
  - Semana, 28 January 2022

• The Plenary Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Colombia began 2022 with a historic decision, declaring the state of affairs unconstitutional at one point in the implementation of the Peace Agreement with the former Farc guerrillas. The Court agreed with ex-combatants from all over the country who filed eight separate complaints alleging a lack of security guarantees in the territories, among other breaches of the Agreement by the State. To make this decision, the high court studied a presentation by magistrate Cristina Pardo, revealed by this newspaper last August, in which she clarified that there is a massive violation of the Peace Agreement, since the signatories have no guarantees that they will not be assassinated without the state doing something.
  - El Tiempo, 28 January 2022

• The Government of Bolivia contradicts the DEA and seeks to separate Evo from Dávila. The Minister of Government presented a report which mentioned that the irregular acts committed by Colonel Dávila occurred during the administration of Jeanine Áñez. However, Dávila was the last head of the FELCN in the Morales government.
  - El Deber, 27 January 2022

• At least nine events between July 2019 and September 2020 demonstrate the closeness between former President Evo Morales, the Movement Towards Socialism party, and Colonel Maximiliano Dávila Pérez, who is accused of drug trafficking.
  - Pagina Siete, 27 January 2022

• The former director of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking, Colonel Maximiliano Dávila, offered Bolivian airports to a network of drug traffickers to ship 1,500 kilos of cocaine to New York, according to a DEA report. The report also states that Dávila offered two policemen to protect the plane when it was with the cocaine, and that during this protection the uniformed officers would use their official weapons.
  - El Diario, 27 January 2022

• The drug trafficker Jorge Roca Suárez, better known as Techo de Paja, at the age of 71, faces his third pretrial prevention in the Castro Castro prison, in Lima, Peru. He denies any link with Maximiliano Dávila. The US justice system accuses him of conspiring to manufacture and traffic cocaine to New York, although he denies the charges, describes them as an invention and demands that the Bolivian government investigate the presence of DEA agents in the country who, according to him, have been "entering and leaving" the national territory since 2017.
  - La Razon, 26 January 2022

• The Bolivian Government Minister, Eduardo del Castillo, identified this Wednesday the former director of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking Maximiliano Dávila, who was detained in preventive custody for allegedly legitimizing illegal proceeds, as the alleged protector of a network of drug traffickers led by the former kingpin of controlled substances, Jorge Roca Suárez, known as 'Straw Roof'.
  - La Razon, 26 January 2022

• The MAS political party closes ranks in defense of former Bolivian President Evo Morales, while the opposition questions the fight against drug trafficking in his administration and even link him to former anti-drug chief Maximiliano Dávila, who before going to jail attributed his arrest to an attempt to involve Morales in drug trafficking crimes.
  - La Razon, 25 January 2022

• Referring to the case of the former anti-drug chief Maximiliano Dávila imprisoned this Monday, former President Carlos Mesa considered that drug trafficking penetrated high levels of the Government in the last 16 years, most of them when Movimiento Al Socialismo and its boss, Evo Morales, were in charge.
  - Pagina Siete, 25 January 2022

• After the arrest of the former anti-drug police commander, Maximiliano Dávila, for alleged links to drug trafficking, deputy Alberto Astorga (CC), regretted the arrest. He discussed the "comfortable" way in which drug trafficking operates in the governments of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) and announced that this political organization will request further investigation of former President Evo Morales and his ministers.
  - El Diario, 25 January 2022

• Anguish in Tuluá, Colombia, due to the alleged recruitment of minors by Farc dissidents
  - El Pais, 24 January 2022

• Maximiliano Dávila (the former head of the FELCN) is sent to jail for the crime of money laundering. The Bolivian Prosecutor's Office has identified eight people who will be summoned to testify as witnesses and accused in the framework of the investigation against the former director of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking.
  - La Razon, 24 January 2022

• Bolivian police prevent ex-drug chief under investigation by the DEA from leaving Bolivia. He was apprehended in Villazón when he tried to cross over to the Argentine side. The Prosecutor's Office was looking for him to answer for an accusation of money laundering. Maximiliano Dávila, was the last anti-drug chief to be appointed during the presidency of Evo Morales.
  - El Deber, 24 January 2022

• How Jose Felix Lafaurie, director of the cattle ranchers federation (Fedegan) in Colombia, allegedly teamed up with designated terrorists (the right-wing-connected AUG) to steal land and coerce the Supreme Court. Recent testimonies indicate that Lafaurie was directly involved in a massive land heist that left tens of thousands of victims since 1997. His wife is a Senator following right-wing ex-president Uribe.
  - Colombia Reports, 24 January 2022

• On Saturday night, the former director of the Special Forces to Fight Drugs (FELCN), Maximiliano Dávila, was arrested, under investigation by the Drug Control Administration (DEA) for allegedly being part of a gang dedicated to the trafficking of controlled substances. Frn
  - La Razon, 23 January 2022

• On Saturday night, the former director of the Special Forces to Fight Drugs (FELCN), Maximiliano Dávila, was arrested, under investigation by the Drug Control Administration (DEA) for allegedly being part of a gang dedicated to the trafficking of controlled substances. Frn
  - Pagina Siete, 23 January 2022

• Video: paradise does exist - it is called Nuqui (Colombia)
  - El Tiempo, 14 January 2022

• The current candidate for Congress of the Republic, the indigenous leader Aida QuilCué, denounced that she has already been threatened more than 100 times by different actors in Cauca, Colombia. QuilCué, who has served as a senior advisor to the CRIC and the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, ONIC, announced the intensification of intimidation that has led to the resignation of her bodyguards.
  - El Tiempo, 12 January 2022

• Juan Manuel Santos: "Legalizing drugs is the only way." The former president suggests that policies other than prohibition should be adopted.
  - El Tiempo, 09 January 2022

• The Colombian Federation of Cattlemen (Fedegan) called last Monday for a peaceful sit-in in the port of Cartagena to express their disagreement with the importation of powdered milk from the United States. During the demonstration José Felíx Lafaurie, president of Fedegan, explained his motivation by commenting that: "The industry does not buy milk from farmers, but brings it from rich producers in the United States and Europe."
  - El Pais, 04 January 2022

• Magic mushrooms are safe to treat mental health conditions, first human trial finds. Psilocybin, the psychedelic chemical produced in the fungi can be given in small doses to patients with depression and PTSD.
  - The Telegraph, 04 January 2022

• Coca eradication in Colombia is a complete failure. Despite increased eradication in the last 4 years to over 100,000 hectares eradicated per year, coca cultivation continues to grow and is now over 250,000 hectares.
  - Economist, 01 January 2022

• A kilogram of dry coca leaves sells for US $1.40 in Peru, down 50% in two years, due to strong growth in supply. And yet, coca leaves are still are more profitable crop than other plants.
  - Economist, 01 January 2022

• Arabica coffee futures are about to register their largest annual gain in a quarter-century due to a global deficit. Arabica coffee futures jumped 78% to about $2.30 per pound in New York this year, putting it on track for the best year since 1994, due to severe weather in Brazil and decimated coffee plantations.
  - Zero Hedge, 01 January 2022

• Restaurants in Thailand are cooking with cannabis. Parts of the plant with less than 0.2% THC can be legally used in foods.
  - Economist, 01 January 2022

• Opinion: Colombia cannot afford to abandon its 2016 Peace Accord
  - New York Times, 27 December 2021

• The cocaleros of Yungas, Bolivia, bowed to the repression, but not to the parallelism. The year began with two leaderships, one headed by Armin Lluta and the other by Elena Flores, and ended in the same way, although with two other heads, Freddy Machicado and Arnold Alanes.
  - Pagina Siete, 25 December 2021

• Addictive 'brain hijacking' methods of social media platforms harmful to users, especially children
  - Zero Hedge, 21 December 2021

• A federal judge on Thursday cancels a painstakingly negotiated $4.5 billion settlement between Purdue Pharma and thousands of state, local and tribal governments that had sued the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin for the Purdue's role in the opioid epidemic. The judge ruled that the settlement should be cancelled because it releases Purdue's owners from liability in civil-opioid cases addressing the enormous harm caused by Purdue's drug trafficking, the owners being the members of the Sackler family that earned billions from coordinating the drug trafficking of opioids. One thing that had troubled the judge was the more than $10 billion that the Sacklers withdrew from Purdue between 2008 and 2018, as the opioid epidemic was cresting. The Sackler dividends were largely deposited in offshore accounts and trusts that are inaccessible to American authorities - a typically drug-trafficking tactic to shelter money from authorities.
  - New York Times, 17 December 2021

• A research team of six - including authors from federal agencies such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration -- critically comment on cannabis regulatory systems in the United States, writing that administrative burdens stifle much-needed scientific investigation into the drug's potential health applications and safety concerns.
  - Marijuana Moment, 14 December 2021

• Opinion: the substitution of crops for illicit use FR
  - El Espectador, 14 December 2021

• While the DEA struggles to block fentanyl imports from China, it struggles with a lot of other problems: suffering a series of blows that has left it a smaller and less aggressive and effective outfit, with some of the damage being due to self-inflicted scandals. Some academics, along with the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for decriminalization, are even calling for the DEA to be eliminated. "They have two strategies, interdiction and criminalization, and neither is working."
  - Real Clear Investigations, 14 December 2021

• Former D.E.A. Agent, Jose Ismael Irizarry, sentenced to 12 years in drug money scheme. Irizarry took part in a seven-year scheme that used $9 million from drug investigations to buy jewelry, cars and a house in Cartagena, Colombia.
  - New York Times, 10 December 2021

• With the goal to end nicotine trafficking in the country, New Zealand plans to gradually ban all cigarette sales in the country
  - New York Times, 09 December 2021

• Allergan, a large pharmaceutical manufacturer, has agreed to pay $200 million to the state of New York for its previous opioid drug trafficking crimes. The company will also be barred from selling opioids in New York for ten years.
  - New York Times, 09 December 2021

• Antwerp has become the main port of entry into Europe for cocaine. Europe has also become a major transit point for shipping the drug east to Russia, and to Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Four million adults consume cocaine in the European Union.
  - New York Times, 05 December 2021

• The U.S. Department of State announces this Tuesday that it removed the FARC rebel group from its list of terrorist organizations
  - El Espectador, 30 November 2021

• The U.S. Department of State announces this Tuesday that it removed the FARC rebel group from its list of terrorist organizations
  - El Tiempo, 30 November 2021

• The U.S. Department of State announces this Tuesday that it removed the FARC rebel group from its list of terrorist organizations
  - New York Times, 30 November 2021

• Use of marijuana in pregnancy may lead to a child that is more anxious and aggressive
  - New York Times, 29 November 2021

• Vaping is risky, so why is the FDA authorizing e-cigarettes? Nicotine can harm the developing brain, and e-cigarettes contain potentially harmful toxins like heavy metals; the long-term effects of vaping -- the heating of nicotine to create an inhaled aerosol -- are uncertain.
  - New York Times, 28 November 2021

• Coca leaf fields. The databases that sowed mistrust between peasants and the UNODC. Three peasant spokespersons and a technician who collected sensitive data from families that took advantage of the voluntary substitution program express their distrust that this information has been collected with the same application used to monitor crops for illicit use. Data that, according to them, the Government could have used to carry out forced eradication operations and captures.
  - El Espectador, 27 November 2021

• Cocoa is the ancestral treasure seeking to resurface in Costa Rica
  - Costa Rica News, 25 November 2021

• Federal district court in Florida issues landmark ruling that paramilitaries in Colombia committed violence, including the massacres of hundreds of people, while the paramilitaries operated in "symbiotic relationship" with Colombian military forces funded with billons of dollars by the U.S. government. The U.S. Dept. of Justice ignore the murders committed by the military and paramilitary, and only prosecuted murderers if they were drug traffickers.
  - The Intercept, 24 November 2021

• How nicotine drug traffickers in the US still rely on impoverished people (no longer able to use slaves) - poor people from Central America - to harvest tobacco on tobacco farms in Kentucky and other states. Health experts have long pointed to the serious threats workers face from nicotine poisoning, pesticides and dehydration -- of little concern to nicotine drug traffickers.
  - New York Times, 24 November 2021

• A jury finds that CVS, Walmart and Walgreens are responsible in part for their involvement in the opioid drug trafficking crisis that killed over 500,000 people in the United States, recklessly distributing massive amounts of pain pills whose destruction caused just two counties in Ohio each over $1 billion in public services.
  - NBC News, 23 November 2021

• A jury finds that CVS, Walmart and Walgreens are responsible in part for their involvement in the opioid drug trafficking crisis that killed over 500,000 people in the United States, recklessly distributing massive amounts of pain pills whose destruction caused just two counties in Ohio each over $1 billion in public services.
  - New York Times, 23 November 2021

• Colombia is the deadliest place in the world for environmentalists. Armed gangs are threatening and murdering community leaders and environmental activists who have been trying to protect Colombia's forest from destruction by mining, lumber and oil companies.
  - New York Times, 18 November 2021

• Acetaminophen, one of the most consumer drugs in the world, commonly taken for pain relief, also increases risk-taking. "Acetaminophen seems to make people feel less negative emotion when they consider risky activities -- they just don't feel as scared." The findings add to a recent body of research suggesting that acetaminophen's effects on pain reduction also extend to various psychological processes, lowering people's receptivity to hurt feelings, experiencing reduced empathy, and even blunting cognitive functions. 25% of Americans use acetaminophen each week.
  - Science Alert, 18 November 2021

• Nicotine drug trafficker, and e-cigarette maker, Puff Bar is under investigation by the attorney general of the state of North Carolina. Puff Bar has become the most popular vaping brand among childred and teens being addicted to nicotine, surpassing nicotine drug trafficker Juul.
  - MWSJ, 17 November 2021

• Coffee and tea (including coca tea) may be linked to lower risk of stroke and dementia
  - The Guardian, 16 November 2021

• The U.S. state of Washington in a $95 billion opioid drug trafficking trial, blames big drug distributors for the crisis: McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen. The companies made huge profits while shipping 3.8 billion opioid doses into Washington from 2006 to 2018, which the state argued led to over 10,000 deaths due to opioids in the state since 2006.
  - Reuters, 15 November 2021

• President Iván Duque ignored an order of the courts in Colombia that barred him from suspending key anti-fraud legislation during the 2022 elections. Duque said Friday that he had approved the 2022 budget, which included a rider to suspend parts of the Guarantees Law that is in place to prevent election fraud. The president deliberately ignored a court order not to ratify the unconstitutional amendment of Colombia's electoral law that was issued by a Bogota court earlier this week. The president apparently is in a rush to suspend electoral guarantees as only massive vote-buying with money from slush funds may prevent an electoral battering of the allies of the unpopular president in Congress next year.
  - Colombia Reports, 13 November 2021

• Psilocybin, the hallucinogen in 'magic mushrooms' relieves depression in largest clinical trial to date, for a pill that contains 25 milligrams.
  - LiveScience, 11 November 2021

• The seven least honest media personalities in Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 11 November 2021

• Foods with palmitic acid promote cancer metastasis. This is found in the palm oil with which some buns, pizzas or chips are made, for example. Palmitic acid is not found in coca leaf products.
  - RTVE, 11 November 2021

• In the hands of the Constitutional Court of Colombia, is the study of three tutelages presented by peasant communities, supported by social organizations and lawyers' groups, which seek to stop the forced eradication of coca and with the implementation of the peace agreement and the substitution of crops for illicit use in the Pacific off Nariño, Catatumbo in the municipalities of Caloto and Cajibío, and Piamonte in Cauca.
  - El Tiempo, 08 November 2021

• In a new assault on the global consulting giant McKinsey & Company, Congress on Friday started an investigation into the company's role in worsening the opioid crisis, sending a letter demanding records related to its "business practices, conflicts of interest and management standards". By advising opioid makers and "the federal agency regulating their conduct", McKinsey "may have had a significant negative impact on American's health", the committee said.
  - New York Times, 06 November 2021

• Hours of tension in Tibú, Catatumbo (Norte de Santander, Colombia) due to the coca eradication plan. Peasants prevented 180 soldiers from eradicating the plant and illegally detained them.
  - El Tiempo, 31 October 2021

• The new US anti-drug strategy and its support for the Peace Agreement. The Biden government presented its new anti-narcotics policy this week, while in Colombia clashes between coca growers and the military are intensifying over forced eradication. How was the announcement made from Washington received in the regions and peasant organizations?
  - El Espectador, 31 October 2021

• The living wars of Chocó. The recent captures of alias Otoniel and alias Omar seemed like a halo of hope for a decrease in violence in one of the most biodiverse departments in the country, but with coca.
  - El Tiempo, 31 October 2021

• The defense minister of Colombia, Diego Molano, is under fire over evidence indicating that the regime of far-right President Iván Duque has all but turned the country into a police state. The prosecution's Organized Crime Unit chief Javier Enrique Garcia got personally involved in the prosecution of protesters who reported alleged police brutality on social media. Garcia's elite unit receives international funding to combat drug trafficking, but began issuing arrest warrants for citizen reporters and other protesters on terrorism charges.
  - Colombia Reports, 30 October 2021

• Pressure is growing to remove the FARC from the list of terrorism in the United States. According to sources, the State Department is considering it. The theme was discussed in a forum of the United States Institute of Peace.
  - El Tiempo, 28 October 2021

• Marijuana vaping by school-aged youth doubled between 2013 and 2020 in the United States
  - CNN, 25 October 2021

• The growing problem of addictions to the Internet games designed to be addictive. In a paper published in journal, CNS Drugs, on Internet addiction, Martha Shaw and Donald W Black from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, classify gaming dependency as part of wider internet addiction. The paper defines this as "excessive or poorly controlled preoccupations, urges or behaviors regarding computer use and internet access that lead to impairment or distress".
  - BBC, 25 October 2021

• The violence that threatens peace in Colombia. Since 2017, every 6 days an ex-combatant of the Farc has been killed.
  - El Tiempo, 25 October 2021

• Costa Rica legalizes production of medicinal cannabis and hemp
  - Q Costa Rica, 20 October 2021

• Colombia's legislature votes to suspend an anti-fraud law ahead of 2022 elections, which prevents authorities from awarding public contracts in the six months before and after elections in order to prevent the creation of electoral slush funds. The suspension is probably unconstitutional, a sign of a desperate right-wing government wanting to remain in control in the face of little public support. The president has to sign it (likely), and the Constitutional Court has to approve it (uncertain).
  - Colombia Reports, 20 October 2021

• The security forces of Colombia have abandoned the Catatumbo region in the province of Norte de Santander, allowing illegal armed groups to rule the region instead of the lawful government. The power of the illegal armed groups has marginalized and corrupted local police and army units that are supposed to control the border with Venezuela. The illegal armed groups are vying for control over the border region that is one of the main coca growing regions of Colombia.
  - Colombia Reports, 14 October 2021

• Explosive detonation caused the death of a coca producer. The Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) reported that a new attack took place yesterday. After the explosion, the existence of a deceased person was found, from the regional Inquisivi, presumably due to cardiac arrest due to the loud detonation. "I am kind enough to inform you that last night we suffered a new attack, a dynamite explosion in the sector of Arapata street and Las Américas avenue. After this (the explosion) we found out that there had been a deceased person inside one of the sheds. We assume that, due to the dynamite explosion, the elderly person had a heart attack," said Marcelo Apaza from the Chamaca regional to the Yungas and Chasqui radio stations.
  - El Diario, 11 October 2021

• Less than three months before the end of 2021, the goal of forced eradication in Colombia of crops for illicit use established by the government of President Iván Duque is not even 50 percent. For this year, it was set to end, through forced eradication, 130,000 hectares planted with coca plants, but EL TIEMPO learned of the operational balance, which shows that between January 1 and October 4, 58,000 hectares have been uprooted, which is equivalent to 44.6 percent of the set goal.
  - El Tiempo, 10 October 2021

• The deputy Carlos Alarcón (CC) rejected and described as outrageous the announcements of the cocalero leader Arnold Alanes, about the creation of a new legal market for coca from the Yungas; he asked the Bolivian Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) government to respect the determinations of this organization. After the announcements about the establishment of a new headquarters for the legal coca market by the questioned leader, Alarcón maintained that a worrying level of deinstitutionalization and non-compliance with current regulations has been reached, when trying to establish a new market, despite being against the law.
  - El Diario, 08 October 2021

• A strong explosion was registered in the middle of the building. at 02:00 in the morning on Arapata street in the Villa Fátima, in La Paz, a few meters from the headquarters of the Departmental Association of Coca Leaf Producers (Adepcoca). The detonation affected a motorized vehicle, whose tire burst due to the shock wave, and also a building, which suffered the loss of several windows, among the material damage caused. People in the sector denounced that people related to Arnold Alanes intend to intimidate those who recovered the Yungas coca farm. Personnel from the Fire Department arrived at the sector to investigate the causes of the explosion. "The Alanes group has put dynamite, a vehicle was totally destroyed, the windows of this house were also destroyed, unfortunate what is happening," said one of the neighbors in a video.
  - El Deber, 07 October 2021

• An explosion occurred early Thursday morning near the market of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) in the Villa Fátima area of the city of La Paz, Bolivia. Firefighters reported that there is considerable material damage.
  - La Razon, 07 October 2021

• Legislators from Comunidad Ciudadana demand that the Bolivian Government Minister, Eduardo del Castillo, explain the extreme use of police force during the coca-growing conflict, over control of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers of La Paz (Adepcoca). The deputy María lena Reque, pointed out After monitoring the coca-growing conflict in the Villa Fátima area and in view of the abuses recorded during the confrontations between police officers and coca growers, which caused damage to the infrastructure of this organization and to the homes of local residents, it was decided to request an oral report from the Minister of Government.
  - El Diario, 07 October 2021

• Armin Lluta ceased to be the president of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of Bolivia, whose assembly held yesterday determined to call elections in 20 or 30 days. "I am leaving for the health of the Yungas, for unity. I feel proud to have united my people. You have not come for me, you have come for this building (pointing to the coca-growing market), you have not fought for me, you have fought for this building," Lluta said in the Villa Fátima area. "The Government now has this message from Armin, that it never messes with Adepcoca again. But Armin has not stolen, he has not betrayed, he has not sold himself," said the leader.
  - El Diario, 06 October 2021

• After the recapture of the facilities of the legal market of the Association of Coca Producers of La Paz (Adepcoca), Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira (CC) expressed his support. He said that this action was a humiliation for the Police and asked the forces of order not to defend political interests in Bolivia. The legislator made reference to the coca-growing conflict that ended with the recapture of the Adepcoca facilities, by grassroots producers, pointing out that just causes can win.
  - El Diario, 06 October 2021

• One drink of alcohol a day - for example, a cup of wine - increases a woman's risk of breast cancer by 14%. Drinking coca tea does not increase the risk of breast cancer.
  - Wired, 05 October 2021

• The Pandora Papers revealed details about the ties between Colombia's vice-president, the transport minister and a convicted money launderer. According to documents released as part of the Panama Papers dump, Vice President Marta Lucia Ramirez, Transport Minister Angela Maria Orozco and convicted money launderer Gustavo Hernandez owned a company on the Virgin Islands. Following the 2018 arrest of Hernandez in Italy, Ramirez and Orozco revealed that they had been in business with the convicted money launderer until 2012. The Pandora Papers revealed that the two ended up doing business with Hernandez through Ramirez's husband, Alvaro Rincon whose business ties to alleged drug lord "Memo Fantasma" were revealed last year.
  - Colombia Reports, 05 October 2021

• McKinsey & Company, an important advisor to corporate opioid drug traffickers, never told the FDA that it was working for these drug traffickers while at the same time it was advising the FDA on regulations for these drug traffickers and others in the pharmaceutical industry. Pablo Escobar could only have wished to have such advisors for his drug trafficking business.
  - ProPublica, 04 October 2021

• Crespa, gigante, tingo pajarito, pomarrosa and peruana blanca are the names of five of the 14 adaptations of the coca plant detected by the authorities in Colombia and that have arisen from technical manipulations carried out by experts at the service of drug traffickers to increase their productivity. After a couple of decades there are already 14 adaptations, some of which even grow and harvest in atmospheric conditions and soils in which they would not have survived before.
  - El Tiempo, 03 October 2021

• Given the radicalization of the coca-growing conflict at the Bolivian government headquarters and the vain attempts of the ruling party to dismantle this movement that compromises the Yungas region, analysts and parliamentarians warn that the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) has political and economic interests, in its intention to control coca leaf production at the national level.
  - El Diario, 01 October 2021

• A reliable source, who asked for secrecy, informed EL DIARIO that coca growers in the sector that supports Arnold Alanes carry a stamp that is recognized by police officers to release them in case they are apprehended or arrested and residents of Villa El Carmen during the confrontation between coca growers and police assured that they saw "infiltrators" throwing dynamite at their homes.
  - El Diario, 01 October 2021

• Colombia's Supreme Court has convicted former Senator and former Governor Luis Alfredo Ramos, one of the political patrons of President Ivan Duque, for Ramos' connections to drug traffickers and designated terrorists
  - Colombia Reports, 01 October 2021

• They warn "thrust" to substitution of crops in the Budget Law of Colombia. In Congress they pointed out that resources were taken from the program in the last tax reform and in this new initiative there are no other sources of financing. With US $84 million less for 2022, it would be $270 million that would be missing to execute the entire program.
  - El Espectador, 30 September 2021

• Everything you need to know about the conflict in Adepcoca. The cocalero conflict broke out five years ago, and for more than 10 days it has kept the residents of two neighborhoods in La Paz, Bolivia, in suspense.
  - Pagina Siete, 30 September 2021

• Adepcoca Hospital, in La Paz, ends with destruction after police repression of coca growers. Two hours of terror were experienced on Wednesday night by some 300 coca growers who took refuge inside the Adepcoca Hospital, in the face of police repression, pellet shots and dynamite explosions that they say were caused by 'infiltrators' operating with the uniformed men.
  - Pagina Siete, 30 September 2021

• Neighbors of Villa El Carmen in La Paz, Bolivia, demand police withdrawal for "abuses". "We are on 4th Street, they have gassed us, we are upset, they are hiding the pellets. We have nothing to do with it, there are children, the elderly, and the sick." a neighbor in statements to radio FM Bolivia.
  - El Diario, 30 September 2021

• The intervention of Adepcoca (Departmental Association of Coca Producers of La Paz), the recognition of a leadership related to the MAS and the repression of cocaleros not aligned with that party reveal a plan for former president Evo Morales to become the "baron" of coca, former leaders agree. According to their analysis, the strategy consists of creating a matrix organization that brings together the cocaleros of the Yungas (La Paz) and Chapare (Cochabamba) to be led by Morales, president of MAS and the Six Federations of the Cochabamba Tropics.
  - Pagina Siete, 29 September 2021

• A cocalero from the Yungas denounced the that five hooded men beat him and threw stones when he tried to escape from the police repression that broke out Tuesday afternoon at Villa Fátima. The young man, who managed to flee the scene, assured that the attack occurred in complicity with the police, whom he said witnessed the event and did nothing to prevent it. "The actions of the Bolivian Police who work with infiltrators, people of Arnold Alanes (the coca grower leader of the MAS) were very reprehensible. TThey were hooded (their aggressors), I tried to go up, but the young people grabbed me for no reason and beat me, I had to escape by any means down and the Police did nothing, before their eyes they hit me, they threw stones at me, they threw dynamite and they did nothing," the attacked man told Página Site Digital.
  - Pagina Siete, 29 September 2021

• Tired of enduring intense gasification, the residents of Villa El Carmen blocked the secondary roads of the place yesterday, with sheet metal, iron and asked for peace, from the police and the coca growers who insisted on retaking the headquarters of the Association of Coca Producers of La Paz (Adepcoca). Another day of conflict occurred yesterday between cocaleros from the Yungas and the Police, characterized by intense gassing by the troops from the olive green, before which cocaleros, who continued trying to retake the headquarters, responded by exploding sticks of dynamite. The leader of Adepcoca recognized by the Government, Arnold Alanes, for his part, tried to approach the coca-growing women who demand the recovery of the coca market and asked for the formation of a commission to speak.
  - El Diario, 29 September 2021

• Carlos Choque, leader of the Council of Peasant Federations of the Yungas (Cofecay), maintained that the government seeks to legalize red zones and put "in a bag" the coca growers of the Yungas (La Paz) and Chapare (Cochabamba). In addition, he assured that Adepcoca is a private association. "The Government of Bolivia wants to legalize the red zones that are in the La Asunta and Chamaca sectors. It wants to put us in a pocket in the Chapare and Yungas sectors of La Paz. We who are from the original and ancestral zone cannot allow this whole situation," Choque told Radio Compañera. The leader stated that his sector, not aligned to the MAS, must defend its market "with nails and teeth". He assured Adepcoca does not belong to the Government, since it is a private and not a public association.
  - Pagina Siete, 29 September 2021

• Five years of confrontation and several attempts by the MAS to take over Adepcoca are preliminary aspects of the new wave of violence that is taking place in Villa Fátima, La Paz. According to opposition lawyers and assembly members, the bottom line of this dispute is that the ruling party seeks to have a monopoly or total control of coca leaf production, does not want independent organizations and legalize illicit crops, among other things. Yesterday Villa Fátima and Villa El Carmen once again became scenes of confrontation between coca growers, who demand the return of their market, in the hands of a leader related to the MAS, and members of the Police, with the exchange of chemical agents, pellets, stones, and dynamite 'puppies.'
  - Los Tiempos, 29 September 2021

• Police and cocaleros clash again and violence returns to Villa Fátima in La Paz, Bolivia. The requests for pacification of the affected neighbors did not have an echo. The afternoon of this Tuesday returned to violence with gases and the detonation of dynamite puppies. Dozens of residents marched with white flags demanding an end to the violence. Others set up a kind of barricade to prevent cocaleros and police from entering different streets.
  - La Razon, 28 September 2021

• The governments of the United States and Colombia are seeking a new bilateral counternarcotics strategy. In a press statement, the so-called Counternarcotics Work Group said officials from both countries have been working on a "new bilateral strategy" to combat drug trafficking.
  - Colombia Reports, 27 September 2021

• Five years after peace deal, Colombia is running out of time, experts say. A treaty with the largest group of rebels waging war, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in 2016 called for the end of a decades-long war. But that is not the same as achieving peace, and the window for doing so may be closing.
  - New York Times, 26 September 2021

• The United States House of Representatives passed a bill that banned American defense funds for the aerial spraying of coca, the base ingredient of cocaine, in Colombia. The bill that was sponsored by Democratic House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez additionally bans possible US funds for arms and training of the National Police's anti-riot unit ESMAD.
  - Colombia Reports, 24 September 2021

• Colombia's mass media have been spreading disinformation over an allegedly growing public security crisis in the capital Bogota that is contradicted by local security statistics. The weekly magazine, Semana, which is close to the far-right government of President Ivan Duque and which publishes little favorable to coca, published multiple reports on the "wave of insecurity" in the "capital of fear" over the past few days. Semana claimed on Wednesday that "the critical insecurity situation in the country's capital is reflected by official indicators", which is false. Bogota security statistics indicate that reported crimes in the capital went down 24% in the first eight months of 2021 compares to the same period last year.
  - Colombia Reports, 17 September 2021

• Over 300 million people in China are still addicted to the highly addictive, deadly, nicotine of tobacco smoking, yet the addictive drug is entirely legal. But China still prohibits sales of healthy coca tea.
  - South China Morning Post, 16 September 2021

• Colombia expropriates real estate developed by the husband of Vice President Marta Lucia Ramirez and an alleged drug trafficker, "Memo Fantasma". Fantasma, whose real name is Guillermo Leon Acevedo, was arrested in July in Bogota where the alleged mafia kingpin owned part of the office building that was developed by the company of Martinez's husband Alvaro Rincon. The prosecution is investigating whether or not the VP's husband knowingly took part in the laundering of drug money through real estate development.
  - Colombia Reports, 15 September 2021

• Food scientists say they have found a way to create that perfect chocolate that simplifies the traditional "tempering" process of repeatedly heating and cooling chocolate. They discovered that adding a key component in cocoa butter fat to melted chocolate helps to hold it together and give it an ideal structure, simply and inexpensively. They selected a specific molecule, a saturated phospholipid, to "seed" the formation of proper cocoa butter crystals.
  - Phys.org, 13 September 2021

• The Sacklers, the opioid drug trafficking family, is being offered a horrible deal to settle charges by states that their drug trafficking company, Purdue Pharma, caused more than $2 trillion in damages. The drug trafficking Sacklers are being shielded from civil litigation, and will be able to keep billions of dollars of their drug trafficking projects. Companies (especially those that are legal drug traffickers) like Purdue and (drug trafficking) families like the Sacklers should never find refuge in bankruptcy court. After all, these sweetheart deals are offered to cocaine and marijuana drug traffickers.
  - New York Times, 11 September 2021

• The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday put off a long-anticipated ruling on whether Juul Labs and other major nicotine drug-trafficking (e-cigarette) companies could continue to traffick their addictive products in the United States.
  - New York Times, 10 September 2021

• Panama unveils extent of participation in drug trafficking by government officials. Those arrested included acting service members from Panama's Air Force and Navy, a captain in the presidential guard, and airport security staff, according to Panama's attorney general, Javier Caraballo. A high-ranking official from the Attorney General's Office, who acted as a substitute judge, was also detained for allegedly helping the group launder their drug proceeds.
  - Insight Crime, 09 September 2021

• A court convicted two more former aides (two earlier were convicted) of Colombia's former President Alvaro Uribe for taking part in a criminal organization that operated from the presidential palace. A 2015 Supreme Court sentence indicated that the criminal organization that operated from inside the presidential palace was led by Uribe's former chief of staff, Bernardo Moreno (one convicted earlier).
  - Colombia Reports, 09 September 2021

• Chemically, caffeine looks similar enough to adenosine on the molecular level that it occupies those binding sites, preventing adenosine from binding to those brain receptors. As a result, caffeine works to temporarily suppress sleep pressure, making us feel more awake. Meanwhile, adenosine continues to build up in the body. "Once caffeine wears off, you get a very high level of sleep pressure, and you have to pay it back.", Dr. Blackshaw said. In fact, the only way to relieve and reset an elevated level of sleep pressure is with sleep. And, the more we drink caffeine, the more we build up our body's tolerance to it. Our liver adapts by making proteins that break down caffeine faster, and the adenosine receptors in our brain multiply, so that they can continue to be sensitive to adenosine levels to regulate our sleep cycle. Ultimately, continued or increased caffeine consumption negatively impacts sleep, which will also make you feel more tired.
  - New York Times, 08 September 2021

• The former leaders of the Cali Cartel accused Colombia's former President Andres Pastrana of blackmailing them into accusing his predecessor of corruption. Pastrana last week published a letter in which Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez claimed that former President Ernesto Samper knew in 1994 that the drug cartel was funding his campaign. According to the Cali Cartel founders, the former president's personal physician visited the drug lords in prison and, "on behalf of Pastrana", said they would be extradited to the United States unless they signed off on the letter. The Rodriguez brothers said that the letter was never meant to made public, but to silence Samper over corruption scandals that were embarrassing Pastrana.
  - El Pais, 08 September 2021

• The former leaders of the Cali Cartel accused Colombia's former President Andres Pastrana of blackmailing them into accusing his predecessor of corruption. Pastrana last week published a letter in which Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez claimed that former President Ernesto Samper knew in 1994 that the drug cartel was funding his campaign. According to the Cali Cartel founders, the former president's personal physician visited the drug lords in prison and, "on behalf of Pastrana", said they would be extradited to the United States unless they signed off on the letter. The Rodriguez brothers said that the letter was never meant to made public, but to silence Samper over corruption scandals that were embarrassing Pastrana.
  - Colombia Reports, 08 September 2021

• How the FBI's failed war on drugs partially diverted attention of the FBI from preventing the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center that killed thousands
  - Zero Hedge, 08 September 2021

• How so much of our economy, from PepsiCo Frito-Lay chip brands to Facebook's Instagram, to Twitter, to Activision Blizzard video games -- and all sugary beverages - is based on making customers or users into addicts in the classic sense of a dopamine-producing narcotic drug
  - Zero Hedge, 07 September 2021

• Opinion: the United States desperately needs a much better FDA, one that is not alarmingly cozy with the industry it is supposed to oversee, one that doesn't play a central role in accelerating drug epidemics (such as with opioids)
  - New York Times, 06 September 2021

• Colombia's 2016 peace deal was lauded for bringing to an end the longest-running war in the Americas. But five years on, aggressive counter-narcotics tactics and unkept government pledges are blamed for fueling distrust in rural areas of coca growing regions and driving a new cycle of violence.
  - The New Humanitarian, 31 August 2021

• In the mountains and jungles of southwestern Colombia, peasants, migrants and women carrying babies toil doggedly in the coca fields despite the dangers posed by guerrillas and drug traffickers -- and despite the government's anti-drug campaign. "Coca (plantations) were born as a response to institutional abandonment... and have allowed everyone in these areas to achieve a minimum of dignity," said Azael Cabrera, the leader of Agropatia, an organization representing 12 rural communities and townships.
  - France24, 30 August 2021

• Cocaine production soars in Colombia as the oil industry suffers economically due to the coronavirus pandemic and anti-government demonstrations
  - OilPrice.com, 29 August 2021

• The government of China publishes draft guidelines that propose to forbid Internet companies from deploying algorithms that "encourage addiction or high consumption".
  - TechCrunch, 27 August 2021

• The country of Montenegro pledges to eliminate cigarette smuggling through its country. Investigators and journalists were killed while trying to expose smugglers. Now the country is cracking down on a trade it once protected. For many years, the United States supported the government's efforts that tolerated the nicotine trafficking.
  - New York Times, 25 August 2021

• Authorities are reluctant to investigate evidence indicating that Cali police and Colombia's largest supermarket chain Exito conspired to cover up crimes against humanity (Exito being one supermarket chain refusing to sell coca tea products). Facebook has censored news about what locals now call the 'Apocalipso' supermarket because one of Facebook Colombia's news moderators, website La Silla Vacia, branded the it as "fake news". Exito is one of the biggest clients of the family business of La Silla Vacia owner Juanita Leon, whose political website on multiple occasions branded news as "fake" without verification. La Silla Vacia refuses to publish positive stories about the industrialization of the coca leaf.
  - Colombia Reports, 20 August 2021

• FARC dissidents seek consolidation in the southwest of Colombia, in the provinces of Nariño, Cauca and Valle del Cauca. The municipalities across Colombia that are effectively controlled by the different FARC dissident groups are home to more than 85% of Colombia's coca cultivations. Not surprisingly, the main source of revenue of all FARC dissident groups is the cultivation of coca, the base ingredient of cocaine.
  - Colombia Reports, 19 August 2021

• The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it is banning chlorpyrifos, a common pesticide, widely used since 1965 on fruits and vegetables, from use on food crops because it has been linked to neurological damage in children. The EPA will reverse a Trump-era decision to allow use of the dangerous chemical.
  - New York Times, 19 August 2021

• The drug-trafficking family, the Sacklers, the billionaire owners of Purdue Pharma - the biggest opioid drug trafficking syndicate ever, vowed in court on Tuesday that the family would walk away from a $4.5 billion pledge to help communities nationwide that have been devastated by the opioid epidemic due to their drug trafficking, unless a judge grants the drug trafficking family immunity from all current and future civil claims associated with the company. Purdue and the actions of Sackler family members, who as hands-on board members took a keen interest in drastically downplaying the addictive qualities of OxyContin in marketing efforts to increase the billions possible from drug trafficking, have been widely implicated in the opioid epidemic.
  - New York Times, 18 August 2021

• Police in Cali tried to detain the voluntary bodyguards of journalist Jose Alberto Tejada, who has been suffering threats after reporting on police brutality in Colombia's third largest city. The threat is followed a series of reports in which the journalist exposed evidence of the mass violation of human rights allegedly committed by the Cali Police Department in collusion with armed civilians.
  - Colombia Reports, 15 August 2021

• Carlos Ardila, one of the most powerful oligarchs in Colombia, worth over $2 billion, dies at the age of 91, with his four children inheriting his business empire. The owner of Postobon, with the rights to sell Pepsi in Colombia. Asocaña (the sugar plantation owners' association) and Ardila's sugar company, Incauca, are among the main recipients of government benefits in Colombia. RCN was one of the driving forces behind the 2002 election of far-right President Alvaro Uribe while Postobon allegedly sponsored paramilitary organization AUC. Uribe rewarded Ardila by leasing state-owned land in the southwestern Cauca province to Incauca, one of Ardila's sugar companies, in 2005. This deal created major tensions between Ardila and indigenous people from Cauca, who had been promised this land in compensation for a paramilitary massacre. Former paramilitaries began revealing the extent of the alleged ties between Ardila's corporations and the organization that was declared a foreign terrorist organization by the US Government in 2001.
  - Colombia Reports, 15 August 2021

• Book review: "THE DOPE: the real history of the Mexican drug trade" - the phony way on drugs. The author argues that mythmaking and storytelling have served to "demonize the drug traffickers and cement the narrative of the drug war as a struggle between good and evil". Despite the inescapable truth that the illicit trade is caused by and feeds America's unending demand for narcotics, this portrayal of Mexico has tilted American political realities to fuel the fires of racism.
  - New York Times, 14 August 2021

• Demand for marijuana from California 'explodes' amongst consumers in Mexico, who want to smoke the most prestigious marijuana possible for their Instagram photos
  - Zero Hedge, 14 August 2021

• Rising rates of depression and anxiety in wealthy countries like the U.S. may be a result of our brains getting hooked on the neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, due to cellphone apps and social media that are designed to be addictive by visual and audio stimulation, such as the addictively designed videogames. Not everyone plays videogames, but just about all of us have a digital drug of choice, and it probably involves using a smartphone -- the equivalent of the hypodermic needle for a wired generation.
  - Wall Street Journal, 14 August 2021

• Drug trafficking is profitable with little risk of jail, if you are Jewish and can afford to bribe politicians. The Sackler family, ringleaders of a huge opioid drug trafficking racket that is wrecking havoc with American public health, by spending millions on lobbyists to bribe politicians, will settle all criminal charges without any family members going to jail, by paying about $4 billion dollars in fines, leaving the drug trafficking family with over $6 billion in assets - money that will be effectively untouchable by opioid crisis victims, even though it is Purdue going bankrupt, not the Sacklers. Meanwhile, small time drug traffickers go to jail for life for selling hundreds of dollars of drugs.
  - The Intercept, 13 August 2021

• Government data shows that lockdowns in England to fight the coronavirus caused an extra 1 million people to become legally addicted to alcohol, a drug more addictive and destructive than two illegal drugs, marijuana and coca tea
  - Summit News, 13 August 2021

• U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency gives an award to a police commander in Mexico whose unit is accused of a grisly massacre of 19 migrants. Félix Arturo Rodríguez Rodríguez, the commander of an elite U.S.-trained state police unit, received the award from the DEA for his team's extensive and continuing collaboration with U.S. law enforcement agencies, despite 12 members of his team in jail while prosecutors investigate their role in the murder of the 19 migrants. Rodríguez and his officers have been linked to a string of kidnappings and extrajudicial killings going back years. The unit is considered the personal enforcement arm of the governor of Tamaulipas, Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca, a prominent ally of some U.S. border hawks and currently under investigation by federal authorities in Mexico City for money laundering and organized crime.
  - The Intercept, 10 August 2021

• Colombia can become a major exporter of marijuana, after a new law in July that allows the export of dried marijuana flower. Already, Portugal has become a European hub for marijuana growing, and Colombia has a better climate. The average production cost for 1 gram of dried marijuana flower is 6 cents in Colombia, compared to about $1.25 in the United States.
  - Bloomberg, 09 August 2021

• Nicotine drug trafficking companies, the tobacco giants such as Philip Morris, are counting on sales of noncombustible, nicotine trafficking, products to replace carcinogenic, nicotine trafficking, cigarettes. Government taxes will influence how quickly that happens.
  - Wall Street Journal, 09 August 2021

• Pedro Castillo, the new leftist president of Peru, with enough legal backing, control of the regions where the coca leaf is grown, a paramilitary acting as his local enforcer, and command of the army, Mr. Castillo could easily copy the model used by Evo Morales in Bolivia to build a narco-state and stay in power indefinitely.
  - Wall Street Journal, 09 August 2021

• Colombia's military remains the second largest in Latin America, with nearly 10,600 troops retiring each year. Many struggle to find work in a country where nearly 43 percent of the population is in poverty. Facing few prospects, former service members have ended up providing security for drug traffickers or even leading illegal paramilitary units. Colombia needs a version of America's G.I. Bill - the legislation that helped propel millions of World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans into the middle class - that would offer much more generous benefits than the Colombian government currently does.
  - New York Times, 08 August 2021

• The growing mercenary industry of Colombia. Exporting soldiers has become a vast industry in Colombia, fueled by the country's long U.S.-backed failed war against cocaine, limited opportunity at home and growing demand abroad.
  - New York Times, 08 August 2021

• Security forces in Bolivia eradicated more than 2,800 hectares of coca crops between April and June 2021, over half of which was in Cochabamba. Much a waste of time, as the coca farmers will wait awhile, and then replant.
  - Dialogo, 03 August 2021

• The U.S. State Department is trying to interfere with the attempt by the Attorney General of Guatemala, Maria Consuelo Porras, to restore the rule of law to efforts of the government of Guatemala to crack down on corruption
  - Wall Street Journal, 01 August 2021

• The main Inca highway, from Ecuador through Peru into Bolivia, still benefits people living nearby. A new study finds that wages, nutrition and schooling levels along the Incan mountain roadway are all unusually high.
  - The Economist, 21 July 2021

• People who drink more than six cups of coffee a day had a 53 percent increased risk of dementia
  - SciTechDaily, 30 July 2021

• The attorney general of Guatemala fired a top prosecutor of corruption last week. Heeding calls by Indigenous leaders for a 'paro nacional', or nationwide shutdown, on Thursday, communities and social movements marched, rallied, and blocked roads around the country to demand the president and attorney general resign.
  - The Intercept, 30 July 2021

• An Italian town, Cervia, produces a naturally sweet salt sold mostly locally. A chocolate shop offers bars made with the sweet salt of Cervia and no sugar.
  - Atlas Obscura, 27 July 2021

• Lawsuits and trials involving claims that talc in Johnson & Johnson's baby powder caused cancer are ramping up again, with a new complaint filed in the United States on Tuesday on behalf of the National Council of Negro Women. The group accused the company of "knowingly deceptive marketing to Black women" for decades, despite internal concerns that the product might be harmful. Sugar might cause cancer as much as talc might cause cancer - are sugary beverage companies aware of this risk?
  - New York Times, 27 July 2021

• Colombia's far-right President Ivan Duque swore in Juan Carlos Pinzon, the nephew of a convicted drug trafficker, as his new ambassador in the United States on Monday -- one of many people in Duque's administration with ties to drug traffickers. Still, the U.S. Congress has shown no concern about Duque's multiple political allies with ties to drug traffickers, and the Congress plans to continue sending hundreds of millions of dollars of 'counter'-narcotics aid to Bogota in 2022.
  - Colombia Reports, 27 July 2021

• A province in Canada, British Columbia, has launched a prescription program to distribute strong, untainted opioids to users in a bid to reduce overdoses, sparking both plaudits and criticism. Doctors in the province will now be able to prescribe stronger drugs like hydromorphone, an opioid that is five times more powerful than morphine; Dexedrine, a stimulant for cocaine and methamphetamine users; and tablets of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. The program is the latest attempt by health authorities in British Columbia to get a devastating overdose epidemic under control.
  - Wall Street Journal, 25 July 2021

• Nicotine drug-trafficker company, Philip Morris, calls for bad on cigarettes within ten years, as it tries to transition to being a "healthcare and wellness" company. No mention is made of how Philip Morris for decades profited from earning billions selling a product that killed tens of millions of people by getting them addicted to the most addictive drug on the planet, nicotine. Maybe Philip Morris might want to help the world of the coca leaf as atonement.
  - The Guardian, 25 July 2021

• Two drug trafficking associates will preside over Colombia's Senate and House of Representatives as President Ivan Duque finishes his term after his 2018 election with mafia support. The election of Senate President Juan Diego Gomez and House president Jennifer Arias highlights how the historical mafia influence in Colombia's legislature is becoming increasingly visible.
  - Colombia Reports, 23 July 2021

• America's failed 'war' on drug 'successfully' imprisoned millions of Black Americans while giving nice jobs to mostly white people ineptly fighting the 'war' on drugs. Although Nixon declared the war on drugs on June 17, 1971, the U.S. already had lots of practice imposing drug prohibitions that had racially skewed impacts. The arrival of Chinese migrants in the 1800s saw the rise of criminalizing opium that migrants brought with them. Cannabis went from being called "reefer" to "marijuana", as a way to associate the plant with Mexican migrants arriving in the U.S. in the 1930s. By the time Nixon sought reelection amid the anti-Vietnam War and Black power movements, criminalizing heroin was a way to target anti-war and Black activists and hippies. One of Nixon's domestic policy aides, John Ehrlichman, admitted as much about the war on drugs in a 22-year-old interview published by Harper's Magazine in 2016. Once again, hate pays well for white Christian Americans.
  - Associated Press, 23 July 2021

• Three opioid drug traffickers/distributors -- Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and McKesson, and drug traffickers/producer Johnson & Johnson -- agree to pay a fine of $26 billion to U.S. states from their huge role in the opioid drug crisis that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Unlike minority drug traffickers, not a single highly paid (white) executive is going to jail for engaging in these drug trafficking activities. And reaping huge profits are the lawyers working this agreement.
  - New York Times, 22 July 2021

• A DEA agent, a probationary employee, Mark Sami Ibrahim, is arrested for participating in the January 6th treasonous riot by Trump supporters
  - CNBC, 20 July 2021

• Along with the violence to the flow cocaine through their country, rural Guatemalans are fleeing to the United States (or are at least trying to) because of global warming - property destruction from hurricanes and failed crops that along with crime leaves them in extreme poverty
  - Politico, 19 July 2021

• Colombia's former ambassador to Chile admitted before the war crimes tribunal he ransacked his native province of Sucre and terrorized locals to advance his political career, basically turning his government into a criminal mafia. Former Ambassador Salvador Arana sent a shockwave through Sucre after exposing the alleged terrorist activity of more than two dozen businessmen, politicians and police officials from the Caribbean province of Colombia. Arana is a conservative ally of ex-president Uribe. In February 2003, El Roble mayor Edualdo Leon Diaz told Uribe on live television that he feared for his life after filing criminal charges against Arana. Two months later, Diaz was dead as the former governor ordered his death squad to torture and kill his critic.
  - Colombia Reports, 19 July 2021

• Tourists in Colombia can now take hikes in the jungle with guides who used to be members of the FARC leftist group of guerrillas who are now transitioning to peaceful pursuits. They are based in Mesetas, a town about 4 hours south of Bogota.
  - NPR, 19 July 2021

• How the drug trafficking divisions of Big Pharma earned billions in profits while fueling the opioid crisis that has 500,000 people, with more to die in the future - a health crisis caused by this form of legal drug trafficking with the support of the FDA, and orchestrated by the Sackler drug trafficking family
  - Democracy Now, 19 July 2021

• How the Sackler family used their increasing wealth to become one of the biggest legal drug traffickers (opioids) in the world, bribing doctors for favorably publicity, acting philanthropically like Pablo Escobar, are using an army of lawyers charging tens of millions of dollars to scare anyone probing into their drug trafficking. As one academic put it: "there is little to distinguish the control the Sacklers exercised over Purdue from the control that the godfather held over his Mafia family". But instead of jail for the crimes committed by all of the Sacklers and all of their executives and all of their lawyers, the government allowed them to collapse into bankruptcy, while the Sackler family has ove $10 billion of personal fortune - the riches of legal drug trafficking. A preferential treatment that minorities never get for their drug trafficking.
  - New York Times, 18 July 2021

• A government-commissioned review of the food industry in the United Kingdom recommends a new tax on the salt and sugar used in processed foods and restaurant-made foods, with the proceeds used to deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to poorer families. Poor diet contributes to about 64,000 deaths in England each year (more deaths that deaths due to illegal drug use), with Type 2 diabetes projected to cost the National Health Service $20 billion a year by 2035.
  - New York Times, 15 July 2021

• A government-commissioned review of the food industry in the United Kingdom recommends a new tax on the salt and sugar used in processed foods and restaurant-made foods, with the proceeds used to deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to poorer families. Poor diet contributes to about 64,000 deaths in England each year (more deaths that deaths due to illegal drug use), with Type 2 diabetes projected to cost the National Health Service $20 billion a year by 2035.
  - El Iberco, 15 July 2021

• Caffeine makes us more energetic, efficient and faster. But we have become so dependent that we need it just to get to our baseline? 90% of humans ingest caffeine regularly, making it the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world, and the only one we routinely give to children (unhealthy sugary sodas). The predictable symptoms of caffeine withdrawal like other addictive drugs: headache, fatigue, lethargy, difficulty concentrating, decreased motivation, irritability, intense distress, loss of confidence and dysphoria.
  - The Guardian, 06 July 2021

• 15 U.S. states reach a deal with the opioid drug trafficking company, Perdue Pharma, that would pave the way toward a settlement of at least $4.5 billion and resolve thousands of opioid cases. The states decided late Wednesday to drop their opposition to Purdue's bankruptcy reorganization plan, in exchange for a release of millions of documents and an additional $50 million from members of the Sackler family, the company's owners.
  - New York Times, 08 July 2021

• The human rights commission of the Organization of American States (OAS) put the increasingly authoritarian president of Colombia, Ivan Duque, on its list of suspected despots on Wednesday. He is joining the dictators of Nicaragua and Venezuela on this list.
  - Colombia Reports, 08 July 2021

• Without a shred of evidence, Colombia's controversial defense minister Diego Molano on Wednesday claimed that illegal armed groups are behind anti-government protests called for July 20. Jorge Ivan Ospina, mayor of Cali, who has stepped up efforts to recover the peace after Molano plunged his city in crisis, refused to confirm the defense minister's latest conspiracy theory because of the lack of evidence.
  - Colombia Reports, 08 July 2021

• Gangs in Medellin, Colombia, have as many members - at least 3000 - as does that country's last-standing guerrilla group, the ELN, has in all of Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 06 July 2021

• Nicotine drug trafficker's new tactic for corruption - for $51,000, it bought an entire issue of a scholarly journal (the American Journal of Health Behavior), with all 11 articles written by authors on its payroll, all of the whored articles claiming to offer 'evidence' that Juul products help smokers quit. Part of the whored price includes a fee of $6,500 to unlock the article to the public. One of the many reasons that drug traffickers are so profitable, for in late 2018, much bigger nicotine drug trafficker Altria bought 35 percent of Juul at a valuation equal to that of real companies such as Target, Delta Airlines and Ford Motor Company.
  - American Prospect, 06 July 2021

• Nicotine drug trafficker Juul faces declining sales and thousands of lawsuits claiming it knowingly sold its trendy vaping products to minors. Soon the F.D.A. will decide whether it can keep selling them at all.
  - New York Times, 06 July 2021

• The president of Colombia, Ivan Duque, and his administration, appear to have given up on combating drug trafficking 50 years after the beginning of the disastrous War on Drugs. They seem to have abandoned aerial spraying of coca plants with cancer-causing pesticides, no one believes their statistics on manual eradication, and multiple members of the ruling party are under investigation for links to drug trafficking.
  - Colombia Reports, 05 July 2021

• Colombia puts in jail Guillermo León Acevedo, a money-launderer for drug cartels for decades. Acevedo was discovered, in 2020, to be in business with the husband of the Vice President of Colombia, Marta Lucia Ramirez. The brother of Ramirez is a convicted former heroin trafficker. The arrest of Acevedo puts pressure on the conservative and Christian elite of Colombia that tries to come across as legitimate, but is confronted with mounting evidence they could be nothing more than puppets, an elaborate front doing much of the money laundering for the local mafia and drug traffickers.
  - Colombia Reports, 03 July 2021

• Retail stockbroker Robinhood's mission is to "democratize finance for all", is similar to Pablo Escobar saying his mission was to "democratize cocaine". Robinhood is trying to monetize the addictive nature of day trading of stocks, and let us be honest, day trading by non-professionals is pure gambling.
  - Zero Hedge, 03 July 2021

• The increasingly unsafe and unregulated market for Delta-8-THC, a legal (for now) but weaker form of Delta-9-THC (the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana), with Delta-8-THC legally and easily derived from chemically reacting CBD (the legal chemical in hemp. The result is a Delta-8 market that is fast-moving, prone to malpractice, and intensely mistrustful of itself.
  - Inverse, 30 June 2021

• Nicotine drug trafficker Juul Labs has agreed to pay North Carolina $40 million and change its business practices in the state in a settlement of a teen marketing lawsuit. Regulators and health officials have blamed Juul for the surging popularity of e-cigarettes among teens in recent years. FNR
  - CNBC, 28 June 2021

• The U.S. FDA added a warning about the risk of developing heart inflammation to information about the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines. There have been more than 1,200 cases of pericarditis or myocarditis in individuals who are aged 30 or younger who have received the vaccine doses. They probably could have made this warning earlier, if they weren't selling permission to Biogen for its useful (and public health bankrupting) Alzheimer's drug.
  - Zero Hedge, 28 June 2021

• California Senate Bill 519 would legalize psilocybin (magic mushrooms), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, and mescaline, except for peyote, recently passed the State Senate on a 21-16 floor vote
  - CBS News, 28 June 2021

• The United Kingdom staring in 2023 will band advertising for junk food products - those high in fat, sugar and salt
  - Zero Hedge, 27 June 2021

• Opioid drug trafficker Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $230 million to New York state to settle claims that the pharmaceutical giant helped fuel the opioid crisis. The drug trafficker also agreed to permanently end the manufacturing and distribution of opioids across New York and the rest of the nation, opioids developed by a subsidiary and accounting for less than 1% of the market. Cocaine drug traffickers wish they could get similar 'sweet' deals for their crimes.
  - NPR, 26 June 2021

• How the CIA turned Afghanistan into a failed narco-state. The war in Afghanistan has looked a lot like the war on drugs in Latin America, with a rapid militarization of the area and the empowerment of pliant local elites.
  - Mint Press News, 25 June 2021

• Cannabis users are more likely to think about and attempt suicide even if they are not depressed - and women are at greater risk than men
  - Daily Mail, 22 June 2021

• How economic 'progress' in Colombia has left millions of Black and indigenous citizens, who comprise 15% of the population, excluded from economic growth that mostly benefits the white elite.
  - Foreign Policy, 18 June 2021

• Glyphosate pesticides persist for years in wild forest plants, and reduce flower fertility in the long-term while potentially harming pollinators
  - EurekaAlert, 16 June 2021

• Marta Lucía Ramírez, Colombia's vice-president, on Tuesday implied/lied to the press that 40,000 weapons were seized from anti-government protesters as the government began drowning in criminal charges - alleged crimes against humanity. As part of the lie, the VP and the Defense Ministry are trying to associate every single misdemeanor committed in Colombia to the anti-government protests.
  - Colombia Reports, 09 June 2021

• The failed war on drugs by the United States, fueled by a huge demand for cocaine in the United States, helped unleash the violence in Colombia today. Efforts to combat narcotics militarized security forces in the country, thanks to the U.S. providing lots of military equipment and nearly $10 billion to the military of Colombia without demanding results nor progress, neither of which was achieved.
  - Washington Post, 08 June 2021

• Costa Rica Saludable, a public health group in Costa Rica, expresses concern about a 'health' alliance between the Ministry of Health and the Coca-Cola Company, arguing Coca-Cola's unhealthy products worsened covid. A study published by the Global Health Advocacy Incubator indicates that despite the evident need of many countries to adopt healthy diets, the Pandemic created an opportunity for the ultra-processed food and beverage industry to grow in low- and middle-income nations. "During the crisis, multinationals like Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Nestlé, among others, quickly promoted unhealthy, ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks."
  - The Costa Rica News, 07 June 2021

• From 1999 to 2017, the number of alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. doubled, to more than 70,000 a year -- making alcohol one of the leading drivers of the decline in American life expectancy, much worse than cocaine.
  - The Atlantic, 01 June 2021

• A leaked, internal, Nestlé company presentation states that more than 60% of Nestle's core food and beverage products are unhealthy, and that some Nestle products will never be healthy no matter how much they are modified
  - Bloomberg, 01 June 2021

• On May 23rd, less than two weeks ahead of Peru's presidential run-off election, 16 people were massacred in a remote village in an area known as 'VRAEM', the valley of the Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro rivers, where coca is grown.
  - Economist, 29 May 2021

• Bayer said it will evaluate whether to continue using glyphosate, the active ingredient in its popular Roundup weedkiller, in the residential U.S. market, in the wake of a court setback Wednesday in the company's efforts to limit future liability over whether the product causes cancer
  - Wall Street Journal, 26 May 2021

• A Dutch court on Wednesday ruled oil giant Royal Dutch Shell must reduce its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels. The lawsuit was filed in April 2019 by seven activist groups, claiming that Shell's business model "is endangering human rights and lives" by posing a threat to the goals laid out in the Paris Agreement.
  - CNBC, 26 May 2021

• Deeply-rooted racism of the white elite in Colombia's third largest city Cali poses a genocide risk for the local black community. The city has a long history of institutionalized racism and white supremacy that has its origin in the city's leading role in Colombia's exploitation of slaves in sugar plantations of the Valle del Cauca province.
  - Colombia Reports, 23 May 2021

• A major right-wing television network in Colombia, RCN, needed less than three minutes to imply that armed conflict victims may be part of a communist plot to destroy the paradise Colombia was while at war. Friday evening's news broadcast failed to inform the public on what was happening in Colombia, but gave a unique insight in RCN's increasingly hilarious conspiracy theories, live bloopers and utter nonsense and lies.
  - Colombia Reports, 22 May 2021

• How Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook lie about how Facebook is contributing to the declining mental health of children where use of social media such, especially Facebook, causes depression in children - hurting more children than do drugs
  - NPR, 18 May 2021

• How legalizing the base ingredient of cocaine could save indigenous lives. A top presidential candidate has proposed bolstering the country's tiny existing legal coca industry in an effort to help reduce harm to locals in the major cocaine producing nation.
  - Vice, 18 May 2021

• A diet high in sugar and fat impairs the immune defenses of the human intestine by disturbing its resident bacteria
  - Nature, 18 May 2021

• There is no safe level of alcohol consumption for brain health. Moderate consumption is associated with more widespread adverse effects on the brain than previously recognized.
  - Univ. of Oxford, 12 May 2021

• Flora Growth, a cannabis company farming medicinal marijuana in Colombia, goes public in the U.S. on the Nasdaq exchange. One advantage for Flora is that it costs $0.06 to cultivate a gram of dry flower in Colombia versus $1.25 in the United States.
  - CNN, 11 May 2021

• Psilocybin and MDMA (ecstasy) are poised to be the hottest new therapeutics since Prozac. Universities want in, and so does Wall Street. Some worry a push to loosen access could bring unintended consequences.
  - New York Times, 10 May 2021

• Aromatic plants that heal the social fabric in the Colombian Amazon. The Asociación de Mujeres Cimientos del Hogar, in the department of Caquetá, is betting on these products in a place where extensive cattle ranching and illicit crops bleed the landscape and the economy.
  - El Espectador, 30 April 2021

• Victims of the spraying of the pesticide, Agent Orange - over 19 million gallons, in Vietnam during the Vietnam war, are still suing Bayer/Monsanto (and Dow Chemical) for health problems such as cancer due to the extremely toxic ingredient in Agent Orange, dioxin
  - New York Times, 29 April 2021

• The coffee federation of Colombia has discovered nine new, more aggressive variants of the fungus that causes coffee rust, urging producers to plant more resistant coffee varieties to avoid spreading the disease. Colombia, the world’s top producer of washed arabica, has 855,000 hectares (2.1 million acres) of coffee crops, while some 500,000 families depend on the industry.
  - WHBL News, 29 April 2021

• A coalition of 80 U.S. agricultural, consumer, environmental, public health, and worker groups sent a letter Thursday to key figures in the Biden administration calling for them to "respect Mexico's sovereignty and refrain from interfering with its right to enact health-protective policies" -- specifically, the phaseout of the herbicide glyphosate
  - Common Dreams, 29 April 2021

• The Biden administration plans to propose banning menthol cigarettes, an action that has been long sought by public health and civil rights groups, after decades of marketing aimed at Black smokers, because they are designed to be more addictive.
  - New York Times, 28 April 2021

• Glyphosate: more than organizations request a hearing at the IACHR to prevent its use in Colombia. For organizations, the review becomes essential in order to prevent more people and communities from being affected by aerial spraying with glyphosate.
  - El Universal, 28 April 2021

• The increase in coca crops in Colombia is not due to the prohibition of spraying.
  - El Tiempo, 27 April 2021

• Drug trafficking: everyone's enemy in Colombia. The Minister of Justice defends the use of glyphosate and as a strategy against drug trafficking.
  - El Tiempo, 26 April 2021

• The battle of the indigenous people against the drug traffickers in Colombia. The war for the control of the 20,000 hectares of coca, for the control of the narco-routes and for the ownership of the land appear in all of the assessments about the stark violence that shakes the region.
  - El Tiempo, 26 April 2021

• Cheap, legal and everywhere: how food companies get us addicted on ák food such as sugary beverages
  - NPR, 26 April 2021

• Indigenous authorities in southwest Colombia said they have detained a member of a drug trafficking group who admitted to assassinating an indigenous leader. The alleged drug trafficker was detained on Thursday during an indigenous counternarcotics operation in Caldono, Cauca, that was organized in response to the assassination of native Colombian leader Sandra Liliana Peña.
  - Colombia Reports, 25 April 2021

• The harsh war between illegal groups that the inhabitants of El Plateado, Cauca, Colombia are experiencing. The genesis of this war, which only last week left about 2,000 people displaced, 14 members of the dissident Carlos Patiño of the Farc were killed in combat, 3 alleged ELN militiamen executed, an Army noncommissioned officer killed and several civilians wounded in a mined field, the war dates back to the appearance of coca crops in the 80s.
  - El Pais, 25 April 2021

• Hidden powers, drug mansions and gangs behind the conflict in Cauca, Colombia. Mexican drug lords tell him ‘Caucakistan’; every 24 hours they kill 2 people, and this year there have been 5 massacres.
  - El Tiempo, 25 April 2021

• Illegal groups that want to exacerbate violence in Cauca. In the north and east of the department of Cauca, the war revolves around the cultivation of genetically transformed marijuana, some coca crops and illegal mining.
  - El Pais, 25 April 2021

• Tensions between indigenous people from Cauca, and coca growers for the minga continue to worsen. Growers claimed that some indigenous community members blamed the coordinator that groups them for the murder of indigenous governor Sandra Peña. The CRIC said that this was not an official statement and that the operations against coca crops will continue.
  - El Espectador, 24 April 2021

• Mushroom coffee for immune support. Supplements for inflammation. And psychedelics promising relief from serious ailments. Mushrooms are everywhere, and investors are paying attention.
  - New York Times, 24 April 2021

• In Colombia, the ten-year-old Free Trade Agreement with the United States has caused more violence and economic inequality, for example, in the Pacific port town of Buenaventura, where little of the riches that flow through the port of the city benefit the mostly poor workers, who face death threats if they try to organize into unions
  - Foreign Policy, 23 April 2021

• An indigenous minga community is attacked in Caldono (Cauca, Colombia), which leaves 22 people injured. Preliminary reports say that the indigenous people were carrying out an activity to eradicate crops for illicit use, when they were attacked from the mountain with rifle bursts. The indigenous people that were attacked are from the same community as Governor Peña, who was murdered on April 20. She supported the eradication programs for illicit crops, and apparently that was the cause of her death.
  - El Tiempo, 22 April 2021

• At least eight indigenous people are injured in Caldono, Cauca (Colombia), after a clash with coca growers, during a confrontation in the morning in the middle of actions to eradicate crops for illicit use. The clash apparently occurred between members from the Nasa community and a group of coca growers from the municipality.
  - El Tiempo, 22 April 2021

• In Nuquí, Colombia, violence threatens tourism. The municipality of Choco also suffers the ravages of the pandemic that in 2020 resulted in receiving only 20% of the visitors who arrive each year. In addition, the presence of the Gulf Clan and the Eln frightens the inhabitants.
  - El Espectador, 22 April 2021

• The Senate of Colombia is discussing this Wednesday a bill that prohibits glyphosate. The Fifth Commission will discuss today, starting at 9:00 in the morning, an initiative that restricts the use of the chemical as a strategy in the fight against drugs. Recently, the Government signed a decree that would regulate the reactivation of herbicide spraying on coca crops.
  - El Espectador, 21 April 2021

• The technical credibility of the Colombian Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz, is being severely questioned due to the problems he caused in not making a statement on the imminent fumigation with glyphosate, which he opposed as Vice Minister of Health in the Santos Government due to the risk of that fumigation will cause cancer.
  - La Silla Vacia, 21 April 2021

• Why resume spraying with glyphosate in Colombia if voluntary substitution works?
  - El Pais, 21 April 2021

• Resuming spraying leaves farmers without options again. If the fumigation with glyphosate is resumed, the main points of Point 4 of the Peace Agreement would be breached and the State would continue to ignore the suffering of the areas most affected by the armed conflict.
  - El Espectador, 20 April 2021

• Regulation of the coca leaf advanced in the Colombian Congress. After several discussion sessions, the bill that regulates the coca leaf and its derivatives passed its first debate in the First Committee of the Senate. The voted points of the project were welcomed by the majority of the senators, but, at the same time, they received strong opposition from the congressmen of the governing coalition, that is, the Democratic Center, the Conservative Party and the Christian movements.
  - El Tiempo, 20 April 2021

• Several groups and social and indigenous organizations submitted a letter to the Constitutional Court of Colombia, backed by more than 20,000 signatures, in which they request that it prevent the Government from resuming the aerial spraying of illicit crops with the herbicide glyphosate.
  - El Tiempo, 20 April 2021

• A rare wild coffee species, Coffea stenophylla, has a flavor similar to Arabica coffee, a greater tolerance to higher temperatures, and grows under the same range of key climatic conditions as robusta
  - Sci News, 20 April 2021

• How governments subsidize obesity in their countries, harming their citizens, through subsidies and tax breaks for the farming of sugar
  - Am. Institute for Economic Research, 20 April 2021

• "The main cancer attributed to glyphosate is Hodgkin's lymphoma, a lymphatic cancer that can develop 15 to 20 years after exposure." The phrase is already famous. In the previous government, the doctor Fernando Ruiz Gómez said it when he was Juan Manuel Santos' vice minister of Health, without knowing that he would later be the head of that same ministry in the Iván Duque government. Of course, mentioning this again is unnecessary. Unless, that is, Ruiz Gómez himself now agrees with the use of this herbicide, after its return to vast territories of the country by the decision of Duque.
  - El Pais, 18 April 2021

• The report on health and glyphosate in Colombia that few want to read. The University of Córdoba is carrying out an extensive study to determine the risks to human health that the resumption of aerial spraying with glyphosate could have. Although the planes are still parked, these are the data that are informing the health debate.
  - El Espectador, 17 April 2021

• How close is the return of glyphosate spraying in Colombia? The Ministry of Defense said that they will spray 26,000 hectares this year; NGOs say that legal requirements are not yet met. Paula Aguirre, coordinator of the NGO Elementa in Colombia, said: "I do not see the possibility of them arguing their compliance in a transparent way, but seeing how they skipped everything they should do to reach the fumigation scenario, we are not surprised."
  - El Tiempo, 18 April 2021

• The dilemmas of the aerial spraying of glyphosate on coca crops in Colombia. The disseminated study by Daniel Mejía and Adriana Camacho on the subject indicates that to eradicate one hectare of coca it is necessary to fumigate thirtyhectares, questioning its effectiveness. This is partly due to the fact that growers opted to plant small areas to make spraying difficult and interspersed coca with other crops to argue that they are spraying subsistence crops with glyphosate, forgetting that planting coca is illegal.
  - El Pais, 18 April 2021

• In Canada, most producers of marijuana are still reporting that they are suffering from staggering financial losses, 2.5 years after legalization.
  - New York Times, 18 April 2021

• "Magic Mushroom" compound may work just as well as antidepressants, according to a small study.
  - Corta por lo Sano, 15 April 2021

• This Monday the government of Colombia signed the decree for the regulation for the operation of aerial spraying with glyphosate against illicit crops, the National Environmental Licensing Agency (Anla) lifted the suspension that since January it had placed in a necessary key process for return of the herbicide.
  - El Tiempo, 15 April 2021

• Members of the Association of Coca Leaf Producers (Adepcoca) of the Yungas of La Paz marched yesterday to the offices of the Delegation of the European Union (EU), in the South zone of La Paz in Bolivia, where they denounced the antidrug and development cooperation against them, and denounced that the development aid that that organization grants to the country is destined exclusively to the coca growers of the tropic of Cochabamba, related to the Government ruling party.
  - Pagina Siete, 15 April 2021

• In Colombia, the National Environmental Licensing Authority, ANLA, through Resolution 694 of April 14, modified the Environmental Management Plan (PMA) of the Program for the Eradication of Illicit Crops through Aerial Spraying with the Herbicide Glyphosate. Thus, what is authorized through the Resolution issued is the modification of the Environmental Management Plan, including more management measures and a more detailed follow-up and monitoring program so that, in the event that the activity is resumed, the achieve greater control over the environmental effects on water, biotic and socioeconomic components, among others.
  - El Pais, 15 April 2021

• Opposition congressmen in Colombia sent a letter to the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, to express their rejection of the decree of President Iván Duque that gives free rein to the aerial spraying of coca crops with glyphosate in Colombia. The communication, which is also addressed to the 'pro tempore' president of the Senate, Patrick Leahy, and the president of the House, Nancy Pelosi, was signed by Gustavo Bolívar, president of the Interim Commission on Drug Policy, Feliciano Valencia and Iván Cepeda. And the senators Luis Fernando Velasco, Gustavo Petro, Antonio Sanguino, Temístocles Ortega, Iván Marulanda, María José Pizarro, Armando Benedetti, Alexánder López, Guillermo García Realpe, Aída Avella, Jorge Londoño and Julián Gallo (Carlos Lozada) signed.
  - EL Tiempo, 14 April 2021

• 26 thousand hectares of illicit crops eradicated in 2021 is the goal established by the National Government for the first stage of glyphosate fumigations, once aerial spraying is resumed in Colombia.
  - El Pais, 14 April 2021

• Dietary cocoa improves health of obese mice, and likely has implications for humans
  - EurekaAlert, 14 April 2021

• After the Government of Iván Duque signed a decree this week that would regulate the reactivation of the spraying with the herbicide to coca crops, the National Environmental Licensing Authority approved the procedure, a process that was suspended. This is one of the requirements for the fumigations to return to Colombia.
  - El Espectador, 14 April 2021

• Nine planes equipped to carry out aerial spraying tasks with glyphosate have the national police ready to begin these operations, if the National Narcotics Council (CNE) gives them free rein. This was confirmed by the Colombian defense minister, Diego Molano, in an interview with the National Police Radio, in which he also commented that the goal to be sprayed this year is 26,000 hectares.
  - El Tiempo, 14 April 2021

• The Minister of Justice of Colombia, Wilson Ruiz, took another step towards the aerial spraying of coca with glyphosate, which scholars believe will condemn the country to a new cycle of extreme violence. According to counternarcotics think tank Indepaz, Ruiz’s restrictions on the use of glyphosate are so vague they effectively constitute “chemical warfare” and allow the aerial spraying of pretty much anything. Instead of implementing peace policies and resuming the crop substitution program agreed with farmers, the president has been trying to double down using aerial spraying. Experts have repeatedly warned this will further escalate violence without this affecting the drug trade.
  - Colombia Reports, 14 April 2021

• Colombian Justice Minister Wilson Ruiz spoke about the recent decree regulating aerial spraying with glyphosate in the country. Although he insists that the decree by itself does not give the green light to aerial spraying because it needs the approval of the National Narcotics Council, he is the one who presides over this body and openly defends the regulatory framework.
  - El Espectador, 14 April 2021

• ABC's of the decree that regulates aerial spraying of illicit crops in Colombia. The National Narcotics Council will be the one that defines when and where the precision spraying established in the new regulations will begin.
  - El Pais, 13 April 2021

• A study carried out by the University of Granada indicates that smoking cannabis significantly alters key visual functions, such as visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, three-dimensional vision (stereopsis), the ability to focus, and glare sensitivity.
  - EurekaAlert, 13 April 2021

• This is how the satellite and aerial reconnaissance network works to detect coca in Colombia, the Integrated Information and Monitoring System (Siima).
  - El Tiempo, 12 April 2021

• Colombia's military meddles by releasing alleged intelligence documents claiming that a victim of former President Alvaro Uribe's alleged fraud and bribery practices is a former FARC guerrilla
  - Colombia Reports, 12 April 2021

• Tony Chocolonely, a chocolate company based in the Netherlands, tries to prove that ethical chocolate and profits can co-exist, that chocolates can be made without child workers. In 2001, Nestle, Mars, Mondelez, Hershey and four other companies signed an agreement to end child labor on cacao farms in Africa (which supplies more than 60% of the world's cacao). Twenty years later, little progress has been made, while the profits continue to flow.
  - Fortune, 11 April 2021

• The Military Forces of Colombia found and destroyed a mega-laboratory consisting of seven structures used for cocaine production, in a rural area of the municipality of Tumaco, Nariño department. In addition to seizing 1 ton of cocaine, authorities found 400 kg of solid chemical precursors, 11,447 liters of liquid chemical precursors, and equipment for drug production.
  - Dialogo, 09 April 2021

• Gold and coca: the cursed treasures of the Amazonas region of Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 09 April 2021

• This week with the publication of the decree that modified the legal restraints against the President, the government of Iván Duque made an unprecedented show of power in Colombia. In addition to centralizing all the restraints against him in the Council of State, he determined that all actions related to the eradication of illicit crops would fall on that same court. With these determinations, he erases from the map the possibility that regional judges could block government decisions through these legal restraints, chooses his own judge on constitutional issues, and puts a shadow on the remaining procedures to define whether to restart the spraying with glyphosate.
  - La Silla Vacia, 09 April 2021

• According to Senator Feliciano Valencia, a native Colombian leader from Cauca, reported the murder of four people in Santander de Quilichao, a municipality in the north of the province. The massacre is the 26th so far this year. The mass killings would have cost the lives of 99 people so far this year.
  - Colombia Reports, 08 April 2021

• And now the possibility arises that the groups of the Maoist Shining Path that operate in the Peruvian ágle and control coca, drugs and gold, ally themselves with the Bolivians and propose to advance in joint political projects. If this project were to advance, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina would be united by coca and cocaine, rivaling Mercosur, an integration project from which the Argentine Peronist government would like to prevent.
  - El Diario, 07 April 2021

• The justice minister of Colombia, Wilson Ruiz, on Tuesday stripped the judicial branch of powers that force the increasingly authoritarian President Ivan Duque to abide by the law.
  - COlombia Reports, 07 April 2021

• The drivers of deforestation in the Colombian Amazon. Livestock, crops for illicit use (coca), agricultural activities and mining: this has been the transformation of the Amazon rainforest in the last century.
  - El Tiempo, 06 April 2021

• A political ally of President Ivan Duque sabotaged a ceasefire with Colombia’s last-standing guerrilla group, the ELN, according to former President Juan Manuel Santos. Allegedly, "this official was Angelino Garzon", the former vice-president of Duque's political patron, former President Alvaro Uribe.
  - Colombia Reports, 06 April 2021

• Editorial: The balance is discouraging. Coca crops rose 45 percent and invaded protected areas. Not only that, they are also about to cross the natural boundaries that Bolivia has with Peru. This is certainly very worrying data because, as they are illegal plantations that are used for drug trafficking, they lead to the conclusion that this illegal activity is gaining ground in the country, with the consequences of violence that this brings.
  - El Deber, 05 April 2021

• The coca growers leaders of the Yungas, Elena Flores, who is related to the Government, and Armin Lluta, who is an opponent of the MAS, called on all their bases to move to the city of La Paz with different objectives. The concentrations of the two groups will be held today in the morning. Flores' followers intend to continue in the Kalajahuira market, while opposing producers demand its immediate closure.
  - Pagina Site, 05 April 2021

• The resurgence of paramilitarism in the rural area of Cúcuta, Colombia. In the townships of Palmarito and Banco de Arena they denounce that the AGC took over the territory, after a call for help from Los Rastrojos, who were about to lose the war with the ELN. In the battle waged against this guerrilla for territorial control and coca crops, massacres, assassinations, displacements and disappearances make up the panorama an hour and a half from the capital of Norte de Santander.
  - El Espectador, 04 April 2021

• Due to the prolonged time of the mobilizations of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) before the transfer of its market to the Government headquarters, legislators urge coca growers from the Yungas and authorities of the area to prioritize dialogue to resolve the conflict and avoid that scenes of violence increase. The deputy for the Movement to Socialism, Juanito Angulo, pointed out that it is urgent to find solutions to the conflict between coca producers in the Yungas; however, it must be taken into account that the organic aspect of this organization is at stake.
  - El Diario, 04 April 2021

• After weeks of clashes over the "transfer" of the Villa Fátima coca market to the Kalajahuira area of La Paz, Bolivia, the deputy of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), Juanito Angulo, called for dialogue and the intervention of the Ombudsman's Office to resolve the dispute.
  - Pagina Siete, 03 April 2021

• The effort to eradicate illicit drugs and the achievements in the seizure of chemical precursors and the destruction of laboratories were key for the United States to certify Colombia for the fight against drug trafficking that it carried out during 2020.
  - El Pais, 02 April 2021

• Laws for regulating marijauna. The entry into force of this law would generate income for New York close to US $350 million annually in taxes, as well as the generation of thousands of jobs. In addition, part of the money will go to funds for education and the fight against drug addiction. On this, the House Representative for the Liberal Party, Juan Fernando Reyes Kuri, told El País that it is time to take the same step in Colombia that great powers are taking towards an important change in the fight against drug trafficking, but not with prohibitionist policies, but with regulation and job creation around this activity. "We treat marijuana regulation with too much moralism."
  - El Pais, 02 April 2021

• The drug traffickers who fight over cocaine in Nariño and Cauca in Colombia. They are dedicated to drug trafficking and fight for crops and production. The United Nations' Illicit Crops Monitoring System, Simci, reported that during 2019 36,964 hectares planted with coca plants were detected in Nariño (more than all in Bolivia), and 17,356 hectares in Cauca.
  - El Tiempo, 02 April 2021

• The representative of the UNODC in Bolivia, Thierry Rostan, said yesterday that during the hard time of the pandemic, the cultivation of the coca leaf in Bolivia increased, since families planted without any social control. Many families migrated from the city to the countryside, without social control.
  - Los Tiempos, 02 April 2021

• The representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Unodc) in Bolivia, Thierry Rostan, stated that this organization is following with concern the conflict over the transfer of the Villa Fátima coca market to Kalajahuira, in favor of a group of producers related to the Movement for Socialism. For 18 days, two sectors of the Yungas coca growers have been confronted by the transfer of the coca marketing market to Kalajahuira. The president of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of La Paz, Armin Lluta, and his affiliates reject this transfer, as ordered by a resolution of the Ministry of Rural Development and Lands in favor of Elena Flores, related to MAS.
  - El Diario, 02 April 2021

• President Luis Arce announced yesterday the resumption of "social control and concerted eradication" of surplus coca leaf crops in Bolivia and projected the elimination of 9,000 hectares of illegal plantations during the remainder of the year, of the more than 32,000 that exist. . The UNODC reported that in 2020 the pandemic influenced the increase in crops, as several families migrated from the city to the countryside to dedicate themselves “without social control” to the cultivation of the plant.
  - Pagina Siete, 02 April 2021

• At the beginning of the coca eradication tasks, President Arce confirms that there will be no "zero coca" in Bolivia. The Government set itself the goal of eradicating 9,000 hectares of coca crops this year with the idea of "stabilizing" the extension of plantations that currently exceed 32,000 hectares.
  - La Razon, 01 April 2021

• The representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Onudc), Thierry Rostan, said on Thursday that he continues “with great concern”, the case of the conflict between Adepcoca and the Government in La Paz . "Another very important issue is the issue of the commercialization of the coca leaf, access to markets, obviously, we are following these conflicts with great concern," said Rostan, who participated in the inauguration act of eradication in Chimoré.
  - Pagina Siete, 01 April 2021

• This Thursday, for the fourth consecutive day, the Kalajahuira area, in La Paz, Bolivia, was the scene of clashes between coca growers who dispute control of the market of the Departmental Association of Coca Leaf Producers (Adepcoca) of the Yungas. The situation generated unrest among the residents of the area and the drivers at whose headquarters the market recently authorized by the Government is operating, who issued pronouncements announcing the eviction of that coca leaf commercialization point.
  - Pagina Siete, 01 April 2021

• Police tirelessly gasify coca-growing women and there are two detainees in Kalajahuira (La Paz, Bolivia). On Easter Thursday. There are about 100 police officers guarding the illegal coca market. There is an arrested coca grower who left her daughters to go to the march.
  - El Deber, 01 April 2021

• The government of the president of the United States, Joe Biden, will collaborate with Mexico and Colombia to ensure that the fight against drug production and trafficking adheres to compliance with the law and respect for human rights.
  - El Espectador, 01 April 2021

• Legislators in Bolivia ask for dialogue between the government and coca growers. They point out that the best way to resolve the conflict between coca producers from the Yungas of La Paz is through dialogue, which is why they ask this sector to initiate conversations with the authorities of the area and in this way avoid generating greater violence scenarios.
  - El Diario, 01 April 2021

• The political group Adepcoca (cocaleros de las Yungas) is fined for political harassment of an elected candidate in Coroico, Bolivia. It is the first time that, within the framework of the Electoral Misconduct and Sanctions Regulations, a resolution has been issued that sanctions a political organization for violating the exercise of a woman's political rights. The incident occurred in the municipality of Coroico, in the department of La Paz.
  - La Razon, 31 March 2021

• The state of New York legalizes recreational marijuana, and will expunge the criminal records of people previously convicted of crimes that would be legal under the new laws for marijuana. The legislation could create up to 60,000 jobs and generate $350 million in annual tax revenue for the state.
  - ABC NEWS, 31 March 2021

• Coca-growing women from the Yungas arrived in La Paz and took to the streets yesterday to protest and demand the closure of the illegal market, set up in the Señor de Mayo Mixed Transport Union and located in Kalajahuira. They began their protest in the legal market of Villa Fátima and when they approached the improvised market they were gassed and attacked by police officers.
  - Pagina Siete, 30 March 2021

• The evil racism of Simon Bolivar. Bolivar's first revolution failed and the general went into exile in 1815, first to Jamaica and then Haiti whose population of largely former slaves had been independent since 1804 after defeating Napoleon. Bolivar promised to free slaves in 1816 if they helped him overthrow colonial rule. Some 200 slaves joined Bolivar's 650 men and began the liberation campaign that would expel the Spanish in 1819. Bolivar never fulfilled his promise and controversially ordered the execution of three black commanders who helped him free Gran Colombia. Gran Colombia's 1821 constitution maintained slavery, but banned the import of slaves and allowed the future children of slaves to obtain citizenship and be "free". These children, however, were still forced to carry out "useful trades and professions" assigned to them by their parents’ white owners.
  - Colombia Reports, 30 March 2021

• Aa leader of sugarcane agriculture workers in the Valley is assassinated. There is rejection of the crime of the trade unionist Carlos Alberto Vidal, in Florida, Colombia.
  - El Tiempo, 30 March 2021

• The failure of peace and security in Cauca. Dissidents, criminal gangs, neo-paramilitaries and common crime plague the department. The implementation of the Havana Accords is in debt. What is the way out? Some of the region's politicians speak.
  - El Espectador, 29 March 2021

• Forced eradication of coca in Colombia, a history of complaints and questionable statistics.
  - Voragine, 29 March 2021

• No coffee farmer in Colombia is allowed to export coffee without paying the mighty coffee federation, historically one of the main promoters of fascist economics along with the Catholic Church in their rejection of capitalism. Fedecafe couldn’t even compete against foreign coffee producers who came to dominate domestic consumption. Fedecafe said in 2018 that it represented 540,000 coffee growers. Some 215,000 of these farmers, however, were banned from doing business with the federation because they didn’t own land.
  - Colombia Reports, 29 March 2021

• 'Legal' drug trafficking is very profitable to CEOs. Many drug-trafficking pharmaceutical companies face a tsunami of opioid lawsuits, have filed for bankruptcy, or find themselves on the hook for billions of dollars in settlements. But the CEOs and other top executives responsible for the drug trafficking keep getting rewarded.
  - NPR, 28 March 2021

• How much salt and sugar do you consume? Keep in mind that its excess can affect health. These two ingredients, essential in the diet around the world, have high consumption rates that lead to serious pathologies.
  - Semana, 27 March 2021

• Despite a 2016 peace deal with the FARC, Colombia’s long internal conflict continues (partly because the government didn't keep its promise to find alternatives to coca farming). Seldom has that been as evident as this month, when the government bombed a rebel camp full of young people.
  - New York Times, 27 March 2021

• Between 2016 and 2020, 75 coca substitution leaders have been assassinated. The Somos Defensores program, the Viso Mutop Corporation and the Minga Association present today a document on the attacks on this population since the signing of the Peace agreement, which leaves the voluntary substitution effort cornered. The forced eradication of crops is the Government's main tactic.
  - El Espectador, 26 March 2021

• The world is facing a coffee deficit in a supply chain 'nightmare', as freight disruptions lead to tight supply as demand rebounds
  - Bloomberg, 23 March 2021

• Phenpromethamine, a stimulant drug from the era of World War II, is discovered in weight loss supplements in the United States. It has never been approved for oral use, along with deterenol, another stimulant popular in weight loss supplements.
  - Live Science, 23 March 2021

• Chocolate entre Amigas, the Chaparralunas Women's Network for Peace, the Cacao Producers Association (Asocamet) and the Planadas Youth platform are some of the projects in Meta, Nariño and Tolima that work on the social and economic transformation of the regions.
  - El Espectador, 23 March 2021

• The banning of menthol cigarettes, the mint-flavored products that have been aggressively marketed to Black Americans, and that kills many Black Americans, has long been an elusive goal for public health regulators. Advocates are hoping that President Biden will soon come out in favor of banning mint-flavored cigarettes and other tobacco products.
  - New York Times, 23 March 2021

• In a recently published letter from the Colombian Ministry of Health and Social Protection, to the President of Colombia, related to Law 1787 and Decree 613, the Ministry calls for modifications that would allow for the exportation of dry flowers of the cannabis plant
  - Global Newswire, 22 March 2021

• On February 5, the Peruvian National Police seized nearly 10,000 kilograms of chemical precursors used for processing coca leaf to make cocaine, in a clandestine lab in Cusco department. The lab operated in a house in the Pichari district, in the coca-producing valley of the Apurímac, Ene, and Mantaro rivers.
  - Dialogo, 22 March 2021

• President Biden criticized for supporting a "misguided" plan to poison the coca fields of Colombia by the aerial spraying of glyphosate
  - Vice World News, 19 March 2021

• The opioid drug trafficking family, the Sackler family, agrees to pay $4.2 billion as part of a plan to dissolve the opioid drug trafficking company, and OxyContin manufacturer, Purdue Pharma
  - CNN Business, 16 March 2021

• Francisco Ricaurte, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Colombia, was convicted on March 9th of running a criminal network known as the Cartel de la Toga, or "Cartel of the Robe", in which judges and lawyers accepted bribes in exchange for providing political elites with favorable outcomes. Ricaurte was a judge on the court from 2004 to 2012 and served as its president in 2008.
  - Insight Crime, 15 March 2021

• "The spraying with glyphosate would affect our territory": protests indigenous leaders. Camilo Niño, technical secretary of the National Commission for Indigenous Territories (CNTI), joins the voices that have spoken about the draft decree on fumigations. They insist that prior consultation should be made to take any step forward.
  - El Espectador, 15 March 2021

• The US sees a direct relationship between peace and eradicating drug crops. The embassy and congressmen emphasize that it is the most promising and sustainable strategy in the long run.
  - El Tiempo, 15 March 2021

• Colombia’s prosecution is under fire again after it closed a corruption investigation against the CEO of the country’s largest banking giant, Grupo Aval CEO Luis Carlos Sarmiento Jr, which is embroiled in a bribery scandal with Odebrecht. Banks in Colombia have done nothing to help the coca growing communities industrialize.
  - Colombia Reports, 15 March 2021

• Lawmakers in Mexico are on the verge of legalizing marijuana, but economists and industry analysts warn against expecting much monetary benefit. Recently, the marijuana industry in Canada, and companies such as Canopy Growth, have struggled to be profitable.
  - New York Times, 13 March 2021

• Conservation scientists at the Smithsonian Institute conservation have created the strictest agricultural certification criteria for coffee: their Bird-Friendly certification requires that coffee is organic and that it meets strict requirements for both mature canopy cover and the type of forest in which the coffee is grown. Bird-Friendly coffees are guaranteed to support bird habitat, in addition to fair and stable prices for coffee producers, healthy environments for local communities, and equal access to markets for Bird-Friendly coffee producers.
  - Forbes, 06 March 2021

• "Putumayo will be at the mercy of violence if the promises of the Peace Agreement are not prioritized." During the discussion "Putumayo defends life and builds routes to peace", regional leaders and experts in human rights spoke about the persistence of violence in this department and the solutions they propose to experience a post-conflict situation.
  - El Espectador, 11 March 2021

• A new coalition in the United States - the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation - comprising a wide variety of national corporations, including tobacco and alcohol firms, launched today with the purpose of influencing policy and potentially shaping the first federal cannabis regulations.
  - Politico, 11 March 2021

• The forced eradication of coca could undermine peace in Colombia
  - World Politics Review (locked), 11 March 2021

• Mexico is preparing to legalize marijuana and become the largest market in the world. Lawmakers passed a bill to legalize recreational cannabis, a divisive proposal in a country marked by a deadly war on drugs.
  - New York Times, 10 March 2021

• Amid the fear that exists in rural areas of Cauca, Nariño and Putumayo in Colombia by the illegal armed groups that promote illicit crops, more than 500 peasant producer families in the three departments faced them, but not with violence, but with determination. and the sweat from their brow so that coca does not sprout from the earth, but rather pepper and cocoa.
  - El Tiempo, 10 March 2021

• An assembly of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) in Bolivia resolved to initiate blockades and mobilizations in the event that a parallel coca market begins to operate, approved by the Ministry of Rural Development and Lands. Through a ministerial resolution, the authorization of the transfer of the Villa Fátima coca market to the headquarters of the Señor de Mayo Mixed Transport Union, located in Kalajahuira, in La Paz, was announced.
  - El Diario, 09 March 2021

• A federal prosecurot in New York accused Juan Orlando Hernández, presidente de Honduras, as a collaborator in activities to traffic tons of cocaine to the United States.
  - El Pais, 09 March 2021

• The government of Colombia announces aerial spraying of coca for the 7th time, though the country's Supreme Court has harshly reminded President Ivan Duque that his government has complied with absolutely none of their conditions to restart after the president made a similar mistake in 2019. The President’s office was forced to admit that aerial spraying was a senseless waste of money last year.
  - Colombia Reports, 09 March 2021

• Ensuring quality and safety, the challenge of medicinal cannabis in Colombia. Medicines need to go through the strict approval processes established by the different regulatory agencies.
  - El Espectador, 07 March 2021

• Despite overwhelming evidence, Colombia's prosecution asked a court to drop fraud and bribery charges against far-right former President Alvaro Uribe. The request was expected after prosecutor Gabriel Jaimes had desperately been trying to obstruct his own investigation against the powerful former president who had already been placed under house arrest by the Supreme Court. The close ties between the government and organized crime, and the chief prosecutor’s apparent commitment to organized crime interests, have put Colombia on the brink of becoming a mafia state.
  - Colombia Reports, 05 March 2021

• Puff Bar, an e-cigarette nicotine drug trafficker, schemes to avoid FDA regulation by using synthetic nicotine, since the FDA mostly regulates tobacco-derived uses of nicotine
  - Wall Street Journal, 02 March 2021

• Colombia's most powerful bankers, including bankers Luis Carlos Sarmiento and Jaime Gilinski, have converted some of the country's leading news media into platforms that defend the interests of suspected mafia figures, news media such as El Tiempo and Semana.
  - Colombia Reports, 02 March 2021

• The mayor of Cali, Colombia, Jorge Iván Ospina, expressed his opposition on Tuesday morning to the resumption of aerial spraying with glyphosate in the country, as a strategy to reduce illicit crops. "A million times more I prefer that they annihilate and bomb the cocaine production laboratories, than to fumigate the whole ecosystem destroying the entire ecosystem.", Mayor Ospina wrote on his Twitter account.
  - El Pais, 02 March 2021

• Inhospitable tropical forests with no vehicular access and close to the Atlantic Ocean are the preferred areas for criminal groups to grow coca crops in Honduras. In 2020, Honduran authorities destroyed 424,900 coca bushes, while only 40,000 bushes were reported in 2019. The coca plants grown in Honduras may be of lower quality than those grown in South America. "[The bushes] do not reach 80 centimeters [in height], they do not reach the 2 meters that [plantations] in Colombia have." The experiments with coca plantations in Central America are due to the decline of the Cali and Medellín Colombian cartels.
  - Dialogo, 02 March 2021

• Cocoa and tourism, the competitive bet of Antioquia, Colombia. In Antioquia, the CET Program invested 811 million Colombian pesos (about US$ 220,000) to strengthen the tourism and cocoa chains through seven strategies. Local initiatives, such as tourism and the cocoa chain, have been managed for five years through the Territorial Strategic Competitiveness program (CET), which is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism. and the Adelco Network.
  - El Espectador, 01 March 2021

• Delta-8-THC, a chemical slightly different from Delta-9-THC, and derived from hemp, is psychoactive - 'marijuana light', but unlike Delta-9-THC, Delta-8-THC is not, for now, illegal to sell and use where hemp possession is legal because hemp laws only prohibit producing Delta-9-THC from the plant
  - New York Times, 01 March 2021

• Colombia's chief prosecutor is the main man of President Ivan Duque to protect his alleged drug trafficking associates, which seems to be working well. None of the investigations against Duque's alleged mafia associates have gone anywhere after Prosecutor General Barbosa appointed some of Colombia's most questionable prosecution on the cases.
  - Colombia Reports, 26 February 2021

• President Ivan Duque's far-right political party falsely accused an opposition senator of involvement in the kidnapping practices of demobilized FARC guerrillas in an ongoing smear campaign. Former deputy Justice Minister Rafael Nieto published an image of opposition Senator Ivan Cepeda (a supporter of coca growers in Colombia) on his Twitter with the byline "the voice of the kidnappers".
  - Colombia Reports, 26 February 2021

• Movie review: "The United States versus Billie Holiday" - a hectic biopic portrays the singer as a victim of abuse, addiction and government persecution, a persecution led by Harry Anslinger, the founder of the FBN/DEA who drove Billie Holiday to death, and ironically, died of a drug overdose himself
  - New York Times, 25 February 2021

• As a measure of the failure of cocaine drug policies, police in Germany and Belgium seize 23 tons of cocaine in the ports of Hamburg
  - CNN, 24 February 2021

• The leadership of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of La Paz, Bolivia, announced yesterday that it was determined to reinforce the vigil that they maintain in the Villa Fátima market, to avoid a police intervention instructed by court order.
  - Pagina Siete, 24 February 2021

• The export of chocolate made in Bolivia is still low, as the sector still faces difficulties in transport, logistics and certifications that make the product more expensive.
  - La Razon, 24 February 2021

• How six large business associations control the government of Colombia, including Asobancaria, the bankers' association controlled by the third large banking groups: Grupo Aval, Bancolombia and GNB Sudameris
  - Colombia Reports, 18 February 2021

• Columnist Margarita Rosa said on Twitter that she resigned from El Tiempo because she “found it increasingly difficult to self-censor feelings to confront” the newspaper’s controversial owner and banking mogul Luis Carlos Sarmiento.
  - Colombia Reports, 17 February 2021

• In Bolivia, Adepcoca in emergency receives support from sectors and announces roadblocks. The leadership of the coca growers of the Yungas announced permanent mobilizations since Wednesday before the announcement of the intervention of the Police, after a court ruling.
  - Pagina Siete, 15 February 2021

• The Bolivian MAS government has just signed agreements with three universities to advance coca industrialization projects, different from what is already being done in the country illegally but with so much success that government wants to join in.
  - El Diario, 12 February 2021

• Buenaventura, Colombia's biggest port city on the Pacific Coast, will always be subjected to mafia terror until "the state takes control". Two rival factions of organized crime groups have greatly increased violence in the city. [The port will be important for exports of legal coca products.]
  - El Pais, 05 February 2021

• Buenaventura, Colombia's biggest port city on the Pacific Coast, will always be subjected to mafia terror until "the state takes control". Two rival factions of organized crime groups have greatly increased violence in the city. [The port will be important for exports of legal coca products.]
  - Colombia Reports, 03 February 2021

• The drug trafficking consulting firm, McKinsey, will pay U.S. states $573 million for the advice it gave to opioid drug trafficking companies such as Purdue Pharma that 'legally' created the opioid crisis plaguing the United States
  - New York Times, 04 February 2021

• The drug trafficking consulting firm, McKinsey, will pay U.S. states $573 million for the advice it gave to opioid drug trafficking companies such as Purdue Pharma that 'legally' created the opioid crisis plaguing the United States
  - Wall Street Journal, 04 February 2021

• The top bankers in Colombia - Sarmiento, Gilinski, Ardila - could face 4 years in prison if prosecuted, but evidence of tax evasion is ignored by their allies in the government
  - Colombia Reports, 01 February 2021

• The government policy of Colombia to maintain a monopoly on the production and sales of hard alcohol products, such as the country's most popular - aguardiente, causes much organized crime
  - Economist, 30 January 2021

• While nitrous oxide is a legal recreational drug in the United States, and is the tenth most popular drug in the world, and its abuse is rapidly rising. Meanwhile, no one can drink coca tea which has no problems of abuse.
  - New York Times, 30 January 2021

• A total of 20,968,028 soles (about US $5.7 million) was transferred by the National Commission for Development and Life without Drugs (Devida) of Peru to 17 local governments in the north, center and south of the Valley of the Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers (Vraem) during 2020 to improve the economy of families in the area with alternative and sustainable crops.
  - El Peruano, 30 January 2021

• McKinsey & Company is close to reaching a settlement with state attorneys general over advice it gave to Purdue Pharma LP and other opioid manufacturers that have been targeted by states over their alleged role in fueling the nation's opioid crisis. The talks come amid the release of court filings in recent months detailing recommendations McKinsey made to Purdue on how to aggressively boost sales of its OxyContin painkiller at a time the country was reeling from opioid addiction and deaths.
  - Wall Street Journal, 29 January 2021

• Government officials involved with drugs and health are studying how to safely administer powerful psychedelics for use in psychiatry: ecstasy (MDA), LSD and psilocybin (found in some mushrooms), but are not studying use of the coca leaf for psychiatry (such as treating cocaine addiction)
  - Nature, 27 January 2021

• Through an update to the Anti-Tobacco Law of Colombia, the government seeks to regulate the marketing, advertising, packaging and labeling of electronic cigarettes. There are more than 159 thousand consumers of electronic cigarettes. Annual deaths from causes linked to smoking generate a nationwide expense of $17 billion annually for the care of smoking patients.
  - El Pais, 27 January 2021

• Those eating fried foods increased their risk of heart disease, stroke, heart failure and premature death. [None of these problems occur when drinking coca tea.]
  - New York Times, 22 January 2021

• Corporate media in Colombia are participating in what are possibly illegal intelligence operations that are trying to criminalize government critics, using multiple “intelligence reports” they received from the government that are not corroborated by any evidence
  - Colombia Reports, 22 January 2021

• The signatories of the Peace Agreement in Cuaca, Colombia - the FARC ex-combatants - joined together to publish a catalog with all the productive initiatives that they are executing, despite the 42 assassinations of ex-guerrillas in this region.
  - El Espectador, 17 January 2021

• Opinion: On the need for a coca tax in Bolivia when sales exceed 300 million dollars a year. Should the coca growing sector pay taxes for the coca leaf? For production or for marketing?
  - Pagina Siete, 17 January 2021

• President Biden will nominate Samantha Power as director of the US Agency for International Development. She played an important role in the failed intervention, by bombing, in Libya in 2011. She later advocated for US intervention in Syria.
  - AntiWar.com, 13 January 2021

• Three coca growers from Bolivia's Adepcoca were injured fleeing a tear gas blast. A group of coca growers, according to the complaint, wanter to enter one of the warehouses of the coca marketing building, where they would have exploded a tear gas canister.
  - Pagina Siete, 13 January 2021

• More than 6,000 members of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of Bolivia marched yesterday to demand the resignation of the Vice Minister of Coca, Rolando Canceno, whom they accuse "of dividing and generating confrontations between the Yungueños". For his part, the Canceno called for dialogue with the sectors but accused the leaders of carrying arms inside the coca producers' market in Villa Fátima
  - Pagina Siete, 12 January 2021

• Colombia’s late president Virgilio Barco personally approved the extermination of thousands of leftist political leaders and activists in 1986, according to local media. The military objected however after which Barco agreed to let the National Army to lead the operation that would lead to the assassination of more than 3,000 party members, according to estimates of the National Center for Historic Memory.
  - Colombia Reports, 11 January 2021

• Gonzalo Cardona Molina, environmental leader, coordinator of the ProAves Andean Parrot Reserve since 1998 and guardian of the yellow-eared parrot, was assassinated in the jurisdiction of La Unión, rural area of Tuluá.
  - El Pais, 11 January 2021

• Toxins in marijuana smoke may be harmful to your health. People who only smoked marijuana had higher blood and urine levels of several smoke-related toxins such as naphthalene, acrylamide and acrylonitrile than nonsmokers. Naphthalene is associated with anemia, liver and neurological damage, while acrylamide and acrylonitrile have been associated with cancer and other health issues.
  - CNN, 11 January 2021

• Federal prosecutors in the United States alleged that Juan Orlando Hernandez, the president of Honduras, received millions of dollars from drug traffickers to help export tons of cocaine to the United States.
  - Wall Street Journal, 11 January 2021

• Coca growers from the Yungas area arrived yesterday afternoon and night at the facilities of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers of La Paz (Adepcoca) to join other affiliates in the vigil that they have been carrying out since the previous week with the end of not allowing the entry of coca producers related to the MAS (the ruling party of Bolivia).
  - Pagina Siete, 11 January 2021

• The government of Bolivia decided to side with the leadership related to the ruling party (MAS) for the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of La Paz, represented by Elena Flores, in the dispute between the coca growers of the Yungas for the takeover of the institution. The authority made that statement yesterday, after the group that supports the recent election of Armin Lluta as president of Adepcoca - Franclin Gutiérrez's successor - clashed with the one that supports Flores. This last group tried to take possession of the offices inside the coca market, on Arapata street in Villa Fátima.
  - Pagina Siete, 09 January 2021

• Groups related to Bolivia's ruling party, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), tried to take over three institutions, including the offices of the Coca Producers Association (Adepcoca) in La Paz. Cocaleros led by Elena Flores threw dynamite and repelled stones with metal shields.
  - Pagina Siete, 08 January 2021

• Ever Castro, the former coca grower who created his own productive forest on his 18-hectare farm in Belén de los Andaquíes, in the foothills of Caquete. His farm is a model of an agroforestry scheme, in which several types of crops coexist in the middle of a forest, each of which generates a different income for its owner.
  - La Silla Vacia, 08 January 2021

• Letter to the editor: Walmart's denial of the drug trafficking of opioids, "we were just fulfilling legal prescriptions", is false. Federal law requires pharmacists to evaluate prescribed medication to ensure it is "appropriate, medically necessary, and not likely to result in adverse events".
  - Wall Street Journal, 07 January 2021

• This January 7, just after the release of a UN report that warns about the danger facing the ex-combatants of the Farc, it was reported of the murder of another member of the former guerrilla group, who was in the process of reincorporation. He is Diego María Yule Rivera, who in times of confrontation was known as 'Cristian Ramírez'. He was 39 years old.
  - El Tiempo, 07 January 2021

• James Gilinski, the second richest man in Colombia, and the ghost banker of Colombia, an expert in using offshore tax havens. In 2019, he bought the magazine Semana. The irony of Vicki Davila, the sister-in-law of one of Colombia's most infamous bank robbers, the Gneccos, running Semana for one of Colombia's shadiest banking families, the Gilinskis, was too much for Semana's journalists. They all quit.
  - Colombia Reports, 07 January 2021

• Grupo Aval, Colombia's largest banking corporation, fined for bribing government officials with Odebrecht in order to win rights to construct the country's biggest infrastructure project, Ruta del Sol II. This fine is months after Grupo Aval was fined for evading money laundering regulations.
  - Colombia Reports, 05 January 2021

• The E.P.A. has finalized a so-called transparency plan that it says will improve the credibility of science, but is meant to shield the drug traffickers of Big Tobacco from analysis of how smoking kills.
  - New York Times, 05 January 2021

• The degenerate banking system in Colombia is impeding the country’s economic recovery as entrepreneurs are blacklisted by banks who are waiting for the approval of a grace period for past debts
  - Colombia Reports, 04 January 2021

• In the municipality of Briceño (Antioquia, Colombia), Yolanda Zabala Mazo, 22 years old, was murdered along with her sister, Reina Zabala, 17 years old. Yolanda, who had been part of the ranks of former guerrillas - a former FARC combatant, was currently advancing her reincorporation process in the Territorial Space for Training and Reincorporation of La Plancha in Anorí (Antioquia).
  - El Espectador, 01 January 2021

• Mexico is ready to become the largest legal marketplace for cannabis in the world, legalizing the marijuana industry throughout its supply chain, from farming to distribution and consumption
  - Wall Street Journal, 29 December 2020

• Manual Alonso, a former FARC combatant, was assassinated in the rural area of Miranda, Cauca. He was part of the peace process between the Farc and the National Government, confirmed members of the Farc party.
  - El Pais, 28 December 2020

• The dirtiest little secret of why the drug "wars" never end: corruption of law enforcement agencies on both sides of the U.S. and Mexican border that cooperate with drug traffickers - resulting in tens of billions of dollars spent in recent decades and zero results achieved (except for the deaths of many innocent people)
  - Gatestone Institute, 23 December 2020

• The senator of the Movement to Socialism (MAS) Leonardo Loza affirmed that the coca producers in Bolivia will be the ones who should debate the tax for the sector "if one day" they pay, and not the politicians, since he considered that there are those who raise the issue as "revenge".
  - Pagina Siete, 23 December 2020

• The Amazona Experimental Center (CEA), the cattle farm that transformed environmental conservation in Putumayo. The CEA is the most important scientific research site in the province. Its strategic location is key to the conservation of wildlife species rescued from illegal traffic.
  - El Espectador, 22 December 2020

• A seed bank to guarantee the food security of La Mojana, which is in the north of Colombia and with a million fertile hectares. A project that seeks to rescue seeds used by older generations has been the best alternative to face the intense rains and droughts.
  - El Espectador, 22 December 2020

• Justice Department sues Walmart, saying it fueld the nation's horrendous opooid crisis by allowing its network of pharmacies to fill millions of prescriptions for opioids, thousands of which authorities said were suspicious
  - U.S. Department of Justice, 22 December 2020

• Justice Department sues Walmart, saying it fueld the nation's horrendous opooid crisis by allowing its network of pharmacies to fill millions of prescriptions for opioids, thousands of which authorities said were suspicious
  - New York Times, 22 December 2020

• In Bolivia, a coca grower earns 7 or 10 times the minimum wage of 2,122 Bolivians (about US $ 300). In the Yungas, each coca grower has a quarterly income of 42,000 Bs from the sale of a 'cato' of coca (1600 square meters), he or she harvests 4 times a year and generates an annual return of 168,000 Bs between 12 months = Bs 14,000 per month (about US $ 2000). In the tropics, it is harvested every two months, 42,000 x 6 = 252,000, between 12 months = Bs 21,000 (about US $ 3,000) that is earned each month in the tropics of Cochabamba.
  - El Diario, 21 December 2020

• I complain to Congress and mayors for not going to a hearing on glyphosate in Colombia. Regional Attorney's Office criticized little presence at a key meeting for the return of aerial spraying. The audience was attended by Senator José Obdulio Gaviria, the representatives of Tumaco (Nariño); Leiva and Balboa (Cauca); and Calamar (Guaviare), the mayor of Palmira (Valle), the governor of Nariño and representatives of the governments of Putumayo and Caquetá.
  - El Tiempo, 21 December 2020

• These are the routes of drugs and death in the Colombian Pacific. El Tambo and Argelia (Cauca) are the main enclave of this market. The ports of Tumaco, Pasto, Popayán and Buenaventura are secondary nodes, but that does not mean they are not of equal importance. 'Triangle of marijuana and coca', which is made up of Corinto, Miranda and Toribío.
  - El Tiempo, 21 December 2020

• Abya Yala meeting organized by Evo Morales defines business creation and use of traditional medicine. The meeting convened by the leader of the MAS and president of the coca growers of the Six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba brought together representatives of Ecuador, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Panama, Guatemala, Chile and Bolivia.
  - Pagina Siete, 20 December 2020

• The Church opposes aerial spraying with glyphosate as a system to eradicate illegal plantations of coca crops in Colombia. Monsignor Luis José Rueda, Archbishop of Bogotá, clearly states this in the following interview. "I do not see glyphosate fumigation as the most appropriate proposal."
  - El Tiempo, 20 December 2020

• Although it has been one of the proposals of the National Government, the return of aerial spraying against illicit crops still has a complex process to go forward. Yesterday, a key hearing was started at the National Environmental Licensing Authority to modify the environmental management plan of the glyphosate aerial spray program (Pecig), but this only helps to comply with an environmental risk assessment of the herbicide, and others are lacking, requirements imposed by the Constitutional Court so that the fumigations can return.
  - El Tiempo, 19 December 2020

• In the midst of the processes being carried out by the Government for the National Narcotics Council to approve the return of aerial spraying of coca with glyphosate, there are 228 lawsuits that it faces today and for which the Nation has been condemned by the use of that herbicide.
  - El Tiempo, 19 December 2020

• In Bolivia, senator in the MAS party and coca grower leader Leonardo Loza asked the United Nations not to rely only on "theoretical" reports to declare that 94% of the coca leaf production that leaves the Chapare de Cochabamba region goes to the illegal market.
  - Pagina Siete, 19 December 2020

• The "evil" opioid drug-trafficking family, the Sacklers, are condemned in a U.S. House investigation for refusing to apologize for their role, and the role of their company - Perdue Pharma, in exploiting the opioid drug crisis in the U.S. that has killed 500,000 while earning the Sacklers billions of dollars in drug trafficking profits
  - New York Times, 17 December 2020

• The "evil" opioid drug-trafficking family, the Sacklers, are condemned in a U.S. House investigation for refusing to apologize for their role, and the role of their company - Perdue Pharma, in exploiting the opioid drug crisis in the U.S. that has killed 500,000 while earning the Sacklers billions of dollars in drug trafficking profits
  - The Guardian, 17 December 2020

• From marijuana to cocaine: 40 years of US counternarcotics failures in Colombia, a literally toxic strategy from paraquat and Agent Orange to glyphosate
  - Colombia Reports, 17 December 2020

• Coca producers from the Yungas of La Paz and related to the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) yesterday inaugurated an illegal and parallel market of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) in the Santa Rosa area of the city of El Alto. This paper tried to communicate with the new president of Adepcoca, Armin Lluta, who is in opposition to the Government, but did not answer his cell phone. This is the fourth time that the coca growers related to the MAS attempt to open a market parallel to the legal market of Adepcoca. The first three were in the Chuquiaguillo area, Villa Fátima and the Adepcoca Hospital, with the endorsement of the former Minister of Rural Development and Lands César Cocarico.
  - Pagina Siete, 16 December 2020

• The candidate for the Governor of La Paz for the Frente Para la Victoria (FPV), Franclin Gutiérrez, will hold meetings with different social sectors, among which are representatives of transport and the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA), in search of support for his candidacy, informed the campaign coordinator, Sergio Pampa. Gutiérrez is a coca grower leader of the Yungas.
  - Pagina Siete, 16 December 2020

• As a Christmas gift for Colombia, the Government of President Duque insists on glyphosate to eradicate coca. There is no valid evidence nor the studies from the party of the next president of the United States. And no matter how hard the Duque government tries, the road remains bogged down.
  - La Silla Vacia, 15 December 2020

• Surplus coca crops in Bolivia increased between 2019 and 2020 from 25,500 to 32,000 hectares, mainly due to conflicts and the paralysis of the coca reduction policy in the Jeanine áñez administration, informed the Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo. He reported that this year only 2,000 hectares of coca were reduced. He accused the government of Jeanine áñez of having paralyzed the tasks of controlling and reducing coca crops.
  - La Razon, 15 December 2020

• Close to 30,000 coca farmers of the Yungas region of Bolivia are meeting today to elect a new director of the Provincial Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca)
  - Pagina Siete, 14 December 2020

• The production in Colombia and commercialization of cocaine is increasingly sophisticated and has managed to produce record quantities in the last nine years to satisfy a demand that, instead of decreasing, has increased as never before in history.
  - El Tiempo, 14 December 2020

• When correlating the list of municipalities in Colombia with the largest number of hectares of coca and those where the murders of replacement leaders have been registered with those of judicial officials, it is evident that in most of these territories there are no real capacities for the administration of justice - there are few judges or prosecutors.
  - La Silla Vacia, 14 December 2020

• Before a New York judge, a special agent of the DEA revealed the disonesty of versions of Néstor Humberto Martínez schemes against the peace with the FARC. DEA Special Agent Ken Saunders cleared his record on April 9, 2018 when he declared, before Federal Judge Robert W. Lehrbrurger, of the Southern District of New York, that no member of that the DEA had collected any evidence of drug trafficking and money laundering that was later used in Colombia against the peace accords with a former FARC guerrilla.
  - La Neuva Prensa, 14 December 2020

• [VIDEO] U.S. embassy participated in a DEA plot to discredit the war crimes tribunal of Colombia. In a letter, Special agent Craig M. Michelin of the DEA’s Country Office asked his liaison at Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office in February last year to provide $500,000 for an illegal operation against the Special Jurisdiction for Peace.
  - Noticias Uno, 14 December 2020

• U.S. embassy participated in a DEA plot to discredit the war crimes tribunal of Colombia. In a letter, Special agent Craig M. Michelin of the DEA’s Country Office asked his liaison at Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office in February last year to provide $500,000 for an illegal operation against the Special Jurisdiction for Peace.
  - Colombia Reports, 14 December 2020

• Opinion: The Civil War's 13th Amendment, that abolished racial slavery, actually didn't do so - it just replaced it with criminal slavery by allowing forced bondage - slavery - of those convicted of crimes. So White Christians in the South just started charging and convicting black people with fake crimes, so that they could be enslaved (on a shorter term basis) again. [This was one of the founding principles of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, then the U.S. DEA, which was founded by a notorious racist. Think of all of the heinous marijuana convictions.]
  - CNN, 09 December 2020

• The Drug Enforcement Administration in 2018 reportedly bungled a conspiracy against Colombia's war crimes tribunal in an attempt to cover up a botched conspiracy against demobilized guerrillas. The failed operation cost the head of Colombia’s chief prosecutor, triggered a surge in illegal armed groups formed by former FARC guerrillas and strained relations between the two countries.
  - Colombia Reports, 08 December 2020

• Opinion: Soon after arresting Mexcian General Salvador Cienfuegos on drug-trafficking with the Mexican drug cartels and money-laundering charges, the U.S. releases him to 'maintain' good relations with the Mexican government. Yet another loss in the futile, 50-year failed U.S. war on drugs. The good news for the drug-war bureaucracy is that their jobs and pensions are further secured.
  - Wall Street Journal, 07 December 2020

• How the opioid addiction in the U.S. fuels a crisis for farmers in Mexico. As American make more use of fentanyl, poppy growers are losing market share and thus are turning to migrant work and organized crime to survive
  - The Intercept, 06 December 2020

• In contradiction to multiple statistics, the Minister of Defense, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, assured that "The fight against drugs in Colombia is not a failure." He referred to the report of the US House of Representatives on the matter.
  - El Tiempo, 06 December 2020

• Four indigenous leaders are murdered in southwest Colombia (Santander de Quilichao and Caloto), by a dissident FARC group, for impeding the dissident's drug trafficking activities. The indigenous have found themselves increasingly under fire from rearmed former FARC guerrillas who want to use their indigenous reserve to cultivate coca, the basic ingredient for cocaine, and marihuana.
  - Colombia Reports, 06 December 2020

• A study by the Organized Crime Observatory of the Universidad del Rosario reveals that many of the homicides of former combatants occur in municipalities with large areas of coca in Colombia, where the FARC dissidents operate, and in places where there are irregular armed groups in confrontation.
  - El Espectador, 04 December 2020

• The betrayal of Néstor Humberto. If peace with the Farc "resisted the lies and entrapments of Néstor Humberto and the DEA, apparently it can resist everything", said former President Juan Manuel Santos about Néstor Humberto Martínez, the Attorney General appointed by Santos. "We have to get to the bottom of this sordid affair", that is, the controversy will not rest until it is discovered what is the truth of such anti-peace tricks made by the Humberto-DEA partnership, because, as a very knowledgeable source told me, "the DEA does not get involved in such an operation without having a request for judicial assistance".
  - El Espectador, 04 December 2020

• African cocoa farmers accuse "Big Chocolate" (including Mars, Hershey and Olan) of circumventing a $400-per-ton tax meant to help poor African cacao farmers
  - Zero Hedge, 03 December 2020

• The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs votes to remove marijuana for medical use from a list of the most risky narcotics such as heroin, but doesn't vote to allow recreational marijuana while still keeping nicotine - the most deadly and addictive drug - off of the lists of controlled drugs
  - New York Times, 03 December 2020

• After years facing accusations over child labor, Big Chocolate took its case on Tuesday to the U.S. Supreme Court, with two companies -- Nestlé USA and Cargill -- arguing that they are not liable for human rights abuses committed on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast. Six Malian former child slaves were trafficked to Ivory Coast and forced to work up to 14 hours a day, six days a week, without pay, in the backbreaking harvest of cocoa beans, according to the lawsuit brought on their behalf against the two companies. At issue is a legalistic question of whether the 18th-century Alien Tort Claims Act, or Alien Tort Statute (ATS), can be used by foreigners to sue U.S. corporations for gross violations abroad, including ones that violate international law like child slavery.
  - Fortune, 01 December 2020

• U.S. chemical companies face few legal risks, and the drug traffickers rely on it, profiting the chemical companies from drug trafficking. For example, Taminco illegally sold enough MMA for Mexican narcos to make $3.2 billion worth of methamphetamine. For that, it paid a fine of just $1.3 million—in one of the only prosecutions of its kind ever.
  - Business Week, 01 December 2020

• Colombian Senator Ivan Marulanda proposes new law that would allow the government of Colombia to distribute cocaine for medicinal purposes. Currently, use of cocaine is legal in Colombia, but not the legal sale of cocaine.
  - MixMag, 01 December 2020

• Colombia's banks have been laying the perfect infrastructure for tax evasion, which is estimated to cost the State more than corruption. The country's largest bankers, the Gilinski and the Sarmiento families, have created almost the perfect infrastructure that makes it almost impossible to resist evading taxes. [And yet, there is no bank for the country's coca growers]
  - Colombia Reports, 30 November 2020

• Colombia's defense minister, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, is trying to get media support for his government’s desire to restart the aerial fumigation of coca plants as farmers are doing all they can to stop him. For a week, the minister has been saying that the security forces will forcibly eradicate 130,000 hectares of coca this year, while his own eradicators told media Trujillo is cooking the books.
  - Colombia Reports, 30 November 2020

• The children of former coca growers in Boyacá, Colombia, are creating a future without coca (or fumigation). The solutions they have devised show how, beyond the hectares of coca and at a time when the government of Iván Duque insists on resuming spraying, there are more useful indicators to measure what works in drug policy.
  - La Silla Vacia, 29 November 2020

• McKinsey & Company, the world's most prestigious consulting firm, proposed in 2017 to the non-convicted (in 2020) drug trafficking company Purdue Pharma that Purdue pay pharmacy companies a rebate for each of their customers who overdosed using Purdue's heroin-pill, OxyContin, the root cause evil of an opioid crisis that killed 450,000 Americans since 1999
  - New York Times, 28 November 2020

• Bolivia reports to date in 2020 that 2,000 hectares of coca have been eliminated and its plans to eliminate 8,000 in 2021. The Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, explained that representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) made their concern known for the increase in coca crops in the government of former President Jeanine áñez.
  - La Razon, 27 November 2020

• After flying over the Chapare, Bolivian Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo blamed former Minister Arturo Murillo for the increase in coca leaf cultivation. According to the authority, the "only thing the previous administration did was incriminate producers, assuring that they were guerrillas".
  - Pagina Siete, 27 November 2020

• Colombia's Sergio Arboleda University is the alma mater of far-right President Ivan Duque and notorious for its ties to organized crime. [It has done no research to help coca industrialization.]
  - Colombia Reports, 27 November 2020

• The investigation into the alleged complicity of former President Alvaro Uribe in three massacres and a homicide is increasing suspicion that Colombia’s banks were sponsoring terrorism. These banks include BanColombia.
  - Colombia Reports, 26 November 2020

• "Measuring the drug trafficking problem in terms of cultivated hectares is a mistake." For Adam Isacson, in charge of Defense Oversight of the Washington Office for Latin American Affairs (WOLA), one must also speak of the absence of the State, poverty, inequality, corruption and impunity.
  - El Espectador, 26 November 2020

• Cannabis tax revenues in Q3 collected by the State of California soared by a record 80% year-over-year, and by a record of $136 million year-over-year, to a $307 million. This brought California’s cannabis taxes during the first nine months of 2020 to $775 million, and on track to exceed $1 billion for the whole year.
  - Zero Hedge, 24 November 2020

• The risks of another drug trafficking epidemic: teenage vaping of highly addictive nicotine. "We are stepping backward from all the advances we have made in tobacco control.", one investigator said.
  - New York Times, 24 November 2020

• How one cacao entrepreneur, Max Brenner, is building a business by using all parts of the cacao pod, not just the 30% fruit part used by chocolate companies
  - Entrepreneur, 24 November 2020

• Chocolate makers are having a hard time reducing their use of sugar. Regulators want sugar levels slashed, but doing so is technically tricky and a tough sell to consumers. [Coca leaf extracts can help reduce sugar.]
  - Wall Street Journal, 21 November 2020

• Colombia's former chief prosecutor, Nestor Humberto Martinez, is facing criminal charges for allegedly conspiring with the US Government in order to file bogus drug trafficking charges against a demobilized guerrilla leader, Jesus Santrich. The conspiracy all but destroyed Colombia’s peace process, spurred the rearmament of Santrich and the FARC's former political chief "Ivan Marquez", and forced Martinez to resign.
  - Colombia Reports, 19 November 2020

• President Ivan Duque wants the US to maintain support for "what used to be Plan Colombia", the U.S.-funded counternarcotics strategy that subsidized at least three drug traffickers. US President-elect Joe Biden called the counternarcotics strategy "one of the most successful -- and bipartisan -- foreign policy undertakings of the last half century", contradicting a GAO report that the policy undertaking has mostly been a failure.
  - Colombia Reports, 19 November 2020

• Evo Morales Ayma has installed his office in the headquarters of the Coordinator of the Six Federations of the Tropics. The headquarters of the Coordinator is located in the town of Lauka Ñ - 172 kilometers from Cochabamba - in the municipality of Shinahota in Chapare. Lauca Ñ is considered the historic center of the cocalero movement in Bolivia.
  - Pagina Siete, 15 November 2020

• Argentina to allow medical marijuana to be grown at home
  - New York Times, 13 November 2020

• The five families who own the news in Colombia [news sources which have done nothing to promote legal uses of the coca leaf] - the Sarmiento (Grupo Aval), Ardila (Postobon, sugar plantations), Santo Domingo, Gilinski (Bancolombia), and Char (Caribbean region) clans
  - Colombia Reports, 13 November 2020

• A 'mega-laboratory' of cocaine, in which up to five tons of this drug were processed, using thousands of tons of coca leaf, was destroyed by Colombian authorities in the last hours in the ágle area of the municipality of Francisco Pizarro, Nariño. The drug trafficking complex was the property of the Residual Organized Armed Group belonging to FARC dissidents.
  - El Pais, 13 November 2020

• It is not only potatoes and corn: cassava and bananas are also experiencing economic crisis. "The downside is that the price they offer us for our product does not compensate for production costs, so corn is not as perishable as potatoes, but at the moment we don't have cash flow. This, apart from the pandemic, is It originates because the corn they bring from abroad is cheaper, so the companies that bought us no longer do it." "They stimulate imports by removing tariffs and in that case national agricultural production is discouraged," explains Vanegas. What is happening with bananas and white corn, beans, in Putumayo. It is a situation that also happens with strawberries and blackberries.
  - El Tiempo, 13 November 2020

• Leonard Loza, the coca grower leader and activist of the ruling political party Movement Toward Socialism, Leonardo Loza, will be the Secretary of the Security and Fight Against Drug Trafficking commission in Bolivia. The new Deputy Minister of Social Defense announced that he will resume the strategy to combat drugs that the government of Evo Morales had implemented.
  - El Deber, 13 November 2020

• Banking moguls Gabriel and Jaime Gilinski all but destroyed what used to be Colombia's most influential news magazine after appointing a controversial media personality as editor-in-chief. The appointment of Vicky Davila, a member of the Gnecco crime family, as director of Semana triggered an unprecedented walkout and the destruction of the magazine’s reputation. The Gilinski family will have to compete with RCN Television and El Tiempo newspaper, who could take advantage of the mass walkout at Semana to marginalize what used to be Colombia’s most renowned magazine into bankruptcy. [Over the years, Semana has done nothing to help the world of the coca leaf.]
  - Colombia Reports, 12 November 2020

• Investors from the United States, Canada and Germany are interested in the future of legalized hemp in Costa Rica
  - La Republica, 11 November 2020

• Technology innovations look to change the cacao landscape in Colombia. Cacao holds promises, if the prices remain high enough, as a 'peace crop' in Colombia, providing smallholders with a viable alternative to coca
  - MongaBay, 10 November 2020

• Leonard Loza, the coca grower leader and activist of the ruling political party Movement Toward Socialism, Leonardo Loza, will be the Secretary of the Security and Fight Against Drug Trafficking commission in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 10 November 2020

• E-cigarettes sold by nicotine drug traffickers can be a 'gateway' to teenagers smoking tobacco cigarettes sold by tobacco-nicotine drug traffickers
  - EurekaAlert, 09 November 2020

• Ex-president Evo Morales returns to Bolivia to cheers. He remains president both of the ruling MAS party, and remains leader of the powerful coca growers labor unions - an intensely loyal and well-organized social movement that over the past two decades has rapidly mobilized tens of thousands of members to support its leader in times of crisis
  - New York Times, 09 November 2020

• The Bolivian Ombudsman's Office condemns violence over control of Adepcoca (the coca growers cooperative) and calls for dialogue. Two sectors of coca leaf producers staged protests in the early hours of the morning in the vicinity of Adepcoca in Villa Fátima.
  - Pagina Siete, 09 November 2020

• How the DEA all but destroyed Colombia's peace process for no apparent reason, which has denied a new, legal future for the coca leaf
  - Colombia Reports, 09 November 2020

• One of the main natural components of ayahuasca tea is dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which promotes neurogenesis -- the formation of new neurons, as well as helps with the formation of other neural cells such as astrocytes and oligodendrocytes
  - Medical Xpress, 06 November 2020

• Three opioid drug traffickers (McKesson, Cardinal Health, Amerisource Bergen) and one large opioid drug manufacturer (Johnson & Johnson) are closing in on a $26 billion deal with state and local governments that would end thousands of lawsuits over the companies’ role in the opioid epidemic. The distributors shipped more than three-quarters of the nation's opioids to pharmacies, rarely raising red flags even when quantities were wildly disproportionate to a store's local population - pure drug trafficking.
  - New York Times, 06 November 2020

• The evidence of ties between Colombias ruling party, the Democratic Center of President Ivan Duque, and drug trafficking is so overwhelming that the prosecution invented more charges against the cops who discovered ties between the far right Democratic Center and the drug trafficking organization of Marquitos Figueroa
  - Colombia Reports, 06 November 2020

• Authorities in Honduras have destroyed more than 100 acres of coca crops in 2020, the latest seizure of 4,000 coca bushes occurring in Iriona, a municipality on the Caribbean coast in the department of Colón
  - InSight Crime, 04 November 2020

• The Government of Bolivia, through the Ministry of Productive Development and Plural Economy and the National Service of Intellectual Property, Senapi, yesterday made the official launch of the Denomination of Origin of the Royal Quinoa of the Southern Altiplano of Bolivia. (The same for the coca leaf in the future!)
  - Pagina Siete, 04 November 2020

• American voters in the state of New Jersey approved a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational cannabis, putting pressure on neighboring states like New York to legalize as well, or lose sales to New Jersey
  - New York Times, 04 November 2020

• In less than one year, the Congress of the Republic of Colombia kills for the second time one of the proposals that generates the most controversy in the country: the regulation of the consumption of marijuana for recreational purposes
  - El Espectador, 04 November 2020

• In less than one year, the Congress of the Republic of Colombia kills for the second time one of the proposals that generates the most controversy in the country: the regulation of the consumption of marijuana for recreational purposes
  - El Tiempo, 04 November 2020

• Oregon became the first US state on Tuesday to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin, and to legalize access to hallucinogenic mushrooms for therapeutic use
  - CRHoy.com, 04 November 2020

• Oregon became the first US state on Tuesday to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin, and to legalize access to hallucinogenic mushrooms for therapeutic use
  - Fox News, 04 November 2020

• The declining oil industry in Colombia could trigger an economic crisis with reserves expected to depleted in six years. With oil generating 7% of Colombia's GDP, and 60% of its exports by value, new income streams will be needed. [Such as a legal coca leaf industry.
  - Seeking Alpha, 03 November 2020

• The Colombian Minister of Justice, Wilson Ruiz, talks about the process that the Government has been carrying out for 16 months to restart the aerial fumigation of illegal crops, following a decision of the Constitutional Court, of July last year, which reopened that possibility.
  - El Tiempo, 03 November 2020

• The Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of Bolivia affliated with the Movement for Socialism (MAS - the ruling party) was reactivated and decided to implement the control of its affiliates through the coca producer card, a requirement that is issued by Adepcoca led by Franclin Gutierrez.
  - Pagina Siete, 03 November 2020

• When US President Trump took office, he made it clear that he had no intention to fulfill commitments made by his predecessor Barack Obama to support the peace process that included a new counternarcotics policy, the substitution of coca crops, as part of a strategy called "Peace Colombia". Trump was supported by Lindsay Graham and Marco Rubio, Alvaro Uribe and associates. Meanwhile the U.S. opioid crisis was killing ten times more people in the US than cocaine, and the U.S. government was doing little to stop those drug traffickers. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of dollars allocated by the US Congress achieved no results in Colombia.
  - Colombia Reports, 02 November 2020

• Oregon is on the verge of decriminalizing heroin, coca and LSD. Under the new measure, possession of less than 1 gram of heroin or meth, 2 grams of cocaine, 12 grams of psilocybin, 40 doses of LSD, oxycodone or methadone and 1 gram of MDMA would all be decriminalized.
  - Zero Hedge, 01 November 2020

• In rural Colombia, narcotics gangs step into power vacuum left by peace deal. Massacres and assassinations of community leaders are rising in the countryside as gangs vie for control of coca, marijuana and gold mining
  - Wall Street Journal, 31 October 2020

• Between 2019 and 2020, the National Commission for Development and Life without Drugs (Devida) of Peru invested 54, 923,133 soles (about US $15 million) in the Huánuco region to strengthen alternative development projects and activities, benefiting 17,279 farming families.
  - El Peruano, 31 October 2020

• The senator elected by the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), Andrónico Rodríguez, signaled that the former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, upon his return to the country, will resume the leadership of the Six Federations of Coca Growers of the Tropic of Cochabamba, of which he is president, and of the party.
  - Pagina Siete, 30 October 2020

• Andrónico Rodríguez, a coca farmer from the Tropic of Cochabamba, and Freddy Mamani, a rural teacher in El Alto, were elected to direct the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, for the Bolivian Legislature
  - Pagina Siete, 30 October 2020

• Nicotine drug trafficker Juul, with its electronic cigarettes, reduces its valuation to $10 billion from over $38 billion just two years ago, before regulatory crackdowns on its legal drug trafficking. Equal rights demands coca farmers be able to sell an electronic cigarette with the less harmful coca alkaloid.
  - Wall Street Journal, 29 October 2020

• An SOS is heard from the potato farmers of Colombia due to low prices for the producer. The closure of hotels, restaurants and cafeterias reduced potato consumption in the country between 30% and 40%. This, in turn, caused lower potato prices that represent losses for farmers. Relief for debts and actions against imports, among their requests. It is not an alternative to coca leaf.
  - El Espectador, 29 October 2020

• In Putumayo, Colombia, the covid virus doesn't hurt the community as much that of illegal armed groups, and that of the legal controversies of the local government. The province is being hit by the territorial dispute between the gangs, and the governance crisis due to the accusations against its governor and one of his two congressmen. Yurilla, which can only be reached by boat, is a key district because it is the connecting door between Putumayo and Caquetá. It is an important corridor for the military rear (Leguízamo and Solano, in Caquetá, are the largest and most inhospitable municipalities of the two departments) but also for the transport and commercialization of coca and marijuana.
  - La Silla Vacia, 28 October 2020

• Mexican gangsters are sending emissaries and even agronomists to Colombia to trade for cocaine and to improve and guarantee its purity. That in Córdoba, in Bajo Cauca and in Chocó, pamphlets of the Sinaloa cartel and that of 'Los Zetas' are appearing and that foreigners with a Mexican accent are terrorizing the population.
  - El Tiempo, 27 October 2020

• Tetra Technologies wanted to boost sales of calcium chloride, a compound with lots of commercial applications. Now Colombian drug lords are asking for it by name, which they smuggle from Peru through Ecuador into Colombia. They buy huge quantities legally in Peru from Tetra, which doesn't verify who is buying their chemicals.
  - BusinessWeek, 26 October 2020

• The governments of the Colombia and the US are in damage control mode after media revealed how their failing counternarcotics policy is hurting their political alliance. The US embassy and Colombia's prosecution were forced to respond to reports on the alleged involvement of US counternarcotics officials in corruption and Prosecutor General Barbosa's failure to cooperate with the Americans. The reports added to evidence indicating how their bilateral counternarcotics policy failed to prevent Colombia's potential cocaine production to reach an all-time high last year. Both Duque and Uribe are being investigated because they allegedly believed they could get away with US counternarcotics funds to fight political opposition instead of narcos, which is causing discord.
  - Colombia Reports, 26 October 2020

• Young influencers on YouTube are increasingly marketing/trafficking addictive ák food and sugary beverages to fellow children
  - CNN, 26 October 2020

• Attorney General Francisco Barbosa versus Uncle Sam: the unprecedented fracture that separates the allies. The Office of the Prosecutor and the United States are going through a crisis without precedent in 25 years of relations. The departure of the Colombian prosecutors who worked with the US Justice has the government of that country worried and upset. High diplomatic sources in the United States confirmed to SEMANA that the Americans are concerned with a series of decisions that Barbosa has taken, which has interfered with the development of investigations against the big mafias.
  - Semana, 25 October 2020 é

• Indigenous Colombians (many of them subsistence coca growers), facing new wave of brutality, demand government action before they are exterminated because the government refuses to fully implement the Peace Accord, leaving them exposed to criminal attack
  - New York Times, 24 October 2020

• The expanding tentacles of the Jalisco Cartel (CJNG) in Colombia, on which it is highly dependent for cocaine. It is battling the Sinaloa cartel in Antioquia (Medellin). Economics: they pay $5,000/kilo for cocaine in Colombia, and sell it in Mexico for $15,000/kilo, which is then sold in the U.S. for $125,000/kilo. The CJNG ships via planes either from Norto de Santander through Venezuela to Guatemala/Honduras, or ships via boats from Nariño or Cauca ports to Guatemala/Mexico.
  - SofRep, 22 October 2020

• Is Colombia's aviation agency, with its ties to former President Uribe, again working with drug traffickers, this time the Sinaloa Cartel (the last time was with the Medellin Cartel)?
  - Colombia Reports, 22 October 2020

• 63 rural laboratories for the extraction of cocaine base were destroyed by the Colombian Antinarcotics Police in municipalities of Cauca and Caquetá. The operations were carried out in the municipalities of Piedmont (Cauca) and San José del Fragua, Puerto Rico, Valparaíso and Milan (Caquetá).
  - El Pais, 21 October 2020

• The opioid drug trafficking company Purdue Pharmaceutical, the maket of the highly addictive Oxycontin opioid, run by the Sackler drug trafficking family, pleads guilty to federal drug traffickin crimes, will pay $8 billion in penalties, and will shutdown the drug trafficking company
  - CNN, 21 October 2020

• Book review: "White Market Drugs" by David Herzberg - major drug crises are not caused by the black market but in the 'white' one, where the addictive potential of legally prescribed drugs is played done and leads to more deaths and social destruction
  - Wall Street Journal, 21 October 2020

• The ties in Colombia between the government of Colombia's President, Ivan Duque, and organized crime. The president, who was elected in 2018 with the alleged help of a drug trafficking organization, has granted an increasing amount of power to family members and representatives of notorious organized crime figures.
  - Colombia Reports, 20 October 2020

• MAS wins in Yungas, the coca-growing region that confronted Evo Morales. Extortion, bribery and "submission" by the leaders are the reasons identified by the coca growers of the Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of the Yungas as the cause of the victory of the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS) in the elections in that coca-growing region on Sunday 18.
  - Pagina Siete, 20 October 2020

• Bolivians return Evo Morales's MAS party to power one year after a U.S.-applauded coup tried to destroy one of Latin America's most vibrant democracies
  - The Intercept, 19 October 2020

• The MAS party wins the presidential election in Bolivia, a year after Evo Morales, their leader and former president and head of the major coca growing organization, was ousted in the last last elections.
  - Bloomberg, 19 October 2020

• Lawmakers in Colombia are debating how to regulate cocaine. Here is what we know about decriminalization.
  - Washington Post, 19 October 2020

• Cannabis farmers in Lebanon, many of whom produce hashish (concentrated cannabis extracts), are switching to food crops, which are cheaper to produce and with higher profit potential during the current economic crisis in Lebanon
  - New York Times, 19 October 2020

• Drug enforcement agents had long tried to solve the mystery of “El Padrino,” a shadowy, powerful force in the world of drug trafficking. They have now identified him as Salvador Cienfuegos, Mexico's defense chief from 2012 to 2018
  - New York Times, 17 October 2020

• Former Mexican defense minister General Salvador Cienfuegos is arrested in the United States at the request of the DEA, the highest ranking Mexican official to be arrested in connection with drug-related corruption
  - Wall Street Journal, 16 October 2020

• How the Colombian indigenous Nasa people, one of the few groups manufacturing legal coca leaf products for sale, are fighting land theft by the sugar company Incauca (in the province of Cauca), owned by Carlos Ardila, a close ally of President Ivan Duque and owner of a powerful media empire, including RCN Television and RCN Radio
  - Colombia Reports, 15 October 2020

• Mexico is poised to become the biggest legal marijuana market in the world. But can it protect the estimated 200,000 families growing it now? Can they now be protected from competition with the large, foreign marijuana firms that have been jockeying for influence, with lobbyists and Canadian and United States companies playing an outsized role in shaping the legislation, which would create an "elite gourmet market" that would benefit big corporations and upper-class users?
  - Los Angeles Times, 12 October 2020

• Colombian President Ivan Duque and his political patron, former President Alvaro Uribe, Prosecutor General Francisco Barbosa and former mafia attorney Diego Cadena have all been charged by former intelligence chief Ramiro Bejerano with fabricating evidence that Bejerano's former boss, former Ernesto Samper, had ormer presidential candidate Alvaro Gomez assassinated
  - Colombia Reports, 12 October 2020

• [IDIOTIC OPINION]: Bolivia flirts with the return of Evo Morales, as a divided opposition could give the upcoming presidential election to a member of Evo's MAS political party, Luis Arce - the idiotic opinion being this will give the country back to Cuba and drug traffickers
  - Wall Street Journal, 11 October 2020

• "The Government of Colombia is not serious with the implementation of the Peace Agreement": Bernard Aronson, former delegate of the US government in talks with the FARC in Havana
  - El Espectador, 10 October 2020

• From being demobilized from the Farc, the coffee growers and their La Mesa Nacional del Café, as the five cooperatives of Cauca and Valle that started it baptized the project, it is, in the words of Antonio Pardo, "the first attempt at a federation that we have to organize everything the coffee issue at the national level of the reincorporated".
  - La Silla Vacia, 09 October 2020

• Several of the massacres that have occurred this year in the country have a common denominator: the municipalities where they occurred are located in the foothills of the western mountain range, the main entrance of the departments of Cauca and Nariño to the Pacific Ocean. A SEMANA report on what is happening in the foothills of the western mountain range shows a panorama marked by drug trafficking and fear strategies to control the population.
  - Semana, 04 October 2020

• Tumaco, Colombia, confined by war and illicit crops. The forced displacement, forced recruitment and drug trafficking that surround this municipality located in the southwest of Colombia, near the border with Ecuador, often hide the joy of its citizens.
  - El Tiempo, 03 October 2020

• In the first presidential forum of Bolivia, the proposals passed between the novel and the familiar. The candidate for Acción Democrática Nacionalista (ADN), María de la Cruz Bayá, argued for a tax on coca from Chapare.
  - La Razon, 03 October 2020

• Donald Trump slammed his predecessor Barack Obama, rival Joe Biden and Colombia’s former President Juan Manuel Santos for sealing a "terrible treaty with the Colombian drug cartels ... and who surrendered to narco-terrorists", though Trump has done nothing to help make the Peace treaty a success
  - The City Paper, 28 September 2020

• Politicians in Colombia seek to have the government take control of the cocaine market, but it is unlikely to happen in the near future
  - Post-Gazette/LATimes, 27 September 2020

• A coca grower (Leonardo Loza), a philosopher and a businessman are fighting for the first Senate seat of the Llajta (Cochabamba, Bolivia). The candidates present their positions on health, education, re-election, complaints against Evo and regional issues.
  - Pagina Siete, 27 September 2020

• Prices of wholesale tea leaves around the world have jumped 50% since March, as more tea is consumed by people stuck at home due to the coronavirus [an opportunity for coca tea?]
  - Wall Street Journal, 24 September 2020

• U.K. "magic mushroom company" Compass Pathways went public on Friday, jumping 71% to $29 in its New York debut after pricing an initial 6.7 million shares at $14 to $16 each. The company's NASDAQ listing is expected to raise $127.5 million. The company has patented a synthetic version of psilopsybin, the active ingredient in hallucenigenic mushrooms.
  - Zero Hedge, 21 September 2020

• Neoliberal obesity and coronavirus in Mexico - billions of American dollars of investments and advertising brought high rates of chronic disease to Mexico which has led to a surging COVID-19 death toll. How free trade and NAFTA enabled companies such as Coca-Cola to flood Mexico with tons of sugary beverages, so that Mexico joins the US in having the most obese people in the world, and that diabetes is the number one killed in Mexico.
  - Al Jazeera, 19 September 2020

• President Iván Duque assured that he hopes to continue advancing with glyphosate spraying protocols in Colombia, with the objective that they are ready before the end of the year and the country can have all the necessary tools in the fight against the increase in crops of illicit use such as coca.
  - El Pais, 16 September 2020

• The president of the United States, Donald Trump, certified Colombia's work in the fight against drug trafficking, but warned about the need for the country to soon resume aerial spraying against illicit crops, if it wants to meet its eradication goals.
  - El Pais, 16 September 2020

• The president of the United States, Donald Trump, certified Colombia's work in the fight against drug trafficking, but warned about the need for the country to soon resume aerial spraying against illicit crops, if it wants to meet its eradication goals.
  - El Espectador, 16 September 2020

• US DEA Special Agent José Ismael Irizarry and his wife Nathalia Gomez Irizarry pled guilty to all charges in a 19 count indictment brought against the couple for a scheme in which they collaborated with the very narcotraffickers agent Irizarry was assigned to bring to justice, diverting over $9 million USD in ill-gotten drug proceeds to their own personal possession
  - Finance Colombia, 15 September 2020

• Over 20 million people in the U.S. are addicted to legal opioids
  - Letter - Wall Street Journal, 15 September 2020

• Addicted to losing: how addictive casino-like cellphone apps have drained people of millions of dollars when they buy addictive "enhancements"
  - NBC News, 14 September 2020

• Colombia sees surge in mass killings despite the 2017 Peace Accord was assigned, one big problem being the failure to provide legal alternatives (e.g., crop substitution) for the nation's coca farmers who are being attacked by drug traffickers and terrorist groups
  - New York Times, 13 September 2020

• A coca farmer, Leonardo Loza, dreams of replacing Evo Morales as the primary senator from Cochabamba, one of the coca growing regions of Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 09 September 2020

• The challenge of coffee growers in Colombia: collecting 7.5 million sacks of coffee beans during the coronavirus pandemic
  - El Espectador, 08 September 2020

• Dissidents, the ELN and Clan Golfo - the groups attacking coca eradicators. This year, there have been 13 murders of government workers, and 70 more workers injured, while these workers were eradicating coca bushes in Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 07 September 2020

• VIDEO: El Tiempo Verde: impacts of aerial spraying with glyphosate - experts discuss social and environmental risks of a possible return of the spraying
  - El Tiempo, 06 September 2020

• Iván Márquez and Santrich: the alliances and wars in their plan to re-found the Farc. After a year of rearmament, that dissidence renamed the Second Marquetalia makes its way into the criminal world. Its presence is stronger in Nariño, Cauca, Antioquia, Casanare, Vichada and Arauca.
  - Semana, 05 September 2020

• The Nariño province in southwest Colombia suffered its third massacre in a month. Four people were found shot dead in Buesaco, a locality in the generally calm northeast of the province.
  - Colombia Reports, 05 September 2020

• Four people were killed in the rural area of Buesaco, Nariño, the community denounced this Friday afternoon. This is the third massacre that has been registered in the department of Nariño in recent days, after the murder of eight young people in Samaniego, on August 15, and of six people in Tumaco, on August 22.
  - El Pais, 04 September 2020

• The resurrected Medellin drug cartel, "Oficina de Envigado", controls much of Colombia’s drug trade through a network of local right-wing partners that sell the cocaine to their Mexican clients. Much of their profits are laundered in Medellin and Bogota, just in case Washington DC stops chasing ghosts in Venezuela. Yet, the Colombian prosecutor who went after the members of "the Oficina executive board" and their political allies was fired by Prosecutor General Francisco Barboso in January.
  - Colombia Reports, 04 September 2020

• The Center for Reproductive Rights and the School of Public Health of the Universidad del Valle (Colombia) published this Thursday an investigation that shows how the exposure of people to glyphosate can have negative impacts on reproductive health. Glyphosate aerial sprays are used against illicit coca leaf crops.
  - El Espectador, 02 September 2020

• The Center for Reproductive Rights and the School of Public Health of the Universidad del Valle (Colombia) published this Thursday an investigation that shows how the exposure of people to glyphosate can have negative impacts on reproductive health. Glyphosate aerial sprays are used against illicit coca leaf crops.
  - El Tiempo, 02 September 2020

• Spraying with glyphosate, for eradication of the coca leaf, will not arrive in Colombia as soon and as easy as the Government says FNR
  - La Silla Vacia, 01 September 2020

• Colombia's defense minister, Carlos Holmes Trujillo may have to tell the US government he screwed up the involvement of American soldiers in counternarcotics operations for the second time in three months, because he failed to receive formal approval from Congress
  - Colombia Reports, 01 September 2020

• Ayahuasca, a vomit-inducing hallucinogenic brew, draws thousands of people each year — including former soldiers — to ágle retreats in Latin America that have become an unlicensed and unregulated mental health marketplace
  - New York Times, 30 August 2020

• Spokeswomen for coca growers in Cauca, Nariño and Putumayo assure that aerial spraying is useless to face the spiral of violence in the regions. "Glyphosate would be our door to hell".
  - El Espectador, 30 August 2020

• Colombia wants to resume spraying its coca fields with glyphosate, a toxic carcinogenic chemical, but critics argue that it is dangerous to do so and ineffective
  - CNN, 28 August 2020

• Could glyphosate spraying prevent massacres, as the defense minister suggested? Two experts dispute the defense minister's theory raised a few days ago. María Victoria Llorente and Camilo González Posso point out that it cannot be generalized that the 43 massacres committed so far in 2020 are exclusively related to drug trafficking.
  - El Espectador, 27 August 2020

• The governments of Colombia and the United States want to resume aerial fumigation and continue the forced eradication of coca that cost $20 billion between 2005 and 2014 without any significant result. Under questioning by opposition politicians, the government admitted that voluntary crop substitution, which is opposed by both Bogota and Washington DC, is both cheaper and more effective.
  - Colombia Reports, 26 August 2020

• The U.S. state of Oregon may soon decriminalize the low-level possession of all drugs, with such possession reclassified from a misdemeanor to a violation that is punishable by a $100 fine or a health assessment
  - The Mind Unleashed, 22 August 2020

• An administrative tribunal in Cauca, a province in southwest Colombia, ordered the National Army to halt the forced eradication of illicit coca crops and prioritize crop substitution on Thursday after farmers from a war-torn area filed a lawsuit.
  - Colombia Reports, 21 August 2020

• The Administrative Tribunal of Cauca province (Colombia) ordered the Territory Renewal Agency, as well as the National Army, to immediately halt the forced eradication of illegal coca crops in the municipalities of Caloto, Cajibío and Piedmont
  - Semana, 20 August 2020

• Colombia and US talk big hot air but offer no specifics in announcing a joing rural development plan "worth billions" - funded projects in the past begin for oil fields and toll roads, not for rural development
  - Colombia Reports, 19 August 2020

• Jaime Monge, an environmental leader, was murdered this Tuesday in the village of Villacarmelo (it is located in the southwest of the city of Cali)
  - El Pais, 19 August 2020

• Jhon Rojas, governor of Nariño, spoke with EL TIEMPO after the massacre of eight young people in Samaniego. "Drug trafficking is to blame for the deaths in Nariño."
  - El Tiempo, 19 August 2020

• Another massacre in Nariño, Colombia: three Awá indigenous people were killed in Ricaurte. The incident occurred in the community of Aguacate, in the Awá reservation of Pialapi Pueblo Viejo. The community in the area speaks of other missing indigenous community members.
  - El Espectador, 19 August 2020

• U.S. states are asking for around $26.4 billion from major pharmaceutical industry players - companies little different from drug traffickers - to help pay for damage wrought by the opioid crisis, the latest demand in yearslong litigation seeking to hold companies accountable for widespread drug addiction
  - Wall Street Journal, 19 August 2020

• Massacre of eight boys between 16 and 25 years old, last Saturday in the village of Santa Catalina, in Samaniego (Nariño) - drug trafficking is the main problem, but much more than that, for example, other illegal income such as illegal mining
  - La Silla Vacia, 18 August 2020

• Marijuana vending machine debuts in Colorado with more to be installed
  - Denver Post, 17 August 2020

• The control of illicit crops, production and illegal drug trafficking routes in Nariño, which until 2018 was the department with the most coca crops in the country - 36,964 hectares, is one of the reasons that makes this region remaining troubled by the dispute of different armed groups
  - El Tiempo, 17 August 2020

• US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien announced "the new growth initiative between the US and Colombia to catalyze up to 5 billion dollars of private investment in rural areas" of the country and explained that this money seeks to "support economic opportunity, stability and security"
  - El Tiempo, 16 August 2020

• Colombia's leading weekly magazine, Semana, and one of its journalists, Vicky Davila, is conspiring with a convicted drug trafficker, Juan Carlos "El Tuse" Sierra, to discredit the Supreme Court for a second time, this time because the Supreme Court has charged former president Uribe with crimes
  - Colombia Reports, 14 August 2020

• Mallinckrodt, which manufactures cocaine using coca leaves from Peru, files for bankruptcy due to financial liabilities for its role, along with Purdue Pharmaceuticals, in creating and exploiting the opioid epidemic in the United States, for which both companies earned tens of billions of dollar, legally, for being little more than drug traffickers with lawyers
  - ValueWalk, 06 August 2020

• Coca cultivation increased from 23,100 hectares to 25,500 in Bolivia. An international report also detected the presence of coca crops in 6 of the 22 protected areas nationwide. The Yungas regions of La Paz, the Tropic of Cochabamba and the North of La Paz represented 64, 34 and 2 percent of the coca cultivated areas in the country.
  - El Diario, 30 July 2020

• Legal drug trafficking - how a pharma giant, drug distributor McKesson, legally flooded the Standing Rock Sioux reservation with opioids, and also legally trafficked the vast majority of painkillers to Native American communities across the U.S. during the opioid epidemic
  - Vice, 30 July 2020

• Coca cultivation increased from 23,100 hectares to 25,500 in Bolivia. An international report also detected the presence of coca crops in 6 of the 22 protected areas nationwide. The Yungas regions of La Paz, the Tropic of Cochabamba and the North of La Paz represented 64, 34 and 2 percent of the coca cultivated areas in the country.
  - La Razon, 30 July 2020

• Coca cultivation increased from 23,100 hectares to 25,500 in Bolivia. An international report also detected the presence of coca crops in 6 of the 22 protected areas nationwide. The Yungas regions of La Paz, the Tropic of Cochabamba and the North of La Paz represented 64, 34 and 2 percent of the coca cultivated areas in the country.
  - Pagina Siete, 30 July 2020

• The deputy of Democrats party in Bolivia, Tomás Monasterio, said that processes will be initiated against people guilty of the increase in coca leaf cultivation in national parks during 2019 and assured that this is a way of being "functional to drug trafficking", he also condemned the absence of state policies from the previous government around this issue.
  - Pagina Siete, 29 July 2020

• Sandra Ramirez: from FARC guerrilla in Colombia to being the second vice-president of the Senate of Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 22 July 2020

• The hostility between milk producers and buyers in Colombia flared up again, after the former accused the latter of manipulating the market in order to reduce milk prices amid the current crisis unleashed by the covid-19 pandemic, a fact that it is on the verge of bankruptcy the more than 300,000 families who live on the sale of milk to the big industry.
  - El Tiempo, 21 July 2020

• The Joint Task Force (FTC) began yesterday the eradication of coca crops in prohibited areas in Bolivia, such as national parks - the law states that it is prohibited to grow the leaf in protected areas.
  - Pagina Siete, 21 July 2020

• Opposition political parties in Colombia decided to make politics interesting by introducing a bill that seeks to end the war on drugs by decriminalizing cocaine and regulating its production
  - Colombia Reports, 20 July 2020

• Drug trafficking Big Tobacco finds new way to traffick nicotine - they hope that new oral nicotine pouches will fill the vaping void
  - Business Week, 17 July 2020

• In the midst of disbelief, President Ivan Duqu bets on a new coca substitution strategy in Colombia for the 100,000 coca grower families that are not within the National Comprehensive Substitution Program
  - La Silla Vacia, 17 July 2020

• Colombia's defense minister, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, said Monday the government is ready to resume the aerial fumigation of coca after local media reported that forced eradication statistics were inflated
  - Colombia Reports, 14 July 2020

• Colombia’s defense ministry has been reporting inflated statistics on the forced eradication of coca, the base ingredient of cocaine, multiple counternarcotics officials told weekly Semana. Eight civilian eradicators and counternarcotics officials confirmed the fraud that reportedly has been going on for at least 10 years and is known by the United States embassy.
  - Colombia Reports, 13 July 2020

• Coca eradication lies: reports of coca eradication efforts by the Public Force could be altered. SEMANA obtained testimonies and evidence from state officials and contractors that could show that the statistics for the forced manual eradication of coca are exaggerated by up to 30 percent.
  - Semana, 12 July 2020

• How the CIA made Afghanistan safe for the opium trade in the 1980s - even though Islamabad houses one of the largest DEA offices in Asia, no action was ever taken by the DEA agents against any of these opium operations
  - Counterpunch, 10 July 2020

• How Noticias RCN, one of Colombia's leading television channels, falsely reported that dissident FARC guerrillas’ alleged increased cultivation of coca was the main cause of deforestation in the central Meta province. The claim is contradicted by environmental authorities that say that cattle farming and peasants’ need for land are the main causes of deforestation in the area.
  - Colombia Reports, 10 July 2020

• Colombia's gamble on the oil industry could end in disaster, with oil prices collapsing as the country's oil reserves are depleted
  - OilPrice.com, 08 July 2020

• NGO denounces the death of two peasants after forced eradication operations against coca in Putumayo. The Minga Association assures that the members of the Public Force involved in these events, which took place in Puerto Asís, also injured three other peasants, two of them injured by a firearm.
  - El Espectador, 03 July 2020

• Futures prices for cocoa drop to a one-year low, as the coronavirus pandemic depresses global consumption of chocolate, a drop in prices similar to the drop in prices in coffee beans - both falsely proposed as alternatives to coca farming
  - ZeroHedge, 30 June 2020

• How former president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, allegedly help launch the Medellin drug cartel when he was head of the country's civil aviation agency from 1980 to 1982
  - Colombia Reports, 29 June 2020

• A global surplus of coffee beans and deteriorating demand due to the coronavirus pushes coffee commodity prices to 15-year lows, which makes coffee less attractive as an alternative to coca farming
  - Zero Hedge, 28 June 2020

• Coca leaf cultivation, as well as cocaine production and global seizures, are at all-time highs in Colombia
  - El Pais, 25 June 2020

• How to create your own bank in Colombia [for coca growers too!]: we explain everything you need to know to create a bank in Colombia: from what these entities do, to how the interest rate is determined
  - El Espectador, 24 June 2020

• An appeals court in the U.S. rejected Johnson & Johnson's request to void a jury verdict in favor of women who blamed their ovarian cancers on baby powder and other talc products sold by Johnson, but the court did reduce its damages award to $2.12 billion from $4.69 billion. A warning to the soda industry, since the there are stronger links that sugar causes cancer than does the potential contamination of talc by asbestos.
  - Reuters, 23 June 2020

• Hightimes Holding, the company which is the owner of the 45-year-old marijuana magainze, "High Times", is buying 13 marijuana dispensaries in a stock deal worth over $60 million
  - Globe Newswire, 23 June 2020

• GUILTY GLYPHOSATE: Bayer offers to pay US $10 billion to close all cancer court cases. The settlements, which have yet to be signed and cover between 50,000 and 85,000 lawsuits, are part of a $10 billion plan by Bayer to end an expensive legal battle the company inherited when it acquired Monsanto in 2018.
  - Ecoportal.net, 23 June 2020

• Vicky Davila is arguably one of Colombia's worst journalists and one of the most powerful mafia infiltrators into the media, with her competence having been questioned. So the majority owners of Semana (a magazine unsupportive of coca industrialization) - the Gilinksi family that owns a part of the country's largest bank, Bancolombia - made Davila head of their Semana TV
  - Colombia Reports, 23 June 2020

• Juanita Leon, the owner of La Silla Vacia (which opposes the industrialization of coca), the media godmother who is killing press freedom in Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 21 June 2020

• The United Nations offers to audit the process to restart aerial spraying. The representative in Colombia of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Pierre Lapaque, says that Colombia needs both forced and voluntary eradication.
  - El Tiempo, 21 June 2020

• The United States is offering rewards of up to $ 10 million for information about two former leaders of the now extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Jesús Santrich and Iván Márquez. In the past, they announced that they were taking up arms again, citing "treason of the State" with the Peace Agreement agreed to with the government of former President Juan Manuel Santos.
  - El Tiempo, 19 June 2020

• Coca cultivation and harvesting does not stop in Colombia despite global paralysis
  - El Pais, 19 June 2020

• The United States is offering rewards of up to $ 10 million for information about two former leaders of the now extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Jesús Santrich and Iván Márquez. In the past, they announced that they were taking up arms again, citing "treason of the State" with the Peace Agreement agreed to with the government of former President Juan Manuel Santos.
  - El Pais, 19 June 2020

• Many small farmers in Colombia would like to grow cannabis legally, but a rigid bureaucracy and stiff financial requirements are denying them an opportunity to profit as are the big cannabis companies
  - Cannabis Wire, 17 June 2020

• Potential cocaine production in Colombia rose 1.5% in 2019, while coca cultivation dropped 9% to 154,000 hectares (maybe!)
  - Colombia Reports, 17 June 2020

• Potential cocaine production in Colombia rose 1.5% in 2019, while coca cultivation dropped 9% to 154,000 hectares (maybe!)
  - El Tiempo, 17 June 2020

• Potential cocaine production in Colombia rose 1.5% in 2019, while coca cultivation dropped 9% to 154,000 hectares (maybe!)
  - El Pais, 17 June 2020

• Colombia to resume aerieal fumigation of its coca fields with glyphosate, which environmentalists say will wreak devastating health and ecological havoc on the vulnerable communities it targets, and on delicate ecosystems across the country
  - Sierra Club News, 17 June 2020

• To the news of the assassinations of reinstated members of the old Farc (the now-party says that there are 200 since the Peace Agreement was signed with the Government) or their families, as in Ituango, Antioquia, and in Mesetas, Meta, now adds the massive displacement against ex-guerrillas. The same that thousands of victims of the conflict have suffered.
  - La Silla Vacia, 16 June 2020

• Annual sales of the world's deadliest, mildly addictive, drug - sugar - has declined for the first time in 40 years, with less demand due to perceived threats to health
  - Bloomberg, 13 June 2020

• European companies are earning huge profits from the guerrilla war in Colombia - as the current Colombian government undermines the Peace Accord and restart fumigation of coca crops while no providing alternatives for coca farmers
  - The Brussels Times, 13 June 2020

• The future of drug trafficking is synthetic - to the extent that technological advances allow the creation of increasingly perfect synthetic drugs, the notion of producer countries or production areas will begin to disappear and those organizations will begin to lose relevance that are focused on territorial control of production areas
  - La Silla Vacia, 14 June 2020

• The counternarcotics policy in Colombia is failing - the security forces in Colombia forcibly eradicated 30% less coca in the first four months of 2020, not exactly the 40% increase promised to the US government
  - Colombia Reports, 14 June 2020

• The acting director of the Carrasco National Park in Bolivia, Roberto Portuguez, reported that a recent intervention confirmed the opening of more than 10 main and secondary paths for the forest clearing, planting of seedlings, and farming of coca plants.
  - Pagina Siete, 13 June 2020

• Police in Colombia have known since last year that the drug lord whose organization conspired with Colombia's ruling party to rig the 2018 elections in favor of President Ivan Duque, drug trafficker Marquitos Figueroa, sought to jail policemen, according to an internal memo
  - Colombia Reports, 12 June 2020

• Joanna Hoffman, a former key advisor to Apple's Steve Jobs, says Facebook is peddling an addictive drug called anger to earn tens of billions of dollars every year - "You know it is just like tobacco, it is no different than the opioids or cocaine.”, she added. “We know anger is addictive - producing the same dopamine as drugs, we know we can attract people to our platform and get engagement if we get them pissed off enough. So therefore what, we should capitalize on that each and every time?"
  - CNBC, 12 June 2020

• How the drug cartels of Mexico helped drug traffickers in Colombia frustrate the peace process to prevent the disruption of coca farming and cocaine production and exports, exploiting the demobilization of FARC.
  - Colombia Reports, 11 June 2020

• Ex-DEA spokesman admits posing as covert CIA agent to defraud a dozen companies of more than $4 million.
  - CNN, 11 June 2020

• A wave of violence has struck Colombia’s southwestern Cauca department, in the form of targeted killings and armed groups battling for control of coca crops and trafficking routes — a deadly mix.
  - InSight Crime, 10 June 2020

• How can the renewed aerial spraying of fields of coca with glyphosate in Colombia be stopped? It is proposed to review the institutional arguments in this regard, the implications of this judicial ruling; as well as the main arguments under discussion.
  - La Silla Vacia, 10 June 2020

• How the YouTube series "Matarife" is linking more and more of the inner circle of former president Alvaro Uribe to drug trafficking and paramilitary death squads FNR
  - Colombia Reports, 09 June 2020

• Social leaders and researchers insist on the importance of not forgetting the guidelines of the Peace Agreement to implement measures to reduce hectares of illicit coca and cannabis cultivation in Colombia
  - El Espectador, 08 June 2020

• The coronavirus outbreak in Colombia did not stop the war in Bajo Cauca and southern Córdoba - one hundred and fifty people, including 11 social leaders, have been killed in the 11 municipalities of Bajo Cauca and southern Córdoba so far this year. All this has undermined the confidence of the peasants who increasingly see delays in the replacement of their coca crops with licit productive projects, and who already confirming that the program failed.
  - La Silla Vacia, 08 June 2020

• The Association of Representatives of Cauca (Colombia) denounced through a statement that death threats against public officials and social leaders have increased. For security reasons, the names of the municipalities where, according to various representatives, the social war has intensified were reserved; especially in places where there are crops of marijuana and coca.
  - El Pais, 07 June 2020

• The leader of the Six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba (Bolivia), Leonardo Loza, affirmed this Sunday that the decision of the current central government to isolate the Chapare due to the increase in cases of Covid-19, is a "revenge and a political attack" against the coca growing region.
  - Pagina Siete, 07 June 2020

• The leader of the Six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba (Bolivia), Leonardo Loza, affirmed this Sunday that the decision of the current central government to isolate the Chapare due to the increase in cases of Covid-19, is a "revenge and a political attack" against the coca growing region.
  - El Diario, 06 June 2020

• "Substitution must prevail over forced eradication in Colombia," says Mateo Gómez, director of the Early Warning System of the Ombudsman's Office. He asks that the Government attend to families who lose their crops and to implement the Comprehensive Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops.
  - El Espectador, 02 June 2020

• [VIDEO]: Clashes between peasants and the Army increase due to the forced eradication of coca in Colombia. In Catatumbo, Caquetá, Nariño, Meta and Guaviare, among other areas of the country, peasant organizations have denounced excessive use of force by the Army and Police in eradication efforts.
  - El Espectador, 01 June 2020

• Colombian Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo: "The government will not stop coca eradication in quarantine" - he defended his strategy against drug trafficking, despite calls by social organizations to suspend forced eradication
  - El Espectador, 01 June 2020

• The US military providing counternarcotics support to Colombia's government despite its evident ties to drug traffickers is beyond absurd, yet no surprise. US soldiers will be running after farmers like headless chickens, while nobody will be going after the money launderers.
  - Colombia Reports, 01 June 2020

• The sale of "machucada" coca leaf (packet of chewable coca leaf) also hopes to recover in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 31 May 2020

• Peru's war on drugs based on forced eradication is an abject failure – here is what it can learn from Bolivia. Coca production has not shrunk overall in Peru, merely shifting its location, often through extensive replanting, which aggravates deforestation.
  - The Conversation, 30 May 2020

• FARC dissidents have doubled their membership in just 12 months. They are already in 138 municipalities in Colombia. "With all the money they are making from coca and illegal mining, they are making a new colonization, winning over the peasants with cattle and land."
  - El Tiempo, 30 May 2020

• The mission of the elite brigade of the United States Army that will support the fight against drug trafficking in Colombia, and that sparked controversy in Colombia.
  - El Tiempo, 30 May 2020

• Since the national quarantine began in Colombia, forced coca eradication operations have been making headlines and gaining notoriety. But contrary to what one might think, the figures show that during the pandemic forced eradication has not increased. But cultivators are having a hard time.
  - La Silla Vacia, 29 May 2020

• A consortium of Facebook insiders and critics filed a confidential whistleblower’s complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission late Tuesday, claiming the social media giant is aware of illegal activity on its platform, such as the sale of opioids, and has failed to properly police it.
  - Washington Post, 27 May 2020

• Two U.S. counties in Ohio file lawsuit against major pharmacy chains - including CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens - accusing them of drug trafficking by having sold millions of opioid pills in small towns while rarely flagging suspicious orders to authorities
  - New York Times, 27 May 2020

• Copy of the lawsuit filed by two U.S. counties in Ohio file lawsuit against major pharmacy chains - including CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens - accusing them of drug trafficking
  - Lake County Ohio, 27 May 2020

• The United States is preparing to charge Cilia Flores, wife of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, in coming months with crimes that could include cocaine drug trafficking and corruption
  - Reuters, 27 May 2020

• Club El Nogal - where allegedly, former president Uribe's former Medellin Cartel associates (including people from the Ochoa and Cifuentes families) were facilitating secret meetings between the former president's administration (including former Interior Minister Fernando Londono), the business elite (including RCN Television owner Carlos Ardila Lulle) and alleged paramilitary chiefs (including AUC military commander Salvatore Mancuso).
  - Colombia Reports, 25 May 2020

• With the use of facemasks, disinfection tunnels and other biosecurity measures, the commercialization of the coca leaf in La Paz, Bolivia was reactivated. The market of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) in Villa Fatima has returned to activity.
  - Pagina Siete, 22 May 2020

• Police seize 59 bags of pressed coca and detain eight people in Oruro, Bolivia - in total, the bags are valued at 59,000 Bolivianos (about US $8800)
  - Pagina Siete, 21 May 2020

• Clara Luz Roldán, Governor of Valle del Cauca (Colombia), announced on Wednesday night that she is offering $50 million as a reward to anyone who provides information that would allow the assassins of Jorge Enrique Oramas to be identified, Oramas a victim of homicide last Saturday, in the Villacarmelo district. Environmental leader Jorge Enrique Oramas, 70, was recognized for his work on organic food and plant crops (important information for the industrialization of the coca leaf).
  - El Pais, 20 May 2020

• Alicia Arango, the Interior Minister of Colombia, put the son of extradited paramilitary warlord "Jorge 40", one of the country's most blood-thirsty war criminals, in charge of victim coordination - a son who "always thought of his father as a hero", according to one Senator
  - Colombia Reports, 20 May 2020

• Many of Colombia's ex-rebel fighters, former members of the FARC, rearm and turn to illegal coca farming and drug trafficking, complaining that the government failed to help former fighters transition to civilian life and that many have been killed in civilian life
  - NPR, 19 May 2020

• The commercialization of the coca leaf was restarted in Bolivia, for which the producers implemented biosecurity measures and new strategies for its distribution, said the former president of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of the Yungas of La Paz, Hernán Justo
  - Pagina Siete, 19 May 2020

• Two days ago, a Pasto judge suspended a virtual hearing that was scheduled for May 27, which would discuss the return of aerial sprays with glyphosate in Colombia for coca fumigation. Is it constitutional that prior consultation is virtual?
  - El Tiempo, 19 May 2020

• In the latest attempt to resume areal fumigation against coca in Colombia, the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) tried to obtain the compulsory approval of coca farming communities through online consultations in areas on lockdown and without internet. Not to be outsmarted, a group of coca farmers from the southwestern Nariño province successfully sued the ANLA, which was ordered to suspend the consultations while the judge considers their legality.
  - Colombia Reports, 19 May 2020

• Colombia's Supreme Court magistrate Cristina Lombana seems to have a special gift to accidentally get her allegedly criminal former army buddies in legal trouble. Having spent years securing impunity for members of the military, the magistrate is now getting them in trouble while doing everything she can to frustrate the case against former President Alvaro Uribe.
  - Colombia Reports, 17 May 2020

• Operation Baton was meant to purge the military from its criminal elements after Colombia entered NATO in 2017, until President Ivan Duque came to power in 2018. Instead of purging the military, the president put those accused of corruption in charge of the army, causing a crisis that is putting US military assistance and Duque's credibility at risk. Two generals so accused of corruption, now fired, are Eduardo Quiros and Gonzalo Garcia.
  - Colombia Reports, 17 May 2020

• At least 12 groups linked to drug trafficking are vying in Nariño for control of the 42,000 hectares planted with coca plants, whose annual production is between 300 and 350 metric tons of cocaine, in addition to laboratories and export routes through Ecuador and the Pacific Ocean to Central America and the United States. In the midst of this chess match there are two networks, made up of dissidents from the former FARC guerrilla, who have been waging a war to the death for territorial control since the end of last year.
  - El Tiempo, 13 May 2020

• Farmers' organizations in Colombia argue that an emergency decree lifting import tariffs on corn and soy is threatening domestic food production - that some 390,000 households depend on the production of these basic food products and could be run out of business by the import of subsidized agricultural produce - which will drive some of them in the business of coca farming
  - Colombia Reports, 12 May 2020

• A new struggle between farmers and authorities for eradication of coca leaf in Córdoba (Caribbean region of Colombia), growers oppose manual eradication of coca leaf without a social component to help them find alternatives
  - El Tiempo, 11 May 2020

• Tensions rise in the Chapare region of Bolivia as the government escalates anti-drug operations in the coca farming communities around Cochabamba
  - InSight Crime, 08 May 2020

• Bad publicity for Colombia: a New York Times editorial on news that a Colombian army unit used American surveillance equipment, provided to fight Marxist guerrillas and drug traffickers both linked to illicit coca cultivation - instead used the equipment to once again spy on journalists, political opponents and public figures
  - New York Times, 08 May 2020

• One hundred thousand cannabis seeds will arrive in Denver, Colorado, in the United States, from Colombia, after the Ministry of Justice of Colombia approved their shipment. The process was accomplished with the support of the Single Window for Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce and has been classified as an important one for the medicinal industry due to its possible uses in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
  - El Pais, 07 May 2020

• Former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos: "We have been fighting drugs for 45 years and we are worse than before" - Santos, who took office in 2019 as a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, presents a report in which he raises the urgency to take money from the drug trafficking business from the mafias.
  - El Espectador, 07 May 2020

• Sheltered in the context of the coronavirus emergency, the mayor of Tumaco - Emilsen Angulo (Conservative Party) - handed over a US$24,400 contract to a Healthcare Institution whose legal representative is the cousin of the political godfather who brought Angulo to office: the dismissed former liberal representative and former mayor of the port, Neftalí Correa Díaz
  - La Silla Vacia, 06 May 2020

• How the Caribbean police force of Colombia got involved in marijuana trafficking business in 1970s
  - Colombia Reports, 04 May 2020

• This is how the Peace Agreement in Colombia is progressing: still far from overcoming the problem of illicit drugs. Efforts in the fourth point of the Agreement have focused on the coca crop replacement program, which still has grave delays. The structural transformation of the coca growing territories and the differential criminal treatment of small growers are some of the debts.
  - El Espectador, 04 May 2020

• From 2006 to March 2020 in Colombia, 457 eradicators were victims of antipersonnel mines, including 417 civilians. The United Nations has already rejected that Colombia use civilians to pluck the coca bushes. So far this year, a peasant and an Awá indigenous man were killed by the police in clashes over the eradication of their coca crops.
  - El Espectador, 04 May 2020

• The drug trafficking business in times of coronavirus - while in Peru the price of coca leaves has plummeted, in Colombia they are supplied with cocaine. Mexican cartels do not get chemicals from China. For example, in Peru, a kilo of pasta base cost about $1200 dollars before quarantine. Now, it trades for less than $300.
  - El Comercio, 03 May 2020

• The United States implicates the president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, in drug trafficking, while it seeks his help on immigration
  - Yahoo News, 30 April 2020

• The former chief of police of Honduras, Juan Carlos Bonilla, is accused by US prosecutors of trafficking drugs to the United States on behalf of the president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández - the brother of Hernández was convicted of similar charges in October
  - The Guardian, 30 April 2020

• Prosecutor General Franciso Barbosa could be the saddest excuse for a chief prosecutor ever in Colombia, whose duties enforcing Colombia's coca laws - being implicated in the 2018 election rigging plot and now turning a civil fine against the opposition mayor of Bogota into a crime
  - Colombia Reports, 28 April 2020

• From coca growers in Peru to drug dealers in Paris, the coronavirus has upended the global trade in drugs - and the coca growers in Peru want subsidies just the same as other businesses, since prices for coca leaves sold to drug traffickers are down 70%.
  - Business Insider, 25 April 2020

• Lebanon passes legislation legalizing the cultivation of medical marijuana for export for medicinal and industrial purposes, in order to raise more tax revenues for the government
  - Newsweek, 21 April 2020

• Municipal authorities and coca growers from the tropics of Cochabamba denounced the Government to the United Nations and the Organization of American States for the "criminalization of quarantine" and the extreme violation of human rights of the inhabitants from that region of Bolivia
  - La Razon, 21 April 2020

• Cocoleros del Chapare, affiliated with the MAS political party, announced that they will send a complaint to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for the alleged violation of their rights during the quarantine due to the choroanvirus in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 21 April 2020

• Three days after the expulsion of police from the municipality of Shinahota (Bolivia), the uniformed officers are still safely in the facilities of the Mobile Rural Patrol Unit (Umopar) located in Chimoré; meanwhile, the coca producers seek a dialogue with authorities so that the work of the police force is reestablished
  - Los Tiempos, 19 April 2020

• The Bolivian Minister of Government, Arturo Murillo, warned this Sunday of the encapsulation of the Chapare - to contain the spread of the coronavirus and allow banks to return to operate in that region - if the coca growers leaders of that sector continue with "provocations"
  - La Razon, 19 April 2020

• The Bolivian government announced on Sunday that it will encapsulate the Chapare, where "no one leaves and no one enters", and demanded the coca growers to apologize to the National Police for the physical, verbal, and expulsion suffered by the soldiers on Thursday night
  - Pagina Siete, 19 April 2020

• Opinion: conflicts with the state, the coca farmers of the Chapare region of Bolivia, drug production and the coronavirus
  - Pagina Siete, 19 April 2020

• During the national quarantine in Colombia to contain COVID-19, the Public Force has uprooted and fumigated coca plants in Putumayo, Caquetá, southern Córdoba, Chocó, Catatumbo and Nariño. The clashes with the peasants are increasing and they have already claimed the life of a 22-year-old.
  - El Espectador, 18 April 2020

• Colombia's government acts like a doormat for the United States, and its people do not support this policy, for example the people opposing eradication with glyphosate
  - AlterNet, 10 April 2020

• How a drug trafficker, "Memo Fantasma", sold property in the "zona rosa" of Bogota to a company owned by the family of the vide president, Marta Lucía Ramírez, because Ramírez received bad/false advice from the-then chief of police, óscar Naranjo
  - InSight Crime,, 10 April 2020

• Caffeinated conservation: Colombian farmers in the San Lucas mountains switch from growing coca to growing coffee to protect wildlife
  - New York Times, 09 April 2020

• Colombia’s vice-president, Marta Lucia Ramire, broke down in tears on Wednesday during an interview over her businesses ties to a drug trafficker in a real estate deal, relying on the word of former National Police Chief Oscar Naranho - himself linked to drug traffickers
  - Colombia Reports, 09 April 2020

• The chief prosecutor for Colombia, Francisco Barbosa, stated on Sunday that the government's ambassador in Uruguay, Fernando Sanclemente, has been formally included in a drug trafficking investigation, and he stated that he ambassador will have to explain how a cocaine lab is producing at least one ton of cocaine per month from coca leaves on his family's property without his knowledge
  - Colombia Reports, 06 April 2020

• For much of its 500-year history, coffee was viewed with confusion, suspicion and disgust [same past for coca tea]. Coffee has since become a necessity we rely on to meet the everyday demands of modern capitalism [same future for coca tea?]
  - Wall Street Journal, 04 April 2020

• A new murder of an ex-combatant of the Farc - Carlos Alberto Castaño, this time in Tolima (central Colombia) - the ex-combatant was carrying out his reincorporation process in the Cooperativa Multiactiva Agropecuaria por la Paz (Cooagropaz)
  - El Espectador, 03 April 2020

• Researchers report that each one-cup increase in daily tea consumption was associated with an average 2 percent decrease in any cardiovascular event, a 4 percent decrease in death from cardiovascular disease, a 4 percent lower risk of stroke and a 1.5 percent lower risk of death from any cause - this needs to be verified for coca tea
  - New York Times, 02 April 2020

• Colombia's weekly magazine, Semana, not known for balanced coverage of the problems of coca farmers, continues purge of journalists exposing crimes and corruption, while hiring journalists who are fierce apologists of former president Uribe
  - Colombia Reports, 02 April 2020

• Chemists at some of the biggest, and legal, cannabis companies in the United States and Canada are trying to develop a predictable, reliable method to modulate the stimulation of cannabis drug products
  - New York Times, 01 April 2020

• The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday asked companies to stop selling all forms of the heartburn drug Zantac, after concluding that a potential cancer-causing contaminant, N-nitrosodimethylamine, can build up in the drug when stored for long periods (soda in sugar is a potential cancer-causing contaminant)
  - New York Times, 01 April 2020

• The US agriculture giant Monsanto and the German chemical giant BASF were aware for years that their plan to introduce a new agricultural seed and chemical system, based on the chemical dicamba to replace the increasingly useless but cancer-causing glyphosate, would probably lead to damage on many US farms. Risks were downplayed even while they planned how to profit off farmers who would buy Monsanto’s new seeds just to avoid damage, according to documents unearthed during a recent successful $265m lawsuit brought against both firms by a Missouri farmer.
  - The Guardian, 30 March 2020

• Businesspeople in North Macedonia are prepared to become the "cannabis superpower" of Europe, but are waiting for a slow government to change the laws
  - New York Times, 29 March 2020

• National parks in Colombia are being destroyed as land conflicts intensify, partly due to struggles over cattle farming and coca farming
  - Monga Bay, 24 March 2020

• Francisco Barbosa, Colombia's chief prosecutor, closed his Twitter account on Sunday after photographstied him to a cocaine mafia conspiracy to rig the 2018 elections in favor of his friend, President Ivan Duque
  - Colombia Reports, 23 March 2020

• Marco Rivadeneira, leader of peasant communities, promoter of peace agreements and defender of crop substitution (not coca) in the Putumayo department, was assassinated this Thursday afternoon in the municipality of Puerto Asís. The Colombia Europe United States Coordination (CCEEU), an organization of which Rivadeneira was a leader in the southern department of the country, regretted and condemned the murder.
  - El Tiempo, 20 March 2020

• In a property of 103,000 square meters, located in the El Balcón sector, in Suesca, Cundinamarca (Colombia), the Police Dijin dismantled a narco-laboratory that nurtured at least 53 small drug cartels in Colombia and in Europe. Although the operation was managed under reserve, EL TIEMPO established that Dijín intelligence officers had been tracking it for months, and they knew that the coca was coming from there, which was then moved to France: at least 3 tons a month.
  - El Tiempo, 20 March 2020

• Burning coca leaves, spurning leavers - the United States pays for a pointless drug war in Colombia while spraying coca fields with carcinogenic herbicides such as glyphosate, but is less keen to help with a huge Venezeulan refugee crisis
  - Economist, 19 March 2020

• The illegal nature of coca cultivation is an incentive for its production to take place in the National Natural Parks of Colombia. For the coca growers, the priority is not the ownership of the land on which they grow coca, it is the great profits that its cultivation generates.
  - El Espectador, 18 March 2020

• Former President Alvaro Uribe was managing illicit funds to buy the 2018 election of President Ivan Duque in multiple parts of Colombia, his former personal assistant told their mafia associate - Semana on Monday published the full recording of the phone conversation between Uribe’s former personal assistant, Maria Claudia Daza, and mafia associate Jose Guillermo Hernandez, who was murdered in Brazil in May last year
  - Colombia Reports, 17 March 2020

• Wiretap recordings made public on Sunday proved that President Ivan Duque's party conspired with an alleged drug money launderer to rig Colombia's 2018 presidential election - the bombshell recording proved that the then-assistant of former President Alvaro Uribe, Maria Claudia Daza, was conspiring to rig the election with Jose Guillermo Hernandez, the alleged money launderer and "political arm" of the cocaine trafficking organization of Marquitos Figueroa.
  - Colombia Reports, 16 March 2020

• Jorge Pretelt, Colombia's former constitutional court president, isn't just any criminal; he was sentenced over land theft while already in prison for corruption - now he is serving a six-year prison sentence for bribery and facing questions why he and his wife took part in one of Colombia’s biggest land heists since the Spanish colonization while already owning large swaths of land in Cordoba - teaming up with notorious paramilitary land their "El Burro"
  - Colombia Reports, 16 March 2020

• Colombia's former President Alvaro Uribe and his provincial party (with the help of the AUC paramilitary group and its politicians) have never won a presidential election without the admitted help of drug traffickers, mostly the Medellin cartel - Juan Manuel Santos, from Bogota's elite, got his voting money from Odebrecht and Grupo Aval
  - Colombia Reports, 11 March 2020

• Colombia's coca farmers want viable business alternatives and more sustainable development, not militarization - they would like to stop growing coca but says it’s the only product with enough demand for buyers to come directly to collect it
  - Amnesty International, 10 March 2020

• DEA is ordered to return $15,000 it seized from a woman falsely charged with dealing with cocaine, but refuses to pay $5,000 for her attorney's fees
  - Miami Herald, 10 March 2020

• Nearly 7,000 peasants living in the Tinigua and Picachos national parks in Colombia replaced coca farming with cattle raising (where any agricultural activity is prohibited) - the inhabitants of Tinigua and Picachos allege that the government does not comply with the crop substitution - "We receive food assistance payments, but the productive projects, which had to occur simultaneously, did not start."
  - El Tiempo, 10 March 2020

• As cocaine production rises, Donald Trump is increasing the pressure to curb it and insisting Colombia should spray its fields with glyphosate again. In remote communities, this revives memories of a dark chapter.
  - Deutsche Welle, 09 March 2020

• Conflicts over indigenous land grow more violent in Central and South America, including peaceful Costa Rica
  - New York Times, 09 March 2020

• An article recently published in the journal PlosOne, "Tracking extinction risk trends and patterns in a diverse country: A Red list index for birds in Colombia" (2020), written by Luis Miguel Renjifo, Vice Chancellor for Research at the Javeriana University, and ángela María Amaya-Villarreal, a researcher from the Department of Ecology at the same University, identifies coca crops as the greatest threat to the survival of birds, and one of their conclusions is that fumigation -- far from attacking the problem -- can accentuate the extinction of the birds
  - La Silla Vacia, 08 March 2020

• Coca leaf crops increased in Colombia in 2019 to 212,000 hectares, while cocaine production reached 951 tons, record numbers according to estimates published Thursday by the US Government
  - El Espectador, 06 March 2020

• Tilray was the first marijuana company to go public on Nasdaq, but the industry has too many greenhouses growing too much marijuana, depressing prices, and as a result, investors are abandoning the marijuana sector - with Tilray's stock price down 90%
  - Wall Street Journal, 06 March 2020

• Through resolution 315 of 2 March 2020, the Ministry of Health of Colombia updated the list of narcotic drugs, psychotropics, precursors and substances under control and special control, and included medicinal cannabis
  - El Tiempo, 05 March 2020

• Stock prices for cannabis companies are having a lousy week, compounding sharp losses over the past year for the once-hot sector as investors low interest in a growingly commodity-like business
  - Wall Street Journal, 04 March 2020

• The cocalero leader of the six federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba of Bolivia, Leonardo Loza, expressed his dissatisfaction and rejection of what was said by President Jeanine Añez, who declared that Law 906 on the extension of coca crops should be modified - she said "it is clear" that 90% of Chapare's coca goes to drug trafficking. The cocalero leader said that this decision has more political interest.
  - Pagina Siete, 04 March 2020

• The Supreme Court of Colombia sentenced a former prosecutor to five years and four months in prison for bribery after she agreed to testify against several other justice officials - Hilda Niño Farfán was convicted of taking US$70 000 and two cars in exchange for settling the cases of two drug traffickers by illegally classifying them as former guerillas
  - OCCRP News, 03 March 2020

• Mexican and paramilitary cartels, are likely factors in the increase of coca farming in Colombia - illegal groups dedicated to drug trafficking control seaports and use light aircraft with which they carry out illegal flights
  - El Espectador, 03 March 2020

• Gato Dumas, the haute cuisine experts that want to invent recipes to vindicate the name of the coca leaf in Colombia
  - La Republica, 02 March 2020

• President Trump 'orders' President Duque to restart the eradication of coca leaves by spraying glyphosate
  - U.S. White House, 02 March 2020

• Former coca farmers from Colombia's "Peace Laboratory" -- the 8000 people of Briceño, fear a return to war if the government doesn't support the coca substitution program that is a vital part of the peace process
  - Colombia Reports, 02 March 2020

• On February 21, in the municipality of Briceño, considered an example for the country because its peasants replaced 99% of the coca with other crops, hundreds of them peacefully protested against the government's failure to comply with the coca replacement program
  - El Espectador, 29 February 2020

• Mind Medicine, a psychedelics-based medicine startup backed by Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, closed a $24.2 million funding round ahead of plans to go public next week
  - Wall Street Journal, 27 February 2020

• Eduardo Díaz Uribe, the former director of the National Program for the Substitution of Crops for Illicit Use (PNIS) in Colombia, explained the seriousness of President Iván Duque breaking the agreement with the UN to verify the progress of the program. He also criticizes the way in which the current government has managed crop substitution and highlights that it is part of the rural reform, which has serious delays.
  - El Espectador, 27 February 2020

• A guerilla-to-entrepreneur plan in Colombia leaves some new businesswomen isolated and at risk - the Colombian government’s reliance on entrepreneurship may make female ex-insurgents financial situation even more precarious than it would otherwise be because they lack the safety net of formal employment
  - The Conversation, 26 February 2020

• The Tenth Criminal Investigation Court of La Paz, Bolivia, requests that Adepcoca de Gutiérrez and the MAS reconcile - the leader of Adepcoca reiterates that the Yungas coca growers request a sanction for those responsible for theft of objects and the damage caused to the building of their hospital
  - Pagina Siete, 25 February 2020

• A federal judicial ruling in Argentina determined that in that country transporting coca leaves does not constitute the crime of transporting narcotics, punishable by drug law. "The truth is that it is proven that in its natural state coca leaves do not produce physical or psychic dependence, thus not qualifying as narcotic drugs," Federal Judge Luciano Lauría noted in his ruling, Aire de Santa Fe reported.
  - El Diario, 25 February 2020

• A massive logging of forests of the wax palm tree, a species declared in 1985 as Colombia's flagship tree, was recently detected in Toche, a municipality in the municipality of Ibagué on the border with Cajamarca, Tolima. Glyphosate was used to weaken the plant, in order to expand the agricultural frontier and gain space for planting arracacha, a product desired by Colombians.
  - El Tiempo, 24 February 2020

• The four Colombian men - "powers behind the throne" of President Ivan Duque: Luis Carlos Sarmiento (the richest man in the country, owner of El Tiempo and Grupo Aval), German Vargas (powerful conservative political clan leader), Alvaro Uribe (far-right former president) and Andres Pastrana (conservative former president)
  - Colombia Reports, 24 February 2020

• Colombia ends coca crop substitution monitoring deal with the United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crime - the UN appears to be a nuisance as its regular reports on progress of the PNIS program demonstrate how ineffective the repressive policy backed by the US is compared to crop substitution
  - Colombia Reports, 24 February 2020

• The women of Putumayo, Colombia, seek a life without coca - the coca economy allows them to achieve some financial independence, but also exposes them to risks such as labor slavery, sexual violence, law enforcement and threats from armed groups
  - El Espectador, 24 February 2020

• Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez said that a fire in the Sierra de la Macarena, near the Caño Cristales River (in the Tinigua Natural National Park), was produced by illegal armed groups and drug traffickers in the area - "they intend to exploit these territories by sowing coca"
  - El Pais, 24 February 2020

• Two soldiers were killed, one was taken hostage and a major forest fire broke out in the Colombian Amazon after military efforts to try to evict communities living in the Tinigua Nature Reserve who were deforesting the reserve to grow coca leaf
  - Colombia Reports, 23 February 2020

• Park are forced out of 10 protected areas of the Amazon of Colombia due to the threat of FARC dissidence - a phenomenon that has been occurring in greater proportions in the La Macarena, Tinigua and Picachos parks, by those would are behind the deforestation for coca planting.
  - El Tiempo, 23 February 2020

• Two companies in Colombia compete for the glyphosate supply contract for the eradication of coca crops: one which has been almost the exclusive supplier in recent years; the other, a new competitor which reports possible failures in the process
  - El Espectador, 23 February 2020

• Jose Irizarry, a former DEA agent in Colombia, charged with laundering money for Colombian drug cartels, and charged with stealing money from the DEA
  - New York Times, 23 February 2020

• China's strong push into Colombia - companies from China are buying gold mines in Colombia, and are building Bogota's new metro system and much more
  - Al Jazeera, 22 February 2020

• Peasants from Bolívar, Colombia, who exchanged coca for cocoa and sprayed them with glyphosate, seek repair - Asocazul (their association) planted 725 hectares of cocoa trees, but the police then sprinkled them with glyphosate - in their claim they claim that, without crops, they had no way to pay the loan they requested in Bancolombia for more than $ 3,000 million Colombian pesos to start the replacement project
  - El Espectador, 21 February 2020

• Farmers will protest for failures in crop substitution program in Briceño - according to leaders of the municipality of Antioquia, the government has not fully developed short-term and long-term production projects
  - El Espectador, 20 February 2020

• In July 2019, the Constitutional Court of Colombia maintained the suspension of using the herbicide to sprinkle crops for illicit use and reiterated a series of conditions to be able to resume it. However, the final order in this regard was signed only until Thursday. El Espectator explains eight points where there were differences.
  - El Espectador, 20 February 2020

• The ELN, Colombia’s cocaine-funded rebels, are back in action big-time, carrying out more than 100 separate attacks in the last week and its ranks have been growing
  - Daily Beast, 20 February 2020

• Colombia launches a $64 million fund to steady coffee prices and protect the country's farmers - the country's producers receive about $272 per 125 kilograms of coffee beans, which is a little less than $1/pound, as of this week, Colombian coffee in international markets was priced at $1.06/pound; the country produced about 15 million 60-kiogram bags of coffee in 2019
  - Reuters, 19 February 2020

• The eradication of surplus coca in the Chapare is running smoothly - more than 1,300 troops have been in 14 areas of that region of the Cochabamba tropics for more than a week in order to eradicate 8,575 hectares, a goal set by the Government of Bolivia
  - La Razon, 18 February 2020

• Cochabamba: more than 1,300 troops carry out surplus coca eradication tasks in the tropics - the Minister of Defense of Bolivia announced that the goal for this 2020 management is to eradicate more than 8,500 hectares of coca planted in prohibited places, such as natural parks
  - Pagina Siete, 18 February 2020

• Silicon Valley investors and big tech companies are awakening to the many investment opportunities into psychedelic drugs for use in mental health care - a journey inside an industry preparing to emerge from darkness
  - Fortune, 17 February 2020

• A vending machine for powerful opioids has opened in Canada as part of a project to help fight the Canadian city’s overdose crisis - the MySafe project, a dispenser which resembles a cash machine, gives addicts access to a prescribed amount of medical quality hydromorphone, a drug about twice as powerful as heroin
  - The Guardian, 17 February 2020

• How the next investment wave in legalized drugs will be psychedelic drugs such as LSD and psilocybin
  - Fortune, 17 February 2020

• Three members of the Nasa indigenous nation were assassinated in Buenos Aires and Miranda, in the Cauca province of Colombia - all three were members of the community guard
  - Colombia Reports, 17 February 2020

• Many public marijuana companies in the United States and Canada have only a few months of cash left as the business becomes more difficult
  - Zero Hedge, 16 February 2020

• Book review: "The War Without End" - Why in Colombia is more coca being farmed than ever?
  - El Tiempo, 14 February 2020

• National Police in Colombia find a cocaine laboratory on a farm owned by the family of Fernando Sanclamente Alzate, the Colombian ambassador in Uruguay (located in the municipality of Guasca, Cundinamarca)
  - El Tiempo, 13 February 2020

• National Police in Colombia find a cocaine laboratory on a farm owned by the family of Fernando Sanclamente Alzate, the Colombian ambassador in Uruguay (located in the municipality of Guasca, Cundinamarca)
  - El Pais, 13 February 2020

• Colombia vows to eradicate a record 130,000 hectares of coca this year, though the UN says 80% or more will be replanted, promising to hire and train an extra 2,000 policemen to cut the estimated production of 1000 tons of cocaine before 2023
  - Colombia Reports, 11 February 2020

• Uncertain future: overview of medical cannabis in Colombia - the Colombian Government seeks to control it with its little experience; international entities do their best to measure demand without sufficient scientific evidence to prove its benefits, while patients seek to make their disease symptoms more bearable
  - El Espectador, 11 February 2020

• How to use the coca leaf for ceremony, altitude sickness, chewing and drinking
  - Traveling and Living in Peru, 10 February 2020

• [Completely absurd]: glyphosate is the only eradication option against coca and cannabis
  - El Pais, 09 February 2020

• How Colombia's government officials, members of Uribe's Democratic Center party, led a political warfare campaign against journalists
  - Colombia Reports, 08 February 2020

• Opinion: the importance of drug trafficking in the Bolivian economy is more than 1.4% of GDP, especially when banana producer Miguel Zambrana estimates that the yield of one hectare of coca in Chapare is $66,000 a year - without entering the industrialization stage; no other crop can compete with coca, not even African palm
  - El Deber, 03 February 2020

• The soldiers of the Special Force to Combat Drug Trafficking (FELCN) of Bolivia destroyed 19 cocaine factories, seized 700 liters of precursor chemicals, and found 78,000 doses of drugs in operations carried out in the department of Cochabamba
  - El Diario, 03 February 2020

• Santa Cruz, California, decriminalizes magic mushrooms and other natural psychelics at the personal, making it the third US city to take such a step
  - CNN, 03 February 2020

• The ELN has influence in seven of the ten municipalities of Colombia with more coca - these areas are Tarazá (Antioquia), Tambo (Cauca), Barbacoas, El Charco (Nariño), El Tarra, Sardinata and Tibú (North of Santander) - the ELN is the largest armed criminal group in the country
  - El Tiempo, 30 January 2020

• Coca farmers in Colombia prepare mass protests as Colombia abandons counternarcotics strategy - the government claiming its doesn't have the promised $1 billion to help farmers substitute their crops, while those who did agree to substitute are starving
  - Colombia Reports, 30 January 202O

• Evidence contradicts Colombian national police claims that two ex-FARC members, one a coca substitution advocate, were killed by police when traveling to assassinate an ex-FARC leader, Rodrigo Londoño - new evidence suggests the two ex-FARC members were killed by police
  - Colombia Reports, 29 January 2020

• 76% of the cocaine factories destroyed in 2019 in Bolivia were in the Chapare region. Of 841 factories found, 640 were found in the Chapare. FELCN, the anti-drug force, also detected the rest of the factories in Santa Cruz (152), 45 in La Paz and 4 in Tarija.
  - Pagina Siete, 29 January 2020

• While the air fumigation has at least six months before it can become a reality, the replacement of coca has just received a blow that can delay it further and add more gasoline to the mobilizations that are planned for March. Yesterday the National Coordinator of Cultivators of Coca, Poppy and Marijuana, Coccam, released a statement calling for the resignation of Hernando Londoño, head of the National Program for Substitution of Crops for Illicit Use, Pnis, and Presidency official.
  - La Silla Vacia, 28 January 2020

• A single dose of psilocybin - the psychedelic drug found in magic mushrooms - eased cancer patients' anxiety and depression for many years
  - NBC News, 28 January 2020

• Arnobis Zapata, national spokesman for the National Coordinator of Cultivators of Coca, Poppy and Marijuana (Coccam) in Colombia responded to the statements of the director of the crop substitution program, Hernando Londoño, who said that no replacement leaders have been killed. According to Zapata, this Government has no will to support the program.
  - El Espectador, 28 January 2020

• Kellogg's pledges to end use of the weedkiller glyphosate to dry oats and wheat before harvest
  - Environmental Working Group, 27 January 2020

• Southern Colombian province of Putumayo living in terror as turf war over drug trade escalates, with government security forces nowhere to be seen, as drug traffickers fight efforts to substitute the farming of coca for other products.
  - Colombia Reports, 27 January 2020

• The more than one thousand hectares planted with coca in the rural area of Jamundí will be able to generate for drug traffickers and illegal armed groups, profits of more than US $700 million in the international market this year. This is the loot that organized crime pursues and that has turned into deadly disputes for the towns of Villa Colombia, San Antonio, La Liberia, San Vicente and La Meseta, where days ago five people were killed and two vehicles were cremated; the third massacre committed by armed groups in recent months.
  - El Pais, 26 January 2020

• Fumigation with glyphosate in Colombia - a new year with old policies with almost no public debate, and many analysts have criticized the fumigation for several reasons - neither this government nor the previous ones have offered strong arguments against these three problems of fumigation
  - El Espectador, 26 January 2020

• Hernando Londoño (director of the PNIS - Integrated National Program of Crops for Illicit Use in Colombia) ensures that, despite budgetary difficulties, the 99,000 families enrolled in the PNIS are complying. Despite the fact that peasant organizations have documented the murder of 59 coca growers leaders, the official maintains that they have not registered any cases.
  - El Espectador, 24 January 2020

• The Minister of Government of Bolivia, Arturo Murillo, announced Thursday that the eradication of surplus coca crops will begin in the National Parks, which, according to his information, are "plagued" by illegal green leaf crops
  - El Deber, 24 January 2020

• London to Lima Gin Distillery, based in Lima (Peru), will be introducing a Mulberry & Coca Gin liqueur into the UK Market.
  - Just-Drinks.com, 23 January 2020

• I wish Colombians could quickly investigate and innovate in legitimate uses of one of our flagship plants - coca, perhaps the most promising for our own bioeconomy, as recommended by the Mission of Wise Men
  - El Espectador, 23 January 2020

• The Bolivian government says there is no date to eradicate coca in Chapare - the tasks of eradicating the surplus coca leaf in the Chapare sector in Cochabamba have no start date, said Deputy Minister of Public Security, Wilson Santamaría
  - Pagina Siete, 23 January 2020

• Adepcoca denounces theft of material from the cocalero hospital in Bolivia - stationery, bathroom accessories and stretchers from the Adepcoca Integral Care Specialization Center were stolen and dismantled by coca growers related to the Movement to Socialism (MAS - the party of former president Morales), denounced the cocalero leader of the Yungas, Sergio Pampa
  - Pagina Siete, 23 January 2020

• Kratom - America's new semi-legal drug culture, which many use to quit opioids while others use it to get high (in 2016 the DEA had tried to make it schedule I, but backed off under pressure).
  - Wired, 22 January 2020

• More than likely the far-right group "Aquilas Negras", known to attack/kill community activists in coca growing regions, are members of military and police intelligence agencies
  - Colombia Reports, 21 January 2020

• After more than 10 days of the forced displacement of almost 4,000 people in rural areas of Tumaco (Nariño, Colombia), the Mayor's Office, headed by María Emilsen Angulo, declared in the last hours a humanitarian emergency in the municipality. The inhabitants of the Unión Río Chagüí Community Council had to leave their territory as a result of clashes between the Oliver Sinisterra Front, Comandante Alfonso Cano Western Bloc and the criminal structure of paramilitary origin called Los Contadores.
  - El Espectador, 20 January 2020

• After 14 years of the so-called "nationalization of the fight against drug trafficking" in the government of Evo Morales, the Joint Task Forces of Bolivia, based in the Tropic of Cochabamba, confront the challenge of initiating the eradication of illegal coca crops in the face of the opposition of the coca producers loyal to Evo Morales
  - Pagina Siete, 20 January 2020

• The Deputy Minister of Citizen Security of Bolivia, Wilson Santamaría, informed La Razón on Sunday that this Tuesday will begin the eradication of surplus coca. On Wednesday, Defense Minister Fernando López said that operations would begin today. On Wednesday, the Minister of Defense said that as of January 20, the eradication of surplus coca for the 2020 management plan in the country would begin. He announced that he intends to enter the tropics area of Cochabamba to start this activity.
  - La Razon, 20 January 2020

• The Bolivian government supports concerted eradication and will respect the cato - respect for the coca market and concerted eradication, are the two axes of the Government for the task in the surplus areas of coca crops, according to Luis Fernando López, minister of Defense, a few hours after starting the coca rationalization tasks that should begin today
  - El Deber, 20 January 2020

• The Six Coca Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba and other social organizations, were summoned to participate in the community meeting this Wednesday, January 22, within the framework of the Plurinational State Day, as confirmed by their leader, Andronic Rodriguez. It was anticipated that a massive presence is expected on the Pan American Prolongation Avenue, in the capital of Cochabamba, to hear the message of the former president, Evo Morales, who will give a speech from Argentina, a country in which he is a refugee after the events of October last year.
  - El Deber, 20 January 2020

• Investigators determine that a popular "all natural" pain reliever in Colombia, Dololed - produced by the drug company Pronabell, has high levels of an artificial pain reliever, diclofen - a nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory drug
  - El Espectador, 18 January 2020

• The number of Americans drinking themselves to death with a legal, addictive drug - alcohol - doubled from 1999 to 2017, with over 72,000 deaths due to alcohol in 2017, at least five times as many deaths due to alcohol as due to cocaine use
  - MarketWatch, 18 January 2020

• Bolivia's Special Anti-Drug Trafficking police force finds 15 cocaine factories in the Chapare region after a 7-hour raid
  - Pagina Siete, 18 January 2020

• The newly formed, Washington-based, International Development Finance Corporation will fund US $5 billion in investment and cooperation in territories affected by illicit crops and drug trafficking in Colombia
  - The City Paper Bogota, 17 January 2020

• The cocoa cartel of Ghana and the Ivory Coast is forcing up the prices of cocoa, giving a pay rise to West African cocoa farmers that will increase costs for global confectioners Lindt, Nestlé and Hershey
  - Wall Street Journal, 17 January 2020

• The United States government will invest "billions of dollars" in rural development as part of its counternarcotics strategy in Colombia, a top official said Thursday - crop substitution and rural development are more effective to curb the cultivation of illicit crops like coca
  - Colombia Reports, 17 January 2020

• The organizations that make up the Unity Pact, a platform of the social sectors that sustains the Movement To Socialism in Bolivia, unanimously decided to support the candidacy of the binomial David Choquehuanca (the former chancellor) Andrónico Rodríguez (the cocalero leader) for next Sunday's elections May 3, as candidates for President and Vice President
  - Los Tiempos, 17 January 2020

• The organizations that make up the Unity Pact, a platform of the social sectors that sustains the Movement To Socialism in Bolivia, unanimously decided to support the candidacy of the binomial David Choquehuanca (the former chancellor) Andrónico Rodríguez (the cocalero leader) for next Sunday's elections May 3, as candidates for President and Vice President
  - Pagina Siete, 17 January 2020

• The organizations that make up the Unity Pact, a platform of the social sectors that sustains the Movement To Socialism in Bolivia, unanimously decided to support the candidacy of the binomial David Choquehuanca (the former chancellor) Andrónico Rodríguez (the cocalero leader) for next Sunday's elections May 3, as candidates for President and Vice President
  - La Razon, 17 January 2020

• "We do not need anyone's permission to enter the Chapare.", Bolivian Defense Minister Fernando López responded, in regard to questions raised by coca growers about the presence of a large military contingent in that region of Cochabamba, Evo Morales's political stronghold and where until now the Police did not reactivate their presence.
  - La Razon, 16 January 2020

• The draft decree of the Government of Iván Duque to resume the aerial fumigation in Colombia lit the wick so that the coca growers get more excited about the national strike, which has cited a mobilization next Tuesday - although the loud protests have already been felt in municipalities such as Tumaco, in the Pacific; Maicao, in La Guajira; or Barrancabermeja, in Santander; with this it can resonate in more remote areas, because it adds to the incomplete promises of the Government with the replacement of coca
  - La Silla Vacia, 16 January 2020

• The president of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of the Yungas of La Paz, Franclin Gutiérrez, announced on Wednesday that he will not stand as a candidate for the Presidency in the elections of May 3, so as not to disperse the vote - he has the goal of consolidating the unification of the vote to prevent the Socialism Movement (MAS) from returning to the Government of Bolivia; on the contrary, he said he will support a candidacy for unity that respects human rights
  - La Razon, 15 January 2020

• The US FDA approves the sale of a topical 4% cocaine anesthetic delivered as a nasal spray, manufactured by Lannett Company of Philadelphia
  - Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 January 2020

• The Netherlands, birthplace of semi-legal cannabis, risks losing billions of dollars in profits because it is less competitive than Canada and the United States
  - Business Week, 13 January 2020

• Opinion: I do not rule out that there are officials who believe, full of good faith, that fumigation with glyphosate will end drug trafficking in Colombia, but it is necessary to assert that, according to the experience of continuous failures for several tens of years, it is a solvable situation only solvable through drastic modifications of some social, environmental and economic policies.
  - El Espectador, 10 January 2020

• The representatives of civil society in the National Commission of Security Guarantees in Colombia formulated a six-axis document that marks the horizon to finally dismantle paramilitary groups. Far from being extinct, paramilitarism seems to have strengthened after the FARC left the territories it controlled. President Duque has been aware of the proposal since August 2019 but has not advanced in his discussion, and he has refused to act on the recommendations.
  - El Espectador, 09 January 2020

• The governors of the provinces where most of Colombia’s coca is grown have rejected the national government’s intentions to resume the aerial fumigation of coca, the base ingredient for cocaine - the new governors of Antioquia, Nariño, Cauca, Putumayo and Norte de Santander all have expressed their support to use rural development and voluntary crop substitution to curb cocaine production
  - Colombia Reports, 09 January 2020

• The president of Colombia, Ivan Duque, is informed that the Colombian military's collusion (the Army's 7th division) with the country's largest trafficking crime group is undermining the government's legitimacy, in a letter from a representative of victims of violence, Leyner Palacios
  - Colombia Reports, 09 January 2020

• THE LETTER: the president of Colombia, Ivan Duque, is informed that the Colombian military's collusion (the Army's 7th division) with the country's largest trafficking crime group is undermining the government's legitimacy, in a letter from a representative of victims of violence, Leyner Palacios
  - Leyner Palacios, CIVP - Bojaya, 09 January 2020

• Coca farming leader Franklin Gutierrez denounced the theft of hospital supplies and hospital administrative folders, and damages to the headquarters of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) in La Paz, Bolivia, when in the hands of coca growers related to the Movement A Socialism (MAS) during the presidency of Evo Morales. For this reason, Gutierrez filed a complaint with the Public Ministry against the former Minister of Rural Development, César Cocarico, and other ex-authorities of the MAS.
  - El Diario, 08 January 2020

• Coca farming leader Franklin Gutierrez denounced the theft of hospital supplies and hospital administrative folders, and damages to the headquarters of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) in La Paz, Bolivia, when in the hands of coca growers related to the Movement A Socialism (MAS) during the presidency of Evo Morales. For this reason, Gutierrez filed a complaint with the Public Ministry against the former Minister of Rural Development, César Cocarico, and other ex-authorities of the MAS.
  - Pagina Siete, 08 January 2020

• Activist Gloria Ocampo, 37, was killed along with another person in a rural area of Putumayo, a case that constitutes the first homicide of a social leader this year in Colombia - she was an activist in favor of replacing illegal crops in the La Estrella village, municipality of Puerto Guzmán, Putumayo
  - El Pais, 08 January 2020

• Activist Gloria Ocampo, 37, was killed along with another person in a rural area of Putumayo, a case that constitutes the first homicide of a social leader this year in Colombia - she was an activist in favor of replacing illegal crops in the La Estrella village, municipality of Puerto Guzmán, Putumayo
  - El Espectador, 08 January 2020

• Activist Gloria Ocampo, 37, was killed along with another person in a rural area of Putumayo, a case that constitutes the first homicide of a social leader this year in Colombia - she was an activist in favor of replacing illegal crops in the La Estrella village, municipality of Puerto Guzmán, Putumayo
  - El Tiempo, 08 January 2020

• Established at the beginning of last year, the Peruvian startup Futura Farms plans to invest between US $1 million and US $2 million between this year and next in medical and industrial cannabis research projects
  - El Comercio, 08 January 2020

• The active ingredient in "magic mushrooms", psilocybin, is getting closer to obtaining FDA approval as a treatment for particularly tough cases of depression
  - Business Week, 07 January 2020

• The Government of Bolivia condemned the warning made by the vice president of the six coca federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba, Andrónico Rodríguez, about the beginning of pressure measures as of January 22, when the constitutional period for which Evo Morales was elected concludes chief leader, who resigned as president of the country on November 10 - Defense Minister Fernando López recalled that the Armed Forces remain in that territory and said they will act based on their constitutional powers, while the head of Government, Arturo Murillo, suggested that the coca grower move away from radicalism because only pushes away voters
  - La Razon, 06 January 2020

• The vice president of the Six Federations of Coca Producers of the Tropic of Cochabamba (Bolivia), Andrónico Rodríguez, announced this Sunday that the peaceful struggle opposing the management of interim president Jeanine Añez ends on January 22 - the cocalero leader said that after the January 11 meeting, measures will be taken to continue the "process of change".
  - Pagina Siete, 06 January 2020

• Cocaleros of the Chapare region of Bolivia warn that they will take action after January 22, when the constitutional mandate period of the Executive expires, now in the hands of interim president Jeanine áñez, and the Legislative; the actions will be defined by the Unity Pact on Saturday 11th. "We are not putting down our hands, but we are in a moment of peaceful resistance against fascism."
  - La Razon, 06 January 2020

• The West African nations of Ivory Coast and Ghana, which combined produce more than 60% of the world's cocoa, have banded together to form their own chocolate-coated version of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
  - Wall Street Journal, 06 January 2020

• Cocaleros of the Yungas, Bolivia, are considering a rule to repeal the General Law of Coca (906) that benefits Chapare producers, whose leaf is not sold for traditional consumption, but has other purposes, presumably for drug trafficking - "The government (de Morales) has not encouraged the industrialization of coca, has not done anything for that area."
  - Pagina Siete, 05 January 2020

• Jaime Zurita, the provincial commander of the police in Cochabamba, Bolivia, said yesterday that residents of the Tropic of Cochabamba refuse the return of uniformed police, because they would rather protect drug trafficking activities, especially in the Chapare province
  - El Diario, 05 January 2020

• Former security chief for Colombian airline Air Cargo Lines claims that the "Sinoloa Cartel paid former president Uriba $1 million to facilitate drug trafficking between Colombia and Mexico"
  - Colombia Reports, 03 January 2020

• Evo Morales supported the coca growers in Bolivia, but the coca growers now face a hostile new government with policies that could hurt their farming efforts - but the coca growers for decades have been a powerful political force
  - Wall Street Journal, 03 January 2020

• U-Haul to stop hiring people who use nicotine in any form, such as cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, vaping, etc.
  - Slate, 02 January 2020

• Brookings Institute report: Detoxifying Colombia's drug policy.
  - Brookings Institute, 02 January 2020

• The United States Department of State announced Tuesday that it supports the roadmap presented by the Colombian government to return to aerial fumigatio with glyphosate to eradicate the coca leaf
  - El Espectador, 31 December 2019

• The UN's International Narcotics Control Board allocates to Colombia a production quota of 56.5 tons of high-THC dry marijuana leaf - 22% of the worldwide allocation
  - Finance Colombia, 30 December 2019

• The Colombian government presents a decree to resume fumigation of coca in 2020 - the Ministry of Justice reported that the publication of this project does not imply the immediate resumption of this method to combat illegal crops, but is the first step to create the regulatory framework ordered by the Court Constitutional.
  - El Tiempo, 30 December 2019

• This is the decree with which the Government seeks to resume aerial spraying with glyphosate in Colombia - the draft decree seeks to resume the fumigation technique that was suspended in 2017 by the Constitutional Court, taking note of the recommendations made by that high court on contemplating risks for the health and environment of the use of the herbicide.
  - El Espectador, 30 December 2019

• The victims of violence in Colombia, after the peace agreement, expect more contrition from the FARC.
  - La Silla Vacia, 29 December 2019

• Former President Evo Morales, a refugee in Argentina, participated, by telephone contact, in the 7th ordinary congress of the Association of Producers of Regional Intercultural Organic Coca - Carrasco La Reserva, in the municipality of Caranavi. The ex-president assured his militants that they will win in the first round in the next general elections in Bolivia.
  - Los Tiempos, 28 December 2019

• Ajayo products (www.andescoca.com), made from organic coca leaf, are a natural energy and food supplement - what champions the initiative are the candies: each one is equivalent to a bolus of coca, says the general manager of Icori Laboratories, Juan Salvador Hurtado
  - Pagina Siete, 28 December 2019

• The Supreme Court of Italy rules that Italians can grow small amounts of marijuana in their homes for personal use
  - New York Times, 27 December 2019

• In Leiva, Nariño (Colombia), the victims of the conflict await reparation - in this municipality the lack of opportunities financially hurts its residents, who are forced to plant coca to live, and the people say that the government has breached the agreements that they signed
  - El Espectador, 26 December 2019

• Camilo Romero, governor of Nariño (Colombia), confirmed the death of Lucy Villareal, social leader who was part of the Indo-American Cultural Foundation, which participates in the Carnival celebrations in Pasto. According to the governor, the leader was "cultivator of Carnaval and a defender of life".
  - El Espectador, 25 December 2019

• Lucy Villareal, social leader of Tumaco, Colombia, is murdered - Lucy is known to be the mother of two young daughters and was part of the Indo-American Cultural Foundation in Pasto
  - El Tiempo, 25 December 2019

• Spanish authorities are sure that they have just dealt a great blow to the mafia, with the capture of a Colombian, Tatiana Peñuela Manrique, the 'queen' of cocaine trafficking in the Canary Islands, Toledo and other cities in the region of Galicia
  - El Tiempo, 24 December 2019

• Miguel Acosta Gonzalez, a former politician and former director of civil protection in the state of Campeche in Guatemala, is captured in Guatemala while smuggling two tons of coca leaves and 572 packages of cocaine in his private jet
  - The Yucatan Times, 23 December 2019

• The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia launched its agenda until 2030 - the coffee growers set six goals for the next decade, and their agenda plans to continue support programs for the renewal of coffee plantations, as they encourage the maintenance of young coffee crops
  - El Tiempo, 22 December 2019

• Exactly one month ago in the Chimborazo town hall in Morales, Cauca, Colombia, the murder of Emiliano Chocué set off the alarms within the indigenous organizations of the region, due to a latent alert: the internal conflict over indigenous families that reject the eradication of illicit crops such as coca. Chocué was killed by another family who grew coca.
  - La Silla Vacia, 22 December 2019

• Illinois is about to become the 11th state in the nation to allow the sale of recreational marijuana - but some say only white men are set to profit.
  - USA Today, 21 December 2019

• A patrol of the Special Force to Combat Drug Trafficking (Felcn) found a cocaine crystallization laboratory - which produced more than 100 kilos of cocaine a day - in the vicinity of Aguas Claras, in the municipality of El Torno, located 32 kilometers away from the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
  - El Deber, 20 December 2019

• Biodiversity en Colombia, an opportunity for reinstatement - 40% of ex-combatants have environmental conservation skills and 84% would like to work on the environmental restoration of lands and rivers
  - El Espectador, 18 December 2019

• According to the most recent analysis of the Rural Dialogue Group in Colombia, the precarious conditions of the municipalities with coca crops considerably limit the coverage in education, health, employment and quality of life of 298,000 rural youth
  - Semana Rural, 18 December 2019

• This year in Colombia the resumption of aerial spraying of illicit crops with glyphosate won't be approved, a tool in which the Government has insisted on using to fight against narcocultures in the country
  - El Tiempo, 17 December 2019

• In Australia, the National Health and Medical Research Council updates guidelines for drinking alcohol, and recommend that two standard alcoholic drinks a day, or more, are no longer safe for adults
  - The Guardian, 15 December 2019

• The routes and prices of cocaine-related drugs inside and outside of Peru - US $1000 per kilogram of basic cocaine paste, US $2000 per kilogram of cocaine hydrochloride, and US $ 3per kilogram of dried coca leaf
  - El Comercio, 17 December 2019

• Manuel Antonio González Buelvas, known as Yahir Cartagena, was shot in the immediate vicinity of the territorial space of reinstatement of the Santa Lucía path (Ituanfo, in the north of Antioquia, Colombia) - there, the ex-guerrilla worked in a collective livestock project, in which about 100 former FARC combatants raised the money stipulated in the Peace Agreement for each ex-guerrilla in order to implement productive projects
  - El Espectador, 13 December 2019

• President Jeanine áñez de Bolivia announced on Thursday the call for dialogue with the coca growers of Chapare in order to restore the presence of the State in that region with the presence of the Police
  - La Razon, 13 December 2019

• From arid, harsh lands in Peru came a superfood that attracted the world's attention. The root of the maca plant (Lepidium meyenii) was the subject of an economic boom but then vanished because genetic material was unlawfully taken out of the country, an act scientists call “biopiracy”.
  - China Dialogue, 12 December 2019

• The absence of the Police in Chapare could cause there to be no vote in the next elections, said the Bolivian Government Minister, Arturo Murillo, in the last few hours, due to a radical decision by some coca growers that "entry was prohibited from the institutions of the State to that region".
  - El Diario, 12 December 2019

• "There will be war" if they take our land, warn the Yungas coca growers in Bolivia - cocalero Luis Prudencial warns that "there will be war" if the transitional government of Jeanine Añez, or the one who wins the next elections, decides to take "even a little piece" of our land
  - Pagina Siete, 12 December 2019

• Bolivian yungueños coca growers rethink having opted for monoculture - for decades, coca has dominated agriculture in the Yungas. Today the environment and biodiversity are affected by these plantations, while producers begin to rethink their decisions.
  - Pagina Siete, 12 December 2019

• Anti-drug forces destroy two laboratories that produce more than 1 ton of cocaine per day in Roboré, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 12 December 2019

• Anti-drug forces destroy two laboratories that produce more than 1 ton of cocaine per day in Roboré, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 11 December 2019

• Coca farms in Peru close in on protected areas and isolated tribes, such as the Mashco-Piro, in the Amazon region.
  - Mongabay, 09 December 2019

• In Bolivia, the Minister of Justice and Institutional Transparency, álvaro Coimbra, and the Deputy Minister of Justice and Fundamental Rights, Huberth Vargas, yesterday received from the Yungas coca growers (members of Adepcoca) the first complaints about political persecution during the government of Evo Morales
  - Pagina Siete, 06 December 2019

• In Colombia, the ELN gains ground in Nariño and fights hegemony in Chocó with the Golfo Clan
  - La Silla Vacia, 06 December 2019

• In Colombia, 81,305 hectares of illicit crops were eradicated this year
  - El Pais, 04 December 2019

• Manuel Santos Yatacué Ramos, ex-combatant of the Farc, was killed in the municipality of Buenos Aires, north of Cauca - the victim was a member of a cooperative that works with the cultivation, collection and marketing of coffee, an initiative in Colombia that emerged from the peace agreements to employ former FARC combatants
  - El Pais, 04 December 2019

• The Minister of Justice of Bolivia, álvaro Coimbra, denounced yesterday to EL DEBER that the former ministers Carlos Romero, of the Government, and Juan Ramón Quintana, of the Presidency, fought an internal struggle because they belonged to two different factions in the Executive that had links with drug trafficking, pero the former director of Conaltid Hugo Siles, described the accusation as "not very serious"
  - El Deber, 04 December 2019

• While desperately trying to meet coca eradication targets, Colombia's government appears to be lying about the number of human casualties and lying about resowing statistics - the civilian eradicators get paid $17 a day while narcos and landmines kill or maim their colleagues every other day, just so politicians in Bogota and Washington can claim success without solving anything.
  - Colombia Reports, 03 December 2019

• The Spanish authorities have just revealed that they found and dismantled a drug laboratory in Casasbuenas, Toledo - the complex had the capacity to produce up to two tons of cocaine per month that were marketed by FARC dissidents
  - El Tiempo, 03 December 2019

• Groups linked to so-called "narcoterrorism" operated in Bolivia, which was denounced yesterday by the Minister of Government, Arturo Murillo, who also said that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and drug trafficking are currently managed from Venezuela and seek to destabilize the Governments of Colombia, Peru, Chile, Bolivia and others. He even pointed to the government of Nicolás Maduro as a financier of an attempt to destabilize Bolivia, through different links that involve foreigners, people related to the Movement towards Socialism (MAS) and former president Evo Morales.
  - El Diario, 03 December 2019

• The University of Los Andes published a study that shows the economic impact of the coca alkaloid in the economy of Colombia - one of the conclusions of the research was that, during the past year, the production of cocaine hydrochloride reached 18.3 billion Colombian pesos, equal to sales of US $5,631 million (at the average change of 2018 for $ 3,150). To understand that figure, in that same period the country's legal external sales were US $41,905 million, so the coca business represented almost the same as 14% of external sales.
  - AgroNegocios, 03 December 2019

• Coca production is worth 18.3 billion Colombia pesos and is double the GDP of coffee - this illicit business adds 1.88% of GDP in the economy, while coffee, 0.8%, according to study
  - El Tiempo, 01 December 2019

• Jorge Quiroga, former president of Bolivia: "30 years ago, Evo Morales 30 was president of the Chapare coca growers, with a potential for cocaine production that is easily over one hundred tons per year and which he has legalized. Coca de Yungas is legal, for the traditional mate, while Chapare's only serves to make cocaine ... He sold a fake indigenous image to the world, does not speak native language, has always been an Amazonian tropical coca grower. Bolivians know the reality."
  - El Pais, 01 December 2019

• Uribe's/Duque's 'ruling' Democratic Center party on a verge of a split, with extremist senators demanding more power or they will split, while their coalition partner, the Conservative Party, wants to share power with center-right parties in Congress
  - Colombia Reports, 01 December 2019

• Bolivian Government Minister Arturo Murillo said today that he ordered an investigation against the former national director of the Special Force for the Fight against Drug Trafficking (FELCN), Maximiliano Dávila, because he was denounced by the drug trafficker, Pedro Montenegro, for the alleged commission of crimes such as extortion
  - Pagina Siete, 30 November 2019

• The Bolivian Government Minister, Arturo Murillo, informed that he has instructed an investigation of the former national director of the Special Force for the Fight Against Drug Trafficking (Felcn), Maximiliano Dávila, following the assertions of Pedro Montenegro Paz who hinted at a link between the former police chief and the drug trafficking
  - El Deber, 30 November 2019

• The minority coalition of the president of Colombia, Ivan Duque, comprising the Conservative Party and former president Andres Pastrana who backs vice president Marta Lucia Ramirez -- and the far-right Democratic Center part of former president Alvaro Uribe that backs Duque, is fracturing, as the Conservatives support an ongoing peace process with demobilized FARC guerrillas that is fiercely opposed by the president's party and Uribe, though Pastana opposes former president Juan Manuel Santos who signed the peace agreement and Santos' peace treaty
  - Colombia Reports, 30 November 2019

• 'Wax', the marijuana-based wax that is raising alarms in Bucaramanga, Colombia - the inhalation of this substance is four times more potent than conventional marijuana
  - El Tiempo, 29 November 2019

• Oscar Serrate, the Bolivian ambassador to the United States, rules out the return of the DEA as a solution to drug trafficking in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 29 November 2019

• Colombia's commercial television networks and leading newspapers are under fire over their almost incestuous ties to government and questionable approach to journalism - in some cases, like RCN, this conflict of interest went so far that it has been accused of apologizing for terrorism allegedly sponsored by it's sister company, Postobon, that is accused of financing paramilitary groups that murdered more than 100,000 people, most of whom innocent civilians
  - Colombia Reports, 29 November 2019

• "Evo Morales is like a father to us" - in the Chapare coca-growing region of Bolivia where the former president got his political start, coca farmers are loyal to him — and demanding his return
  - New York Times, 27 November 2019

• The head of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca), Franclin Gutierrez, insisted today on the repeal of the Coca Law of Bolivia approved by the previous government of the Movement to Socialism (MAS). Gutierrez said the current regulations were approved without consensus from La Paz producers and extended the production frontier for coca to the Chapare producers.
  - Pagina Siete, 27 November 2019

• Opinion: the secret of Chapare (Bolivia) - the product of Chapare is not the coca leaf but drug by-products that is obtained from the coca leaf, so that the sale of the leaf has nothing to do with honest business, something that may unravel this mystery
  - El Diario, 27 November 2019

• Cocaleros of the Six Federations of the Tropics determined yesterday, in a town hall, to establish a temporary recess in the blockades that they maintain in the highway that unites Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. They called for the "immediate" approval of a guarantee law for Evo Morales and ratified that he "remains the president of Bolivia".
  - Pagina Siete, 27 November 2019

• The vice president of the Six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba (Bolivia), Andrónico Rodríguez, reported Tuesday that this social organization determined the fourth recess in the blockade of the road to Santa Cruz, which began two weeks ago, while awaiting compliance with agreements by the Government with the social sectors
  - La Razon, 27 November 2019

• Cocaleros of the six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba, Bolivia, determined to support former president Evo Morales, during an extended meeting held today afternoon at his headquarters in the municipality of Sacaba. The leader of the Coordination of the six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba, Andrónico Rodríguez, demanded the approval of the Law of Guarantees.
  - Pagina Siete, 26 November 2019

• The Interim Ombudsman, Nadia Cruz, who yesterday participated in the council of the six federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba, together with Andronico Rodriguez leader, threw harangues at the Chapare coca growers who made them shout "neither forget nor forgive, justice!" about the clashes raised days ago where several farmers in the sector lost their lives. The presence and posture of Cruz was criticized by the citizens who assure that the official shows a clear political inclination in favor of the Movement To Socialism (MAS) besides that she never participated in councils in defense of democracy.
  - El Diario, 26 November 2019

• A marijuana variety nicknamed 'Creepy' is aggravating Colombia's drug trafficking wars - it is grown in Colombia's "Golden Triange" in the northern neck of Cauca state, centered on the towns of Toribio, Caloto and Miranda
  - Daily Beast, 24 November 2019

• Every day, $3 million worth of fuel is smuggled into Colombia from various neighbors who can’t seem to keep their borders under control, and even worse, this is the gas that fuels the mighty cocaine industry - it takes approximately 38 liters (or 10 gallons) of gasoline to manufacture just one kilogram of cocaine, Colombia’s cocaine manufacturing process each year consumes 9.21 million gallons of gasoline - a Colombian drug lab would have to pay $0.716 per liter of Colombian gasoline, if it weren't for Ecuador’s cheaper gasoline of $0.489 per liter
  - OilPrice.com, 20 November 2019

• At least 50 coca growers from Chapare, Bolivia - allied with former president Evo Morales - are being investigated for drug trafficking, as revealed yesterday by the national director of the Special Force to Combat Drug Trafficking (Felcn) Maximiliano Dávila. He also reported that 10 MAS councilors in municipalities of the Cochabamba tropics were sent to justice, so far this year, for the same crime.
  - El Diario, 22 November 2019

• At least 50 coca growers from Chapare, Bolivia - allied with former president Evo Morales - are being investigated for drug trafficking, as revealed yesterday by the national director of the Special Force to Combat Drug Trafficking (Felcn) Maximiliano Dávila. He also reported that 10 MAS councilors in municipalities of the Cochabamba tropics were sent to justice, so far this year, for the same crime.
  - Pagina Siete, 22 November 2019

• Protests in support of coca growers provoke tension in Cochabamba, Bolivia - marches in the southern zone to support the people of Chapare who try to enter the city center - aa Police had to use tear gas
  - El Deber, 19 November 2019

• Another day of clashes between coca growers and law enforcement in Cochabamba, Bolivia - a police and military security fence prevented the passage of coca leaf producers from Chapare, affiliated with Evo Morales, to the city of Cochabamba, to demand the resignation of President áñez
  - La Razon, 18 November 2019

• Football, emeralds and coca, which plunges Horacio Triana into the U.S. - ‘indictment’ reveals links of emeralds with the former drug leader who bought shares of Santa Fe soccer club and with AUC
  - El Tiempo, 18 November 2019

• President Trump reportedly shelved a ban on flavored e-cigarettes to avoid angering nicotine-addicted voters
  - Business Insider, 18 November 2019

• Cacao exports from Colombia reach over 40 countries, with $80 million in export sales
  - Finance Colombia, 18 November 2019

• "The problem in Colombia was not the FARC, it was coca": presidential security Aaviser - Rafael Guarín explains, in dialogue with this newspaper, that the biggest challenge in terms of security is for the State to reach the most neglected regions
  - El Espectador, 17 November 2019

• The producers of coca leaf of the Chapare, Bolivia, last night held a town hall in which they gave a time period of 48 hours for President Jeanine áñez to resign, otherwise they will carry out a national and indefinite blockade of roads until their requests are heard
  - El Deber, 17 November 2019

• The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) posted a video circulating on social networks, which shows the five victims who lie on a blanket on the floor - condemned the "excessive use" of force and reminded "the State of its obligation to ensure the right to life and physical integrity of those who protest peacefully in Bolivia".
  - La Razon, 17 November 2019

• Cali, "the center of operations" from where drug traffickers control coca and cocaine in southern Colombia
  - El Pais, 17 November 2019

• Military and police use tear gas on coca growers loyal to Evo Morales who march to Cochabamba - coca producers from the Six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba, Bolivia, left again this Saturday in a march that departed from the municipality of Sacaba towards the city, to protest for the massacre allegedly perpetrated by security forces that left at least 9 dead and more than 100 injured
  - El Comercio, 17 November 2019

• The march of the MAS party (aligned with foremer president Morales) ended yesterday in blood in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. The crossfire between the coca growers of the Tropic and the security forces - Armed Forces and Police - left at least six dead on the part of MASistas, and dozens injured and hundreds apprehended
  - Pagina Siete, 16 November 2019

• The death toll rose to eight from Friday's clashes in Sacaba, Cochabamba (Bolivia), between coca growers and the contigent of police and military
  - La Razon, 16 November 2019

• The representative of the Ombudsman's Office in Cochabamba (Bolivia), Nelson Cox, confirmed on Friday afternoon the death from gunshot wounds of five coca growers in Sacaba, in the middle of clashes with police and military. Another 26 producers were injured and transferred to the hospitals of Sacaba and Cochabamba, while the security operation arrested about 169 coca growers trying to reach the city of Cochabamba and then continue on to La Paz in support of former president Evo Morales
  - La Razon, 15 November 2019

• There are reports that violent clashes in Sacaba, Bolivia, have left at least 5 dead - the police and military initiated an operation on the strategic Huayllani connection bridge so that Chapare coca growers could not enter the city of Cochabamba
  - La Razon, 15 November 2019

• Ethnic rifts in Bolivia burst into view with the fall of Evo Morales - as the country's first Indigenous president has tumbled from power, Indigenous Bolivians (many of whom use and grow the coca leaf) fear the loss of their hard-won political gains, and say a racially tinged backlash has begun
  - New York Times, 15 November 2019

• A group of police from the Joint Task Force (FTC) of Bolivia were surrounded by coca growers, in the town of Chimoré (Tropic of Cochabamba) - according to the complaint of an officer, who asked not to be identified - at least 50 police officers from the FTC were surrounded by coca leaf producers who cut off access to water and food
  - El Deber, 14 November 2019

• The coca grower Franclin Gutiérrez leaves jail in Bolivia after more than a year of detention - the president of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) was imprisoned preventively in August 2018 in the San Pedro prison and since then he had tried, without success and for even administrative reasons, secure his release
  - La Razon, 14 November 2019

• The vice president of the Coordination of the Six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba (Bolivia) of coca growers, Andrónico Rodríguez, summoned all social organizations related to the Movement To Socialism (MAS) to go out on the streets starting this Thursday in rejection of the "self-proclamation" of President Jeanine áñez - said they are in constant mobilization until Evo Morales returns to the country to fulfill his presidential mandate
  - Los Tiempos, 13 November 2019

• The coordinator of the six federations of coca growers of the Tropic of Cochabamba, Bolivia, called for a national mobilization, with special pressure in Cochabamba and La Paz, to reinstall in the Presidency, this next Monday, former president Evo Morales who recently resigned
  - La Razon, 13 November 2019

• Minutes after Senator Jeanine áñez assumed the constitutional presidency of Bolivia, the coca producers of Chapare, whose top leader is Evo Morales, spoke out and threatened with forceful mobilizations starting tomorrow - "In the Tropic of Cochabamba we will be on the streets until our brother Evo Morales returns to the presidency, because he is within the time of his constitutional mandate until January 22, 2020."
  - Pagina Siete, 13 November 2019

• Colombia and its coca growing neighbors, Peru and Bolivia, have an opportunity to transform coca into a path of licit sustainable development and even refocus part of the growing demand for cocaine, helping us to stop drug trafficking from the root
  - Semana Rural, 12 November 2019

• The beginning of the eradication of coca leaf in the hamlets of Mazamari (áín, Perú) has heightened the struggle of the guilds settled in that part of the central ágle that connects to the Vraem. These first days of conflict between coca growers and police have left 15 injured, but they also have been used by terrorism to show their presence.
  - El Comercio, 11 November 2019

• In Chimoré, Chapare, Bolivia, where President Evo Morales and Vice President álvaro García Linera arrived yesterday after submitting their resignations, the coca growers rejected the decision of the two presidents and, after a meeting, went out to burn police posts and the Command for the Tropic of Cochabamba, from where they stole documents of drug trafficking investigations, calling for a civil war
  - Pagina Siete, 11 November 2019

• Interview with María Eugenia Lloreda Piedrahita, president of the Association of Sugar Cane Growers in Colombia, who lies about the dangers of sugar to human health
  - El Pais, 10 November 2019

• Coca growing regions, areas of FARC dissidents, and the plan of Colombian president Iván Duque to stop the violence in the Cauca province
  - La Silla Vacia, 10 November 2019

• Medical cannabis: is a new industry born in Peru? - Although the regulation is not yet in force at one hundred percent, companies have already established and structured plans for business operations in the a short, medium and long term
  - El Comercio, 09 November 2019

• The clans of coca and cocaine in the Vraem of Peru: the five families in charge of sending drugs from Palmapampa (Ayacucho) to Bolivia
  - El Comercio, 06 November 2019

• Coca growers march in the streets of Cochabamba, Bolivia, and had a confrontation with anti-government protestors in front of the headquarters of the goovernment ruling party - the mobilization of the coca growers was demanding that the results of the recent first-round re-election, on October 20th, of President Morales be respected
  - Pagina Siete, 06 November 2019

• Coca growers march in the streets of Cochabamba, Bolivia, and had a confrontation with anti-government protestors in front of the headquarters of the goovernment ruling party - the mobilization of the coca growers was demanding that the results of the recent first-round re-election, on October 20th, of President Morales be respected
  - El Deber, 06 November 2019

• Women affiliated with the Movement To Socialism (MAS - the ruling party in Bolivia)), of the National Confederation of Indigenous Peasant Women Originally from Bolivia Bartolina Sisa, marched through the city of Cochabamba to support the president, Evo Morales, requesting respect for the vote of the rural area and denounce acts of discrimination against him
  - Los Tiempos, 06 November 2019

• Colombia’s Senate was shocked on Tuesday when hearing that at least seven minors were killed in a bombardment that President Ivan Duque had falsely presented as an "impeccable operation" against dissident FARC rebels that he labelled as "carco-terrorist criminals"
  - Colombia Reports, 06 November 2019

• Colombia’s Senate was shocked on Tuesday when hearing that at least seven minors were killed in a bombardment that President Ivan Duque had falsely presented as an "impeccable operation" against dissident FARC rebels that he labelled as "carco-terrorist criminals"
  - El Tiempo, 05 November 2019

• The national organization of indigenous people in Colombia propose "A Pilot Plan for Erradication and Substitution of Illegal Crops" (such as coca) to stop assassinations in the north part of Cauca province
  - Organizacion Nacional Indigena de Colombia, 05 November 2019

• Survey in Colombia reports that 45% of the people think that assassinations of social leaders in Cauca province are due to stealing land from indigenous people (such as the Nasa indigenous group - one of the few people making legal coca products), while only 14% of the people think that the killings are due to coca cultivation (25% for marijuana) - raising the question of the intent of President Duque's plan to send 2500 soldiers to Cauca - which he argues will fight the cocaine drug cartels but for which others argue is to help his right-wing allies steal more land
  - Colombia Reports, 03 November 2019

• The Colombian government affliated newspaper, El Tiempo, also blames assassinations of indigenous people in Cauca on drug trafficking, but does not report on assassinations due to stealing land from the people there
  - El Tiempo, 03 November 2019

• Colombia's indigenous Nasa people reiterate that they will not allow any armed group, legal or illegal, into their autonomous territory, rejecting government claims that the military could protect the Nasa people
  - Colombia Reports, 03 November 2019

• Confrontation with coca growers leaves 3 people wounded by gunshot in the Vraem of Peru - agents of the National Police and coca growers confronted each other yesterday during the eradication day of the Special Project for the Reduction and Control of Illegal Crops in Alto Huallaga (Corah), in the surrounding area of the La Florida sector, in the Coviriali district, province of Satipo (áín)
  - El Comercio, 02 November 2019

• VIDEO: Colombia's indigenous people risk their lives to remove illegal coca and marijuana crops
  - Al Jazeera, 02 November 2019

• Profits from sales of rooibos tea will be shared with San and Khoi Indigenous communities in southern Africa
  - Nature, 02 November 2019

• Colombia wants to create an economy based on its biodiversity, after 50 years of civil war, taking advantage of over 300 different ecological zones (article is silent about the legal economics of coca agriculture
  - Scientific American, 01 November 2019

• New murder of indigenous leader in Colombia, Gilbert Domicó Domicó, this time in Antioquia - several criminal organizations have listed indigenous leaders as targets because of their opposition to activities such as the production of coca and cocaine near their communities and the recruiting of members of the indigenous community
  - El Espectador, 01 November 2019

• Four victims of the new massacre in Cauca, Colombia, were members of a team of engineers and surveyors who carried out reconnaissance work in the Corinth area, in the north of the province - the technicians were conducting topographic work, supported by drones, in an area where there are coca crops
  - El Tiempo, 31 October 2019

• Nicotine drug trafficker, Juul, knowingly sold one million mint-flavored nicotine pods that were contaminated - and refused to call them
  - New York Times, 31 October 2019

• Why are they killing many indigenous people in the norte of Cauca, Colombia - the region where coca is grown and processed?
  - El Espectador, 30 October 2019

• Over 42,000 people have sued Bayer/Monsanto over its Roundup herbicides, with the people claiming that the glyphosate in Roundup causes cancer.
  - Wall Street Journal, 30 October 2019

• Colombia's authorities are under extraordinary pressure to investigate who murdered the FARC member who was at the heart of the former guerrillas' reintegration program
  - Colombia Reports, 26 October 2019

• Letter from a doctor: "I see patients every day who have had their lives destroyed by tobacco.", due to heart attacks and cancer - which coca tea does not cause.
  - Wall Street Journal, 23 October 2019

• Obesity causes losses of $13.7 billion in Colombia's labor market (about 4.3% of GDP), one solution is to achieve a 20 percent reduction in the calories provided by the food and beverage groups that most produce overweight.
  - El Tiempo, 21 October 2019

• A new initiative sponsored by congressmen of the FARC party in Colombia, and accompanied by a group of legislators who have supported the peace agreements, seeks to develop a part of the final agreement and give priority to the criminal prosecution of drug traffickers and financers of that illegal business and not to small growers who have no other way of life in the regions or who under pressure to grow the coca leaf
  - El Tiempo, 19 October 2019

• Although President Iván Duque is determined to resume spraying with glyphosate to coca crops in Colombia and accelerate efforts, next year he will find that the governors of the three departments with more coca are openly against that strategy. In Nariño, Norte de Santander and Putumayo, which last December accounted for 61 percent of the hectares (according to UNODC figures), all candidates for governorates are against fumigation, including those endorsed by parties that are part of the Government coalition (Democratic Center, Conservative, Fair Colombia and Free, the U and Mira).
  - La Silla Vacia, 13 October 2019

• More than 500,000 doses of cocaine each consumed each day in London, about 8 tons per year
  - SKY News, 12 October 2019

• The successes of the 2016 peace deal in Colombia are slipping away
  - Foreign Affairs, 11 October 2019

• The Trump administration is moving to restart aerial fumigation in Colombia - the move further endangers the country's already-fragile peace accord
  - The Progressive, 10 October 2019

• The U.S. will donate about US $123 million for anti-narcotics activities in Colombia - they are in addition to the nearly US $420 million that Washington approved to spend in the country throughout 2019 - also provide mobility for the groups of eradicators that will be displaced to these areas - under the agreement, both countries also pledged to promote economic development programs for cococa growing parts of the country.
  - El Tiempo, 10 October 2019

• Just a week after the D.C. Council put an additional 2% sales tax on soft drinks, it is considering a substitute plan to place a 1.5 cent-per-ounce excise tax on soda and other sweetened beverages
  - FoodDive, 09 October 2019

• Powers of the earth: the coca leaf has been used for more than 4,000 years by indigenous people from the Amazon and the Andean region
  - Caracol TV, 09 October 2019

• Investors who have invested over $400 million in the legal marijuana industry in Colombia are frustrated with regulations and roadblocks to exports, as other countries (Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, maybe Brazil) expand more quickly
  - Reuters, 07 October 2019

• Amid Trump's trade war with Zhōngguó, farmers start growing more hemp, now that hemp is no longer classified a controlled substance, with 13 states now growing hemp for a total of 285,000 hectares
  - New York Times, 07 October 2019

• Nir Eyal, who taught Silicon Valley on how to addict consumers to their apps and cellphones, now is teaching consumers how to break free but is still blaming concusmers for their addiction - the classic drug traffickers defense
  - New York Times, 07 October 2019

• Researchers find that electronic cigarettes can cause lung cancer in mice, the first study tying vaping to cancer
  - CNBC, 07 October 2019

• Kushy Punch, a vape maker based in California, is caught making illegal products using a petro-solvent extraction process to obtain THC, which can have the effect of concentrating pesticides
  - Leafly, 04 October 2019

• A lawsuit filed in Canada argues that videogames are similar to cocaine in that they are designed to addict children by increasing levels of dopamine generated in the brain while playing the games.
  - CBC News, 04 October 2019

• Coca crops surge amid security vacuum on Peru-Bolivia border, with some 600 hectares of coca being grown at the Bahuaja Sonene National Park in southeastern Peru.
  - Insight Crime, 03 October 2019

• Guatemala has destroyed nearly 1.5 million coca plants
  - Reuters, 03 October 2019

• How Evo Morales in Bolivia away from traditional uses of the coca leaf, towards the greater production of coca paste and cocaine - the coca dictatorship of the Chapare, expansion of coca into Tipnis, and even cocaine production into the Yungas
  - Pagina Siete, 02 October 2019

• The Ministry of Health of Colombia considers that for those who vape, electronic cigarettes and Nicotine Administration Systems (Sean) are harmful, "do not stop smoking traditional tobacco", "it is not true that they are safer" and may "cause addiction and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases"
  - El Tiempo, 01 October 2019

• The Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice reports that the Drug Enforcement Agency authorized large increases in the production of opioid painkillers even as drug-related deaths soared - the agency increased production quotas for oxycodone production by about 400 percent from 2002 to 2013, despite evidence that opioids were being overprescribed and misused.
  - New York Times, 01 October 2019

• Three pharmacy chains - Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS - are pulling the heartburn medication, Zantac, from their stores' shelves after the Food and Drug Administration warned that it had detected low levels of a cancer-causing chemical in samples of the drug.
  - New York Times, 30 September 2019

• Víctor Hugo Cárdenas, former vicepresident of Bolivia: "Coca and cannabis can be used for medical purposes"
  - El Diario, 29 September 2019

• There have been several clashes between the police and residents of Puerto Valdivia (north of Medellin, Colombia) concerning coca - while the Army ensures that the population is "instrumentalized" by those with arms, coca cultivators say they will not eradicate until the Government fulfills its word
  - El Espectador, 27 September 2019

• Nestle steps up testing after finding high levels of a dangerous weedkiller, glyphosate, in coffee beans
  - Zero Hedge, 27 September 2019

• Google's YouTube is experimenting with ways to make its algorithms even more addictive
  - Technology Review, 27 September 2019

• In Bolivia, the president of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca), Franclin Gutiérrez, through his lawyer, Eusebio Vera, filed a criminal lawsuit yesterday for the crime of breach of obligations against the three prosecutors are prosecuting him
  - El Diario, 27 September 2019

• The government of Colombia identified 32 obstacles for the industrialization of medicinal cannabis
  - La Republica, 26 September 2019

• How the Blel family is a political dynasty that controls Cartagena, with the family patriarch, Vicente Blel, being recorded explaining how to get rich through rigging elections
  - Colombia Reports, 26 September 2019

• The acting commissionar of the FDA says that the agency acted too slowly to avoid the vaping crisis.
  - Wall Street Journal, 25 September 2019

• VIDEO: Peru's coca farmers are encouraged to switch to growing cacao
  - EuroNews, 24 September 2019

• The military and police forces of Colombia should closely coordinate activities to combat the threat of Mexican cartels - they monopolize 100,000 hectares of coca crops in Colombia
  - Portafolio, 24 September 2019

• The Institute of Therapy and Research on the Aftermath of Torture and State Violence (ITEI) of Bolivia found evidence of disorders, depression and traumas in the two daughters of the president of Adepcoca, Franclin Gutierrez, following the poor application of precautionary measures against the leader of coca growers - one daughter no longer eats and has the same symptoms as her younger brother, who died in November 2018
  - Pagina Siete, 25 September 2019

• More than a year after the death of the two coca growers who lost their lives in La Asunta, Eliseo Choque and Carlos Vega, leaders and friends demand justice because the Public Ministry of Bolivia has not yet initiated investigations
  - El Diario, 24 September 2019

• Members of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) denounced on Monday that a woman was attacked by officials of the General Directorate of Marketing and Industrialization of the Coca Leaf (Digcoin), when she took coca from the legal market of Villa Fátima (La Paz, Bolivia).
  - Pagina Siete, 23 September 2019

• Nicotine drug trafficker, Juul Labs, is under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors amid investigations by the FTC and FDA
  - ZeroHedge, 23 September 2019

• The Colombian Government pledged on Thursday to expedite the procedures to grant licenses for the manufacture of cannabis-derived medicines with the aim of growing the industry and having more exports
  - El Pais, 20 September 2019

• INVIMA (National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance - the FDA of Colombia) confirmed that before the end of September the roadmap for pharmaceutical laboratories will be published
  - Portafolio, 20 September 2019

• Purdue Pharma let its opioid rivals in the (legal?) trafficking opioid pills that were more addictive
  - Wall Street Journal, 20 September 2019

• Too many students in American high schools are addicted to nicotine, thanks to their widespread use of electronic cigarettes, and teachers and parents are very worried about the addiction
  - New York Times, 20 September 2019

• India plans to ban the nicotine-based electronic cigarettes as the global backlash intensifies (against this form of drug trafficking)
  - New York Times, 20 September 2919

• Guatemala joins ranks of cocaine producers as coca plantations and cocaine processing laboratories are discovered by security officials
  - Reuters, 19 September 2019

• Humberto de la Calle (former peace negotiator in Colombia) writes about the (negtive) influence of álvaro Uribe on the peace agreement - "Illicit Crops: the truth about the Colon Theater Agreement"
  - El Tiempo, 19 September 2019

• Revenues of US $99 million this year for medical cannabis in Colombia - among the results is that on average the industry generates about 16 formal jobs for each hectare planted with cannabis
  - El Tiempo, 19 September 2019

• Up to 40 mayors in small towns in France defy the French State and ban pesticides such as glyphosate being used by farmers
  - New York Times, 18 September 2019

• Cundinamarca (province for Bogotá) is the protagonist of medical cannabis in Colombia - the department has the most licenses for the development of this industry in the country
  - El Espectador, 18 September 2019

• New York state joins California in banning most flavors of nicotine drug delivery devices known as e-cigarettes, allowing only tobacco and menthol - due in part to 40% of 12th-grade students addicted to this form of nicotine
  - CNN, 18 September 2019

• This is PAZarela, the fashion line from former FARC combatants, made by the Tejiendo Paz cooperative
  - El Espectador, 18 September 2019

• Sales of cannabis in Latin America by 2023 will reach over $500 million
  - Portafolio, 17 September 2019

• People addicted to nicotine due to using e-cigarettes and vaping, and now turning to tobacco cigarettes for relief from their addiction - "Juul made my nicotine addiction worse"
  - NBC News, 15 September 2019

• Illicit crops in indigenous territories of Colombia: an alley with exit - there are cases that show that voluntary crop substitution is possible
  - El Tiempo, 14 September 2019

• Sacha inchi: a superfood of peace in Colombia - more than 1,500 families in Putumayo have chosen to work with this nut to replace coca
  - El Tiempo, 14 September 2019

• Coca eradication in Guaviare to combat deforestation - Colombian soldiers have eradicated 1,900 hectares of illicit crops in this area
  - El Tiempo, 14 September 2019

• After the recent protests of the communities in Valdivia (Antioquia, Colombia) for breaches in the program of eradication of coca crops by the government, the Public Force decided to temporarily suspend these activities
  - El Espectador, 13 September 2019

• There are about 400 productive projects benefitting the ex-Farc in Colombia - the projects range from coffee and handicraft producers, to extreme athletics
  - El Tiempo, 13 September 2019

• Pressured by the U.S., Colombian soldiers destroy coca plants while be careful not to be killed by landmines, while civilian workers earn $530/month to work with the soldiers - all funded by hundreds of millions of dollars from the U.S>
  - Reuters, 13 September 2019

• Peru to start uprooting coca plants in the Vraem, a top drug-trafficking region of the country, a 45-day operation starting November 1 will aim to destroy 750 hectares (1,853 acres) of coca plants
  - Reuters, 12 September 2019

• The goal of coca eradication in Colombia has been met by 70% - there are 56,239 hectares of narco-crops that have been uprooted during the year
  - El Tiempo, 11 September 2019

• European Union encourages the substitution of crops in Nariño (Colombia) - 200 families belonging to 7 community councils, which today are responsible for the cocoa production chain
  - Diario del Sur, 09 September 2019

• The U.S. FDA issue warning letter to Juul Labs, slamming the e-cigarette maker for claims that its highly addictive nicotine-delivery products were a safer alternative to smoking and ordered the company to stop making unproven claims for its products
  - Fox News, 09 September 2019

• The principal cause of violence in the Cauca province is the expansion of coca farming - since 2016, the year that the Peace Agreement was signed, in this region the amount of coca farming increased by 4,500 hectares
  - El Pais, 09 September 2019

• While more than seven thousand peasants from the Jamundí mountain range insist on opposing the forced eradication of coca crops by the Public Force, Mexican and Colombian drug traffickers continue to use that corridor to do their drug transactions
  - El Espectador, 09 September 2019

• Suárez (in the mountains west of Santander de Quilichao): the last "toll road" of drug trafficking towards the Pacific
  - El Espectador, 08 September 2019

• As teen vaping of highly-addictive nicotine, and federally-illegal THC, reaches epidemic proportions in the United States, experts fear future social costs
  - Salon, 08 September 2019

• Bajo Cauca has traditionally been a land of illicit crops such as coca - but despite the majority of the inhabitants of Tarazá and Cáceres being receptive to a voluntary crop substitution programs, the peasants denounce government failures that are pushing them back to be the first link in the drug trafficking chain
  - El Espectador, 06 September 2019

• The eternal return of coca crops to Bajo Cauca - despite the major reception of the inhabitants of Tarazá and Cáceres to the voluntary crop substitution programs, the peasants denounce that the failures of the Colombian Government are pushing them back to be the first link in the drug trafficking chain
  - El Espectador, 06 September 2019

• Peruvian products included in the FDA's 'red list' - the list includes Health Inca Tea, manufactured by the Enaco company for Inca Coca Tea Peruana, based in Lima - according to the FDA, this product contains cocaine, but the product label indicates that it contains only "decocainized coca leaves"
  - El Comercio, 06 September 2019

• John Hopkins University opens new center for medical research into psychedelic drugs and plants
  - New York Times, 04 September 2019

• Germany will ban the use of the controversial glyphosate herbicide from the end of 2023, the government decided on Wednesday - the first limitations on the use of the herbicide will be launched next year
  - Wall Street Journal, 04 September 2019

• Next for investors after marijuana are psychedlic drugs, with a few entrepreneurs and investors see opportunity for novel mental-health treatments using LSD and psychedelic mushrooms
  - Wall Street Journal, 03 September 2019

• Germany will ban the use of the controversial glyphosate herbicide from the end of 2023, the government decided on Wednesday - the first limitations on the use of the herbicide will be launched next year
  - El Espectador, 04 September 2019

• The Government has proposed to give the private sector a leading role in the country's development agenda. However, when reviewing the Peace with Legality policy, which aims to be the roadmap for the implementation of the Peace Agreement, the role assigned to the business sector is rather secondary; which is worrying, if Iván Márquez's recent statements are taken into account about the lack of progress, because today, more than ever, this policy deserves to be a robust and far-reaching joint responsibility project
  - La Silla Vacia, 31 August 2019

• Prof. Luis Fernando Trejos: "The Márquez's announcement is directed more towards Bogota than the regions of Colombia"
  - La Silla Vacia, 30 August 2019

• The commander of the Military Forces of Colombia, General Luis Fernando Navarro, told EL TIEMPO that the return to war announced this Thursday by former FARC negotiator Iván Márquez is classified as a 'residual organized armed group', so it will be faced with all the power of the state, including shelling by the military
  - El Tiempo, 30 August 2019

• With the announcement of Iván Márquez to create a new guerrilla group, arguing that the Colombian government did not comply with the Peace Agreement, it comes to light how the now political party of the FARC, which has ten seats in the Congress of the Republic, started - Rodrigo Londoño and Iván Márquez are protagonists, but not the only ones
  - El Espectador, 30 August 2019

• A brief introduction to the 14 new commanders of the reconstituted FARC guerilla group in Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 30 August 2019

• Missing FARC leaders rearm, announce ‘new phase’ in Colombia’s armed conflict
  - Colombia Reports, 29 August 2019

• While the Colombian Ministry of Justice is about to take the key step to re-fumigate with glyphosate, the crop substitution policy, the carrot for the coca growers to voluntarily end coca farming, advances slowly, has funding problems and the unions and entrepreneurs will gain prominence, typical of Duque's vision of recharging the private sector
  - La Silla Vacia, 29 August 2019

• The video of Iván Márquez, Jesús Santrich, ‘El Paisa’ and Romaña with rifles on their shoulders not only confirms the rumor that we have reported that the Farc would reform its forces - it is also a lunge at the Peace Agreement, with the guerrilla chief negotiator announcing his return to arms, and it is bad news for Colombia because until now they had said they were not going to rearm
  - La Silla Vacia, 29 August 2019

• Colombia's former FARC guerilla leader, Luciano Marin alias Ivan Marquez, calls for a return to war because of what he called the government's violations of the peace agreement, a complaint shared by many former FARC members
  - New York Times, 29 August 2019

• Collective land ownership (Law 70 of 1993), under which 60% of Colombia's Pacific coastland is communally owned, is keeping the country's Pacific peoples poor most of whom are Afro-Caribbean (coca is grown in many places in their region of the country).
  - Economist, 29 August 2019

• Dissidents of demobilized guerrilla group FARC and drug trafficking group La Constru appear to have gone to war in southern Colombia after years of cooperation - according to the United Nations, some 1,600 people from rural communities near Puerto Asis (Putumayo province) have been unable to move around freely - the military, which is stationed in Puerto Asis, appears to stay out of the conflict - OCHA called on the security forces to protect the civilian population, and in particular the farmers who are taking part in a program that allowed them to replace coca for legal crops
  - Colombia Reports, 27 August 2019

• Between 9,222 and 17,422 tons of coca leaf are sold outside the legal markets of Bolivia, according to the Government, which means that between 28 and 42 percent of the leaf passes to the illegal markets, which caught the attention even of President Evo Morales, who regretted this fact
  - El Deber, 23 August 2019

• President Evo Morales of Bolivia acknowledges that the cocaine market regulates the price of coca - the president said that a part of the coca leaf harvest of the Tropic of Cochabamba and the Yungas of La Paz is diverted to the illegal market for other purposes
  - Pagina Siee, 23 August 2019

• After 2 years, Bolivia reduces coca crops by 6% - the cultivated area was reduced by 1,400 hectares (Ha), from 24,500 Ha in 2017 to 23,100 Ha in 2018
  - Los Tiempos, 23 August 2019

• For the coca crops in the Caribbean region of Colombia - unlike what happened elsewhere in the country, in the Caribbean region the crop harvests did not decrease
  - La Silla Vacia, 22 August 2019

• Bolivia reduced coca crops by 6% and calls for equal effort from cocaine consuming countries
  - La Razon, 22 August 2019

• In Tumaco, where cocoa has been cultivated for a long time, of very good quality, the illicit coca crops are being replaced by cocoa crops associated with aromatic herbs
  - El Pais, 20 August 2019

• The construction of a new deep-water port in Ecuador, near Guayaquil, which will be able to handle post-Panamax ships, will take business away from the Colombian Pacific port of Buenaventura
  - El Espectador, 17 August 2019

• While President Ivan Duque's former speechwriter is set to run the economic magazine of Colombia's largest newspaper, El Tiempo, the newspaper’s former politics editor is joining the presidential propaganda team
  - Colombia Reports, 16 August 2019

• The FDA's new graphical warning labels for cigarette packages are very distrubing - as they should be
  - New York Times, 16 August 2019

• The representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Thierry Rostan, said that his entity will not validate a third market parallel to that of Villa Fatima, since the law only recognizes two, that of Sacaba, Cochabamba and Adepcoca, La Paz, conditioned that if the central government of Bolivia recognizes the third market, it could proceed in the same way
  - El Diario, 15 August 2019

• The representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Thierry Rostan, said that his entity will not validate a third market parallel to that of Villa Fatima, since the law only recognizes two, that of Sacaba, Cochabamba and Adepcoca, La Paz, conditioned that if the central government of Bolivia recognizes the third market, it could proceed in the same way
  - Los Tiempos, 15 August 2019

• The Gaviria family from Medellin: prolific land thieves - with or having had aliances with paramilitaries, and with Alvaro Uribe (the most powerful politician in Antioquia) - now after Colombia's 2nd largest economy - that of Antioquia province
  - Colombia Reports, 15 August 2019

• Nicotine drug traffickers are flooding retail stores with sweet, teen-friendly nicotine pods to addict as many children as possible (unlike the coca alkaloid, nicotine is extremely addictive)
  - New York Times, 13 August 2019

• Many companies are advertising CBD as a cure-all for everything, but many health claims are unproven, many contain THC, and many contain synthetic addictive drugs
  - New York Times, 13 August 2019

• Emerging evidence that armed conflict and coca cultivation influence deforestation patterns - a study in Colombia
  - Biological Conservation, 12 August 2019

• The Colombian government promised to invest in rural areas as part of the country's peace process - but the elite-friendly projects it's pushing (such as the scandal-ridden Hidroituango dam) are undermining the livelihoods of local residents, and threatening the peace process itself - for example, more than two years after pulling out their coca plants, and more than a year since subsidy payments ended, only a small minority of families have received the second level of short-term projects, which were supposed to be generating profits within the first year, so sadly, the result across all of Briceño has been economic collapse
  - Jacobin, 12 August 2019

• Regional authorities took the decision on Monday to provisionally suspend the manual eradication of illegal coca crops in the upper area of Jamundí (Colombia) - a decision was made known by the Governor of Cauca, Dilian Francisca Toro, and the commander of the Metropolitan Police of Cali, General Hugo Casas
  - El Pais, 12 August 2019

• The presidential adviser for Stabilization and Consolidation, Emilio Archila, highlighted the results of the Government of Iván Duque on progress with the Peace Agreement - but Pastor Alape, ex-guerrilla delegate to the National Reincorporation Council, made several caveats to what was said by the official
  - El Espectador, 12 August 2019

• The takeover by Big Pharma of the medical cannabis industry, with patents as weapons
  - Visual Capitalist, 12 August 2019

• The plan to end the growing of coca in eight provinces of Colombia - the UN argues that in one year this goal can be achieved in 8 regions that have less than 100 hectares of coca farming
  - El Tiempo, 12 August 2019

• Lieutenant Colonel Cesar Augusto Martinez, chief of the Colombian Army's anti-kidnapping unit, and nephew of controversial Army chief Nicasio Martinez, is implicated in crimes of ... kidnapping
  - Colombia Reports, 12 August 2019

• Armed men open fire on indigenous community in southwest Colombia after assassinating two guards - the escalation of violence comes a week after a group calling themselves the Sinaloa Cartel vowed to kill anyone associated with local indigenous authorities - the local indigenous historically used coca leaf to chew on or for tea, but are fiercely opposed to drug trafficking or outsiders invading their territory
  - Colombia Reports, 10 August 2019

• Mexican drug traffickers that are terrorizing the south of Colombia - they negotiate for coca with 'all-inclusive' plans offered by criminal gangs in Cauca, Valle and Nariño - Mexican capos want top quality goose planted in at least 60,000 narco-hectares
  - El Tiempo, 10 August 2019

• President Trump urged Colombia’s government to resume the aerial fumigation of coca on Thursday as he certified the country as cooperative with Washington’s counternarcotics efforts
  - Colombia Reports, 09 August 2019

• President Trump urged Colombia’s government to resume the aerial fumigation of coca on Thursday as he certified the country as cooperative with Washington’s counternarcotics efforts
  - El Pais, 09 August 2019

• President Trump urged Colombia’s government to resume the aerial fumigation of coca on Thursday as he certified the country as cooperative with Washington’s counternarcotics efforts
  - El Tiempo, 09 August 2019

• The misguided effort of Colombian president Duque to restart aerial spraying of coca in Colombia with the cancer-causing glyphosate herbicide.
  - World Political Review, 08 August 2019

• Five Valle del Cauca journalists who have covered the problem of illicit coca and marijuana crops in the Colombian province have received death threats from groups outside the law, threats denounced by press freedom organizations on Tuesday
  - El Pais, 06 August 2019

• Luis Carlos Sarmiento, Colombia's richest man and a backer of Uribe and Duque, loses a $60 million tax lawsuit with the government over a debt that never existed
  - Colombia Reports, 06 August 2019

• Three major opioid drug traffickers - McKesson, Cardnial Health, Amerisource Bergen - have offered to pay $10 billion to settle all claims that the helped fuel the ongoing US opioid epidemic, while the ational Association of Attorneys General countered with a demand for $45 billion paid over decades to cover the costs of the public health crisis brought on by opioid abuse, addiction and overdoses
  - Zero Hedge, 06 August 2019

• The two groups of coca growers fighting for control of the Departmental Association of Coca Leaf Producers (Adepcoca) in La Paz completed on Monday their fifth day of vigils in the middle of a police alert, which has decided to keep the area under observation until the tension goes down.
  - La Razon, 05 August 2019

• UN warns that coca plantations in the Llanos region of Colombia give five crops a year - report explains why although crops fell in 2018, sowing productivity increased
  - El Tiempo, 05 August 2019

• Six reasons why the growth of coca crops in Colombia has slowed
  - La Silla Vacia, 05 August 2019

• The inhabitants of the rural area of Jamundí (Colombia) are frightened by clashes between the Army and armed groups that seek to control illicit coca crops in the region
  - El Pais, 05 August 2019

• Although during 2018 coca crops were reduced by 2,000 hectares in Colombia, reaching 169,000 hectares across the country, breaking the growth trend they had been several years ago, the value of the kilo of cocaine hydrochloride rose, and was paid in the country at 4,970,600 pesos, an increase of 11.7% compared to the price of 2018, of 4,449,500 pesos (about US $1400)
  - El Tiempo, 05 August 2019

• Hectares of coca crops fall, but potential for coca production in Colombia rises - UN report highlights that last year there was a reduction of 2000 hectares of coca leaf plantings
  - El Tiempo, 05 August 2019

• An elder of a native Colombian people in southwest Colombia (Toribio, between Cali and Popayan) was assassinated on Sunday, days after the appearance of a pamphlet signed by Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel threatening indigenous authorities - the area has seen an increase in concentrated coca cultivation by drug traffickers
  - Colombia Reports, 05 August 2019

• Colombia journalist Vicky Davila is married to Jose Emiro Gnecco, a physician whose family, the Gneccos, are allegedly a crime family that run the non-coastal Caribbean province of Cesar bordering Venezuela, with links to drug trafficking and paramilitary groups
  - Colombia Reports, 04 August 2019

• According to the Cauca Regional Indigenous Council (CRIC), two different death threats from a group claiming to be the "New Generation Sinaloa Cartel" have been circulating in the northern Cauca region since Thursday - filling a power vacuum created by the demobilization of FARC - where the indigenous people have long used coca leaf to chew on or for tea but fiercely oppose drug trafficking
  - Colombia Reports, 04 August 2019

• The leadership of the Coca Growers Association (Adepcoca), evaluates a possible meeting with the National Committee for the Defense of Democracy (Conade) in Bolivia to assess the situation in this sector and possible defense actions, said leader Alex Quisbert yesterday
  - El Diario, 03 August 2019

• Yungas coca producers affiliated with the MAS (the government ruling party) took the premises of the Coca Growers Association (Adepcoca) hospital where they installed a new market for the commercialization of the leaf - the governor of La Paz, Felix Patzi, announced that he will sue criminally those responsible for this event, being that this center was executed with a portion of money from the Government
  - El Diario, 03 August 2019

• This Friday the Yungas coca growers who defend the leaders of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) - Franclin Gutiérrez and Sergio Pampa, celebrate their second day of vigil at the doors of that organization, where there is one of the only two markets for the commercialization of coca leaf authorized by law - the other front, which on Wednesday elected Elena Flores as leader of the sector, is entrenched in dependencies of the Center of Specialties of Integral Care of Adepcoca, which has now become a center of gathering
  - La Razon, 02 August 2019

• The taking of the Adepcoca Integral Care Specialties Center, located in the Villa El Carmen neighborhood, to turn it into a coca market parallel to that of Villa Fátima, was questioned by the governor of La Paz, Felix Patzi, who warned with a process criminal against those who are part of this action
  - La Razon, 02 August 2019

• The Departmental Association of Coca Producers of La Paz (Adepcoca) that manages the legal sale of the product in this province, last night was entrenched in its headquarters located in Villa Fatima, before the attempt of coca growers of the Movement To Socialism (MAS) to take that headquarters - the leader of Adepcoca Alex Quisbert assured that the president of the sector Franclin Gutiérrez and Sergio Pampa (second man of the Association) are "political prisoners" and that the Government wants to seize "by force" of the entity - also accused the Minister of Rural Development and Land, César Cocarico, of organizing a parallel leadership "functional to the interests of the MAS" (the ruling party of Bolivia).
  - El Diario, 02 August 2019

• The struggle for the leadership of the coca-producing region in the Yungas affiliated with the Coca Growers Association (Adepcoca), generated strong clashes between its affiliates and police officers when a faction group related to the ruling party (MAS) tried to intervene the premises of the market of Villa Fátima - by about 6.40 pm yesterday a group of coca growers members of the parallel leadership formed in an assembly held last Wednesday, in the midst of a strong police displacement tried to forcefully take the premises of the legal market
  - El Diario, 02 August 2019

• The group of coca growers related to the Government, grouped around the National Confederation of Producers with Folder to Detail (Conalprodc), formed a directory, at the head of Elena Flores, and unable to settle in the offices of Adepcoca, decided to take the Adepcoca Comprehensive Care Specialties Center, a second level hospital where they installed the new illegal coca market - the health center is located on 10th Street of Villa El Carmen
  - Pagina Siete, 02 August 2019

• The group of coca growers related to the Government, grouped around the National Confederation of Producers with Folder to Detail (Conalprodc), formed a directory, at the head of Elena Flores, and unable to settle in the offices of Adepcoca, decided to take the Adepcoca Comprehensive Care Specialties Center, a second level hospital where they installed the new illegal coca market - the health center is located on 10th Street of Villa El Carmen
  - El Deber, 02 August 2019

• Tension persists in Villa Fátima, a La Paz neighborhood, home of the legal coca market of the Yungas and has been the cause of clashes between two blocks after the election of Elena Flores as the new president of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers of La Paz (Adepcoca) - her detractors installed a vigil with bonfires - the controversial election was rejected by the sector that supports the arrested leader Franclin Gutiérrez who denounced interference from people affiliated with the Government to take control of the legal market of coca leaf that is located in Villa Fatima
  - La Razon, 02 August 2019

• Colombia will buy glyphosate from China to fumigate coca plants
  - Dialogo Chino, 01 August 2019

• The parallel leadership (affiliated with the government) of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca), which maintains the seizure and monitoring of the health center of that organization, announced on Thursday a march to demand the ownership of the headquarters of the coca growers
  - Pagina Siete, 01 August 2019

• The long-time Yungas coca producers affiliated with Adepcoca are rejecting the directive conformed by the MAS (affiliated with the government) and ratify the re-election of Franclin Gutiérrez as their maximum representative for an indefinite period; the lawyer of his defense, Ever Vera, said that the only body with legitimacy to call elections is its president in office, Gutiérrez
  - El Diario, 01 August 2019

• In a massive concentration, the Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of the Yungas organic rejected the election of the board related to the Government, held yesterday, and declared itself in permanent vigil. However, the Ministry of Rural Development supported Irene Elena Flores as the new executive of the organization - Adepcoca is determined to ratify Franclin Gutiérrez and Sergio Pampa, currently detained, as its leadership
  - Los Tiempos, 01 August 2019

• Cocaleros of the Yungas related to the leadership of the jailed leader Franclin Gutiérrez mobilized today in the city of La Paz to denounce the desire to fracture this sector with the holding of parallel elections for the Coca Growers Association (Adepcoca), a process that is being promoted by a group close to the Government
  - La Razon, 31 July 2019

• Colombia's national ombudsman, Carlos Negret, couldn’t possibly be more grim when he, governors and community leaders tried to describe the consequences of the chronic government abandonment in the Choco, Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño provinces - allowing 17 illegal armed groups to form
  - Colombia Reports, 31 July 2019

• The Minister of Rural Development and Land in Bolivia, César Cocarico, justified the authorization of the former Said factory to sell coca, although this is illegal - he said he is waiting for a quickly-passed bill that coca growers affiliated with the MAS ruling party will present so that its parallel market has the backing of the Government
  - Pagina Siete, 31 July 2019

• Peru's crackdown on coca pushes illegal growers toward protected areas in southeastern Peru
  - Monga Bay, 30 July 2019

• Camilo Romero, the governor of Nariño (a province of Colombia) who declares himself in rebellion against Duque's crazy plan to bathe the coca fields in glyphosate, with a serious risk to the health of man and the environment
  - El Espectador, 30 July 2019

• Vanilla, one of the most popular spices, which sold in 2015 for about $100 per kilogram, rose to $600 last year, surpassing silver and going through a period of maximum prices, qualified by experts as "crisis". Vanilla production is quite scarce and is essentially concentrated in only one country, Madagascar, which is responsible for about 80% of the world market
  - El Diario, 29 July 2019

• Coca growers in Bolivia affiliated with the MAS (the government ruling part) will make the former Said market its illegal market - through a quick law, the leaders parallel to those of Adepcoca seek the endorsement of the Ministry of Rural Development and Lands in order to authorize the new space under a ministerial resolution
  - Pagina Siete, 27 July 2019

• Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere of the United States, Kevin Michael O'Reilly, stressed yesterday in La Paz the virtues of the democratic system and expressed the desire of his government to reduce the production of illegal coca in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 27 July 2019

• Luis Eladio Pérez, the Nariñense politician, who remained kidnapped in the ágle for seven years, explained his reasons for accepting the political support of those who held him illegally so he can be elected the next governor of Nariño
  - El Espectador, 26 July 2019

• Protesters expelled Colombia’s President Ivan Duque from one of many marches that were organized throughout the world on Friday to protest the ongoing mass killing of human rights defenders and community leaders - Duque has refused to endorse the mass marches of Defendamos La Paz and has neglected to implement a 2016 peace deal, in particular an element that would protect social leaders
  - Colombia Reports, 26 July 2019

• The Sugarcane Research Center of Colombia, Cenicaña, warned sugarcane growers that the plague called Aeneolamia Varia, commonly known as 'salivazo', has been spreading in the region and it is urgent to implement prevention measures and control to avoid economic losses
  - El Pais, 26 July 2019

• The government of Colombia is not complying with any of the five court-imposed conditions to resume fumigation of coca plantations with glyphosate
  - Colombia Report, 26 July 2019

• The second in command of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of the Yungas, Sergio Pampa, was apprehended at noon yesterday by police in the vicinity of Riosinio Square, said his lawyer Omar Durán - the leader is accused of leading acts of violence, destruction to buildings and vehicles of La Calzada in events that occurred on February 14
  - El Diario, 25 July 2019

• Uncertainty surrounds the protection plan in Colombia for leaders of efforts to help farmers substitute other food plants for their current coca crops
  - InSight Crime, 24 July 2019

• Police are investigating the death of a leader of coca farmers, Miguel Espeo Vargas, who was found hanging from a tree in the Yungas (Bolivia)
  - La Razon, 23 July 2019

• Coca growers will protest delays in the plan to replace coca crops in Valle del Cauca, Colombia - through the National Coordinator of Coca Growers, Marijuana and Amapola (Coccam) the growers also rejected the eventual return of fumigation with glyphosate
  - El Pais, 23 July 2019

• These are the five conflicts that exist in the Colombian territory, according to the ICRC - Nariño/Cauca/Choco (Eln), Antioqua (Clan Golfo), Catatumbo (Eln/Epl), Putamayo/Guaviare/Meta (Farc dissidents)
  - El Elspectador, 23 July 2019

• For a protest against the use of glyphosate prepared by communities in rural areas in Jamundí (Colombia) on Tuesday, July 23, the City Hall of that municipality decreed a temporary dry law, and prohibition of motorcycle grills, among other restrictions
  - El Pais, 22 July 2019

• Even in the current sea of prohibitionism, substitution experiences that provide new and better opportunities to agricultural producers of coca, poppy or marijuana, become refreshing news. The case of Caldas (Colombia) is one of them. What allowed the communities to overcome their dependence on the income they got from coca?
  - El Espectador, 21 July 2019

• The 'thorns' in the way of the renewed use of glyphosate in Colombia after the decision of the Constitutional Court
  - El Pais, 21 July 2019

• The decisions of the Constitutional Court of Colombia only mask a political decision: that of not attacking illicit crops, protecting Santos' policy, and pleasing the FARC - this Court has a very clear Santista and pro-Pact majority with the FARC, and has given unequivocal signs of politicization
  - El Pais, 21 July 2019

• At the end of this year, Colombia could be carrying out its first commercial export of medical marijuana, after two years of having approved the regulation for the cultivation of this product - in 2016 Law 1787 was passed on access to medical and scientific use of cannabis and its derivatives, but was only regulated in April 2017 with decree 613
  - El Tiempo, 21 July 2019

• Franclin Gutiérrez, the political prisoner of the Evo Morales regime - there is no evidence against Gutiérrez - he is in jail for having opposed the legalization of the coca farms of the Chapare (most of which goes to cocaine production)
  - Pagina Siete, 21 July 2019

• The Regional Indigenous Counsel of Cauca (CRIC in Spanish) denounced on Friday that some of its leaders have received death threat from members of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which has alliances with FARC dissidents and ELN guerillas
  - El Espectador, 20 July 2019

• Colombia's Constitutional Court rejected President Ivan Duque's request to loosen the conditions to resume the aerial spraying of coca with glyphosate, but left a tiny loophole - to complicate matters, the Constitutional Court added to the existing five conditions that Duque must comply with the counternarcotics strategy agreed in a 2016 peace deal with FARC rebels he has all but abandoned - the loophole left by the court allows the National Narcotics Council (CNE) "in good faith" to oversee if the government complies with the court’s 2017 conditions and the peace deal, though the Ombudsman's Office and the Inspector General's Office, who oppose aerial fumigation, were also appointed to oversee government compliance with the law
  - Colombia Reports, 18 July 2019

• Government of Colombia insists on restarting aerial fumigation of coca despite court ruling - Justice Minister Margarita Cabello told press that she believes the government meets the conditions imposed by the court in 2017 that would allow the National Narcotics Council (CNE) to approve and oversee the lawful resumption of glyphosate spraying, though how Cabello plans to comply with the conditions imposed by the court is a mystery; the government never revealed a protocol proposal if there even exists one and has virtually halted the implementation of the crop substitution that is elementary in the peace deal’s counternarcotics chapter.
  - Colombia Reports, 18 July 2019

• The Constitutional Court of Colombia (eight votes in favor) maintained the six conditions that it imposed in 2017 before the National Council of Narcotic Drugs can resume the use of glyphosate in the country, an organization that must monitor compliance "in good faith"
  - El Espectador, 18 July 2019

• The Constitutional Court of Colombia (eight votes in favor) maintained the six conditions that it imposed in 2017 before the National Council of Narcotic Drugs can resume the use of glyphosate in the country, an organization that must monitor compliance "in good faith"
  - La Silla Vacia, 18 July 2019

• Three points to understanding the Court's ruling on glyphosate - the ruling by the Constitutional Court on glyphosate made several clarifications about the requirements that had been established to re-fumigate with the herbicide
  - El Tiempo, 18 July 2019

• Why does the ruling of the Constitutional Court of Colombia pave the way to return to glyphosate? - in its ruling, the Court clarifies that it that the Government doesn't have to demonstrated an absolute absence of risks and damages due to use of the herbicide
  - El Tiempo, 18 July 2019

• How the booming farming of coca and trafficking of cocaine is threatening democracy in Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 18 July 2019

• Farmers with small palm tree plantations in Tumaco: caught between coca and their debt with the national Agricultural Bank
  - El Tiempo, 18 July 2019

• The Constitutional Court of Colombia remains 'split', and failed to decide on the government's request to loosen its ban on the aerial spraying of the cancer-causing glyphosate in coca-growing regions
  - Colombia Reports, 18 July 2019

• The Cauca province of Colombia is where they kill more social activists and ex-guerillas - the drug trafficking, illegal mining and disputes between armed groups for control of this region puts at risk the defenders of human rights
  - El Espectador, 18 July 2019

• Sugary-sodas are still killing more Americans each year than any one illegal drug
  - New York Times, 17 July 2019

• The International Regional Organization for Agricultural Health warned of the presence of the fungus Fusarium oxysporum - the spread of this pest would cause innumerable economic losses in the regional banana industry - member states such as Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic should increase controls to prevent the spread, and the Organization warns that in Colombia the presence of the plague is suspected
  - El Diario, 16 July 2019

• The provincial prosecutor of La Paz (Bolivia), William Alave, admitted yesterday that there is no "conclusive" evidence in the investigative stage of the case against the coca grower leader Franclin Gutiérrez, who is accused of being the intellectual author of the death of the lieutenant of the Daynor Sandoval Police, which occurred in August 2018
  - Pagina Siete, 16 July 2019

• The silenced life of women coca growers. They are not drug dealers. They are peasants, poor and victims of great violence, who are struggling to survive in Colombia.
  - El Pais, 14 July 2019

• They ask for a plan to substitute coca crops in Jamundí, Colombia - the approximately 1,500 families living in the upper area of Jamundí, where armed groups wage a war for the control of illicit crops and drug trafficking routes
  - El Pais, 14 July 2019

• Colombia's last-standing rebel group, the ELN, has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan across the northern coca and cocaine region of Colombia, from the Pacific coast through Antioquia to the Venezuelan border
  - Colombia Reports, 14 July 2019

• The substitution laws confirm the failure of post-conflict policies in southern Córdoba - in addition to the war that is being experienced in the south of the department, the program of crop substitution, whose objective was to transform the areas most affected by the conflict, has delays and peasants losing faith
  - La Silla Vacia, 14 July 2019

• The leader of Adepcoca in Bolivia, Sergio Pampa, is wanted throughout the Yungas region with an arrest warrant, issued by the prosecutor of the matter, to give his informative statement in the case of the death of the leader of Cofecay, Eduardo Apaza, as reported yesterday by the national director of the Felcc, Colonel William Cordero
  - El Diario, 13 July 2019

• The leader of Adepcoca in Bolivia, Sergio Pampa, is wanted throughout the Yungas region with an arrest warrant, issued by the prosecutor of the matter, to give his informative statement in the case of the death of the leader of Cofecay, Eduardo Apaza, as reported yesterday by the national director of the Felcc, Colonel William Cordero
  - Pagina Siete, 13 July 2019

• Editorial: Any independent observer already knew what has been confirmed by an audio broadcast by this newspaper: that the ex-leader of the coca growers of Yungas (Bolivia), Franclin Gutiérrez, is innocent and is being detained as a way of punishment for his anti-government positions
  - Pagina Siete, 13 July 2019

• Resurgence of coca in Putumayo reflects Colombia's failed strategy
  - Insight Crime, 12 July 2019

• Colombia's plans to resume aerial fumigation of coca just got less likely, after a key court magistrate advised against it
  - Colombia Reports, 11 July 2019

• Squadrons of forced eradication are halfway through their goal in Colombia - in priority areas about 40,000 hectares planted with coca have been eliminated - they do not guarantee that "in the next measurement there will not be another 80,000 hectares more, because one thing is to remove the bushes and another process is to avoid a reseeding or a relocation of those crops"
  - El Tiempo, 10 July 2019

• Illicit coca crops and illegal mining, behind threats to elections in Colombia - the multiplication of coca and the illegal extraction of minerals multiplies by four the capacity of the mafias to buy elections and intimidate citizens
  - El Tiempo, 10 July 2019

• World's coffee growers seek to set minimum price to help poor farmers - growers from Brazil, Colombia and more than two dozen other countries will meet in Brazil to talk about how to get more money to farmers suffering from the lowest prices on world markets in more than a decade
  - Wall Street Journal, 10 July 2019

• Coca, the illicit plan that funded Colombia's civil war, is flourishing again - Preident Duque's plan to destroy it is drawing opposition
  - Washington Post, 09 July 2019

• Since noon on Tuesday, a group of affiliates of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) in Bolivia arrived in protest march to the coca collection center, located in the neighborhood of Chuquiaguillo, in La Paz, to initiate a encirclement of that market and prevent it from continuing to operate since it would be illegal - in numeral II, article 24, of the General Law of Coca, recognizes that the markets authorized to commercialize the coca leaf are in the department of La Paz ADEPCOCA and in Cochabamba, at the Sacaba market
  - La Razon, 09 July 2019

• The president of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights of Bolivia (Apdhb), Amparo Carvajal, assured that there will be no peace in the Yungas while their maximum leader for the coca growers, Franclin Gutiérrez, does not return to occupy the position that belongs to him
  - Pagina Siete, 09 July 2019

• Franclin will be prosecuted by prosecutors; the government will demand 30 years in jail for the coca grower - Adepcoca leader's defense will denounce the investigators, after they revealed the audio in which ex-prosecutor Mariaca assures that there is no evidence to accuse Gutiérrez of the death of a policeman
  - Pagina Siete, 09 July 2019

• Based on the "material evidence", the Ministry of Government defended the process activated in the Prosecutor's Office against the president of the Departmental Association of Coca Leaf Producers of Yungas of La Paz (Adepcoca), Franclin Gutiérrez, for the case of the ambush in which Lieutenant Daynor Sandoval lost his life, on August 25, 2018 in La Asunta, La Paz, in the middle of the eradication of illegal coca
  - La Razon, 08 July 2019

• Government of Colombia insists that it is complying with the substitution of coca crops - Emilio Archila, high councilor for Stabilization, reiterated that the Duque government is committed to make effective the substitution of illicit crops such as coca
  - El Espectador, 08 July 2019

• Cocaleros in Bolivia plan to close all accesses to the Yungas - producers report constant abuses by police officers who arrived in the region
  - El Diario, 08 July 2019

• Gentil Duarte went from being in the FARC, a guerrilla who imposed environmental manuals with ceilings and fines for the cutting of trees in many territories, to being the leader of the largest dissident group in the country, which leaves deforestation in a region that in 2017 was the biggest focus of logging, and surely he will keep that sad crown in the figures of 2018 that the Ideam will publish in the coming days
  - La Silla Vacia, 08 July 2019

• In an audio, ex-prosecutor Carlos Mariaca revealed that there is no evidence to formally accuse the leader of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca), Franclin Gutiérrez, imprisoned since August 28, 2018, with a view to the oral trial - the former official was removed from the investigation in February of this year in a surprising way
  - Pagina Siete, 08 July 2019

• Cultivating sacha inchi, FARC ex-combatants remain living in Arauca, Colombia
  - El Espectador, 08 July 2019

• Mexican opium prices plummet 90 percent over the past two years (due to rising fentanyl supplies, and heroin production elsewhere), driving poppy farmers to migrate
  - New York Times, 08 July 2019

• Guido Echeverri, governor of Caldas (Colombia) - "It is possible to eradicate coca crops without spraying glyphosate".
  - El Espectador, 07 July 2019

• The transmission of Arenavirus, which causes hemorrhagic fever, is not due to the consumption of coca or fruits from the Yungas of Bolivia
  - El Deber, 07 July 2019

• [Photos]: One of the main consequences of cocaine production is the destruction of biodiversity - thousands of hectares are burned by the coca farmers, affecting the fauna and flora of the region of Guaviare, Colombia
  - El Espectador, 07 July 2019

• Colombia’s intelligence agency accused of plotting political warfare against peace advocates
  - Colombia Reports, 07 July 2019

• Cannabis oil can reduce seizures in children experiencing severe and drug-resistant epilepsy, University of Saskatchewan study suggests
  - CBC, 06 July 2019

• Coca leaf and cocaine production in Colombia is at historic highs, risking a new confrontation between soldiers and coca leaf farmers
  - Economist, 06 July 2019

• La Constru’s focus on alliances means that it’s likely to remain a major player in Putumayo (Colombia), where the group controls coca crops, processing labs and drug trafficking routes into Ecuador
  - InSight Crime, 05 July 2019

• Inconsistencies in official figures of Colombia on eradication of illicit crops? Data from the Ministry of Defense indicate that crops are eradicated at a much slower pace than President Ivan Duque has publicly maintained.
  - El Espectador, 05 July 2019

• Colombia's challenges in the legal cannabis trade - while 46 countries have already legalized production and sale, domestic industry expects more regulation
  - El Tiempo, 05 July 2019

• Cocaleros block the route to South Yungas (Bolivia) - according to a police report, the blockade of the affiliates of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) was reactivated at the height of the Yerbani sector, on the way to South Yungas
  - La Razon, 05 July 2019

• At least 50,000 coca growers in the tropic of Cochabamba will contribute one pound of coca (at a cost of 15 and 18 bolivianos - about $2.50), each to finance the MAS campaign - the contribution is equivalent, according to a calculation, to more than half a million bolivianos (about $70,000)
  - Pagina Siete, 04 July 2019

• The governor of the Valle province, Dilian Francisca Toro, calls for celerity in the eradication of illicit crops in Jamundí (Colombia), where recent figures indicate that the land planted exceeds 1,400 hectares of coca
  - El Pais, 02 July 2019

• Austria votes to ban the use of glyphosate, the first country in Europe to do so, with other European countries proposing gradual phasing out of the use of glyphosate
  - Wall Street Journal, 03 July 2019

• The leaders of the coca growers of the Yungas of La Paz announced that they will be organized in the 16 regional groups that are affiliated with the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) to avoid irregularities and fraud in the general elections of 20 October in Bolivia - the leader also said that 95 percent of coca growers will not vote for the pro-government binomial of Evo Morales and álvaro García in the upcoming elections
  - El Diario, 02 July 2019

• The Government of Bolivia closed yesterday any possibility of dialogue with the current leaders of the Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca), while a judge sent to prison four cocaleros accused of illegal use of explosives in their protests<
  - El Diario, 02 July 2019

• The Government of Bolivia closed yesterday any possibility of dialogue with the current leaders of the Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca), while a judge sent to prison four cocaleros accused of illegal use of explosives in their protests
  - La Razon, 02 July 2019

• Policia send to prison the 4 cocaleros detained with dynamite; protest continues - although it was reported that the roads were clear, there are blockades in the El Dorado community. According to the police, an elderly person died due to a detonation.
  - El Deber, 01 July 2019

• Colombian government denounces planting of anti-personnel landmines to protect coca crops
  - Latin America Reports, 02 July 2019

• Six coca growers from the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) were detained for the use of explosives during the blockade of roads on the route to Los Yungas, according to the report of the Police Commander, Yuri Calderón
  - Los Tiempos, 01 July 2019

• Government of Bolivia rejects dialogue and says that there are 100 coca growers that generate violence - the organizations affiliated with Adepcoca, since last Wednesday, maintain a road blockade demanding the government dialogue to resolve a work agenda, likewise, they demand respect for their legally constituted institutions
  - Pagina Siete, 01 July 2019

• Adepcoca has been besieged by the MAS (the ruling party in Bolivia) since 2017
  - El Diario, 01 July 2019

• Colombian tobacco farmers are studying chaning their plantings to medicinal marijuana
  - El Tiempo, 30 June 2019

• Political fights for economic control for the four legal coca leaf markets in Bolivia, a multi-million dollar business based on 50-pound sacks of dried coca leaves
  - El Deber, 30 June 2019

• The vice president of the self-defense committee of the municipality of Coroico (where many coca growers live), Reymundo Pucho, denounced that troops arrived with dogs at the point of blockade on the Santa Bárbara bridge, on the Nor Yungas highway, to pursue them, but the police denied doing so and reported that the routes were cleared
  - Pagina Siete, 30 June 2019

• Again yesterday there was a violent day on the road to the Yungas of La Paz, when at least 1,000 police officers intervened against the blockade and cleared the road, and later detained four coca growers, who allegedly used dynamite to deal with the forces of state order
  - El Diario, 30 June 2019

• The president of Colombia, Iván Duque: "Aerial aspersion using glyphosate is a necessary tool" - for the reduction of the 200,000+ hectares of coca plants in the country
  - El Tiempo, 30 June 2019

• One of Colombia's most wanted drug lords was "protected by the military for month" (his brother-in-law is an Army colonel in charge of recruitment).
  - Colombia Reports, 30 June 2019

• The challenge to maintain reductions in the illegal cultivations of coca in Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 29 June 2019

• Opinion: drug trafficking has poisoned the governing party of Bolivia, the MAS
  - Pagina Siete, 29 June 2019

• In Bolivia, the coca growers of the Yungas maintain their measure of pressure on the road to the Yungas - increasing the number of blockades on the highway, and a new blockade was installed in the sector called Velo de la Novia
  - El Diario, 29 June 2019

• Police partially reopen vehicular traffic to the Yungas, and they denounce violence committed by the protesting coca growers of Bolivia
  - La Razon, 29 June 2019

• The apathy of the OAS, and the secretary of the OAS - Luis Almagro, concerning the murders of social community leaders in Colombia
  - El Espectador, 28 June 2019

• Two more social community leaders are assassinated in Colombia, including Manuel Gregorio Gonzalez - a promoter of a UN-supported program to substitutecoca for legal crops
  - Colombia Reports, 28 June 2019

• Labels on foods high in sugar did not happen in Congress, so should we insist? - In Colombia, the Congress of the Republic is transforming three laws aimed at "establishing public health measures aimed at the control of obesity and other noncommunicable diseases, seeking legislation to prevent these diseases, save millions of lives and improve the level of guarantee of the rights to health, to adequate food, and to information related to goods and services" - however, the proposals did not have complete hearings and it is expected that in the next legislature they will be studied and the real ones will be taken into account needs of consumers
  - El Pais, 28 June 2019

• Bolivian police warn with arrests and prosecutions of the coca growers blocking the roadways in Yungas who are using dynamite
  - La Razon, 28 June 2019

• Carlos Mesa proposes to rethink the anti-drug policy of Bolivia - the presidential candidate considers that there is an overproduction of coca, and proposes to carry out a study in collaboration with international organizations to know how much coca is necessary for legal consumption in Bolivia
  - El Deber, 28 June 2019

• Bolivian police arrest two coca growers in the midst of clashes due to the blockage of the highway to the Yungas
  - La Razon, 28 June 2019

• Four police chiefs in Bolivia are denounced for raiding the Adepcoca headquarters
  - La Razon, 28 June 2019

• Roadblock in Yungas results in people being wounded and detained - Adepcoca coca growers add support
  - Los Tiempos, 28 June 2019

• Removing the blockade on the highway to the Yungas leaves two people injured
  - Pagina Siete, 28 June 2019

• Report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy (14 former heads of state advocating for rational drug policies) has issued a blockbuster finding about the global system of illegal drug classification - it should be scrapped entirely and replaced with a new system that's rooted in science
  - Zero Hedge, 27 June 2019

• Colombia's glyphosate debate: the opposition of the UN and the Catholic Church versus the support of the U.S. and President Duque's alma mater (Sergio Arboleda University)
  - Colombia Reports, 27 June 2019

• OAS summit in Colombia marred by controversy over OAS President Luis Almagro;s praise for Colombia’s President Ivan Duque‘s implementation of a peace deal made with former FARC rebels, depsite many critics pointing out the failures of Duque including the failure to implement coca crop subtitution and rural development projects
  - Colombia Reports, 27 June 2019

• The coca harvest can have a gross income of more than $ 6 billion [numbers may be in pesos - about 3000 pesos to 1 US dollar, and billion here could be trillion - so total is US$ 2 billion] within Colombian territory - according to the figures in the report, the average price in the local market for cocaine hydrochloride is $ 4.4 million per kilo, so this production of 1,379 tons (1.3 million kilos) could result in the aforementioned $ 6 billion - the UN investigation also reveals that the coca leaf is a crop that has an average yield of 5.6 tons of hectare per year
  - La Republica, 27 June 2019

• Science that never came to the drug debate - the annual report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy pointed out the enormous inconsistencies that have existed between science and the way in which psychoactive substances are classified in the world
  - El Espectador, 26 June 2019

• In Bolivia, the coca producers activated blockades at the Santa Bárbara, Mururata and Elena bridges, which prevent the passage to the towns of Caranavi, Guanay and Palo Blancos - the route to Sud Yungas is clear
  - La Razon, 28 June 2019

• Adepcoca maintains two blockades on the highway to Los Yungas
  - Los Tiempos, 28 June 2019

• Producers related to MAS ask to convert Enatex into a coca leaf market.
  - Los Tiempos, 28 June 2019

• Adepcoca reorganizes the highway blockade and closes the roadway to the Yungas
  - Pagina Siete, 28 June 2019

• Tension in the Yungas due to the coca grower's highway blockake - reports on confrontations in Unduavi
  - El Diario, 28 June 2019

• The new statistics of the United States on illicit crops in Colombia have undoubtedly removed the specter of a possible decertification for non-compliance in the fight against drugs.
  - El Tiempo, 28 June 2019

• With voluntary coca eradication in Colombia, reseeding is only 6 percent
  - El Tiempo, 27 June 2019

• Coca crops stabilize in Colombia, says US government report
  - El Tiempo, 26 June 2019

• The US government says production of coca and cocaine is levelling off in Colombia
  - El Espectador, 26 June 2019

• The Departmental Association of Producers of Coca leaf (Adepcoca) today begins the indefinite blockade of roads on the road to the Yungas as a measure of pressure, demanding the Government security in the region, after the last acts of violence occurred, including the assassination of the leader Miguel Coico
  - El Diario, 26 June 2019

• Bolivian government considers that the threat of the Adepcoca blockade of roads has failed - intelligence units of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (FELCN) operates at the moment in Coroico, Caranavi and La Asunta and reported that the transit is normal.
  - La Razon, 26 June 2019

• Adepcoca confirms the beginning of blockades and asks the Catholic Church to mediate the conflict in Yungas - the leader of Adepcoca, Gerardo Ríos, confirmed the measure of pressure and demanded that the Government guarantee security in the Yungas before the events that ended with the death of the leader Miguel Coico
  - La Razon, 25 June 2019

• The electoral committee of the parallel leadership of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) of the Yungas affiliated with the Government plans to call elections to elect the new board of that organization in 45 days, while the third illegal coca market will remain operating that moved from Chuquiaguillo to the area of Villa Fátima
  - El Diario, 25 June 2019

• The third (illegal) market for coca was moved from Chuquiaguillo to the Villa Fátima area, according to EL DIARIO, in the midst of tension due to the intervention of the Departmental Association of Coca Leaf Producers (Adepcoca) and the confrontation arising in the Yungas - coca growers who identify with the political line of the ruling party Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) assured that it is a point of "temporary" storage.
  - El Diario, 25 June 2019

• The Minister of Rural Development of Bolivia, César Cocarico, revealed yesterday that the confrontation in Trinidad Pampa was produced by quarrels between coca growers belonging to Adepcoca, which is opposed to the Government, and coca growers related to the ruling MAS party, grouped in Conalprodc who traveled on Saturday to La Paz to participate in an assembly where elections were approved in the parent entity of the cocaleros
  - El Deber, 25 June 2019

• Adepcoca confirms blockade of routes and that Bolivia police have besieged Trinidad Pampa - at least 25 police cars are on the road between El Choro Grande and Trinidad Pampa
  - Pagina Siete, 25 June 2019

• Cutting the electric power of four municipalities of Cauca in the fight against drug trafficking could be a social bomb in one of the hearts of the conflict in Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 23 June 2019

• The Brazilian geographer Carlos Walter Porto-Gonçalves, like other Latin American intellectuals, had put his hope in the government of Evo Morales, but, with the events of the Tipnis in Bolivia - he said - he realized that Evo Morales and Alvaro García Linera broke a pact they had made from below with the Indians, to stay with the cocaleros
  - Pagina Siete, 23 June 2019

• According to the general secretary of the agrarian center of Trinidad Pampa (Bolivia), Gabriel Escobar, the incident occurred at approximately 7:00 p.m. in the vicinity of the town, when three young people who would be part of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) the regional Trinidad Pampa were attacked by several individuals, one of them with a knife. As a result of the attack, the young Miguel Coico died, while Tatiana Coico and Héctor Coico were injured, said the leader Escobar.
  - Los Tiempos, 23 June 2019

• María del Pilar Hurtado, leader of a displaced community in Tierralta (one of Colombia's northern coca growing regions) is murdered
  - Colombia Reports, 22 June 2019

• María del Pilar Hurtado, threatened in a phamplet of the right-wing militia the AGC in Córdoba (northern Colombia), is assassinated
  - Colombia Reports, 22 June 2019

• In another measure against the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) of La Paz, a contingent of Bolivian police raided the headquarters of the organization yesterday without a judicial order - a leader of the coca growers denounced this intimidation by the government of Bolivia
  - El Diario, 22 June 2019

• In another measure against the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) of La Paz, a contingent of Bolivian police raided the headquarters of the organization yesterday without a judicial order - a leader of the coca growers denounced this intimidation by the government of Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 22 June 2019

• In another measure against the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) of La Paz, a contingent of Bolivian police raided the headquarters of the organization yesterday without a judicial order - a leader of the coca growers denounced this intimidation by the government of Bolivia
  - El Deber, 22 June 2019

• In another measure against the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) of La Paz, a contingent of Bolivian police raided the headquarters of the organization yesterday without a judicial order - a leader of the coca growers denounced this intimidation by the government of Bolivia
  - La Razon, 22 June 2019

• In another measure against the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) of La Paz, a contingent of Bolivian police raided the headquarters of the organization yesterday without a judicial order - a leader of the coca growers denounced this intimidation by the government of Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 22 June 2019

• The coca grower leader Sergio Pampa, second in command of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca), declared himself in hiding and denounced the Bolivian Government's political persecution against Yungas producers in order to control the institution
  - El Diario, 21 June 2019

• The community of the population of Trinidad Pampa, municipality of Coripata (Bolivia), found on Wednesday a pool of drug maceration, which supposedly belonged to leaders related to the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS - the government ruling party) - a police chief said there was a coca crusher, precursors and other tools that drug traffickers use for the maceration of cocaine base paste
  - La Razon, 21 June 2019

• The community of the population of Trinidad Pampa, municipality of Coripata (Bolivia), found on Wednesday a pool of drug maceration, which supposedly belonged to leaders related to the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS - the government ruling party) - a police chief said there was a coca crusher, precursors and other tools that drug traffickers use for the maceration of cocaine base paste
  - El Diario, 21 June 2019

• The community of the population of Trinidad Pampa, municipality of Coripata (Bolivia), found on Wednesday a pool of drug maceration, which supposedly belonged to leaders related to the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS - the government ruling party) - a police chief said there was a coca crusher, precursors and other tools that drug traffickers use for the maceration of cocaine base paste
  - Los Tiempos, 21 June 2019

• Skyrocketing coca production could see President Trump cut aid to Colombia - production has more than tripled since 2013
  - Zero Hedge, 20 June 2019

• Why Colombia should legalize coca and leave cocaine to others
  - WorldCrunch, 19 June 2019

• The illegal coca market authorized by the Government of Bolivia was small, but now it has been expanded and occupies a whole block of the Las Americas Avenue, in the area of Chuquiaguillo. Faced with this situation, the leadership of the Departmental Association of Coca Leaf Producers (Adepcoca) threatens to block roads if this sales center is not closed.
  - Pagina Siete, 19 June 2019

• Colombia's Prosecutor General's Office has ordered all power to be cut in a largely lawless area in the southwest of the country in an attempt to disrupt marijuana cultivation, ordering the Western Energy Company, or CEO, to cut power supplies in four municipalities in the Cauca province known for their large number of illegal marijuana plantations - but Cauca Governor Oscar Campo said he opposed the measure on the grounds that it unjustifiably impacts those not involved in illegal cultivation
  - Colombia Reports, 18 June 2019

• Government of Colombia plans to resume spraying with glyphosate in "a matter of weeks" - President Ivan Duque and Defense Minister Guillermo Botero, referred from London to the use of the herbicide in the eradication of illicit crops of coca leaf
  - El Espectador, 18 June 2019

• Dissident mid-level rebel commanders who were expelled from the FARC in 2016 have reportedly retaken control of territory abandoned by the group’s demobilized leaders in 2017 - under the leadership of "Gentil Duarte", FARC 2.0 has successfully consolidated control over many of the territories and fighters who have turned their back on the FARC’s leaders who formed a political party as part of a peace process - experts have long warned that the government’s aggressive approach against coca farmers could seek protection from the FARC or other illegal armed groups
  - Colombia Reports, 18 June 2019

• Dissident mid-level rebel commanders who were expelled from the FARC in 2016 have reportedly retaken control of territory abandoned by the group’s demobilized leaders in 2017 - under the leadership of "Gentil Duarte", FARC 2.0 has successfully consolidated control over many of the territories and fighters who have turned their back on the FARC’s leaders who formed a political party as part of a peace process - experts have long warned that the government’s aggressive approach against coca farmers could seek protection from the FARC or other illegal armed groups
  - La Silla Vacia, 18 June 2019

• The Adepcoca coca grower Sergio Pampa was linked to the shooting death of a firearm by Eduardo Apaza, a leader of Cofecay - the Prosecutor's Office initiated the investigation against Pampa - his lawyer, Omar Durán, said that Adepcoca, opposed to the ruling party, is being decapitated by the government of Bolivia
  - La Razon, 18 June 2019

• The Adepcoca coca grower Sergio Pampa was linked to the shooting death of a firearm by Eduardo Apaza, a leader of Cofecay - the Prosecutor's Office initiated the investigation against Pampa - his lawyer, Omar Durán, said that Adepcoca, opposed to the ruling party, is being decapitated by the government of Bolivia
  - El Diario, 18 June 2019

• "Army in northeast Colombia is stigmatizing, threatening and even shooting at civilians" - the coca-rich region of Catatumbo has become a melting pot of armed groups of which it has become impossible to distinguish who is fighting who
  - Colombia Reports, 16 June 2019

• More than 20,000 coca growers participated in a massive march from the Chuquiaguillo area to the Gualberto Villarroel plaza in the Villa Fátima area of the city of La Paz, where it was decided to form the new Electoral Committee of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (ADEPCOCA).
  - El Diario, 16 June 2019

• Drug trafficking groups tested the farming of coca leaf in the mountains of Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica. Authorities believe it was a failed attempt to reduce costs.
  - La Nacion, 16 June 2019

• The alleged killer of Eduardo Apaza, the coca grower leader of the Yungas (Bolivia), was apprehended in the vicinity of La Asunta, when he tried to escape capture
  - El Diario, 15 June 2019

• Indigenous Colombians fear losing supplies of ayahuasca, as "ayahuasca" tourism becomes more popular and and commercialiation leads to bad practices that hurt the reputation of traditional practices
  - Economist, 15 June 2019

• Drug trafficking and petrol: a quarter of Colombia's fuel goes to make cocaine - about 75 gallons of fuel are needed for each kilogram of coca paste
  - The Guardian, 14 June 2019

• How to seriously reduce coca crops in Colombia?
  - El Espectador, 14 June 2019

• With misgiving, authorities in Cauca (Colombia) received notification from the Western Energy Company (CEO) that they will cut electricity service in the areas of four municipalities where greenhouses have been detected with illegal marijuana crops.
  - El Tiempo, 14 June 2019

• Located in Chuquiaguillo, the illegal market for taques (50 lb sacks) of coca leaves sells for 2,100 to 2,300 bolivianos ($300 to $330) with the official seals of the Digcoin (the government coca industrialization agency in Bolivia).
  - Pagina Siete, 14 June 2019

• The Minister of Rural Development and Lands in Bolivia, César Cocarico, denied Thursday that another market has been set up in Chuquiaguillo to receive and market the coca leaf, and assured that the only one that operates in La Paz is the one that belongs to the Association of Coca Producers. of the Yungas (Adepcoca), in the area of Villa Fátima
  - La Razon, 13 June 2019

• Killers assassinate Eduardo Apaza, leader of the coca producers of La Asunta - he was killed with a firearm when he returned home
  - La Razon, 13 June 2019

• Killers assassinate Eduardo Apaza, leader of the coca producers of La Asunta - he was killed with a firearm when he returned home.
  - El Diario, 13 June 2019

• Killers assassinate Eduardo Apaza, leader of the coca producers of La Asunta - he was killed with a firearm when he returned home.
  - ErBol, 13 June 2019

• The government of Bolivia authorizes, in the Chuquiaguillo zone, a warehouse for coca leaves outside of the control of Adepcoca (the coca growers association mostly not affiliated with the government's ruling party)
  - Los Tiempos, 13 June 2019

• The government of Bolivia authorizes, in the Chuquiaguillo zone, a warehouse for coca leaves outside of the control of Adepcoca (the coca growers association mostly not affiliated with the government's ruling party)
  - Pagina Siete, 13 June 2019

• Suicide by soldiers due to Colombia's military's brutal training methods has caused more deaths than due to the FARC killing soldiers in Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 13 June 2019

• US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies before the US Congress that the US still strongly supports the resumption of aerial spraying of pesticide on Colombian coca fields with the cancer-causing pesticide glyphosate
  - Colombia Reports, 12 June 2019

• Coca growers from the Yungas region of northern Bolivia, affliated with the government ruling party (MAC), announced that they are forming committees to take control of the northern coca growers association, Adepcoca
  - El Diario, 12 June 2019

• The Colombian Superintendent for Industry and Commerce (SIC) has brought charges against one of the largest beverage companies in Colombia: Postobón. According to the document, known by El Espectador, Red PaPaz (a competitor) filed a complaint as a result of the "Hit" commercials (HIT is a sugar fruity tasty drink) encouraging, in their opinion, "in a deceptive way, the consumption of said beverage in children and adolescents". The foregoing, according to the corporation, would be to the detriment of the consumer's statute and the constitutional prevalence of children's rights over the rights of others.
  - El Espectador, 11 June 2019

• Lohas Beans is an export company specializing in certified coffees that has just bought 22 tons of coffee from former FARC combatants in Colombia
  - Semana, 11 June 2019

• Colombian Senator, and opposition leader, Gustavo Petro upsets Colombia's sugar plantation owners with a deadly statistic: sugar kills more people than cocaine
  - Colombia Reports, 11 June 2019

• Colombian Senator, and opposition leader, Gustavo Petro upsets Colombia's sugar plantation owners with a deadly statistic: sugar kills more people than cocaine
  - El Pais, 10 June 2019

• Colombia's ombudsman warns of presence of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel in Caqueta province (southern Colombia) where much coca is grown, the cartel possibly teaming with the Southeastern Block, the largest FARC dissident group
  - Colombia Reports, 10 June 2019

• Four members of the native Colombian Awa people have been murdered in the Nariño province (southwest Colombia) over the past week as the community is caught in the crossfire of a drug-fueled turf war
  - Colombia Reports, 10 June 2019

• Every day, 30 small planes fly out of the Beni region of Bolivia with upwards of 500 kilograms of cocaine each, most flying to Brazil
  - Pagina Siete, 09 June 2019

• In Bolivia, the global deflation in commodity prices weakens the local economy of soy, sugar cane, rice and corn producers
  - El Deber, 09 June 2019

• The clashes between peasants and the Public Force in Puerto Asis, Putumayo, for the forced eradication of coca, revived the concern about the effects of the stagnation of the substitution program and the breach of the agreements agreed with the communities in Colombia
  - El Espectador, 08 June 2019

• Former coca growers - 2,700 families - in northern Colombia are "starving" as Colombia fails to provide them with alternative crops to grow and access to farmer's markets to sell their produce
  - Colombia Reports, 03 June 2019

• After ten months of the new government of Iván Duque, in Antioquia, disappointing changes are felt to the program of substitution of illicit crops, the backbone of the drug aspects of the Peace Agreement with the Farc, with Farc delegates and peasant associations alleging that the government is not complying with the Agreement
  - La Silla Vacia, 31 May 2019

• How Semana, Colombia's most influential magazine, became a threat to (coca) journalism
  - Colombia Reports, 31 May 2019

• Colombia's opposition parties reiterated their concern on Thursday after far-right group "Aguilas Negras" threatened to kill "all leftist followers of Senator Gustavo Petro", who lost last year's election to President Ivan Duque
  - Colombia Reports, 31 May 2019

• Coca growers march in protest for the third day in La Paz, including protesting at the doors of the Vice Ministry of Coca, demanding attention for three of their demands, including the liberation of their leader, Franclin Gutiérrez
  - La Razon, 30 May 2019

• Two days after Colombia's leading "liberal" weekly magazine, the Santos-family controlled "Semana", claims it defends freedom of expression for its reporters, it fires one of its reporters for his recent expressions
  - Colombia Reports, 29 May 2019

• The increasing dangers facing Latin America's national park rangers due to coca farming and drug trafficking
  - Insight Crime, 29 May 2019

• A charitable initiative iby Nespresso will help farmers in Colombia's southwestern mountains (El Rosario, Narino) trade nearly 400 hectares of coca for coffee
  - Reuters, 28 May 2019

• Colombian coffee growers are in crisis due to the lower global price of coffee
  - El Espectador, 28 May 2019

• The soy producers of Yapacaní (Bolivia) announce that if the government refuses to attend to their losses, they will switch to growing coca, because they are tired of seeing their neighbors, the coca growers of the Chapare, getting rich while the soy producers are only getting poorer
  - Eju.tv, 27 May 2019

• Leaders and producers of the Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) of Los Yungas de La Paz (Bolivia) on Monday restarted permanent mobilizations, in protest against the seizures of coca of their members at the La Rinconada checkpoint. and the continued prosecution of the leader Franclin Gutiérrez, informed Sergio Pampa, representative of this organization
  - La Razon, 27 May 2019

• Senator Julián Gallo, known as Carlos Antonio Lozada of the FARC political party, summoned several officials of the Colombian Government at 3 o'clock on Monday afternoon to explain the protection actions that the State has taken regarding the risks for social leaders and ex-combatants
  - El Espectador, 27 May 2019

• Authorities in Colombia have the magnifying glass on 33 gas stations that due to their abnormal sales, and their location in remote regions and where the illicit coca crop phenomenon is strong, that would be related to the production of cocaine, for example, the gas stations of Nariño and Putumayo - the departments that concentrate 47 percent of the coca crops
  - El Tiempo, 26 May 2019

• Luis Almagro, Carlos Romero, coca and cocaine in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 24 May 2019

• From January to April in Peru, government forces in Peru capture 564 tons of chemical supplies used to convert coca to cocaine in the VRAEM
  - El Comercio, 20 May 2019

• Days after the US embassy called Colombia's former chief prosecutor a "great patriot", a special prosecutor is reportedly close to asking congress to consider a criminal investigation against him - former chief prosecutor Nestor Humberto Martinez resigned and left the country last week after the country's war crimes tribunal ordered investigations into apparent gross misconduct by Martinez, the prosecution and the DEA
  - Colombia Reports, 22 May 2019

• Study finds CBD effective in treating heroin addiction, reducing cravings for the drug as well as levels of anxiety
  - CNN, 21 May 2019

• Instead of informing the public, Colombia’s leading weekly (Revista Semana, along with La Tiempo, controlled by the Santos family) informed Duque about army controversy against civilians that was eventually reported on by the New York Times
  - Colombia Reports, 21 May 2019

• Maria Fernanda Cabal, one of the most far-right radical allies of former president Uribe - born into a wealthy family of sugar plantation owners in the southwestern Valle del Cauca province, and has never shied away from using corruption, nepotism and violence to maintain and expand her family's wealth and political power
  - Colombia Reports, 20 May 2019

• The $34 million airport built in the small coca growing town of Chimore, in the middle of Bolivia's Chapare coca and cocaine region
  - Pagina Siete, 20 May 2019

• The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, was in the Chapare and stressed that the projects developed in the area represent an important step in the reduction of coca crops in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 18 May 2019

• Colombian Army's orders to kill/capture more criminals and militants are putting civilians at risk, officers say
  - New York Times, 18 May 2019

• Colombia's peace deal promised a new era, but the rebels are rearming because the government has failed to deliver promised help
  - New York Times, 18 May 2019

• Video released of FARC leader, Jesus Santrich, NOT talking about drug trafficking with DEA agents, which is why he was released from jail, to the displeasure of the US
  - Colombia Reports, 17 May 2019

• How the DEA and Colombia'a national prosecutors could have broker the law in attampt to extradite FARC leader Santrich
  - Colombia Reports, 17 May 2019

• In Colombia, if coca is regulated, then peace is guaranteed
  - La Silla Vacia, 16 May 2019

• US revokes the visas of three top judges in Colombia - for many it is clear that this is a pressure from Washington, which is concerned about decisions that are on the table in the high court around the objections to the statute law of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) and the use of glyphosate in the fight against illicit crops
  - El Especatador, 11 May 2019

• President Ivan Duque Márquez spoke on Saturday afternoon, at a workshop, "ReBuilding The Country", held in Mocoa (Putumayo), about the use of glyphosate, at a time when a decision regarding the implementation of the herbicide is being discussed in the Constitutional Court to combat illicit crops in Colombia
  - El Espectador, 11 May 2019

• Tomorrow, President Ivan Duque will go to a workshop 'Rebuilding The Country' in Mocoa, just days after the national Registrar gave the green light to a popular consultation vote that seeks to ban fumigation with glyphosate in Putumayo, one of the ten departments with more coca in the country
  - La Silla Vacia, 10 May 2019

• Coca vendors in Bogota working to destimatise the coca plant
  - Talking Drugs, 09 May 2019

• High-profile arrests won't stem cocaine production in Peru's VRAEM, Peru's largest coca-producing region
  - InSight Crime, 08 May 2019

• Denver, Colorado, is preparing to vote on the decriminilization of hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms
  - Salon, 06 May 2019

• Traces of cocaine and ayahuasca found in 1000-year-old shamanic pouch uncovered in southwestern Bolivian highlands
  - National Geographic, 06 May 2019

• Bodyguards injured in attack on Afrocolombian leaders in Santander de Quilichao (southwest Colombia), attackers connected with the Aguilas Negras, a far-right group that opposed the ethnic minorities in land disputes with large land owners
  - Colombia Reports, 03 May 2019

• Colombia's constitutional court believes phones and offices are bugged, with some judges believing that the US DEA is involved, which wants to learn about how the court might rule on the illegality of using glyphosate to eradicate coca
  - Colombia Reports, 29 April 2019

• A commander of Colombia's armed forces, General Diego Villegas, on Saturday apologized for the torture and murder of a demobilized FARC guerrilla, a torture and murder that has been defended three times, using at least two lies, by the defense minister, Guillermo Botero
  - Colombia Reports, 29 April 2019

• Coca growers of Puno, Perú agree to eradicate coca in the Bahuaja Sonene reserve area - the farmers decided to register to be considered producers of the millenary leaf, but for the chacchado (chewed) uses - they will ask for greater budget of Devida (the agency supporting alternatives to coca).
  - La Republica, 25 April 2019

• Today the coffee growers will leave to march in Armenia (Colombia), to ask for more subsidies from the government of Iván Duque. But the demonstration does not look great because the government has generated expectations with the promise of 256 billion pesos in subsidies and progress in creating its stabilization fund, but they have no money to go forward and a good part of them is dedicated to collecting their harvest
  - La Silla Vacia, 24 April 2019

• The confidential Colombia report on glyphosate
  - El Espectador, 24 April 2019

• The former head of Colombia’s mining association ACM and CEO of gold mining firm Minesa (mostly owned by the United Arab Emirates) has been caught on video saying that "communities don't matter" for decision makers in Bogota to approve mining projects
  - Colombia Reports, 24 April 2019

• Coffee prices plunge due to massive production in Brazil, combined with currency gyrations, has created a glut of cheap, premium coffee
  - Wall Street Journal, 23 April 2019

• Modifying the DNA from coca plants to stop drug production - the experts' proposal, a group in Colombia that identified the coca plant genome (DNA) and genes related to cocaine production, and the other in Germany, which located the steps of the production of the alkaloid and the enzymes that could be used to interrupt it
  - El Tiempo, 20 April 2019

• To the Peruvian government: a letter in solidarity with Peruvian coca growers.
  - Andean Information Network, 17 April 2019

• A paramilitary group, the AGC, allegedly assassinated a native Colombian leader, Aquileo Mecheche, in the northwest of the country (Choco), half a year after he requested protection from the government
  - Colombia Reports, 14 April 2019

• The true influence of Mexican drug traffickers in Colombia - in addition to monitoring production of cocaine, the Mexicans give weapons as payments for security and shipments
  - El Tiempo, 14 April 2019

• In 2019 so far, Colombia has manually eradicated 19,251 hectares of illegal cultivations of the coca leaf
  - El Pais, 13 April 2019

• The economy of the ex-guerrillas of the FARC in Colombia - although they work on 144 projects, for now four have a consolidated market
  - El Tiempo, 13 April 2019

• In Colombia's coca heartland (Caquetá department in the southwest), photos and drawings show life between war and peace
  - NPR, 13 April 2019

• Clashes in Peru coca eradication operation leave at least two dead in the Puno region
  - Reuters, 12 April 2019

• How the corruption of the Hidroituango dam in northern Colombia, owned by EPM - the state owned utilities company in Medellin, has caused more killings of civilians and social leaders in the area of one of the principal cocaine transportation routes out of Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 12 April 2019

• The ambassador of the United States in Bogota, Kevin Whitaker, said this morning, about the criticism of Donald Trump to President Ivan Duque of Colombia, that the fight against drug trafficking must be "with fumigation, interdiction and ending criminal groups".
  - El Tiempo, 11 April 2019

• Colombia and the United States: six key issues to understand their relationship based on the anti-drug fight.
  - El Espectador, 11 April 2019

• Colombia - 40 years trapped in the business of cocaine trafficking
  - El Tiempo, 11 April 2019

• Kevin Whitaker, the U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, conceded during an interview with the W Radio radio station that there exists mutual responsibility between both countries for the increase in the cultivation of coca leaf
  - El Pais, 11 April 2019

• Returning to coca? The peace efforts fail to arrive in the southeast region of Colombia
  - El Espectador, 10 April 2019

• 72 percent of those surveyed in Bolivia believe that President Evo Morales should resign as the head of the coca farmers' unions of the southern Chapare region, and 58% of those surveyed think that Morales discriminates against the northern coca growers in the Yungas
  - Pagina Siete, 05 April 2019

• Why is Monsanto condemned in California (glyphosate) and welcomed in Bolivia?
  - Pagina Siete, 05 April 2019

• Bolivia must make the effort to reverse the trend of increase in the extensions of surplus coca cultivation, registered during the last two years, and reach the 22 thousand hectares established in the Law of the Coca Leaf, said the representative of the European Union in Bolivia, Leon de la Torre - meanwhile, the Minister of Government, Carlos Romero, admitted that the cultivation of 18,000 hectares of coca supplies domestic consumption
  - El Diario, 02 April 2019

• The National Council for the Fight against Illicit Drug Trafficking (Conaltid) for Bolivia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union (EU) signed an agreement on Monday for the construction of the first "mobile logistics base" in the Yungas of La Paz that will be destined to the eradication of surplus coca crops and the fight against drug trafficking
  - La Razon, 02 April 2019

• A study in PNAS finds that the cat-and-mouse game of cocaine smuggling and government interdiction strategies results in a larger geographic area for trafficking with little success in stopping the drug from reaching the United States.
  - Phys.org, 01 April 2019

• A study in PNAS finds that the cat-and-mouse game of cocaine smuggling and government interdiction strategies results in a larger geographic area for trafficking with little success in stopping the drug from reaching the United State.s
  - PNAS, 01 April 2019

• The report of the US Department of State once again places Bolivia as the third largest producer of coca and cocaine in the world and expresses its concern over the "inadequate controls" over the legal markets of this bush
  - La Razon, 01 April 2019

• Bolivia was the third largest producer of coca and cocaine in the world in 2018, according to the Report of the International Narcotics Control Strategy of the United States, dated March of this year, and which repeats the results of a similar evaluation carried out in 2017
  - Pagina Siete, 01 April 2019

• The United States Department of State presented to the Congress of that country the Report on the International Narcotics Control Strategy (INCSR), where it states that Bolivia is the third largest producer of coca and cocaine in the world - in addition, it establishes that there is no data to support the Government's position to increase the legal crops of the shrub
  - El Diario, 01 April 2019

• How Colombia's counternarcotics efforts lost effect since Duque took office, including the failure of providing support to farmers to cultivate crops other than coca
  - Colombia Reports, 31 March 2019

• Some of Colombia's top food and beverage - Postobon, Nacional de Chocolates - industries had/have links to a Medeillin crime syndicate, Heroes Granada Bloc, with Postobon earlier reported to have financed the Arlex Hurtado crime group in Uraba
  - Colombia Reports, 29 March 2019

• "Heavily armed men" displace farmers from their towns in northern Colombia, including in Ituango and Puerto Libertador,after government fails to substitute removed coca crops
  - Colombia Reports, 26 March 2019

• In a judgment of first instance, the Justice and Peace Chamber of the Superior Court of Medellín sent requrests to the Attorney General's Office to investigate allegations of possible voluntary financial contributions of four companies to a paramilitary group, the Heroes of Granada Bloc of the United Self-Defense Groups de Colombia (Auc) - Compañía Nacional de Chocolates y Galletas Noel, Grupo Nutresa, Postobón Soft Drinks, and the Ardila Lulle Organization
  - Verdad Abierta, 25 March 2019

• A leader who promoted the substitution of crops for illicit use was murdered a week ago in Tumaco, Nariño, the municipality with the most coca in Colombia - the communities are committed to replacing those crops, but they do not see the will of the Government to support them
  - El Espectador, 25 March 2019

• The coca growers of Colombia are confronting stark choices over crops, since for may, forsaking coca for traditional crops has been a costly choice and one they warn they may be forced to reverse
  - France 24, 24 March 2019

• In Bolivia, environmentalists are questioning agrofuels - the environmental expert Teresa Flores observed that since the introduction of the modified seeds resistant to the pesticide glyphosate, there were no leaps in the productivity of the oilseeds (soy).
  - El Diario, 24 March 2019

• The policies of the Government of Bolivia with respect to GM crops and the use of glyphosate are exposing the population to cancer, warned an expert investigator at UMSA, Roger Carvajal - he said that the pesticide may be present in some foods consumed by Bolivians, but no studies are done about the cancer and eexposure
  - Pagina Siete, 24 March 2019

• The coca growers of Colombia are confronting stark choices over crops - choosing to forsake coca for traditional crops has been a costly choice and one they warn they may be forced to reverse - "The substitution program has ruined me and left me in total insecurity."
  - Phys.org, 24 March 2019

• Coca leaf and landmines, the cocktail for the forgotten war in Chocó, Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 20 March 2019

• Days after Duque urged to spray his own people, US jury rules that glyphosate is "substantial" cancer factor
  - Colombia Reports, 20 March 2019

• In Bolivia, the legal defense of Franclin Gutiérrez has observed that the investigations of the facts that he is charged with, linked to the death of a police official, Daynor Sandóval, have severe deficiencies
  - El Diario, 20 March 2019

• A massive crowd of members of the northern coca growers of Bolivia (Adepcoca), protested in the San Francisco plaza in La Paz, demanding the government free their head leader, Franclin Gutiérrez, who is jailed under preventative detainment for the last seven months, and whose leadership was ratified permanently by the members of Adepcoca
  - El Diario, 20 March 2019

• After almost seven months of his detention, the [Provincial] Association of Coca Products (Adepcoca) of the Los Yungas region (Bolivia) returned to the streets in protest to demand the freedom of the director, Franclin Gutiérrez
  - La Razon, 19 March 2019

• The civil war in Tumaco, Colombia, now is attacking the leaders of efforts to substitute legal foods crops instead of coca growing
  - La Silla Vacia, 19 March 2019

• Bolivian coca farmers stage mass chew-in in La Paz to protest against eradication efforts (video).
  - Deutsche Welle, 19 March 2019

• Doubts over crop eradication versus substitution are crippling rural communities in Colombia.
  - Insight Crime, 18 March 2019

• The murders of social leaders in Colombia do not stop - this Sunday, March 17, the renowned leader of substitution of illicit crops, Argemiro López Pertuz, was murdered in the village of La Guayacana, district of Llorente, municipality of Tumaco, Nariño
  - El Espectador, 18 March 2019

• The anguished disappearance of the son of a social leader in Santander de Quilichao, Andrés Felipe Montoya Ospinal - his father, Fernando Montoya Valencia has led several community processes in the north of Cauca in Colombia
  - El Espectador, 18 March 2019

• The valley of the Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro rivers (Vraem) of Peru is a territory that, like other areas of the country, unfortunately lacks many basic services and other conditions that allow its development - and is threatened by illegal coca and drug trafficking
  - El Comercio, 18 March 2019

• Ex-FARC combatants are "profoundly worried" by Duque's ongoing attacks on Colombia's peace process.
  - Colombia Reports, 17 March 2019

• In Colombia, the rural coca growers have been forced into the logic of an illegal economy, when then also have rights
  - La Silla Vacia, 17 March 2019

• Glyphosate en Colombia: a threat to communities and nature
  - El Espectador, 15 March 2019

• An opposition deputy of the Democratic Unity party, Lourdes Millares, said that in the presentation made by President Evo Morales, in Session 62 of the United Nations, failed to recognize the amount of crops of the coca leaf in parks and protected reserves of Bolivia
  - El Diario, 15 March 2019

• In Colombia, many drinks have more sugar in them than its stated on the products' labels
  - El Espectador, 15 March 2019

• Glyphosate alone won't fix Colombia's complex coca woes.
  - Insight Crime, 14 March 2019

• Of the almost 50,000 hectares of coca plants in Peru, the largest area since 2012, more than 117,000 metric tons of dried coca leaves were produced, 11% more than the previous year
  - Gestion, 14 March 2019

• The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, defends in Vienna the legal uses of the coca leaf, calls again for a regional anti-drug trafficking intelligence center, and asks to eliminate tax havens
  - La Razon, 14 March 2019

• The Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) in Bolivia called a "great coca chew" and march to revalue its production, in addition to demanding the release of its leader, Franclin Gutiérrez, arrested six months ago for the acts of violence in La Asunta
  - El Deber, 12 March 2019

• The Government of Bolivia will place greater emphasis on the eradication of surplus coca crops in the town of La Asunta de los Yungas of La Paz, in that region where it identifies new plantations with different characteristics to those that exist
  - El Diario, 12 March 2019

• Felipe Cáceres, Deputy Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances of Bolivia, said Monday that Chapare, Cochabamba, is the area where more maceration ponds (used to make cocaine) were destroyed and that the Yungas, La Paz, is the territory where the most surplus and illegal coca leaf is produced
  - La Razon, 11 March 2019

• President Donald Trump called on Congress to almost double aid for Colombia in the fight against drugs in the face of the possibility that the Constitutional Court of that country would allow the aerial spraying to resume with the controversial glyphosate herbicide
  - El Pais, 11 March 2019

• One day after the Constitutional Court hearing on glyphosate, which showed that the Colombian government does not know how much it costs to fumigate a hectare of coca, the high councilor for stabilization, Emilio Archila, asked for the resignation of Claudia Salcedo, director in charge of drugs of Presidency, who worked until today
  - La Silla Vacia, 11 March 2019

• Is it convenient to return to using glyphosate to stop the farming of coca leaf in Colombia? The viewpoints of two ex-ministers
  - El Pais, 11 March 2019

• Opinion: the ethical failure in returning to the use of glyphosate in Colombia
  - El Espectador, 10 March 2019

• Opinion: The submission and crawling of certain governments of the Third World that kneel before anything that the gringo governments ask for or order, that is being done by their puppets, recently enamored with the grotesque Trump, so they want to reintroduce the aerial spraying of the coca crops con glyphosate
  - El Espectador, 10 March 2019

• Editorial: it is clear that the Chapare region isn't a zone for the production of platanos, nor uniquely of coca, but IS the zone of drug traffickign, where the government increasingly has less of a presence - it is a dangerous region of Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 10 March 2019

• The debate between President Duque and ex-President Santos for spraying coca with glyphosate in Colombia - the President asked not to discard any tool and Santos asked to prioritize the substitution
  - El Tiempo, 08 March 2019

• Women coca and poppy growers from the Andes share their experiences (video).
  - Andean Information Network, 08 March 2019

• Peruvian farmers are abandoning coffee plantations for coca fields.
  - Insight Crime, 07 March 2019

• Colombia's president, Ivan Duque, defends use of glyphosate to destroy coca crops before the Constitutional Court
  - Reuters, 07 March 2019

• In the Constitutional Court of Colombia, the Government is almost alone in its defense of the fumigation of coca with glyphosate
  - La Silla Vacia, 07 March 2019

• The human costs of the forced eradication of coca - is glyphosate the solution?
  - La Silla Vacia, 07 March 2019

• The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB/JIFE) warns of the increase of coca crops in several regions of Colombia
  - El Pais, 07 March 2019

• President Duque will tell the Constitutional Court of Colombia that nothing works against coca except for glyphosate
  - El Tiempo, 07 March 2019

• Government of Bolivia defends leaders of coca producers in the Chapare and denies there are illegal groups
  - Los Tiempos, 07 March 2019

• Controversy: Cocalero leader, Leonardo Loza, offers cholitas to authorities in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 07 March 2019

• The head of the Democratic Unity (UD) bench in the Bolivian Senate, Yerko Núñez, sent a letter to President Evo Morales asking him to resign as the leader of the six federations of coca growers in the Cochabamba tropics
  - El Diario, 07 March 2019

• Special Force for the Fight Against Drug Trafficking (FELCN) in Bolivia prepares for operations in the Chapare; cocaleros deny protection to drug trafficking
  - La Razon, 06 March 2019

• Is the DEA trying to undermine Colombia’s war crimes tribunal?
  - Colombia Reports, 06 March 2019

• Tomorrow, a hearing in the Constitutional Court of Colombia about the fumigation of coca leaf cultivations using glyposhate
  - El Tiempo, 06 March 2019

• The Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (Felcn) confirmed that some 50 community members from San Rafael, in the tropic of Cochabamba (Bolivia), attacked a patrol of the Rural Patrol Unit (Umopar) last Saturday, collaborating in the flight of alleged drug traffickers who moments before ambushed and fired at the coca eradication forces, leaving two seriously injured
  - Los Tiempos, 06 March 2019

• The Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (Felcn) confirmed that some 50 community members from San Rafael, in the tropic of Cochabamba (Bolivia), attacked a patrol of the Rural Patrol Unit (Umopar) last Saturday, collaborating in the flight of alleged drug traffickers who moments before ambushed and fired at the coca eradication forces, leaving two seriously injured
  - El Diario, 05 March 2019

• Residents of La Asunta (Bolivia) maintain their blockade of roads against the FTC (anti-drug police) - the people of Asunta decided that they will not allow the eradication of their coca crops, as it is a traditional and ancestral zone for cultivation
  - Pagina Siete, 05 March 2019

• Representatives of different opposition political fronts and opinion leaders assure that the justice and the authorities of the Government of Bolivia have a favoritism towards the coca growers of the Chapare
  - Pagina Siete, 05 March 2019

• 400 protesters clash with riot police in northern Colombia, demonstrating against government failures to help change farms from coca, as farmers return to coca cultivation.
  - Colombia Reports, 04 March 2019

• Cáceres, years ago a thriving municipality of the lower Antioquia Cauca in Colombia, today is practically a ghost town - the threats to the people come from the 'clan of the Gulf' and 'Caparrapos', two criminal networks that, according to authorities, do not add up more than 400 men in arms, and who have been fighting a territorial struggle for more than a year for the control of nearly 10,000 hectares of coca plants and the illegal exploitation of gold mines - to this is added the fight for extortion , from which even informal traders are victims
  - El Tiempo, 03 March 2019

• The recycled war of Bajo Cauca (Colombia) - the Ombudsman's Office noted the dramatic situation that exists in the six municipalities that make up this subregion on the banks of the Cauca River, where the Gaitanista Self-Defense Groups, the Caparrapos, the ELN and the dissidence of the Farc wage a fierce battle for the dominance of drug trafficking routes and mining exploitation
  - El Espectador, 02 March 2019

• Yesterday, a coca leaf eradicator was killed in the explosion of an antipersonnel mine in the rural area of Alto Mira y Frontera in Tumaco, Nariño (Colombia) - it is the second mortal victim of these mines, which occurred in the middle of an operation for the forced eradication of illegal crops, which left 10 more injured
  - La Silla Vacia, 28 February 2019

• Coffee growers in Colombia are exploring the withdrawing of Colombian coffees from commodities exchanges as historically low prices threaten farmer livelihoods and therefore, the health of the coffee sector
  - Daily Coffee News, 28 February 2019

• Coffee farmers in Peru abandon crops to grow coca, due to slumping coffee prices and delays in certifying organic beans, according to the country's National Coffee Board
  - Reuters, 25 February 2019

• President Duque does not agree with the goals of reducing coca in Colombia, how then to help him adjust them? The goal of the National Development Plan is to eliminate 280 thousand hectares, 109 thousand more than those that exist in Colombia. Why does Duque intend to eradicate more hectares than there are?
  - La Silla Vacia, 21 February 2019

• In Colombia, demobilized FARC members have not received the basic income - the Peace Agreement included the commitment that each demobilized would receive 740,000 pesos per month (about US $250) for two years - the payments are made on the 16th of each month, but this time they did not arrive on time, but the Government assures that this Thursday the money will be reflected in their accounts
  - El Espectador, 21 February 2019

• Aggressive coca eradication threatens voluntary substitution efforts in Colombia.
  - Insight Crime, 19 February 2019

• The Chulumani Prosecutor's Office, Bolivia, cites six Adepcoca leaders (including one of Adepcoca's main leaders, Sergio Pampa) for the attack on the Digcoin director, Martín Serrudo
  - La Razon, 19 February 2019

• "It is important to alert Carlos Mesa, that if a supporter in Villa Tunari, Shinaota, Chimoré, Carrasco, Mamoré, or Bulo Bulo resists, it will be at his own risk" - with those words, Leonardo Loza, Chapare coca grower leader, referred to an eventual visit of the presidential candidate to the region of the Tropic of Cochabamba, Bolivia
  - La Razon, 19 February 2019

• The Council of Peasant Federations of the Yungas (Cofecay) decided to reactivate the so-called "self-defense committees" to avoid further attacks by the police - they demanded alternative projects to replace coca production
  - La Razon, 19 February 2019

• One of the emergency resolutions of the 10 federations of coca producers that comprise the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) orders the expulsion of Gregorio Chamiso for being a political operator of the Government - likewise, they reactivated the self-defense committees that will not allow the entry of police officers to the three provinces of the Yungas of La Paz
  - El Diario, 19 February 2019

• The government of Colombia promises to fulfill agreements for the substitution of illicit crops and keeps its word with the 130,000 families that signed commitments of substitution for illicit crops
  - El Espectador, 18 February 2019

• More than half of Colombia's media reliant on state propaganda funds - the vast majority of Colombia's media outlets depend on 'official advertising' for 40 to 50% of their revenue.
  - Colombia Reports, 18 February 2019

• Cocaleros from Bolivia activate self-defense committees to prevent police from entering the Yungas - for the cocaleros, the aggression against the director of Digcoin is a 'self-attack' made by the Government
  - Pagina Siete, 18 February 1029

• The Cochabamba province, in particular the Chapare region, is now the epicenter of laboratories for purifying cocaine in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 17 February 2019

• In Bolivia, the leaders of the coca farmers in the Los Yungas region warn that the government intends to "decapitate" their leadership in order to seize control of the regional association of coca growers (Adepcoca).
  - El Diario, 16 February 2019

• The anti-drug campaigns in Colombia - $20 billion spent in 10 years and few successes
  - El Tiempo, 15 February 2019

• In Bolivia, the leaders of the coca farmers in the Los Yungas region warn that the government intends to "decapitate" their leadership in order to seize control of the regional association of coca growers (Adepcoca)
  - La Razon, 15 February 2019

• At least a hundred police officers entered the community of La Calzada in the municipality of La Asunta, Bolivia, yesterday evening and gassed the inhabitants of the area - the soldiers were searching for those accused of beating the head of the Directorate General of Marketing and Industrialization of the Coca Leaf (Digcoin), Martín Serrudo
  - El Diario, 15 February 2019

• At least a hundred police officers entered the community of La Calzada in the municipality of La Asunta, Bolivia, yesterday evening and gassed the inhabitants of the area - the soldiers were searching for those accused of beating the head of the Directorate General of Marketing and Industrialization of the Coca Leaf (Digcoin), Martín Serrudo
  - Pagina Siete, 15 February 2019

• The leader of coca growers from La Asunta, Bolivia - Freedy Quispe - denounces police intervention in La Asunta and the detention of three people
  - La Razon, 14 February 2019

• Weedkiller glyphosate, used to eradicate coca leaves, raises risk of non-Hodgkin lymphona by 41%.
  - The Guardian, 14 February 2019

• In Colombia, there is a negative correlation between coca farming and homicides, for example, in towns with coca farming there is no relation between the number of hectares farmed with coca and the rate of homicides
  - La Silla Vacia, 13 February 2019

• The seven politicians behind the Hidroituango dam, one of the worst environmental disasters in Colombia's history - starting with former president Alvaro Uribe
  - Colombia Reports, 13 February 2019

• The coca substitution program for Colombia that was born with the Havana Agreement is adrift in the Duque Government, as shown by its security policy, the decree to restructure the Presidency and the National Development Plan - although none say that the substitution program has been terminated, they leave open key questions about who will direct it, how it will continue to be implemented and what are its final goals
  - La Silla Vacia, 12 February 2019

• Desperate Venezuelan migrants turn to Colombia coca plantations for jobs picking coca leaves for drug traffickers
  - France 24, 12 February 2019

• In Bolivia, the association of northern coca leaf growers, Adepcoca, announces a lawsuit against Minister César Cocarico for accusing their members of physically assaulting a government official, Martín Serrudo
  - La Razon, 11 February 2019

• In Bolivia, the director of Digcoin (the government agency for the commercialization and industrialization of coca leaf), Martín Serrudo, was approached by a group of people, and physically struck, Saturday in the "La Calza" community of La Asunta - the Minister of Rural Development and Lans, César Cocarico, accuses the Provincial Association of Coca Growers of northern Bolivia
  - La Razon, 11 February 2019

• Government of Bolivia refuses to create a tax on coca to finance the SUS (Sistema Único de Salud - Unified Health System) and says there is money - the representative of the doctors of La Paz said that a tax on coca, sweet drinks and tobacco could finance the insurance.
  - Pagina Siete, 09 February 2019

• In Colombia, where gold mining and coca farming are a toxic mix.
  - World Crunch, 08 February 2019

• Putumayo, the first electoral alliance of the Farc with alternative movements in Colombia - a common block that helps them to win the Governorship
  - La Silla Vacia, 05 February 2019

• We support legal action that seeks to defend the sale of coca leaf products outside of indigenous territories in Colombia
  - Dejusticia, 04 February 2019

• Colombia's power brokers, families and clans - ranchers, businessmen and the narco-elite - that have long been obtaining power through both legal and illegal means, also behind mass killings of social leaders.
  - Colombia Reports, 04 February 2019

• Editorial: to reach the new goal of eradication of illicit crops in Colombia, it will be necessary to overcome obstacles.
  - El Tiempo, 03 February 2019

• The absence of deaths in Tumaco, Colombia, the world's leading coca growing region, is the result of a pact between illegals, driven by social leaders to save their lives.
  - La Silla Vacia, 03 February 2019

• "Rodigo Cadete", a mid-level FARC dissident, is killed in San Vincente del Caguan (east of Popayan), a largely rural municipality in the southern Caqueta province.
  - Colombia Reports, 03 February 2019

• In Colombia, the coca eradication goal increases to 100,000 hectares (the eradication of 40,000 hectares is the responsibility of the Army, another 40,000 of the Antinarcotics Police, and another 20,000 hectares through voluntary eradication), 30,000 more than last year - $25 million available to begin forced eradication, including funds to hire 2,100 civilians who will be formed into 100 Mobile Forced Eradication Groups
  - El Tiempo, 01 February 2019

• From today, medicinal marijuana is legal in Portugal
  - El Espectador, 01 February 2019

• Machu Picchu wellness tour includes coca-leaf reading.
  - Los Angeles Times, 01 February 2019

• Indigenous communities in post-FARC Colombia struggle to destigmatize sacred coca leaf.
  - Mongabay, 23 January 2019

• Threats to deputies, the indigenous and journalists in Putumayo
  - El Espectador, 20 January 2019

• It happened again: DEA agent in Colombia, Jose Irizarry, stole millions, and hosted yacht parties with hookers.
  - Zero Hedge, 17 January 2019

• The EPL guerrila pour gasoline on the coca wars in Valle province in Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 15 January 2019

• Colombia's chief prosecutor, Nestor Humberto Martinez, manipulated DEA evidence linking him to Supreme Court bribes.
  - Colombia Reports, 14 January 2019

• No, the U.S. and Colombia will not eradicate 50% of Colombian coca by 2023.
  - Today Colombia, 11 January 2019

• Without the invovlement of FARC, the drug trafficker in Colombia more now has a Mexican accent
  - La Silla Vacia, 09 January 2019

• Hollywood's lazy obsession with cocaine drug cartels, with Latinos killing each other - instead of the normal, exciting lives of Latinos, including, say, industrializing coca
  - New York Times, 05 January 2019

• Bees in Bolivia are under threat from pesticides uses to grow coca.
  - Voice of America, 07 January 2019

• Colombia's coca substitution plan is bringing death and discord to the Putamayo region.
  - Latino USA, 07 January 2019

• Seven conclusions about the murder of social leaders in Colombia, including: they are not being killed for reasons of mining or coca farming, but for battles over land rights
  - La Silla Vacia, 05 January 2019

• The use of pesticides against pesty insects of coca fields, added to climate change and other factors, threaten the survival of bees in Bolivia, according to beekeepers and experts
  - La Razon, 04 January 2019

• Coca leaf farming in Colombia continues being the major worry of the United States
  - El Espectador, 02 January 2019

• Health promotion agencies (EPS in Spanish) that charge much more than they should, suppliers of medicines that have cost overruns of more than $ 100 million and laboratories that, to increase their sales, promote drugs to people who do not need them, are some of the ingredients that have been mixed after that medicine, for which Colombia paid more than $ 8.9 billion in 2017. The figure, as recently showed in a report by the Administrator of the Resources of the General System of Social Security in Health (Adres), should have been much lower. To be precise, about $ 1,500 million lower.
  - El Espectador, 30 December 2018

• Government of Colombia says it exceeded its goal in 2018 for eradication of illicit coca and marijuana crops
  - El Pais, 28 December 2018

• Culture and ancestral art for coca: the value of traditional knowledge of Colombia's Pacific black communities
  - El Espectador, 28 December 2018

• Medellin's largest public hospital closes, one of hundreds struggling because of massive corruption with Colombia's privatized health insurance program, EPS, with reform blocked in Congress since law passed in 1994 due to EPS companies being owned by in part by, or bribing, members of Colombia's Congress
  - Colombia Report, 26 December 2018

• The Bolivian Joint Task Force of reported that due to its management it doubled the eradication of coca crops in the Yungas, where twice as much was eliminated as in 2017
  - Pagina Siete, 21 December 2018

• Editorial: coca farming or banana farming for the Chapare region of Bolivia?
  - Pagina Siete, 21 December 2018

• The extreme risk of wanting to replace coca - in the last two years, at least 63 leaders of illicit crop substitution programs have been killed
  - El Espectador, 21 December 2018

• Senator Feliciano Valencia denounces attack against his brother in Cauca - Germán Valencia, defender of human rights and member of the Association of Indigenous Councils of the North of Cauca (ACIN), was attacked by masked men in his house in the village of Vilachí, Santander de Quilichao
  - El Espectador, 21 December 2018

• Bolivia eradicated more than 11,000 hectares of surplus coca in 2018, a figure that was highlighted by President Evo Morales on Thursday, who asked the producers of the leaf, mainly those who live in the Chapare, to respect the cato limit (one cato is 1,600 square meters)
  - La Razon, 20 December 2018

• Colombia’s ambassador to the United Nations was criticized this week after abstained from voting on a UN declaration that sought to advance the rights of small farmers who make up approximately one fifth of Colombia's population
  - Colombia Reports, 20 December 2018

• The Colombian far-right group, Aguilas Negras, offers rewards to those who kill indigenous leaders in the coca growing areas of the north Cauca department, while dissident FARC guerillas offer protection to those threatened
  - Colombia Reports, 20 December 2018

• A double crime: murder of a civic leader, and a psychologist with the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalation, in the Caquetá department, southwest of the Valle de Cauca.
  - El Espectador, 20 December 2018

• Low coffee bean prices brew trouble for farmers (or those switching from coca to coffee) - the problems are caused by by currency fluctuations that are encouraging sales and production in Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, while forcing coffee growers in other countries to migrate for new jobs.
  - Wall Street Journal, 20 December 2018

• From cocaine to cacao: Joel Palacios's mission to save Colombia's farmers through chocolate
  - NPR, 19 December 2018

• Changes to Colombia's peace agreement with the FARC puts the agreement in jeopardy, already trouble due the government's failed efforts to successfully implement a coca crop substitution program
  - InSight Crime, 18 December 2018

• Why Colombia is losing the cocaine war - its lack of support for the rural families that rely on growing coca leaves to survive.
  - Vox, 18 December 2018

• More doubts than certainties remain in the communities that live in territories planted with crops for illicit use, after the launching -- last December 13th -- of the new policy against drugs, called "Future Route". Although during his presentation, President Ivan Duque insisted that this is an integral strategy, uncertainty persists in the territories regarding what it will represent for the coca farmers and what will happen with the voluntary substitution programs that were launched as part of the program of the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement.
  - El Espectador, 17 December 2018

• A report of the UN Office of Drug Control, about Bolivia, indicates that the volume of production in the Chapare is 2.8 metric tons per hectare, while in the valleys of La Paz (the Yungas) is about 1.3 metric tons per hectare
  - Pagina Siete, 16 December 2018

• The U.S. General Accounting Office concludes that despite spending $10 billion since 1999, the U.S. DEA does not know if any of its efforts are working, in the face of tripling of cocaine production in Colombia from 2013 through 2017.
  - Colombia Reports, 16 December 2018

• Bolivia Says NO, an opposition party, outlines respect for traditional coca activities and normalization of relations with the US
  - La Razon, 11 December 2018

• Colombia’s largest paramilitary and drug trafficking group (controlling half the cocaine exported), the AGC, said Sunday that it would redouble efforts to assume control over the country’s main cities in a blistering attack on President Ivan Duque.
  - Colombia Reports, 10 December 2018

• Coca and dissent, the crossroads en Putumayo of Colombia - from Puerto Leguízamo to Mocoa, the farmers have fulfilled their promise to eradicate 8,686 hectares of coca voluntarily, but, despite these advances, there is concern about the Government's failure to comply, the reactivation of the drug trafficking and the presence of the FARC's dissidence
  - El Espectador, 10 December 2018

• Second indigenous governor, Edwin Dagua, governor of the Huellas indigenous reserve in Caloto (Cauca, north of Popayan - a coca growing region) assassinated in southwest Colombia in one week.
  - Colombia Reports, 08 December 2018

• In North of Nariño the a group coordinated by 'Gentil Duarte' grows - the Estiven González front (FEG), a self-proclaimed dissident group of the Farc
  - La Silla Vacia, 03 December 2018

• Armed men attack indigenous reserve in Ricaurte, Nariño (southwest Colombia) - two leaders are killed and four injured - where several illegal armed groups are vying for control over territory, farms growing coca, and drug trafficking routes
  - Colombia Reports, 03 December 2018

• Farmers in the Amazon of Peru are abandoning the coca leaf in favor of cocoa, as anti-drug efforts take effect - Peruvian cocoa production will increase to a record 155,800 metric tons in 2018-2019, almost double of production five years ago, according to Fitch Solutions - according to the research firm, more than 25,000 families that now cover more than 49,000 hectares of crops, including cocoa and coffee, abandoned the illegal coca harvest last year, and this year, more than 20,000 hectares of coca have been eradicated
  - Agraria.pe, 29 November 2018

• Colombia tries to help farmers exit the cocaine business - and is failing to do so.
  - NPR, 24 November 2018

• From coca leaves to cocoa: three lessons from Peru on how coca farmers can leave the drug trade behind.
  - European Sting, 22 November 2018

• Beset with problems, Colombia's new president, Ivan Duque, shows little sense of direction
  - Economist, 22 November 2018

• The coca leaf growers assocation of Antioquia (Colombia) denounces the incomplete promises of the government of Colombia - at least 2,400 families from Cáceres, Tarazá and the south of Córdoba, who are part of the illicit crop substitution program, there are delays in the bi-monthly payment of US $650 that the National Government has to pay them, but, according to the complaints, the disbursement has not been made for at least four months
  - Blu Radio, 20 November 2018

• Travel to the depths of the world of coca in Cauca, Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 18 November 2018

• The Colombia Minister of Defense, Guillermo Botero, announces that without drones, without aerial fumigations, without glyphosate, but only with manual labor, that the government, in the next 4 years, is going to eradicate 210,000 hectares of coca plants across the country
  - El Tiempo, 17 November 2018

• Security, dissidents, ELN, crop substitution and social protest are some of the issues that continue to generate uncertainty in regions of the country at the 100th anniversary of the mandate of President Iván Duque de Colombia
  - El Espectador, 16 November 2018

• The first civil eradicator of coca leaves, Libardo Itaz Cruz dies after triggering an anti-personnell mine in Tumaco, Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 16 November 2018

• Néstor Humberto Martínez, Attorney General of Colombia vowing to get tougher on coca and marijuana farming, in newly released audio files, is shown to have known of bribes made by Odebrecht in Colombia - at the time, Martínez was legal advisor to Colombia's richest man, Luis Carlos Sarmiento, who was partnering with Odebrecht for construction contracts for the corruption-riden Ruta del Sol II project
  - Colombia Reports, 14 November 2018

• The Attorney General, Néstor Humberto Martínez, was formally denounced on Wednesday before the Accusation Committee of the Colombia House of Representatives after his voice appeared in audios that shook the case of bribes paid by Odebrecht in Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 14 November 2018

• One of the first decisions of the new national government of Colombia was to free, at 97,000 families, the number of families that are taking part in a voluntary substitution program for illegal cultivations such as coca and marijuana
  - El Tiempo, 14 November 2018

• Some 6,500 former guerrillas of the FARC have abandoned their reintegration camps and approximately 2,000 have rearmed, due to chronic failures by the government to facilitate the peace process, the mass killing of social leaders and growing fears of violent retaliation among demobilized members of the FARC
  - Colombia Reports, 14 November 2018

• 600 more lawsuits, now up to 9,300 lawsuit, are filed against Bayer over its subsidiary, Monsanto, sales of the cancer-causing pesticide, glyphosate - the main ingredient in Roundup weedkiller (glyphosate used in South America to eradicate coca plants)
  - Wall Street Journal, 14 November 2018

• The best return on investments (campaign donations for government contracts) when buying politicians in Colombia, led by Antioquia province
  - Colombia Reports, 12 November 2018

• How misguided American drug policies aggravate the growing chaos and crime in Central America
  - Wall Street Journal, 11 November 2018

• Glyphosate, the herbicide most applied in Bolivia, used primarily at soy bean plantations - but various countries have prohibited its use, such as Sri Lanka and Italy, and Germany will eliminate the use of glyphosate for its farming.
  - El Diario, 11 November 2018

• The future of coffee in Colombia is to seek a sustainable society and economy [the same for coca].
  - Portafolio, 10 November 2018

• The government of Colombia will restart fumigation of coca and marijuana with drones, planes and pesticide trucks, using glyphosate
  - El Tiempo, 10 November 2018

• The production of cacao in Colombia in the 2017/2018 farming season dropped by 14.5% - among the reasons to explain the drop are heavy rains that affected the principal growing regions
  - La Republica, 10 November 2018

• Benjamin Ramos is murdered in the Phillipines, a lawyer who helped poor clients whose families have been targeted by the police, soldiers and death squads associated with the drug war of President Rodrigo Duterte
  - New York Times, 08 November 2018

• The Bolivian government rejects estimations made by the United States about Bolivia's cultivation of coca leaf and production of cocaine
  - El Deber, 07 November 2018

• The Bolivian government rejects estimations made by the United States about Bolivia's cultivation of coca leaf and production of cocaine
  - La Razon, 07 November 2018

• Colombia's defense minister, Guillermo Botero, said the proposal to remove electric power supplies in areas where there are laboratories for processing illicit crops (coca and marijuana) is under study
  - El Espectador, 05 November 2018

• Coca farmers in Catatumbo, Colombia are threatened - the coca farmers are requesting the government to extend coverage of the illegal crop substitution program to their community
  - Caracol Radio, 04 November 2018

• The Attorney General of Colombia, Néstor Humberto Martínez, presented a new strategy to attack the value chains and production of drug trafficking - among the proposed strategies is to attack the fuel distribution networks, change the componenets of gasoline, and decrease the supply of electric power in the municipalities hit by this phenomenon
  - La Republica, 03 November 2018

• Coca leaf farming rises by 5,000 hectares in Peru between 2016 and 2017.
  - Peru Reports, 03 November 2018

• Gulupa, a fruit related to maracuya, is a legal alternative to coca plantations in Colombia
  - Fresh Plaza, 02 November 2018

• The consumption and availability of cocaine in the United States continued to grow between 2016 and 2017, probably as a consequence of the expansion of illicit coca crops and the production of cocaine in Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 02 November 2018

• The Supreme Court of Mexico issues a ruling allowing for the recreational use of marijuana, a decision that will allow the cultivation and consumption of the plant for recreational purposes to any citizen who requests a permit from the federal government
  - Pagina Siete, 02 November 2018

• In a letter to President Iván Duque of Colombia, the Attorney General, Néstor Humberto Martínez, made an unusual proposal to combat drug trafficking and reduce cocaine production - he proposes to take electrical energy away from areas where there are laboratories and production facilities
  - El Tiempo, 02 November 2018

• In a letter to President Iván Duque of Colombia, the Attorney General, Néstor Humberto Martínez, made an unusual proposal to combat drug trafficking and reduce cocaine production - he proposes to take electrical energy away from areas where there are laboratories and production facilities
  - Colombia Reports, 02 November 2018

• 273 coca farmers in Colombia sue the government for spraying glyphosate to destroy coca plants used to make cocaine
  - UPI, 01 November 2018

• Drug cartels test Central America for coca farming, with small plantings found in Guatemala and Honduras
  - Reuters, 01 November 2018

• The government of Colombia has 273 lawsuits against it for fumigation of coca plants with glyphosate - the Ministry of Defense has already had to pay 18 billion pesos (about US $6 million) to those affected by fumigations.
  - El Tiempo, 01 November 2018

• Drug traffickers are trying to grow coca leaf in Central America, with trial fields found in Guatemala (1 hectare) and Honduras (5 hectares).
  - Reuters, 01 November 2018

• In the midst of all the delays of the National Program for the Replacement of Crops for Illicit Use (PNIS), along with the annoyance of the coca growers who warn of going to unemployment and the threat of the Government of aerial fumigation, is another ingredient adding to the struggle of eradicating coca : 13,000 of the 97,000 families cultivating coca, with which the Santos Government signed individual agreements, are suspended from the PNIS effort.
  - La Silla Vacia, 01 November 2018

• Glufosinate ammonium (phosphinothricin) is the molecule that could replace glyphosate in aerial spraying in activities of forced eradication of coca in Colombia.
  - El Tiempo, 31 October 2018

• The national government of Colombia announced the policy to comply with the Peace Agreement - among the difficult situations to implement peace is that of the National Comprehensive Program for the Replacement of Illicit Crops (PNIS)
  - La Silla Vacia, 29 October 2018

• The Colombian Minister of Defense, Guillermo Botero, confirmed the death of a police officer, Naren Daryan Mora Rivera, who activated an anti-personnel mine during a forced eradication operation of illegal cultivations of coca plants in Tumaco, Nariño, and he insisted on the importance of using aerial fumigation to avoid risking the lives of the Colombian police.
  - El Tiempo, 28 October 2018

• After the finding of the dead body of the community leader María Caicedo, kidnapped by armed men on October 20 in Algeria, Cauca, the authorities try to blame the crime was due to real estate ligitation, while coca growing collectives say it is part of an attack on their leaders
  - El Tiempo, 28 October 2018

• Colombia's war crimes tribunal, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP in Spanish), rules that FARC leader "Jesus Santrich" has been falsely charged with drug trafficking with no evidence provided by Colombian prosecutors nor by the U.S. DEA, and until evidence is provided, Santrich should not be extradited to the U.S.
  - Colombia Reports, 29 October 2018

• President Ivan Duque plans to send 5,000 soldiers to the northeast of Colombia, the Catatumbo region that is the country's second most important coca growing region, despite local leaders begging the president not to militarize the region, which has failed in the past to fight crimes
  - Colombia Reports, 29 October 2018

• Did a DEA hoax devastate Colombia's peace process, when the DEA fabricated charges of drug trafficking against a former FARC guerrilla leader, Jesus Santrich, who was then arrested - in part because the DEA opposes efforts to help coca farmers grow alternative crops?
  - El Espectador, 27 October 2018

• Did a DEA hoax devastate Colombia's peace process, when the DEA fabricated charges of drug trafficking against a former FARC guerrilla leader, Jesus Santrich, who was then arrested - in part because the DEA opposes efforts to help coca farmers grow alternative crops?
  - Colombia Reports, 27 October 2018

• Nariño, a department of Colombia, at the crossroads of illicit crops - communities and authorities are discussing what are the sustainable alternatives to coca crops.
  - El Espectador, 27 October 2018

• President Evo Morales accused the deputy of the opposition Democratic Unity (UD) Wilson Santamaría of receiving at least Bs 1,000 from the Departmental Association of Coca Producers of La Paz (Adepcoca) to present the appeal of unconstitutionality against the new Law of the Coca.
  - La Razon, 27 October 2018

• President Evo Morales criticizes the coca farmers of Los Yungas who want to modify the new Coca Law.
  - Los Tiempos, 26 October 2018

• In Tumaco, Colombia, "the settlers are eradicated and the Indians remain" - "We are 'swimming' in coca, one can not cover this reality with a finger. In the past when we stopped with coca, we signed about three hundred agreements, and the government has never complied. And it is with coca that we made nine bridges and two are on the way, we also built miles of plate-footprints, and many peasants improved their houses.", which Governor Alberto Martín pragmatically accepts. "A lot of people got used to this way of life, and it's going to be difficult to change it."
  - El Tiempo, 25 October 2018

• The "war against drugs" of the United Nations is a failure - the statistics "do not show any reduction in the global cultivation of opium, coca and marijuana between 2009 and 2018".
  - El Deber, 24 October 2018

• Medellín, the second most important city in Colombia, which has become a "safe" site for leaders of the Sinaloa cartel who have problems in Mexico
  - El Tiempo, 24 October 2018

• Opinion: The fraud of Monsanto's glyphosate - aerial sprayings are not the long-term solution. Neither short. If they were, in Colombia there would be no coca. A solution that takes more than 25 years to produce results is not a solution, it is a never-ending business. Who is staying in Colombia with that money? Who are the ones who get rich with glyphosate? You have to look at the contracts.
  - El Espectador, 24 October 2018

• Post-conflict projects and agroindustrial cooperatives in Colombia: if we want the extinction or eradication of illicit (coca) crops to be successful, it is essential to think of an integrated social diagnosis that allows their presumed beneficiaries to have access to credit and, most importantly, that their legal products, in addition to agroindustrializados, have guaranetted access to markets
  - El Espectador, 24 October 2018

• Opinion: The fight against drugs in Colombia must begin with the legalization of the hundreds of small plots in the hands of illicit growers, who have been holders for several decades, but unfortunately due to the abandonment of the State they have not had the opportunity to legalize their lands to then be able to receive credit and other subsidies granted by the State for those who voluntarily do so
  - El Espectador, 24 October 2018

• The Governor of Antioquia, Colombia, spoke of opening a tender to eradicate coca crops - "We will spend some US $1.3 million to rent drones to fumigate".
  - El Tiempo, 24 October 2018

• Why do two communities of Cauca province (Algeria and Patía) defend drug traffickers and guerrillas? While in Algeria the peasants and merchants are trying to save the money that Mexican drug traffickers are paying them for coca, in Patía the population would are supporting the ELN chief because he does not want the narcos from Mexico to enter the municipality, and the guerrillas would be the "retaining wall".
  - El Tiempo, 23 October 2018

• In California, a judge reduces, by more than $200 million, down to $78 million, a jury verdict linking Bayer's Roundup (glyphosate) weedkiller to cancer but upholds the jury's findings that the company acted with malice
  - Wall Street Journal, 23 October 2018

• In Chapare of Bolivia, to be an opponent of President Evo Morales is to be a traitor and is paid with by expulsion from the ruling MAS party - it is one of the most benefited regions of the MAS government, with an estimate that $4 billion have been invested there - there is direct renewal and diversification of income but with coca farming as a core
  - El Deber, 22 October 2018

• Editorial: the unjust detention of Franclin Gutiérrez, the chief leader of the coca leaf producers of the Yungas region of Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 22 October 2018

• "Aerial fumigation doesn't work": the governor of Caquetá province of Colombia, álvaro Pacheco, insists on using manual eradication and implementing plans for alternative farming for campesinos
  - El Tiempo, 21 October 2018

• The Antioquia province of Colombia has begun to fumigate coca plants with drones in the Bajo Cauca region - its government, Luis Pérez, has contracted with private drone companies to fumigate illegal coca plantings with glyphosate
  - El Tiempo, 21 October 2018

• The Spanish dossier on the Colombian mafia - points out that the Chinese are the new partners of the Gulf Clan and capos of Galicia
  - El Tiempo, 21 October 2018

• Many leaders of drug trafficking gangs are returning to the Valle de Cauca, and Cauca, provinces of Colombia, after serving prison time in the United States for the last 6 to 9 years -- the natural corridor that joins the north of the Cauca, the Naya region, and the rural areas of Jamundí and Buenaventura in the Valle de Cuaca, are full of coca plants - in this corridor, the presence of emissaries of Mexican cartels, who seek to negotiate coca with the highest bidder, has been evidenced by the rise of the returning bosses and their heirs
  - El Tiempo, 21 October 2018

• In Colombia, Fedepalma and Cenipalma open a new palm research center in the north of the Caribbean province of Magdalena with an investment of 16,000 million pesos (about $US 5.3 million), and will also allocate another 13,000 million pesos for research and operation
  - Portafolio, 21 October 2018

• FARC dissidents, the ELN and Mexican drug traffickers, who control the illicit coca crops in southern Cauca, were behind the mobilization of a mob of about 500 people who on Friday held for several hours about 60 soldiers and officers of the CTI who were conducting an operation against a drug crystallizer in Algeria, Cauca, the department's second largest coca producer, surpassed by the municipality of El Tambo, both in southern Cauca.
  - El Tiempo, 21 October 2018

• When a landscape has between 45 and 75% of the cultivation of the palm tree, there are "drastic declines" in species
  - El Tiempo, 20 October 2018

• In Bolivia, between 2015 and 2017, 803 tons of illegal coca leaf seized by the government was converted into organic fertilizer
  - Pagina Siete, 19 October 2018

• The leader of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca of La Paz (Adepcoca), Sergio Pampa, denied this Friday that as an institution they have signed an alliance with the Left Revolutionary Front (FRI) to support the candidacy of Carlos Mesa for the presidency of Bolivia
  - La Razon, 19 October 2018

• Yesterday the Revolutionary Front of the Left (FRI) made a political pact with the Departmental Association of Producers of the coca leaf (Adepcoca) of La Paz, led by Franclin Gutiérrez and represented by Felipe Chambi, and also with the rural teachers of La Paz
  - El Diario, 19 October 2018

• Coca crops in Bolivia are being planted near the planned route for a proposed highway through indigenous lands in the TIPNIS national park
  - Mongabay, 19 October 2018

• Colombian coca growers bare their teeth to President Duque - the coca growers went on strike a few days ago to tell the government, among other things, that if they do not allow more families to enter the National Program for the Replacement of Illicit Use Crops (Pnis), they will paralyze the roadways
  - La Silla Vacia, 18 October 2018

• The presence of hantavirus in the La Asunta region of Bolicia, detected during coca eradication efforts, has generated worries among the residents and producers of coca in the region.
  - El Diario, 17 October 2018

• Coffee rust and low prices threatens the Latin American coffee industry, and 150 years ago, coffee rust destroyed the coffee industry of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
  - NPR, 16 October 2018

• According to Rubén Vargas, director of Devida in Peru, the Intervention Strategy for the Development of Vraem, recently approved by the Executive, will require "innumerable meetings" with authorities and organizations of the largest coca producing area in the country, under the threat of terrorism and at alarming levels of poverty, and eradication of illegal coca leaf crops.
  - El Comercio, 16 October 2018

• In Colombia, a new generation of drug traffickers means more coca farmers are growing coca.
  - NPR, 15 October 2018

• Over 40,000 hectares in Colombia of coca plants were eradicated as of the first week of October 2018.
  - El Tiempo, 15 October 2018

• From the legalization of medical marijuana in Colombia 2015, about 150 such businesses have been launched - while a gram of cannabis oil in the U.S. costs between US $4 and US $5, en Colombia it is possible to produce the same quantity for less than US $1
  - El Pais, 15 October 2018

• 20 coca growers from La Asunta, testify before the Bolivian Public Ministry in favor of the president of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca), Franclin Gutiérrez, alleging that he did not carry weapons or organize armed groups to attack policemen in that region
  - Pagina Siete, 15 October 2018

• "Cocalero", an herbal liquor made in Ireland using decocainized coca leaf extracts, prepares to enter the U.S. markets
  - Paste, 15 October 2018

• In the last 5 years the number of members of the Armed Forces of Colombia had a significant fall: the strength of the armed forces went from 288,256 members in 2013 to 248,581 in 2017 - this decrease, which includes a small percentage of civilians, coincides with the beginning of the coca growing bonanza - in fact, on this aspect, in 2013 there were 48,000 hectares of coca crops and that by 2017, there were up to 180,000 hectares
  - El Tiempo, 14 October 2018

• The former health minister of Colombia, Alejandro Gaviria: "Prohibit no, regulate yes" - for the regulated and recreational use of marijuana; and neither consumers nor coca growers are criminals
  - El Espectador, 13 October 2018

• Peacetime results in a rising number of killings of Colombia’s activists, 190 community leaders killed so far in 2018 - almost all of the murders have taken place in regions that FARC guerrillas abandoned last year when they demobilized as part of the peace deal, replaced by a mix of drug traffickers, paramilitary groups and breakaway rebel factions that rejected the peace agreement
  - New York Times, 13 October 2018

• Former president and candidate Carlos Mesa asked for guarantees for those who are registering new militants in his Left Revolutionary Front (FRI) party in the face of two incidents in Santa Cruz and Chapare, while Cochabamba's coca grower leader Leonardo Loza said that Mesa is enemy of the cocaleros
  - El Tiempo, 13 October 2018

• Opinion: we cannot let e-cigarettes become an on-ramp for teenage addiction to nicotine, which can harm brain development
  - Washington Post, 12 October 2018

• The Lithuanian Parliament approved on Thursday a law that authorizes doctors to prescribe drugs based on marijuana (cannabis). which, to enter into force, still has to be ratified by President Dalia Grybauskaite
  - La Razon, 12 October 2018

• The cocalero leader Franclin Gutiérrez declares himself a political prisoner, after the cessation hearing for his preventive detention was suspended on Thursday morning
  - La Razon, 12 October 2018

• The National Commander of the Joint Task Force (FTC), Jorge Román, reported that on the recommendation of the Ministry of Health, the tasks of eradicating illegal coca crops and the rationalization of surplus crops were halted since yesterday in La Asunta, Bolivia, after the outbreak of hantavirus in the area
  - El Deber, 12 October 2018

• Farmers in Norte de Santander manage to suspend forced eradication of illicit crops, and the governor of the department, William Villamizar, will seek to strengthen the voluntary substitution of crops in several municipalities of that region in Colombia
  - El Espectador, 12 October 2018

• A forensic analysis confirmes that the poisoning of 17 anti-drug soldiers was due infection by the hantavirus, which had been transmitted by drinking water - an alert campaign is activated to prevent local residents from this virus
  - Pagina Siete, 10 October 2018

• Bolivian Government stresses that it is unlikely that the water has been contaminated artificially, so it discarded the initial hypothesis of sabotage of the coca eradication tasks
  - El Diario, 10 October 2018

• The coca eradicator who died in La Asunta, Bolivia, was infected with the hantavirus, a disease that is transmitted by rats
  - El Deber, 10 October 2018

• Bolivian government reports that one dead police office and six others that have been hospitalized were infected with the hantavirus in the La Asunta region
  - La Razon, 10 October 2018

• Between May 2017 and September 2018 in Colombia, 30,265 hectares of coca plants were voluntarily eradicated by coca farmers across the country
  - El Tiempo, 09 October 2018

• In Bolivia, one anti-drug soldier from the Joint Task Force dies while eradicating coca leaves, presumably due to poisoning
  - El Deber, 08 October 2018

• A second anti-drug soldier from the Joint Task Force that carried out coca eradication work in the municipality of La Asunta, in La Paz, died Monday, after suffering from poisoning that had left his health in critical condition
  - La Razon, 08 October 2018

• The Anti-Crime Special Police Force of Fight of La Paz reported today the death of a policeman and of a conscript at the coca eradication camp of the Joint Task Force of La Asunta, municipality of the Yungas
  - Pagina Siete, 08 October 2018

• Jaime Rivera, coca substitution activist, and his sons, are murdered in southwest Colombia, in the village of Bolivar, Cauca (about 80 miles south of Popayán)
  - El Espectador, 08 October 2018

• Where does the dirty money of the coca growing boom go in Colombia? It is flowing into a real estate 'boom' in coca-growing areas, and into bitcoins
  - El Tiempo, 07 October 2018

• Coffee growers call for post-conflict development in rural Colombia
  - La Republica, 07 October 2018

• The minister of Government of Bolivia, Carlos Romero, denounces poisoning of eradicators of illegal coca - members of the Joint Task Force (FTC) were victims of chemical sabotage - they will be transferred to Santa Cruz for medical attention
  - La Razon, 07 October 2018

• Poisoning soldiers in a coca-growing area - a practice used in Colombia that is observed for the first time in Bolivia - according to a Commander, Colonel Jorge Román Castañón, organic chlorides were used
  - El Diario, 07 October 2018

• The Guaviare province of Colombia (southeast of Bogota) is betting on peacetime crops with an investment of over US $7 million, thanks to the support of the European Peace Fund for productive projects of peasant farmers
  - El Espectador, 06 October 2018

• Learn about the types of marijuana most common in Colombia
  - El Espectador, 06 October 2018

• The steady downfall of Colombia's most powerful drug organization, the Urabeños - led by Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias “Otoniel”
  - InSight Crime, 05 October 2018

• The Stepan Company, the only business in the United States that imports coca leaves with the authorization of the DEA
  - El Deber, 04 October 2018

• The DEA in Colombia: Losing the drug war, but having a lot of sex and ‘kompromat’
  - Washington Examiner, 03 October 2018

• Bitcoin is 'googled' more in regions of Colombia where there are more coca crops - the country has the 14th most amount of cryptocurrency on the LocalBitcoins platform
  - La Republica, 03 October 2018

• Indigenous communities in Colombia cannot sell coca leaf products without permission - they can freely distribute coca leaf products only within their territories without registering with Invima (Colombia's version of the FDA)
  - El Tiempo, 02 October 2018

• Re-prohibiting the personal possession of small amounts of marijuana and cocaine, "minimum doses", is unconstitutional, says the former president of the Constitutional Court of Colombia, Alfredo Beltrán, who argues that doing so is a violation of personal liberty
  - LAFM.com, 01 October 2018

• The national parks of Colombia contain more than 8,000 hectares of coca plants
  - El Tiempo, 01 October 2018

• The Government of Colombia has three different voices for its drug policies that are in dissonance, especially with the problem of the coca crops, because some advocate substitution and others tfumigation with glyphosate
  - La Silla Vacia, 01 October 2018

• The war in Tumaco, Colombia, remains the same, after the operation in which David was killed and the Public Force allegedly wounded Guacho, leader of the Oliver Sinisterra front
  - La Silla Vacia, 30 September 2018

• The national government of Colombia will provide an incentive of up to 25,000 Colombian pesos (US $8.40) for each load of 125 kg of dry parchment coffee
  - La Republica, 29 September 2018

• Some coca growers in Peru achieve an agreement that the price of coca leaf (11.5 kilos) of first quality is now worth 125 soles (US $38, Colombia 112.528 pesos)
  - La Republica, 28 September 2018

• At the inauguration of the XIV Ordinary Congress of the Six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba and upon his return from the United States, President Evo Morales of Bolivia asked the Chapare coca growers to learn to speak English and elaborate economic and social policies to export coca products
  - Correo Del Sur, 28 September 2018

• Editorial: What should we do with coca in Colombia?
  - El Espectador, 27 September 2018

• Opinion: the use of glyphosate for eradication of coca - between foolishness and precaution; there is an urgent need to discuss new alternatives to the coca-growing business
  - El Espectador, 26 September 2018

• Interview with Emilio Archila, head of the High Council for Stabilization - about the future of the national plan to replace illegal crops in Colombia
  - El Espectador, 24 September 2018

• U.S. president Donald Trump: "We want to work with President Duque to eradicate production of coca".
  - El Tiempo, 24 September 2018

• Antioquia, a province in Colombia with an unusal increase in the cultivation of coca - between 2015 and 2017, drug traffickers in Antioquia increased coca cultivation by 477 percent.
  - El Tiempo, 23 September 2018

• En Putumayo they are killing leaders who support the substitution of coca crops in Colombia - so far this year Putumayo has seen the murder of nine social leaders.
  - La Silla Vacia, 23 September 2018

• What can be done to stop the rapid rise of coca cultivations in Colombia?
  - El Pais, 22 September 2018

• The 'Duque plan' that Colombia hopes will reduce illegal coca crops by 70% during his four-year term.
  - El Tiempo, 22 September 2018

• From Nariño, Putumayo and Norte de Santander in Colombia, the leaders of coca leaf farming alternatives ask President Iván Duque not to eradicate coca forcibly and for no reason return to the fumigations with glyphosate
  - El Espectador, 22 September 2018

• In Colombia, coca crops are the last phase of the peasant colonization of the periphery of the country and provide sustenance to some 100,000 families, who can not find land within the country integrated to the legal economy nor find opportunities for employment and social services
  - El Espectador, 21 September 2018

• Alcohol kills three million people a year in the world, according to a World Health Organization report
  - El Espectador, 21 September 2018

• Latin America is the murder capital of the world, much due to the crime from supplying the United States' insatiable demand for cheaper marijuana, and cocaine - one of the world's most profitable drugs only sourced in the coca fields
  - Wall Street Journal, 20 September 2018

• In Catatumbo, coca cultivation increased (a sub-region of Norte de Santander were 16% percent of the coca crop is grown in Colombia), but it was not an excessive increase
  - La Silla Vacia, 20 September 2018

• The challenges that Colombian president Iván Duque has to reduce the record amount of coca being grown in Colombia.
  - El Pais, 20 September 2018

• In the regions of Colombia dedicated to growing coca leaves, 68% of the children are unable to go to schools - with the growth of coca farming, violence has worsened for the rural population
  - El Tiempo, 20 September 2018

• With coca leaf farming up 500% in the last two years, the Lower Cauca region of Colombia aims to be the new Catatumbo (the current leader in coca farming)
  - La Silla Vacia, 20 September 2018

• In Colombia, the illegal farming of coca in 2017, in terms of hectares (171,000 hectares) exceeded that of corn (170,000 hectares), potatoes (139,000 hectares) and beans (70,000 hectares).
  - La Republica, 20 September 2018

• Interview with Bo Mathiasen, the United Nations representative in Colombia - "Coca is being growing in the same places as always"
  - El Espectador, 19 September 2018

• The challenges that Colombian president Iván Duque has to reduce the record amounts of coca being cultivated in Colombia.
  - El Pais, 19 September 2018

• The Integrated System of Monitored Illicit Crops (Simci) will deliver the official figures on coca farming in Colombia during 2017 - the statistics of last year closed with 171,000 hectares of the leaf throughout the country, almost 40,000 less than those reported by the United States
  - El Tiempo, 19 September 2018

• Opinion: coca is not cocaine - the only solution in sight is to legalize coca cultivation and penalize and prosecute its transformation into cocaine, its transportation and distribution
  - EL Espectador, 19 September 2018

• Colombian coffee growers continue producing at a loss, according to the average prices calculated by the National Federation of Coffee Growers (coffee being a suggested alternative to coca)
  - La Republica, 19 September 2019

• A Bolivian court rejects an appeal and orders that coca farmers' leader Franclin Gutiérrez remain in jail pending trial
  - La Razon, 18 September 2018

• Researchers at the University of Chicago discover a method to block cocaine craving and addiction - by growing a special skin graft that contains stem cells modified by CRISPR that carry a gene for the hBChE enzyme which can produce consistent high levels of BCHe (butyrylcholinesterase) which breaks down cocaine before it can trigger the addictive pleasure response in the brain
  - CNBC, 18 September 2018

• The Drug Enforcement Agency: the federal agency that has proved itself incompetent for decades despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars
  - New York Times, 17 September 2018

• The executive secretary of the coca growers of La Asunta (the Yungas of Bolivia), Freddy Quispe, denounced the continuing eradication of coca cultivations in permitted zones by the anti-drug police, and denounced other abuses
  - El Diario, 17 September 2018

• The main leader of the coca growers of La Asunta de los Yungas of La Paz (the northern coca region of Bolivia), Freddy Quispe, asked the government to prove who chews coca from the Chapare (the southern coca region), in what sectors and in what places - he argues that in most regions of the country, people prefer coca from the La Paz region [note: the request is sarcastic, because if coca leaf is not chewed or used in teas, it is only useful for cocaine production]
  - ErBol, 16 September 2018

• Five tons of coca leaf were found by the Peruvian national police inside of a coca paste processing laboratory, in the community of Pelmaz, district of Puerto Bermudez, province of Oxapampa (Pasco)
  - El Comercio, 16 September 2018

• Editorial: the conflict with coca farmers and the eradication of coca farms in Bolivia - Chapare coca that is "bitter and tough" versus Yungas coca that is "sweet and smooth"
  - El Diario, 16 September 2018

• All of the coca crops and laboratories for the processing of cocaine in La Balsa, Llorente, Guayacana and Restrepo (in Nariño, Colombia) were managed by Víctor David Segura Palacios, a dissident leader of the FARC guerrillas who died a week ago in a joint operation of the police, the attorney general's office and the military
  - El Tiempo, 15 September 2018

• Opinion: The problems of General Law 906 For Coca in Bolivia, and the conflict with coca farmers
  - Pagina Siete, 15 September 2018

• Colombian Defense Minister, Guillermo Botero, says that there is a doble standard in the country, with people complaining about the use of glyphosate to eradicate coca while the pesticide is heavily used in agriculture
  - El Pais, 14 September 2018

• Colombian president Iván Duque hopes that in the next four years, Colombia can reduce by between 140,000 and 150,000 of the farmed hectares of illegal cultivations of coca
  - El Pais, 13 September 2018

• The coca leaf and cocaine ties that bind Colombia and Venezuela.
  - StratFor, 12 September 2018

• Businessmen in the Valle del Cauca (the province of Cali) are requesting that the Colombian government defend the price of sugar (a drug?) - which has fallen 21% in international markets
  - El Pais, 12 September 2018

• President Trump questions the increase of illegal farming of coca in Colombia, and doesn't decertify the country, but demanded significant results to happen immediately
  - El Pais, 12 September 2018

• President Trump questions the increase of illegal farming of coca in Colombia, and doesn't decertify the country, but demanded significant results to happen immediately
  - El Tiempo, 12 September 2018

• Opinion: glyphosate: from "dangerous" to "healthy" for eradication of illegal cultivation of coca - but, it is still dangerous
  - El Tiempo, 12 September 2018

• Jose Obdulio Gaviria, whose family formed the Medellin drug cartel, now is a senator for Colombia's conservative ruling party, strongly criticizes recreational use of marijuana and he wants to recriminalize all marijuana use
  - Colombia Reports, 12 September 2018

• The cultivation of coca leaf in Polígono 7, within the Isiboro Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park (Tipnis) in Bolivia, will be rationalized, announced yesterday the Deputy Minister of Coca, Eulogio Condori
  - El Diario, 12 September 2018

• Directors of the principal social organizations of the Vraem region of Peru met on Monday with representatives of the President, of the Ministry of Agriculture and of the National Commission on Development and Life without Drugs (Devida) - the directors raised the need to know more about the demand and marketingof legal coca commercialization in Peru
  - EL Comercio, 11 September 2018

• Nearly a hundred uniformed police in Bolivia proceeded to unblock the route that connects La Paz with Yungas, in the Unduavi sector - there are at least six people who were arrested for assaulting the troops with stones and blunt objects.
  - La Razon, 11 September 2018

• Nearly a hundred uniformed police in Bolivia proceeded to unblock the route that connects La Paz with Yungas, in the Unduavi sector - there are at least six people who were arrested for assaulting the troops with stones and blunt objects.
  - El Deber, 11 September 2018

• Opinion: the wild and crazy politics of coca in Bolivia.
  - Pagina Siete, 11 September 2018

• The Bolivian Minister of Rural Development, César Cocarico, affirmed on Monday that "there is nothing to talk about" with the Yungas coca growers who defend the illegal coca crops of La Asunta and who installed a roadblock in Unduavi, closing the pass to the north of La Paz
  - ErBol, 11 September 2018

• Víctor David Segura Palacios, appointed head of one of the criminal structures that disputed control of illegal coca crops in Nariño, had managed to connect Mexican drug cartels with the feared 'Office' that committed crimes in the department of Antioquia - this was pointed out by sources who indicated that with the death of Segura Palacios, one dissident group of FARC guerrillas is weakened, who are in the area with the largest number of hectares of illegal coca crops in the country
  - El Tiempo, 10 September 2018

• Bolivian police reinforced traffic control on the highway between La Paz and the Yungas until 8am Monday morning to prevent a blockade by the coca growers of Adepcoca
  - La Razon, 10 September 2018

• Coca growers from the Yungas begin a blockade of the highway to Unduavi
  - Pagina Siete, 10 September 2018

• After the ratification of the preventive detention of the chief leader of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) La Paz, Franclin Gutiérrez, the coca growers begin the blockade of roads in La Paz province and declare themselves in permanent mobilization
  - El Diario, 10 September 2018

• Editorial: The quixotic crusade against the minimum dose - while in the United States, investors are preparing for a regulated industry of sales of cannabis products that will reach US $35 billion in 2022, in Colombia the Ministry of Justice talks about how dads must account for the addiction of their children that are captured in possession of the minimum dose. Is irrational obscurantism returning to Colombia?
  - El Espectador, 09 September 2018

• Opinion: Colombia should join the United States and Canada in legalizing and regulating and taxing marijuana
  - El Espectador, 09 September 2018

• A criminal court in La Paz affirms the preventative detention of the president of the northern coca growers association (Adepcoca), Franklin Gutiérrez
  - La Razon, 09 September 2018

• A criminal court in La Paz affirms the preventative detention of the president of the northern coca growers association (Adepcoca), Franklin Gutiérrez
  - Pagina Siete, 09 September 2018

• In the four visits that Iván Duque made to Caquetá as a candidate between March 2017 and May, he promised that his first days of government would be done there. But after a month of being president of Colombia has gone, and nothing is scheduled soon for their Workshops for Building the Country.
  - La Silla Vacia, 09 September 2018

• The failures of the post-conflict the Catatumbo pilot program - two years ago the Caño Indio village became the post-conflict laboratory in Catatumbo
  - La Silla Vacia, 09 September 2018

• The history of the 1990s' fight against coca and drug trafficking in Chapare (Bolivia) today brings back warnings from previous governments to now accuse the coca growers of Yungas - yesterday the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Police, José Luis Quiroga, said that he has suspicions that in the municipality of La Asunta, in the department of La Paz, armed groups similar to Sendero Luminoso, of Peru, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) of Colombia are being formed
  - El Deber, 08 September 2018

• The executive secretary of coca merchants in Santa Cruz, Luis Cedro, reported that there is concern amongst the sellers of legal coca products, due to the shortage of Yungueña leaf caused by the conflict of Adepcoca against the Government of Bolivia
  - ErBol, 07 September 2018

• The national government of Bolivia invested more than 1,500 million dollars in large works in the tropical region of Cochabamba, while only 35 million dollars were allocated in small-scale projects for the Yungas of La Paz - the difference between the two regions of coca is that for the tropic of Cochabamba, it is the political birthplace of President Evo Morales
  - EJU.tv, 07 September 2018

• Colombian president Iván Duqu requests Francisco Santos (the new Colombian ambassador in Washington) to repair relations with the U.S. which have been strained by the increase in illegal coca farming in the country
  - El Pais, 07 September 2018

• The Minister of Government of Bolivia, Carlos Romero, assured that by the end of the year, 380 hectares of surplus coca will be eradicated in Chapare and, by his projections, he predicts that of the total of crops that will be destroyed until the end of the year in the whole country, that 70 % will come from the Cochabamba region
  - El Deber, 07 September 2018

• Coca farmers in Bolivia from the Yungas will block roadways starting Monday and women will go on hunger strikes
  - El Deber, 07 September 2018

• The Bolivian government denies preferential treatment and reports that in the Chapare region it is eradicating 6 times more coca than in the Yungas
  - La Razon, 07 September 2018

• Coca farmers in Bolivia from the Yungas will block roadways starting Monday and women will go on hunger strikes
  - Pagina Siete, 06 September 2018

• The Bolivian government anticipates that surplus (illegal) coca being grown in La Asunta will be eradicated in one month
  - La Razon, 05 September 2018

• The president of the Federation of Neighborhood Councils (Fejuve) affliated with the Government, Jesus Vera, warned that he will call his sector to a counterprotest if the marches persist or the Yungas coca growers' threat of a roadblock is met in demand of the freedom of its leader, Franclin Gutiérrez
  - La Razon, 05 September 2018

• Who is Franclin Gutiérrez and why are people from the Yungas mobilizing for him? The president of Adepcoca is accused of being the intellectual author of events in La Asunta that left one police officer dead
  - Pagina Siete, 05 September 2018

• The Bolivian government anticipates that surplus (illegal) coca being grown in La Asunta will be eradicated in one month
  - El Deber, 05 September 2018

• Video of Colombia Senator and indigenous leader, Feliciano Valencia, speaking in the Legislature in opposition to coca eradication with glyphosate, and in support of legal, beneficial, uses of coca
  - Twitter, 04 September 2018

• The Colombian government has decided to use drones to fumigate illegal plantings of coca
  - El Tiempo, 04 September 2018

• Less than a month after the District Court of San Francisco and the Supreme Court of California condemned the manufacturer of glyphosate (Monsanto) as a cause of terminal cancer, the Colombian Government suggests the possibility of resuming dispersions with that substance for aerial fumigations of coca
  - El Tiempo, 04 September 2018

• Coca farmers from the Yungas warn of a 90-day blockade of roads in Bolivia if their leader, Franklin Gutiérrez, is not freed
  - La Razon, 04 September 2018

• The judicial system in Bolivia postpones a hearing for Franklin Gutiérrez, so coca growers maintain threats of more protests
  - La Razon, 04 September 2018

• Opinion: the coca growers of Bolivia - the end of a suspicious hegemony of President Evo Morales
  - Pagina Siete, 04 September 2018

• A massive march of coca growers from the Yungas region who traveled 200 kilometers on foot arrived yesterday at the government seat city to demand justice for the death of two coca growers in addition to asking for the release of their leader
  - El Diario, 04 September 2018

• Several civic sectors dissatisfied with the Government, in addition to citizen groups, consolidated an alliance with the producers of the coca leaf of La Asunta in a demand of justice for the two cocaleros killed by police officers, the freedom of Franklin Gutiérrez, the resignation of the President Evo Morales, a referendum on coca, among others
  - La Prensa, 04 September 2018

• Preharvest use of glyphosate poisons kids’ food, showing up in the food supply at potentially unsafe levels
  - Mercola, 04 September 2018

• The Special Project to Control and Reduce Illegal Cultivations in Alto Huallaha, Peru, reported that from February to today, that it had eradicated 19,193 hectares of illegal coca cultivations and destroyed 52 cocaine processing laboratories.
  - El Comercio, 03 September 2018

• The Colombian Minister of Justice, Gloria María Borrero, confirms that the government is studying the return to coca eradication with glyphosate
  - El Tiempo, 03 September 2018

• "There will be substitution of coca farming in Jamundi or these cultivations will be eradicated" - a warning to coca farmers from the governor of Valle province in Colombia, Dilian Francisco Toro
  - El Tiempo, 03 September 2018

• Coca farmers from La Asunta (Bolivia) request the resignation of President Evo Morales, decide to remain in La Paz to protest, and demand the end of the eradication of illegal coca farming in the region.
  - El Deber, 03 September 2018

• The coca growers of Bolivia, gathered together in the public area in the Plaza de San Francisco, demanded that the government release its leader Franclin Gutiérrez by Wednesday, who is accused of the death of a police officer
  - Los Tiempos, 03 September 2018

• The coca growers of Bolivia, gathered together in the public area in the Plaza de San Francisco, demanded that the government release its leader Franclin Gutiérrez by Wednesday, who is accused of the death of a police officer
  - La Razon, 03 September 2018

• Protest march of coca growers receive less public support in La Paz, and the government minimizes the march's impact
  - La Razon, 03 September 2018

• The areas of influence, including control of coca farming, of illegal armed groups in Colombia.
  - Colombia Reports, 03 September 2018

• Colombia: 'I'm not proud cultivating coca, but we have no choice' - farmers say there are no alternatives to illegal cultivation as armed groups, corruption take hold of their communities [good photos]
  - Al Jazeera, 02 September 2018

• The Bolivian government says a criminal network supports the Adepcoca leader Franklin Gutiérrez, and that foreign nationals could have trained these people and coca growers in the use of firearms
  - La Razon, 02 September 2018

• Bolivian Prime Minister Carlos Romero: there will be no more interventions in Los Yungas but eradication of coca will not be terminated
  - Pagina Siete, 02 September 2018

• Guillermo Botero, the new Colombian Defense Minister, announces plans for the eradication of coca - "En Colombia, coca farming cannot be a way of life"
  - El Tiempo, 01 September 2018

• Demands for justice in Bolivia articulate social discontent, for example, the increased conflicts with coca farmers
  - El Diario, 01 September 2018

• Various sectors, among them including: the Public University of El Alto, doctors, teachers, Conade and some neighborhood committees, on Monday will join the street protests of Los Yungas coca growers (Adepcoca), who demand that the Bolivian government stop coca eradication, the resistance to which has produced three deaths, in less than ten days
  - El Diario, 01 September 2018

• Led by the coffins of the two coca growers killed by police on Wednesday in La Asunta, Bolivia, more than 4,000 members of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) marched yesterday in La Paz and demanded justice for their leader Franclin Gutiérrez, and that president Evo Morales resign
  - Pagina Siete, 01 September 2018

• Editorial: The Bolivian government's management of the crisis of the Yungas coca growers
  - Pagina Siete, 01 September 2018 P> Opinion: coca, cocaine, lies and truths in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 01 September 2018

• Colombia charges 13 former Chiquita Banana (United Brands) executives over hundreds of murders during the 1997 to 2004 time period, accusing them of using death squads to increase profits by eliminating labor unrest
  - Colombia Reports, 01 September 2018

• How the new president of Colombia, Ivan Duque, inherited an old feud between Colombia’s administrative, bureaucratic elite families -- and regional, landowning cattle ranchers, cane farmers and coffee families -- and the feud's affect on the problem of coca
  - World Politics Review, 31 August 2018

• Colombia's ayahuasca ceremonies in spotlight after tourist's drug death - western backpackers travelling in increasing numbers into the ágle to take traditional drug administered by shamans
  - The Guardian, 31 August 2018

• Precious as silver ($270 pound, versus $5 a pound for coca leaf), vanilla brings cash and crime to Madagascar from the grueling work of peasants
  - New York Times, 31 August 2018

• Cocaleros de Yungas march in La Paz carrying their dead in coffins and receive support from the Public University of El Alto
  - La Razon, 31 August 2018

• The coca growers of the Yungas declared a permanent struggle against the government and asked for the resignation of President Evo Morales, while the Executive maintained that the community of San Antonio, in the jurisdiction of La Asunta, is the only place that opposes eradication
  - La Razon, 31 August 2018

• The Bolivian Attorney General, Ramiro Guerrero, announced the reinforcement of the commission of prosecutors is investigating what happened in La Asunta, and did not rule out summoning the police commander, General Faustino Mendoza
  - La Razon, 31 August 2018

• Northern coca growers (Adepcoca) protest with coffins the recent deaths of coca growers during protests, marching with the children of the dead coca growers, while the Bolivian government rejects dialog
  - Pagina Siete, 31 August 2018

• Northern coca growers (Adepcoca) protest with coffins the recent deaths of coca growers during protests, while the Bolivian government rejects dialog
  - El Diario, 31 August 2018

• The march of coca growers from the Yungas of La Paz has arrived in the area of Puente Villa, from where voices blame the Evo Morales regime for being responsible for the deaths of coca growers that occurred in the town of La Asunta
  - El Diario, 31 August 2018

• Northern coca growers (Adepcoca) protest with coffins the recent deaths of coca growers during protests, while the Bolivian government rejects dialog
  - Los Tiempos, 31 August 2018

• Coca growers from the southern drug trafficking region of Bolivia say that Franklin Gutiérrez is the "ringleader of drug traffickers and terrorists"
  - Los Tiempos, 31 August 2018

• Opinion: Colombia and cannabis - ideas for Perú - "Colombia already has one of the world's most advanced legal frameworks in this industry"
  - El Commercio, 31 August 2018

• Monsanto-Bayer: eliminating the 'Monsanto' name will not erase its crimes of ecocide, for example, due to its cancer-causing weedkiller, Roundup (glyphosate).
  - Common Dreams, 30 August 2018

• The Bolivian Public Defender, David Tezanos Pinto, requests dialog, offers mediations and proposes that Bolivian suspend their coca eradication efforts in La Asunta
  - La Razon, 30 August 2018

• Bolivian police claim that they acted with 'legitimate defense' en Asunta, while coca growers request support of the Church and human rights organizations, after two coca farmers are killed
  - La Razon, 30 August 2018

• Bolivian coca growers in La Asunta request a human rights commission after the death of two coca farmers
  - La Razon, 30 August 2018

• Why did relations between the northern coca growers (Adepcoca) and the Bolivian government break down?
  - Pagina Siete, 30 August 2018

• A new confrontation occurred yesterday, between anti-drug police and coca farmers in La Asunta (La Paz province), with two coca growers dieing, according to the National Police, while the leaders of the coca growers union (Adepcoca) say that four coca growers died
  - El Diario, 30 August 2018

• Editorial: the coca leaf: for over 50 years, the never-ending problem en Bolivia
  - El Diario, 30 August 2018

• A new confrontation occurred yesterday, between anti-drug police and coca farmers in La Asunta (La Paz province), with two coca growers dieing, according to the National Police, while the leaders of the coca growers union (Adepcoca) say that four coca growers died
  - El Diario, 30 August 2018

• A new confrontation occurred yesterday, between anti-drug police and coca farmers in La Asunta (La Paz province), with two coca growers dieing, according to the National Police, while the leaders of the coca growers union (Adepcoca) say that four coca growers died
  - El Diario, 30 August 2018

• The fight over coca leaf in Bolivia: an attack on eradicators in the region of the Yungas of La Paz is evidence of the growth of coca farming in Bolivia - and were Colombians involved in the ambush?
  - El Espectador, 30 August 2018

• In the Colombian Congress, the Minister of Defense defends the use of glyphosate - "I have not known a better herbicide than glyphosate", says Guillermo Botero
  - El Tiempo, 29 August 2018

• In Bolivia, the price of coca leaf has increased 103% in 10 years, from 32 Bolivianos per kilo in 2007 to 65 Bolivianos (about $9) in 2017
  - La Razon, 29 August 2018

• Franklin Gutiérrez, president of the coca growers usion of northern Bolivia (Adepcoca), in an interview, states that a minister of the Bolivian government tried to buy his loyalty
  - Pagina Siete, 29 August 2018

• Franklin Gutiérrez, president of the coca growers usion of northern Bolivia (Adepcoca) has his efforts to run for president in 2019 blocked by his arrest and jailing
  - El Diario, 29 August 2018

• Coffee sector leaders in Brazil and Colombia, the world's two largest producers of Arabica coffee, used strong language yesterday in a joint statement regarding shared responsibility as coffee's prices sit at historical lows on the commodities market. "Currently, international coffee prices are below production costs, jeopardizing the economic sustainability and survival of 25 million coffee families worldwide.", the joint statement contends.
  - Daily Coffee News, 28 August 2018

• Close to 300 coca leaf growers from the Yungas of La Paz start a march for "coca and dignity", heading towards Government headquarters in La Paz
  - El Diario, 28 August 2018

• The dead body is found of the 10-year-old son of a leader of the coca growers in La Asunta, Bolivia
  - El Deber, 28 August 2018

• A judge begins preliminary hearings against the director of northern Bolivian coca growers union (Adepcoca) - the police consider Franclin Gutiérrez, the leader of Adepcoca, as the 'intellectual author' of the "ambush" of police in La Asunta
  - La Razon, 28 August 2018

• Coca growers startup a vigil and demand the freedom of their leader, Franclin Gutiérrez
  - La Razon, 28 August 2018

• Bolivian government says that it will continue with the eradication of illegal coca farming, and will not negotiate "with no one" about the antidrug fight
  - La Razon, 28 August 2018

• Listen to Franklin Gutiérrez from jail: "The Bolivian government wants to see me behind bars"
  - Pagina Siete, 28 August 2018

• A judge begins preliminary hearings against the director of northern Bolivian coca growers union (Adepcoca) - the police consider Franclin Gutiérrez, the leader of Adepcoca, as the 'intellectual author' of the "ambush" of police in La Asunta
  - Pagina Siete, 28 August 2018

• A judge begins preliminary hearings against the director of northern Bolivian coca growers union (Adepcoca) - the police consider Franclin Gutiérrez, the leader of Adepcoca, as the 'intellectual author' of the "ambush" of police in La Asunta
  - El Deber, 28 August 2018

• The family of Franklin Gutiérrez says that the Adepcoca runs the risk of danger and they demand his freedom
  - La Prensa, 28 August 2018

• Coca growers startup a vigil and demand the freedom of their leader, Franclin Gutiérrez
  - El Deber, 28 August 2018

• La Asunta concentrates 41% of the coca leaf farming in the Yungas, Bolivia
  - El Deber, 28 August 2018

• The Prime Minister of Bolivia, Carlos Romero, filed a criminal complaint against Franklin Gutiérrez, president of Adepcoca (the coca growers association of northern Bolivia)
  - La Razon, 27 August 2018

• Cocaleros in three provinces of the Yungas (Bolivia) announced yesterday that they will remain alert in that region and announced more mobilizations in case the government does not meet their demand - the expulsion of the Joint Task Force in charge of the eradication of coca
  - El Diario, 27 August 2018

• Cocaleros in three provinces of the Yungas (Bolivia) announced yesterday that they will remain alert in that region and announced more mobilizations in case the government does not meet their demand - the expulsion of the Joint Task Force in charge of the eradication of coca
  - La Prensa, 27 August 2018

• Are Colombians training Bolivian coca farmers in the use of guns?
  - El Tiempo, 27 August 2018

• Cocaleros in three provinces of the Yungas (Bolivia) announced yesterday that they will remain alert in that region and announced more mobilizations in case the government does not meet their demand - the expulsion of the Joint Task Force in charge of the eradication of coca
  - Pagina Siete, 27 August 2018

• Private sector behind many of the mass killings of social leaders in Colombia, who fought for return of lands stolen during the conflicts by groups such as palm oil companies.
  - Colombia Reports, 26 August 2018

• A police lieutenant in Bolivia who was killed during a confrontation with coca growers in La Asunta was from the region, originally from Coripata and a son of a coca grower
  - Pagina Siete, 26 August 2018

• Opinion: the illegal coca mini-republic of the Chapare in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 26 August 2018

• Opinion: "The Barons of Coca" in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 26 August 2018

• Opinion: TIPNIS, coca and cocaine in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 26 August 2018

• Interview with León De la Torre, the Europen Union ambassador in Bolivia - "The results of monitoring coca imply that there has been a recession in eradication"
  - El Deber, 26 August 2018

• Interview with Bo Mathiasen, the United Nations representative in Colombia - "Ten municipal regions are full with coca"
  - El Tiempo, 26 August 2018

• In Bolivia, one police officer dies and seven others were injured in La Asunta - the police officers were protecting workers who were eradicating coca leaf bushes when the police were ambushed
  - Pagina Siete, 25 August 2018

• In Bolivia, one police officer dies and seven others were injured in La Asunta - the police officers were protecting workers who were eradicating coca leaf bushes when the police were ambushed
  - El Diario, 25 August 2018

• In Bolivia, one police officer dies and seven others were injured in La Asunta - the police officers were protecting workers who were eradicating coca leaf bushes when the police were ambushed
  - La Prensa, 25 August 2018

• The northern coca growers of Bolivia (Adepcoca) request that anti-drug police be removed from their Yungas region, and sent to Cochabamba and to protected areas
  - Los Tiempos, 24 August 2018

• 500 police were deployed to the La Asunta region, in the southern part of the Yungas, to guard anti-drug police - the measure was adopted because the leader of the Yungas coca growers' union (Adepcoca), Franklin Gutiérrez, announced the adoption of measures to resist the presence of the police
  - El Diario, 24 August 2018

• Fear and alarms generated in La Asunta, in the Yungas region of La Paz, after the deployment of police in this region as security for brigrades of workers eradicating illegal farming of coca leaf
  - La Razon, 23 August 2018

• Coca framing in Bolivia has reached levels seen in 2005, and it is clear that the government has lost control of such farming
  - La Prensa, 23 August 2018

• For Colombia's coffee farmers, some having switched from coca farming, climate change has become an inescapable reality - with more flooding, drought and invasive pests
  - Quartz, 22 August 2018

• The FARC Colombian political party files a proposed law to decriminalize small-scale farming of coca leaf
  - El Pais, 22 August 2018

• A proposed law for special legal treatment of small-scale coca farmers returns to the Colombian Congress
  - El Espectador, 22 August 2018

• In Bolivia in 2017, some 21,000 tons of coca leaf were not sold through the country's legal markets, while 23,000 tons were sold legally
  - El Deber, 22 August 2018

• In Bolivia in 2017, the coca leaf farming rose 6% to 24,500 hectares, with the most growth in the area of the Tropic of Cochabamba
  - La Razon, 22 August 2018

• In Bolivia in 2017, the coca leaf farming rose 6% to 24,500 hectares, with the most growth in the area of the Tropic of Cochabamba
  - El Deber, 22 August 2018

• The Bolivian government argues that the increase in coca leaf farming is "not excessive", but admits that their eradication efforts could be less 'slack'
  - La Razon, 22 August 2018

• UN Office of Drug Control reports that illegal coca farming in 6 protected areas in Bolivia, with the major quantity of illegal coca in the Carrasco, Cotapata y Isiboro Secure national parks
  - La Razon, 22 August 2018

• The Polygon 7 region of TIPNIS national park in Bolivia has 1,100 hectares of illegal coca leaf farming
  - La Prensa, 22 August 2018

• The government of Bolivia will continue the eradication of coca bushes in La Asunta (the Yungas) despite threats from the coca growers in the region
  - La Razon, 21 August 2018

• Rising tensions in La Asunta (the Yungas, Bolivia) - coca farmers announce measures to fight government eradication errorts
  - La Razon, 21 August 2018

• During a forced eradication operation against illegal coca farming in the La Asunta region north of La Paz, two police officers were injured and 11 coca farmers were arrested
  - El Diario, 21 August 2018

• The government of Bolivia will not apply taxes on the coca leaf farming sector, despite the fact that it is a very profitable activity
  - El Diario, 21 August 2018

• Coca farmers, colonizing peasants, of Polygon 7 of the TIPNIS national park in Bolivia, retained against their will, "a kidnapping", for about six hours a commission of four judges from the International Court of Nature Rights, as well as activists and journalists - which several opinion leaders argue is proof that in Polygon 7, colonized by coca growers, is illegal activity linked to drug trafficking
  - El Diario, 20 August 2018

• Colombia tests using drones to destroy coca plants, using the drones to drop herbicide amid surge in cultivation of illegal crops
  - Wall Street Journal, 19 August 2018

• Canada's AviCanna and Colombia's Grupo Daabon join forces to produce medical marijuana extracts in Colombia, using 40 hectares in Santa Marta (Magdelena department)
  - Portafolio, 16 August 2018

• Glyphosate, chemical used to eradicate coca leaves in Colombia, is found in popular oat meal cereals, oatmeal, granola and snack bars in the U.S.
  - Environmental Working Group, 15 August 2018

• A federal court in the U.S. orders the U.S. government, in particular the EPA, to ban an insecticide, chlorpyrifos, that can cause brain damage in children - farmers in Colombia use chlorpyrifos
  - Chemistry World, 13 August 2018

• Colombia's renewed war on drugs could get ugly, and solve nothing, with the new Duque government saying it will crop substitution agreements made with 75,000 coca-growing families and send in the military for forcible eradication and aerial fumigation
  - Colombia Reports, 13 August 2018

• Adriana La Rotta: the coca farming regions of Colombia are nine years behind other rural regional development efforts
  - El Tiempo, 11 August 2018

• U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, while touring coca fields in northern Colombia, says that coca farming needs to be eradicated
  - Fox News, 10 August 2018

• Monsanto ordered to pay $289 million to a groundskepper in the first glyphosate-based Roundup cancer lawsuit, glyphosate used in Colombia to eradicate coca leaves
  - New York Times, 10 August 2018

• Bayer still argues that its glyphosate weekkillers 'do not cause cancer', though it is listed as a carcinogen in California, for example
  - BBC, 10 August 2018

• Colombian farmers in Catatumbo seek to plant peace in former coca fields
  - America - The Jesuit Review, 07 August 2018

• A federal judge in Brazil bans the use of glyphosate in the country until the government re-evaluates the toxicology of the chemical
  - EcoWatch, 07 August 2018

• In Peru, a new role for ENACO and its monopoly of legal coca - let's make it a promoter and supervisor, and let the natural agents of the marketplace give the legal coca leaf a growing space, without the failures produced by the National Coca Company (ENACO)
  - Lamula, 01 August 2018

• Major coca growing regions in Colombia by hectares, led by Tumaco, in 2016, and that one square kilometer of coca growing has a value of $37 million, second to marijuanas $47 million
  - Zero Hedge, 31 July 2018

• Coca growers from the Chapare and the Yungas will confront each other in Potosi, those from Chapare rallying in support of the re-election of President Evo Morales (who heads their coca growers union) while those from the Yungas rallying in opposition to Morales' re-election.
  - El Diario, 31 July 2018

• Coca growers from the Chapare and the Yungas will confront each other in Potosi, those from Chapare rallying in support of the re-election of President Evo Morales (who heads their coca growers union) while those from the Yungas rallying in opposition to Morales' re-election
  - La Razon, 31 July 2018

• Southern Bolivian coca growers union re-elect Evo Morales as their leader, and endorese his re-election as president of Bolivia in 2019
  - La Razon, 27 July 2018

• Southern Bolivian coca growers union re-elect Evo Morales as their leader, and endorese his re-election as president of Bolivia in 2019
  - El Deber, 27 July 2018

• A HREF="https://nationalpost.com/feature/on-the-trail-of-guacho-the-narco-making-a-killing-from-colombias-peace"> On the trail of 'Gaucho' in the Colombian port of Tumaco in Nariño provice, the ex-FARC drug trafficker making a killing from Colombia's peace process
  - National Post, 24 July 2018

• Facing Supreme Court investigation, ex-president álvaro Uribe resigns from Senate in Colombia
  - New York Times, 24 July 2018

• The illusion of the technological fix of using drones to eradicate coca in Colombia
  - Brookings Institute, 24 July 2018

• Statistics and maps of coca farming in Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 23 July 2018

• In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, now you can request home delivery of coca leaves with the business 'Bolivery'
  - El Espectador, 23 July 2018

• Adepcoca, the coca growers association of northern Bolivia, celebrates its 35th anniversary and accuses the government of encouraging the illegal production of coca leaf in the Chapare region and in national parks
  - La Razon, 21 July 2018

• The UN Office of Drug Control is conducting new studies to determine the destination of coca lead produced in Bolivia on the 22,000 hectares of coca farms authorized by law
  - La Razon, 20 July 2018

• Four coca growers blocking the road to Sud Yungas protesting against the eradication of surplus coca in La Asunta and shouting "Bolivia says No", ended up in jails in San Pedro and Calahuma accused of six crimes
  - El Deber, 20 July 2018

• 10% of the world's production of coca leaf is in Bolivia, with 23,100 hectares grown in 2016
  - Cambio, 19 July 2018

• 10% of the world's production of coca leaf is in Bolivia, with 23,100 hectares grown in 2016
  - El Diario, 19 July 2018

• 10% of the world's production of coca leaf is in Bolivia, with 23,100 hectares grown in 2016
  - La Razon, 19 July 2018

• Cocaine production in Bolivia increased en 2016, but at a slower pace, according to the 2018 World Report on Drugs
  - La Razon, 19 July 2018

• United Nations Office of Drug Control publishes its annual World Drug Report, once again not mentioning nicotine or alcohol, the deadliest killing drugs in the world
  - United Nations, 18 July 2018

• In Peru, coca leaf farmers in the Vraem districts participate in a mobilication to present their list of demands - the farmers rejecting a strategic development plan for the Vraem "for having been developed without the participation of social organizations"
  - El Comercio, 17 July 2018

• The Colombian far-right group, Aguilas Negras, vows to kill all of Colombia's social leaders, including those working in coca communities
  - Colombia Reports, 17 July 2018

• In coca growing regions of Colombia, where FARC rebels once ruled, drug traffickers now fight for control
  - Wall Street Journal, 17 July 2018

• Former U.S. vice president Joe Biden says that the Trump Administration should not punish Colombia for not having much success in reducing the farming of coca
  - El Tiempo, 17 July 2018

• 67 companies are authorized to grow medicinal marijuana in Colombia
  - La Republica, 16 July 2018

• This will be the shock-and-awe plan of the Government of Colombia to eradicate hectares of illicit coca crops
  - El Pais, 15 July 2018

• The district attorney for La Paz, Edwin Blanco, requests jail for four coca growers detained in the Yungas on Thursday for carrying explosives and obstructing the public
  - Pagina Siete, 15 July 2018

• The district attorney for La Paz, Edwin Blanco, requests jail for four coca growers detained in the Yungas on Thursday for carrying explosives and obstructing the public
  - El Diario, 15 July 2018

• The presence of Bolivian president Evo Morales in the Yungas coca growing region reactivates protests of coca growers
  - La Prensa, 14 July 2018

• Coca growers in La Asunta (Yungas, Bolivia) say that arrests of their colleagues were illegal, but Prime Minister Carlos Romero denies this
  - Pagina Siete, 14 July 2018

• Bolivian president Evo Morales tells the coca growers that he would remove from the Yungas communitites advocates against his re-electiom
  - Pagina Siete, 13 July 2018

• The requirements to start a legal medical marijuana business in Colombia
  - Portafolio, 13 July 2018

• Bolivia's workers union (COB) tells the politically powerful coca growers that a worker should be a second vice president
  - Pagina Siete, 11 July 2018

• Coca flour has more calcium than milk and more protein that quinoa
  - El Tiempo (Pe), 09 July 2018

• Leaders of coca growers in the Yungas (northern Bolivia) say that they "can't guarantee" the safety of President Evo Morales in the region due to the bothering of residents in the region due to recent actions by the central government
  - La Razon, 09 July 2018

• Eco-warriors battle farmers over the use of millions of liters of glyphosate in the Argentine countryside.
  - Yahoo News, 08 July 2018

• The economy of the coca leaf in Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 08 July 2018

• The indigneous community of Corinto (Cauca, Colombia) captures two ELN guerillas after an attack with explosives
  - El Tiempo, 07 July 2018

• Nariño (Colombia), governed lately disguised as alternative power, is preparing now, just as 20 years ago my people suffered, to continue to receive the dew of poison (glyphosate) as always under pressure from the United States
  - La Silla Vacia, 07 July 2018

• In Bolivia, coca growers from the Chapare activate a campaign for the re-election of the Evo Morales and álvaro García Linera en the general elections in 2019
  - La Razon, 07 July 2018

• The lands of coca in Caquetá, Colombia: beyond eradication and substitution - the key is to transform
  - AlaOrilladelRio, 06 July 2018

• Although the Government had foreseen July 10 as the day in which the coca farmers of Jamundí would sign their entry to the Program of Substitution of Illicit Crops (Pnis), in the end that process will be in charge of the government of Iván Duque, because that deadline has come and gone
  - La Silla Vacia, 05 July 2018

• How Colombia does nothing while its social leaders are being exterminated, many in areas where coca cultivation is popular.
  - Colombia Reports, 04 July 2018

• In less than 48 hours, Cauca, where eight people were killed in municipalities in the south and north of the department, once again showed that drug trafficking and illegal mining are the main fuel of the violence that ravages the Pacific, and the immediate challenge for the Government of Iván Duque that starts in less than a month
  - La Silla Vacia, 04 July 2018

• Seven bodies are found in the coca-growing community of Argelia, Cauca (southwest of Popayan), days after locals were warned about an impending "social cleansing", but the victims do not seem to be from the local community
  - Colombia Reports, 03 July 2018

• What can reduce the cultivation of coca in Colombia? These are the alternatives
  - El Pais, 01 July 2018

• Colombia is forced to resume fumigation due to the 'boom' in coca farming since eradication stopped three years ago
  - El Tiempo, 30 June 2018

• Colombia's latest weapon in the war on drugs? Drones spraying glyphosate over coca farms
  - Miami Herald, 28 June 2018

• Government of Colombia says that dispersion of glyphosate by drones over coca farms will not affect the health of the farmers and their communities
  - El Pais, 26 June 2018

• Government of Colombia has a goal of eradicating 110,000 hectares of coca in 2018
  - El Tiempo, 26 June 2018

• Colombia's president Juan Manuel Santos defends Colombia's cocaine reduction strategy as production soars
  - Colombia Reports, 26 June 2018

• Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, says that Bolivia "faces" the fight against drug trafficking with "dignity and sovereignty"
  - Los Tiempos, 26 June 2018

• Maria Margarita Restrepo, just elected to Colombia's House of Represenatives, accused of benefitting from election campaign support from "Popeye", Pablo Escobar's former hitman
  - Colombia Reports, 25 June 2018

• Colombia: a new president, Ivan Duque, proposing an old (failed) counter-narcotics strategy
  - Colombia Reports, 23 June 2018

• The United States qualifies as "unacceptable" the increase in coca farming in Colombia, with an 11% increase in the number of hectares of coca grown in 2017
  - El Pais, 25 June 2018

• Aerial drones and glyphosate - the response of the Colombian government to the increased farming of coca
  - El Tiempo, 25 June 2018

• The United States qualifies as "unacceptable" the increase in coca farming in Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 25 June 2018

• The farming of coca leaf in Colombia rises to 209,000 hectares, according to an annual report of the U.S.
  - La Republica, 25 June 2018

• Colombia’s out-of-control cocaine production "unacceptable": the United States
  - Colombia Reports, 25 June 2018

• Colombia: a new president, Ivan Duque, proposing an old (failed) counter-narcotics strategy.
  - Colombia Reports, 23 June 2018

• Record amount of coca grown, record number of murders: the flipside of "peace" in the Caucas of southern Colombia.
  - IRIN News, 20 June 2018

• The new president of Colombia, Iván Duque, will reactivate the aerial fumigation of illegal coca farming
  - El Pais, 20 June 2018

• Some 13,000 coca farmers in the four principle growing zones of Cusco, Peru: La Convención, Calca, Yanatile y Lares - launch an indefinite strike to demand an increment in the price of one arroba (about 11 kilograms) of coca leaf from 85 to 150 soles (about from $24 to $45)
  - La Republica, 18 June 2018

• This will be the action plan of the Government of Colombia to eradicate hectares of illicit crops of coca
  - El Pais, 16 June 2018

• Why do Colombian coca crops continue to grow despite eradication efforts? Reseeding, 'banned' zones for eradication and difficulties with crop substitution explain 'boom' of coca.
  - El Tiempo, 15 June 2018

• The ex-presidents of Portugal, New Zealand, and Poland send a letter to Colombians emphasizing the importance of having the next Colombian president continue that policy of voluntary substitution of illegal coca crops
  - El Tiempo, 14 June 2018

• The fruits and vegetables that farmers will substitute for illegal coca crops in the towns of Valle, Colombia
  - El Pais, 14 June 2018

• In 2017, the illegal farming of coca in Colombia grew at least 23% to 180,000 hectares, according to the government
  - El Tiempo, 14 June 2018

• FARC and the forest - peace is destroying Colombia's ágle, as loggers and miners move into previously inaccessible regions, followed by scientists studying previously inaccessible terrains
  - Nature, 12 June 2018

• How corruption of government officials and law enforcement officers fuels cocaine trafficking in Bolivia
  - World Politics Review, 06 June 2018

• Is Bolivia's coca policy protecting traditions, or creating a narco-state? (both)
  - World Politics Review, 05 June 2018

• In Chulumani (Bolivia), coca farmers violently clash with members of the government ruling party MAS
  - El Diario, 05 June 2018

• How Cuba helped make Venezuela a mafia state that is heavily invovled in cocaine smuggling, both countries betraying the coca leaf.
  - Daily Beast, 04 June 2018

• The coca growing dispute in the Yungas (Bolivia) forces government ruling party (MAS) to not register members to run in local elections.
  - Pagina Siete, 02 June 2018

• How the coca crop could strengthen Colombia.
  - Talking Drugs, 01 June 2018

• Regulation of pesticides such as glyphosate (used to eradicate coca) needs to include societal assessment
  - Science, 01 June 2018

• Peru football captain Paolo Guerrero cleared to play at the World Cup after a Swiss court ruling saying that his drinking coca tea was accidental
  - Reuters, 31 May 2018

• UN's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carribean (ECLAC) calls for legalizing drugs in Latin America to reduce the human cost of prohibition
  - TeleSurTV, 29 May 2018

• Coca growers of Adepcoca affirm that Bolivian police use marbles to break up social protests, and they request the renunciation of Prime Minister Carlos Romero
  - La Razon, 29 May 2018

• Coca growers of Adepcoca affirm that Bolivian police use marbles to break up social protests, and they request the renunciation of Prime Minister Carlos Romero
  - El Deber, 29 May 2018

• Bolivia's Legislature will question Prime Minister Romero about the presence of police officersin the facilities of Adepcoca
  - Pagina Siete, 28 May 2018

• Former Colombian president álvaro Uribe is allegedly linked, once again, to the 1990s drug families of Medellín.
  - New York Times, 26 May 2018

• Former Colombian president álvaro Uribe is allegedly linked, once again, to the 1990s drug families of Medellín.
  - Colombia Reports, 26 May 2018

• Colombia's coca growing regions, overlaid with regions controlled by FARC dissidents, the ELN and criminal mafias
  - Economist, 26 May 2018

• Ivan Duque, presidential candidate in Colombia backed by former president álvaro Uribe - is receiving a lot of support from Colombia's criminal political clans?
  - Colombia Reports, 25 May 2018

• The Open Source Foundation has a symposium on coca industrialization in New York City, though no one involved with coca industrialization is invited to speak
  - Open Society, 22 May 2018

• Franklin Gutiérrez, Adepcoca's president to be president of Bolivia, promises to eradicate surplus coca from the Chapare
  - El Diario, 19 May 2018

• For the second time, the government of Colombia will not reach its goal o f substitution for coca farming
  - El Tiempo, 18 May 2018

• The U.S. spent billions fighting coca in Colombia in the last 20 years, but the amount of coca grown has not changed in these last 20 years
  - Miami Herald, 10 May 2018

• In Colombia, for the business Coca Nasa - when the coca leaf is an option for entrepreneurship
  - Pacifista, 09 May 2018

• Colombia's peace deal with the FARC is causing more burning of the Amazon for coca and marijuana, burnings formerly discouraged by FARC enforcing strict green rules
  - New Scientist, 08 May 2018

• Adepcoca (the association of northern Bolivia coca growers) will have its own candidate in the 2019 presidential elections, their leader, Franklin Gutiérrez
  - El Diario, 08 May 2018

• The Bolivian minister of Rural Development, César Cocarico, says that the presidential candidacy of Adepcoca president César Cocarico confirms the political nature of Adepcoca
  - La Razon, 07 May 2018

• The southern Bolivia coca growers of the Chapare (Cochabamba) activate a team of cybernauts to defend the government
  - La Razon, 07 May 2018

• Adepcoca decides to create its own political party and confirms the presidential candidacy of its leader, Franklin Gutiérrez
  - El Deber, 07 May 2018

• Adepcoca decides to create its own political party and confirms the presidential candidacy of its leader, Franklin Gutiérrez
  - La Prensa, 07 May 2018

• Adepcoca decides to create its own political party and confirms the presidential candidacy of its leader, Franklin Gutiérrez
  - Los Tiempos, 07 May 2018

• The benefits of consuming coca flour
  - EcoPortal.net, 07 May 2018

• Peace efforts in Colombia have ended 50 years of intense conflict - now, scientists are studying former fighters and victims as they attempt to heal
  - Nature, 03 May 2018

• Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Pedro wants Colombia to withdraw from the US war on drugs, saying the policies are ineffective
  - Colombia Reports, 02 May 2018

• Fishing is how some coca growers fight against illicit crops in Tumaco, Colombia
  - El Pais, 02 May 2018

• Colombia misses coca crop substitution target by 40% (20,000 hectares).
  - Colombia Reports, 01 May 2018

• VRAEM: Peruvian national police seize more than 1.5 tons of illegal coca leaf - what was seized was transferred to ENACO storage facilities
  - Andina (Peru), 25 April 2018

• In Colombia, the story not told: when coca farming brought education and health to the Putamayo communities
  - Pacifista, 24 April 2018

• A confrontation in Chulumani, Bolivia, between coca growers affliated with Adepcoca and a faction that supports the mayor, Vladimir Vega, of the government ruling party MAS - leaves two injured and serious damage to property
  - La Prensa, 21 April 2018

• A confrontation in Chulumani, Bolivia, between coca growers affliated with Adepcoca and a faction that supports the mayor, Vladimir Vega, of the government ruling party MAS - leaves two injured and serious damage to property
  - El Diario, 21 April 2018

• Coca farmers from La Asunta reject an agreement with the Bolivian government, and restart protest in the Yungas.
  - La Prensa, 20 April 2018

• Colombian government gives $22 million to families in Tumaco to substitute other crops for illegal coca farming
  - El Tiempo, 20 April 2018

• Coca farmers from La Asunta, and the government of Bolivia, sign an agreement declaring a pause in coca eradication efforts (includes photo of agreement)
  - La Razon, 19 April 2018

• Coca farmers from La Asunta, and the government of Bolivia, sign an agreement declaring a pause in coca eradication efforts
  - El Diario, 19 April 2018

• Coca farmers from La Asunta, and the government of Bolivia, sign an agreement declaring a pause in coca eradication efforts
  - La Prensa, 19 April 2018

• The criminal logic of the coca market in Colombia
  - Proclama (Co), 19 April 2018

• Coca fumigation using drones in Colombia, a new weapon against illegal coca farms
  - El Tiempo, 18 April 2018

• Opinion: Bolivian government using DEA tactics against illegal coca farmers in the Chapare but now against the mostly legal coca farmers in the Yungas
  - El Diario, 18 April 2018

• Bolivian police apprehend eight coca farmers from La Asunta (Yungas) that were carrying explosives
  - La Razon, 18 April 2018

• Bolivian government orders pretentive detention for five coca farmers that were carrying explosives
  - La Razon, 18 April 2018

• José Jaír Cortés is the first community leader assasinated for supporting the substitution of illegal coca crops in Tumaco, Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 18 April 2018

• Honduras finds another coca farm in organized crime stronghold.
  - InSight Crime, 17 April 2018

• Rebel groups fighting over coca-growing region in northern Colombia, the Norte de Santander province.
  - BBC, 17 April 2018

• Opinion: Colombia's FARC caught with their hands in coca - still acting as drug gangs
  - El Diario, 17 April 2018

• Editorial: the coca farmer's rebellion in the Yungas of Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 16 April 2018

• Bolivia's Drug control vice minister, Felipe Cáceres, denounced coca farmers in La Asunta for installing explosive devices on the sides of roads to block anti-drug police from their eradication efforts
  - La Prensa, 15 April 2018

• In Bolivia, UNODC says there is illegal coca in La Asunta and in the Chapare
  - La Razon, 12 April 2018

• 4 coca farmers from La Asunta (Bolivia) will be jailed, and two give house arrest, after protests
  - La Razon, 12 April 2018

• 4 coca farmers from La Asunta (Bolivia) will be jailed, and two give house arrest, after protests
  - Pagina Siete, 12 April 2018

• In Bolivia, the Deputy Minister of Coca, Froilán Luna, announced that the coca growing communities of the Yungas that rebelled against the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS - the ruling government party) will be punished and will not be granted projects
  - La Prensa, 11 April 2018

• Traditional producers of the coca leaf propose a referendum to repeal, or not, the General Law of Coca No. 906 and to define whether it is coca from the Chapare of Cochabamba or the Yungas of La Paz that is the most consumed, announced Franklin Gutiérrez, executive of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca)
  - El Diario, 11 April 2018

• The Government of Bolivia must recognize that coca from the Yungas is a traditional product for over 1000 years, and is the only one suitable for the acullico (chewing), with medicinal properties, while the leaf of the Tropic of Cochabamba is acidic and illegal; nevertheless, it was favored with the General Law of the Coca (Law 906), argued yesterday by the leader of Sud Yungas, Vidal Mamani
  - El Diario, 11 April 2018

• Government of Bolivia links the leader of Adepcoca, Franklin Gutiérrez, with armed groups that resist the eradication of surplus and illegal coca crops
  - La Razon, 11 April 2018

• In Bolivia, the Deputy Minister of Coca, Froilán Luna, announced that the coca growing communities of the Yungas that rebelled against the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS - the ruling government party) will be punished and will not be granted projects
  - Erbol Digital, 10 April 2018

• The coca leaf retailers denounced that Adepcoca charges them 30 Bolivianos when they buy 50 pounds (10 taques) of coca leaf and that forces them to use taxi services - manager Gerardo Ríos answered that this money will pay for the services of the building where the coca market operates
  - La Razon, 10 April 2018

• In Tumaco, Colombia, 20 percent of illegal coca farming has switched to alternative crops
  - El Tiempo, 09 April 2018

• Opinion: The substitution of illegal crops does not fail nor stop in Colombia - Eduardo Diaz Uribe
  - El Tiempo, 06 April 2018

• Bolivian government files lawsuit against leaders of the Yungas coca farmers for blocking eradication and accuses Franklin Gutiérrez of links with the 'right'
  - La Razon, 06 April 2018

• The Prime Minister of Bolivia, Carlos Romero, dedicated a press conference to the coca conflict in the Yungas, and sustained that Franclin Gutiérrez (director of Adepcoca) has links and "friends" among the far right, and that he is linked to the U.S. Embassy
  - Erbol Digital, 05 April 2018

• Gentil Duarte, the former middle commander of the FARC, who is now the most wanted by the Army and who leads the dissidence of the Seventh Front, wants to create a 'South block', tp achieve greater coordination with other dissident groups, block the replacement of the coca in the region, and return to regulating the life of the peasants through community action boards
  - La Silla Vacia, 04 April 2018

• VRAEM: Peruvian national police seize more than 3 tons of illegal coca leaf - what was seized was transferred to ENACO storage facilities.
  - La Republica, 04 April 2018

• Bolivian government reveals that in La Asunta there are 1,500 hectares of illegal coca farming, and it denounces efforts to avoid eradication
  - La Razon, 04 April 2018

• Coca farmers from Chulumani, Irupana, Coripata and the Asunta burned flags of the Movement to Socialism (MAS), in rejection of the physical presence of this government party in the Yungas of La Paz (Bolivia)
  - ErBol Digital, 02 April 2018

• Coca farmers from Chulumani, Irupana, Coripata and the Asunta burned flags of the Movement to Socialism (MAS), in rejection of the physical presence of this government party in the Yungas of La Paz (Bolivia)
  - Pagina Siete, 02 April 2018

• Over the last ten years, doctors, human rights activists and coca farmers are the only social organizations that have resisted the Bolivian government.
  - La Prensa, 02 April 2018

• Producers of traditional coca from the Yungas meet in regional assemblies to determine measures that allow for the annulment of the new General Coca-Cola Law 906 and the removal of coca producers affiliated with the MAS (the government ruling party)
  - El Diario, 31 March 2018

• Producers of traditional coca from the Yungas meet in regional assemblies to determine measures that allow for the annulment of the new General Coca-Cola Law 906 and the removal of coca producers affiliated with the MAS (the government ruling party)
  - Los Tiempos, 31 March 2018

• An open meeting of producers affiliated with the Chamaca Regional Adepcoca in the municipality of Chulumani (Bolivia), determined that no community should allow the installation of MAS campaign offices (MAS is the government ruling party)
  - Erbol Digital, 31 March 2018

• An open meeting of producers affiliated with the Chamaca Regional Adepcoca in the municipality of Chulumani (Bolivia), determined that no community should allow the installation of MAS campaign offices (MAS is the government ruling party)
  - Pagina Siete, 31 March 2018

• VRAEN: Peruvian national police seize more than 4 tons of illegal coca leaf - what was seized was transferred to ENACO storage facilities
  - El Comercio, 30 March 2018

• Letter to Editor: the Colombian authorities face an extraordinarily complex task in trying to run forced and voluntary coca-eradication and crop-substitution programmes in parallel
  - Economist, 28 March 2018

• The coca growers of Coroico this morning retake the facilities of this federation and ignored the executives for having betrayed the coca growing sector, as well as for supporting the intervention of Adepcoca by associates affliated with the Government of Bolivia
  - La Prensa, 25 March 2018

• Coca farmers in La Paz retake the headquarters of Adepcoca after 6 days of conflict
  - La Prensa, 25 March 2018

• Coca farmers in La Paz retake the headquarters of Adepcoca after 6 days of conflict
  - El Deber, 25 March 2018

• Founders of Adepcoca, allied with the Bolivian government, deliver the offices to the new director, Franklin Gutiérrez, who had been ratified 3 times by members
  - El Diario, 25 March 2018

• Founders of Adepcoca, allied with the Bolivian government, deliver the offices to the new director, Franklin Gutiérrez, who had been ratified 3 times by members
  - Pagina Siete, 25 March 2018

• Court in La Paz orders release of 8 coca farmers, while during a town hall meeting, coca growers ratified Franklin Gutiérrez as the leader of Adepcoca, the coca growers association for northern Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 24 March 2018

• Six days after the police intervention in the headquarters of the Departmental Association of Producers of Coca (Adepcoca) of Villa Fátima, in La Paz, two extensions and a council held yesterday determined to extend and intensify the pressure during the weekend on the government. Also, the leaders threatened to maintain the protests until their headquarters is returned.
  - La Prensa, 24 March 2018

• The coca growers of the Yungas do not rule out starting a blockade of roads to and from that region of northern Bolivia as of next Monday, demanding the return of their union headquarters and coca leaf market. Meanwhile, the last eight cocaleros apprehended on Thursday were charged with the crimes of robbery and carrying homemade bombs, a fact denied by their relatives, who denounced beatings by police against women and the elderly.
  - El Diario, 24 March 2018

• Editorial: In these last days there have been two new attacks on organizations that distance themselves from the ruling party; first, the Oruro human rights defense entity was affected and then the association of Yungas coca growers, Adepcoca. ... The Police, routinely, defends the interests of the Government over those of the citizenship and this adds to other current crises: the legitimacy of the Police.
  - Pagina Siete, 24 March 2018

• In Colombia, members of the Farc party reject change in the new proposed law on coca leaf growers - saying that the initiative only benefits the growers who conserve or finance plantations - that the proposed law is "more harmful" for small coca growers
  - El Tiempo, 23 March 2018

• Police in La Paz use rubber bullets against coca farmers - at least farmers are injured
  - Pagina Siete, 23 March 2018

• Two dozen detainees and several wounded were counted in La Paz, as the conflict continues to deepen with parallel leaderships and cross-accusations that keep the Yungas coca growers in uncertainty
  - Erbol Digital, 23 March 2018

• For the fourth consecutive day, the police forces in La Paz attacked yesterday against the cocaleros of the Yungas, with extreme violence and use of chemical agents
  - El Diario, 23 March 2018

• Two dozen detainees and five wounded were counted in La Paz, as the conflict continues to deepen with parallel leaderships and cross-accusations that keep the Yungas coca growers in uncertainty
  - El Diario, 23 March 2018

• Tensions persist at the headquarters of Adepcoca, and there is risk of more confrontations
  - La Razon, 23 March 2018

• Power struggle for leadership of Adepcoca continues, with government endorsing a new board of directors against desires of Adepcoca members
  - La Razon, 23 March 2018

• Ad hoc committee backed by the government takes control of the board of directors of Adepcoca, to be headed by Honorato Atto, one of the "founders" of the association
  - La Razon, 23 March 2018

• Franklin Gutiérrez, president of Adepcoca: "The Bolivian government wants Adepcoca to camouflage its illegal market for coca leaf"
  - Pagina Siete, 21 March 2018

• Franklin Gutiérrez, president of Adepcoca: "The Bolivian government wants Adepcoca to camouflage its illegal market for coca leaf"
  - El Diario, 21 March 2018

• Adepcoca, the coca leaf growers association of northern Bolivia, is determined to remain on vigil in La Paz, after a violent day of protests and police repression that left 15 wounded and two people arrested
  - La Prensa, 20 March 2018

• In La Paz, Bolivia, clashes leave one coca farmer arrested and two police injured as police disperse organized group of coca leaf growers who tried to retake offices of their coca association, Adepcoca
  - La Razon, 19 March 2018

• In La Paz, Bolivia, police disperse organized group of coca leaf growers who tried to retake offices of their coca association, Adepcoca
  - La Razon, 19 March 2018

• Coca farmers of The Yungas (norther region of Bolivia) elect Franklin Gutiérrez as president of thee coca grower's association, Adepcoca, and burn the honorary credentials of President Morales and Vice President García
  - Los Tiempos, 17 March 2018

• Coca farmers of The Yungas (norther region of Bolivia) elect Franklin Gutiérrez as president of thee coca grower's association, Adepcoca
  - ErBol Digital, 16 March 2018

• Coca farmers of The Yungas (norther region of Bolivia) elect Franklin Gutiérrez as president of thee coca grower's association, Adepcoca
  - La Razon, 16 March 2018

• With 'The Invisibles', post-conflict Colombia has a new generation of cocaine traffickers who prefer anonymity to violence
  - InSight Crime, 25 March 2018

• Yungas-region coca growers in Bolivia remain on alert for the 'seizure' of their Adepcoca facilities by a group affiliated with the Government
  - El Deber, 13 March 2018

• Yungas-region coca growers in Bolivia remain on alert for the 'seizure' of their Adepcoca facilities by a group affiliated with the Government
  - El Diario, 13 March 2018

• Yungas-region coca growers in Bolivia remain on alert for the 'seizure' of their Adepcoca facilities by a group affiliated with the Government
  - La Prensa, 13 March 2018

• The curse of Corinto (Cauca, Colombia) - with its privileged geographic location that is perfect for groups that traffic in drugs
  - El Tiempo, 12 March 2018

• Editorial: is former Colombian president Andrés Pastrana correct - that the coca growers of Chapare formed a political party that now dominates Bolivia, based on the profits of drug trafficking?
  - Pagina Siete, 12 March 2018

• The ex-president of Colombia, Andrés Pastrana (1998-2002): "The coca that arrived from Bolivia caused violence in Colombia", and assures that Chapare coca supplied the Colombian cartels
  - El Deber, 10 March 2018

• The state of Guaviare, Colombia, has substituted 100% of its coca crop
  - Asuntos Legals (Co), 09 March 2018

• The most recent report of the UNODC's International Narcotics Control Board expresses concern about how Bolivia's new coca law almost doubles the amount of legal coca growing
  - Pagina Siete, 05 March 2018

• The Bolivian prime miminster, Carlos Romero, indiates that there is an error in the report of the UNODC's International Narcotics Control Board
  - La Prensa, 05 March 2018

• The deputy minister of Social Defense of Bolivia, Felipe Cáceres, assures that the legal demand for coca leaf for traditional consumption rose from 14,700 to 17,100 hectares between 2014 and 2017
  - La Razon, 03 March 2018

• The UNODC's International Narcotics Control Board expresses worries about the increase in legal coca farming in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 02 March 2018

• The UNODC's International Narcotics Control Board expresses worries about the increase in legal coca farming in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 02 March 2018

• The UNODC's International Narcotics Control Board expresses worries about the increase in legal coca farming in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 02 March 2018

• The UNODC's International Narcotics Control Board expresses worries about the increase in legal coca farming in Bolivia
  - El Deber, 02 March 2018

• Leaders of Adepcoca (northern producers of coca) go into hiding due to suspected political persecution by the government of Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 01 March 2018

• Leaders of Adepcoca (northern producers of coca) go into hiding due to suspected political persecution by the government of Bolivia
  - El Deber, 01 March 2018

• Coca farmers from The Yungas (Bolivia) suspend their protests and prepare a list of 13 demands
  - El Deber, 25 February 2018

• Two anti-drug strategies are at war in Colombia - crop substitution versus eradication.
  - Economist, 24 February 2018

• Confrontations between coca leaf producers in the Yungas, and police trying to end their blockade of roadways, leaves various injured on both sides
  - El Diario, 22 February 2018

• Indigenous villagers in Peru are losing patience with coca land siezures.
  - Reuters, 21 February 2018

• Coca growers from the Yungas burn an image of Bolivian President Morales
  - El Diario, 20 February 2018

• Coca farmers in the Yungas (Bolivia) accuse the government of "suffocating" their businesses, and taking control of their coca growers' association, Adepcoca
  - El Diario, 20 February 2018

• César Cocarico, minister of Rural Development in Bolivia, accuses the coca growers' association of the Yungas, Adepcoca, of selling coca leaf illegally
  - El Diario, 20 February 2018

• Coca farmers in the Yungas (Bolivia) accuse the government of "suffocating" their businesses, by paralyzing sales of coca, and are deciding to block the roadways in the Yungas
  - La Prensa, 19 February 2018

• Coca farmers in the Yungas (Bolivia) accuse the government of "suffocating" their businesses, as the commercial buyers stop buying coca leaf until they learn if a 3 boliviano tax goes to the farmers or their leaders, and are deciding to block the roadways in the Yungas
  - Pagina Siete, 19 February 2018

• Coca farmers in the Yungas (Bolivia) accuse the government of "suffocating" their businesses, by not delivering transport maps, and are deciding to block the roadways in the Yungas
  - Pagina Siete, 19 February 2018

• Coca farmers in the Yungas (Bolivia) accuse the government of "suffocating" their businesses, by paralyzing sales of coca, and are deciding to block the roadways in the Yungas
  - El Deber, 19 February 2018

• The Europen Union observes increased coca farming in Bolivia, due to "climate situations"
  - El Deber, 18 February 2018

• The post-conflict peace in Catatumbo is one step away from failure for Colombia - the substitution of coca crops has not taken off, investments have fallen short and some demobilized guerillas are creating dissident groups to maintain control of drug trafficking routes on the border
  - La Silla Vacia, 11 February 2017

• Colombia's health minister wanted to make it easier to produce a generic option for hepatitis C treatment, so Big Pharma and Uncle Sam threatened the country’s peace process.
  - Other98, 06 February 2018

• Bolivian president Evo Morales convenes the Chapare coca farmers to enlist them in a "digital war" on the social networks, to aid his controversial efforts to run again to remain president
  - La Prensa, 05 February 2018

• Mario Vargas Llosa: the perception of drugs
  - La Republica, 04 February 2018

• The strategic instutitional plan for the National Coca Business (ENACO) of Peru: 2017-2021
  - ENACO, 02 February 2018

• Although next Saturday peasant coca farmers from Jamundí will meet again to agree on an agreement to replace their 400 hectares of illicit crops (the second region with more crops, after Buenaventura), the government will not go to the meeting and will maintain the decision made one week ago to eradicate their crops by force
  - La Silla Vacia, 31 January 2018

• Claiming that they have not been paid despite having signed crop substitution agreements, dozens of coca-growing peasants in Caquetá, Colombia, packed their suitcases and went to try their luck elsewhere in the country - there is still no clarity on what to do with the peasants whose only work is collecting the coca leaf, who may end up in other parts of the country, so that instead of having many fewer cocaleros, there are the same numbers but in other areas
  - La Silla Vacia, 29 January 2018

• Alerts given for the presence of Mexican drug cartels in 10 zones of Colombia, who are now acquiring coca plantations
  - El Tiempo, 27 January 2018

• Difficulties that the UN is having to use satellites to identify coca leaf farms in Bolivia.
  - El Diario, 21 January 2018

• Constitutional Court of Colombia backs land fumigation and eradication of illegal coca farms
  - El Pais, 19 January 2018

• Activities for the eradication of illegal coca begin in Bolivia.
  - Prensa Latina, 19 January 2018

• The government of Bolivia start eradication of illegal coca farming with a goal of eliminating 7,000 hectares.
  - La Razon, 18 January 2018

• The plant used to make cocaine could become the next superfood, if Colombian farmers have anything to do about it.
  - iNews, 14 January 2018

• Bolivia welcomes Dakar Rally drivers with wreaths of coca leaves.
  - Reuters, 11 January 2018

• Police on one of the Hawaiian islands, Kauai, seize 15 cocaine plants being grown in Kalalau Valley
  - The Garden Island, 07 December 2017

• Is coca leaf tea the next big beverage trend?
  - Boss Magazine, 01 December 2017

• Coca and agriculture in post-peace accord Colombia (Part I).
  - NACLA, 29 November 2017

• The Colombian Government has promised the small coca growers that they will not end up in jail if they sign the agreements in which they commit to tear the coca leaf and not to grow it again, as the Agreement with the Farc says. But it will be almost impossible to fulfill them, at least in this Government, because a proposed law that would make this possible can only be saved from defeat with a miracle.
  - La Silla Vacia, 29 November 2017

• 10 key people for the post-conflict process in the Santander regions og Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 29 November 2017

• In Bolivia, banana and pineapple production grows as an alternative to coca farming, but farmers lack markets to sell their crops
  - Fresh Plaza, 27 November 2017

• Evo Morales tells American actor Morgan Freeman about the benefits of the coca leaf
  - Pagina Siete, 23 November 2017

• Evo Morales tells American actor Morgan Freeman about the benefits of the coca leaf
  - La Razon, 23 November 2017

• From Putumayo, the coca farmers requrest more management of the post-conflict activities in Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 22 November 2017

• From coca to cacao: Colombia pushes farmers to exit cocaine trade.
  - CGTN America, 18 November 2017

• Editorial: the production of coca leaf continues causes public complications in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 17 November 2017

• Coca farmers from the Chapare (Bolivia) willing to debate about the diversion of coca leaves to drug traffickers
  - Los Tiempos, 14 November 2017

• Adecopa (coca growers association for northern Bolivia) calls 'absurd' the country's Supreme Court decision to allow legal coca growing in the south, and Adecopa plans to file a lawsuit at the International Court of Human Rights
  - La Razon, 12 November 2017

• Adecopa (coca growers association for northern Bolivia) calls 'absurd' the country's Supreme Court decision to allow legal coca growing in the south, and Adecopa plans to file a lawsuit at the International Court of Human Rights
  - El Diario, 12 November 2017

• Colombia: is cocoa the new cocaine, as government invests $6 million to improve living conditions of cacao farmers?
  - QCostaRica, 11 November 2017

• Adecopa (coca growers association for northern Bolivia) calls 'absurd' the country's Supreme Court decision to allow legal coca growing in the south, and Adecopa plans to file a lawsuit at the International Court of Human Rights
  - Erbol Digital, 11 November 2017

• Problems of coca and cocaine should be a topic in Colombian political campaigns.
  - El Tiempo, 11 November 2017

• The Bolivian Supreme Court declares constitutional new laws that legal coca farming in the Chapare
  - La Razon, 11 November 2017

• The Bolivian Supreme Court declares constitutional new laws that legal coca farming in the Chapare
  - Los Tiempos, 11 November 2017

• The Bolivian Supreme Court declares constitutional new laws that legal coca farming in the Chapare
  - El Diario, 11 November 2017

• The Supreme Court of Bolivia rules against Yungas coca farmers, and legalizes coca farming in the Chapare
  - Pagina Siete, 11 November 2017

• The agony of the peasant coca farmer in Colombia
  - Radio Macondo, 10 November 2017

• Black leaders who urged farmers to dump coca on run from Colombia gangs.
  - Digital Journal, 06 November 2017

• The price of cocaine paste (from the Vraem region of Peru) drops in price from $1300/kilo to $800/kilo
  - El Deber, 05 November 2017

• Bolivian government estimates that 3000 hectares of coca leaf grown in Bolivia is sold to drug traffickers, with 24,000 tons sold for legal purposes
  - La Prensa, 04 November 2017

• Bolivian government estimates that 6000 tons of coca leaf grown in Bolivia is sold to drug traffickers, with 24,000 tons sold for legal purposes
  - La Razon, 03 November 2017

• Peru has already eradicated more coca (> 20,000 hectares) this year than Colombia in 2016 (18,000).
  - Peru Reports, 03 November 2017

• Colombia signs $300 million United Nations deal to fight cocaine production by bribing farmers to switch from coca (for which they earn $300/month per hectare) to cacao and coca.
  - BBC News, 04 November 2017

• Eight days of peaceful protests by coca growers in Catatumbo (Colombia) become more violent, with attacks against three tanker-trucks.
  - El Tiempo, 02 November 2017

• Colombia's land battles shatter the peace in Cauca Valley, including battles over coca leaf farming [with photos].
  - The Guardian, 01 November 2017

• Froilán Luna Meneces is sworn in as new Vice Minister of Coca
  - Erbol Digital, 01 November 2017

• Froilán Luna Meneces is new vice minister of coca, and Minister Cocarico denies a rupture with Adepcoca
  - La Razon, 01 November 2017

• Conflicts over new coca laws provokes another coca vice minister to resign
  - Los Tiempos, 01 November 2018

• The vice ministry of coca leaf, Wilfredo Llojlla, resigns and warns of more violence to come in La Asunta
  - El Deber, 31 October 2017

• The vice ministry of coca leaf, Wilfredo Llojlla, resigns and warns of more violence to come in La Asunta
  - La Razon, 31 October 2017

• Ten points that explain the complications of substitution of other crops for the farming of coca leaf - the goal of substituting 50,000 hectares appears impossible to achieve, the conclusion of a report published by the Foundations for Ideas for Peace
  - La Silla Vacia, 30 October 2017

• Why is the Pacific region of Colombia turning into an ocean of coca
  - El Pais, 29 October 2017

• In Colombia, the controversy over the route to get peasants out of the coca trap
  - El Tiempo, 29 October 2017

• Efforts to substitute other crops for coca leaves in Putumayo (Colombia) results in more people opposed to government eradication efforts
  - La Silla Vacia, 28 October 2017

• The owners of coca lands in Colombia: many are rich and unthreatened
  - La Republica, 28 October 2017

• Colombia president Juan Manuel Santos defends proposed law that decriminalizes small harvests of coca leaf (less than 3.8 hectares), after criticisms from his Attorney General
  - El Pais, 27 October 2017

• Colombian farmers keep growing coca despite government crackdown and U.S. pressure.
  - Miami Herald, 27 October 2017

• Evo Morales, from defender of coca farmers to president of Bolivia (photos)
  - RT News, 27 October 2017

• Colombian president Juan Manual Santos defends proposed law to eliminate jail time for those who grow less than 3.8 hectares of coca leaf, or less than 84 square meters of marijuana, or less than 3.840 hectares of poppy plant.
  - El Tiempo, 26 October 2017

• Colombia proposes to eliminate jail time for those who grow less than 3.8 hectares of coca leaf, or less than 84 square meters of marijuana, or less than 3.840 hectares of poppy plant
  - El Tiempo, 26 October 2017

• Confrontation between ESMAD (anti-drug police) and peasant coca farmers in Norte de Santander (Colombia)
  - RCN Noticias, 25 October 2017

• Government of Bolivia fixes the limit of coca farming at 20,000 hectares, 2,000 less than allowed by the new law
  - La Razon, 25 October 2017

• Wilfredo Llojila, the Bolivian government negotiator with coca growers in the Yungas for crop erradication efforts, himself has extensive family holdings of coca farms.
  - El Deber, 25 October 2017

• Over 100,000 coca farmers, indigenous farmers and Afro-Colombian farmers from in southern Colombia to start indefinite protests demanding more support for the government to switch from coca growing.
  - El Tiempo, 25 October 2017

• Growing rejection in Colombia over DEA report critical of Colombian efforts to reduce coca growth
  - El Pais, 25 October 2017

• While yesterday the DEA said that coca from Colombia was still a "threat" to the United States and prosecutor Néstor Humberto Martínez insists on returning to aerial spraying, in several regions of the country traditionally coca growers, began last night an indefinite strike to demand the exact opposite: that the way to end the problem of the coca growing is the voluntary substitution
  - La Silla Vacia, 24 October 2017

• Coca farmers across Colombia hold protests, aggravated by tensions between coca farmers, Afro-Colombians and indigenous groups.
  - El Tiempo, 24 October 2017

• The coca farming bonanza that has been registered in Colombia and the increase in the consumption of cocaine in the United States will continue to rise until at least 2018, the DEA said Monday when delivering its report for the year 2017
  - El Tiempo, 24 October 2017

• Consumption of cocaine in the U.S. has risen in the last ten years due to overproduction in Colombia, supplying 90% of the cocaine in the U.S.
  - El Pais, 23 October 2017

• Hundreds of hectares of coca leaf, the motor of violence in the rural zone of Jamundí in Colombia (24 kilometers south of Cali)
  - El Pais, 23 October 2017

• U.S. DEA says that Colombia will not achieve its coca erradication goal this year
  - El Tiempo, 23 October 2017

• Colombia's prosecutor general proposes aerial fumigation of coca bushes.
  - Colombia Reports, 23 October 2017

• Colombia coca cultivation likely to increase in 2017 according to U.S. DEA
  - Colombia Reports, 23 October 2017

• 14 coca leaf growers violently detained in La Florida (La Paz department, Bolivia) after fighting with anti-drug police there to eradicate their coca plantings.
  - Pagina Siete, 22 October 2017

• Colombian Attorney General Nestor Humberto Martinez warns that the country is failing to erradicate 100,000 hectares of coca bushes, a victory for drug traffickers.
  - El Tiempo, 22 October 2017

• Colombian peasants across the country to strike over failure of the government to transfer tens of million of acres of land to farmers driven off their property by the Colombian army and right-wing paramilitaries, and the failure to help farmers switch from illegal crops such as coca and marijuana
  - Morning Star, 21 October 2017

• Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos to send up to 9000 police to the municipality of Tumaco, which has been much crime recently, including the murder of 7 coca growers
  - El Pais, 21 October 2017

• The conflict in Tumaco (Colombia) over illegal farming of coca leaf could occur in 10 other municipalities of Colombia
  - El Pais, 18 October 2017

• More cacao, less coca, farming in Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 15 October 2017

• And if Colombia's problem isn't coca? - cultivation of coca leaf is a problem for the anti-drug politics of the United States, not for Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 13 October 2017

• Stopping the criminalization of the peasant coca farmer in Colombia
  - EL Espectador, 13 October 2017

• Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has ordered 102 police to be transferred over last week’s massacre of protesting coca growers, when 10 protesters were killed when police fired on coca farmers who formed a human chain to block a government eradication sweep against their crops.
  - Morning Star, 12 October 2017

• What went wrong in Colombia's new drug policy - they didn't do enough to help coca farmers profitably grow other plants.
  - Colombia Reports, 11 October 2017

• Tumaco (in the Nariño department of Colombia) is the municipality with the most hectares of coca leaf farming in the country
  - El Pais, 09 October 2017

• Colombian police have killed nine coca leaf-growers protesting against an eradication sweep, farmers said on Thursday, and another 18 were injured
  - Morning Star, 07 October 2017

• Bolivian ministry of rural development announces that the biometric permit will be granted by the government only to coca leaf distributors, not the producers
  - Pagina Siete, 05 October 2017

• The government of Bolivia suspects that Adepcoca is not showing its registry of affliated coca leaf merchants because of irregularities
  - Pagina Siete, 04 October 2017

• Adepcoca (association of northern coca growers) announces mobilization of 18,500 coca growers to reject the new coca leaf law in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 03 October 2017

• Adepcoca (association of northern coca growers) announces mobilization of 18,500 coca growers, for October 10th, to reject the new coca leaf law in Bolivia
  - La Prenza, 03 October 2017

• Curbing Colombia coca and cannabis production is doomed to failure, say farmers.
  - The Times, 25 September 2017

• The Thê Wala and the coca leaf - the voice of the Nasa people resounds from the Colombian Amazon
  - El Espectador, 21 September 2017

• Peruvian police seize 560 kilograms of coca leaves in the Huanuco region.
  - Peru Reoprt, 21 September 2017

• The government of Bolivia decides to reduce 50 percent its dedicated efforts to eradicate illegal coca growing in the country
  - El Deber, 19 September 2017

• Surge of coca growing in Colombia and decertification threat tops Santos-Trump agenda
  - The City Paper Bogota, 18 September 2017

• The World Health Organization will assemble a group of specialists to study the science qualities of the coca leaf
  - Pagina Siete, 18 September 2017

• The World Health Organization will assemble a group of specialists to study the science qualities of the coca leaf
  - La Razon, 18 September 2017

• Bolivia will finance a candy and coca tea manufacturing plant in Venezuela
  - Entorno Intelligente, 18 September 2017

• Bolivia will finance a candy and coca tea manufacturing plant in Venezuela
  - La Patilla, 17 September 2017

• The government of Bolivia declares the Tipnis national park free of illegal coca growning, after eradicating 181 hectares
  - El Deber, 18 September 2017

• Why can't Colombia successfully halt the expansion of coca farming?
  - El Pais, 17 September 2017

• Coca farmers in the Catatumbo region (Colombia) protest against the eradication of coca plants
  - El Tiempo, 16 September 2017

• Buying the coca leaf harvest is cheaper than fumingation
  - RCN Radio, 15 September 2017

• How the coca growers of the Chapare region are using their huge profits to expand into legal businesses, undercutting prices of companies that can't rely on drug trafficking profits.
  - El Diario, 15 September 2017

• Coca growers of Inquisivi (Bolivia) threaten to resist eradication efforts
  - La Razon, 14 September 2017

• Trump warns Colombia that it could be de-certified because of the increase in coca farming
  - Pagina Siete, 14 September 2017

• Although Colombia continues to have broad support in Washington, the growth of illicit coca crops in the country and the effects that this is already having on the streets of the United States is becoming a serious and irritating problem for bilateral relations
  - El Tiempo, 14 September 2017

• 1 dead, 2 injured in clashes between coca growers and Colombia military in Morales, Cauca (15 miles north of Popayan).
  - Colombia Reports, 11 September 2017

• Coca growers of Munaypata (Inquisivi province, Bolivia) give weapons to their children to help fight eradication efforts
  - La Prensa, 09 September 2017

• Coca growers of Munaypata (Inquisivi province, Bolivia) give weapons to their children to help fight eradication efforts
  - Erbol Digital, 09 September 2017

• New rules (with 89 sections) limit the production of coca leaf in the Yungas (Bolivia).
  - El Diario, 09 September 2017

• Coca growers of Inquisivi (Bolivia) warn of resistance to government efforts to eradicate their coca plants
  - La Razon, 08 September 2017

• President Evo Morales admits that some will try to entry the Tipnis National Park (where new roads are being built) to plant coca
  - El Deber, 03 September 2017

• Bolivia is the strategic point for drug traffickers for the South American coca region, a regional corridor of international scope
  - Pagina Siete, 03 September 2017

• The coca growers of Achacachi (Bolivia) want their coca farming to be made legal under the new Coca law
  - El Diario, 01 September 2017

• The variety of coca leaves used in cola sodas does not exist in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 29 August 2017

• With regards to the coca substitution program, the government of Colombia remains unorganized
  - La Silla Vacia, 28 August 2017

• United States says that coca cultivations in Bolivia have risen to 37,500 hectares
  - Pagina Siete, 27 August 2017

• Brazilian drug cartels are trying to control coca fields and coca leaf processing in Bolivia, in the Acre province of Brazil next to the Pando province of Bolivia
  - El Deber, 27 August 2017

• The government of Colombia is searching for alternatives to coca farming.
  - BBC News, 14 August 2017

• The coca growers of the Chapare region (Bolivia) impose a law of fear and anxiety in the TIPNIS national park, to prevent investigations into the new road being built through the TIPNIS would show help drug trafficking
  - Pagina Siete, 23 August 2017

• Coca farmers start protests against renewed eradication of their coca farms in Taraza, Antioqua (Colombia)
  - Caracol Radio, 22 August 2017

• Ditching coca for other crops, Colombia's farmers ask: "Where do we sell?"
  - Christian Science Monitor, 22 August 2017

• A study concludes that there is only one species of coca bush in the Yungas and Chapare regions of Bolivia
  - La Razon, 22 August 2017

• Armed harrassers impede the eradication of coca leaf in various parts of Colombia
  - RCN Radio, 19 August 2017

• In Bolivia, cultivation of coca rose from 861 to 1233 hectares in Polygon 7 of the TIPNIS, farmed by Chapare coca growers
  - El Diario, 15 August 2017

• Colombia: searching for an alternative to coca.
  - BBC, 14 August 2017

• The Colombian coca growing community, which has traditionally been the social base of the Farc and could be one of the bases of its future party, wants to put candidates to compete to be elected to the Congress in 2018
  - La Silla Vacia, 08 August 2017

• Bolivian political analyst Ivan Arias argues that the government is choosing to justify the illegal farming of coca in national parks to help being re-elected in the 2019 elections
  - El Diario, 07 August 2017

• Wilson Santamaria, chief of the opposition party in the Bolivian national assembly, criticizes the comparison of coca farming in Bolivia and Colombia
  - Pagina Siete, 07 August 2017

• Coca farmers and truck drivers will damage the biodiversity of the Tipnis national park in Bolivia, when new highway is built through the reserve
  - El Diario, 03 August 2017

• Colombia's coca farmers in a legal dilemma that may jeopardize new drug policy.
  - InSight Crime, 03 August 2017

• Opinion: In Bolivia, more production of coca and less eradication
  - El Deber, 31 July 2017

• The coca farming leadership of the tropics of Cochabamba (Bolivia) admit that part of their production goes to drug traffickers - only 11% of the Chapare coca leaf is legally commercialized
  - El Deber, 30 July 2017

• President Evo Morales yesterday lashed out at coca growers from the Yungas area of La Paz, urging them to stop being "envious" of their comrades in Chapare
  - La Prensa, 30 July 2017

• President Evo Morales affirms that the new Law of Coca guarantees coca leaf farming forever for the Yungas and Tropic of Cochabamba
  - La Razon, 30 July 2017

• The coca growers of Chapare reject talking with coca farmers from Colomi, because the Colomi lands are not legal cultivations in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 25 July 2017

• The former Farc commander, alias Romaña, is leading a series of productive projects in Tumaco so that demobilized guerrillas and coca growers who are close to his political project can substitute coca for legal products in the municipality with more coca crops in the whole country - the model still has not take off, partly because it is not so novel, and partly because they have not managed to convince their potential partners to join the initiative
  - La Silla Vacia, 25 July 2017

• Adepcoca (the northern coca growers in La Paz province) signaled that that "they will not abandon" the coca growers around Colomi, who are demanding to be able to legal grow 700 hectares of coca
  - Los Tiempos, 25 July 2017

• President Evo Morales defends the new law of coca and qualifies as "enemies" those who do not value the police and army groups fighting drug trafficking
  - La Razon, 25 July 2017

• Bolivian government reiterates that it will no permit coca farming in national parks, and views the protests of coca farmers in Colomi as politics
  - La Razon, 24 July 2017

• Bolivian government will begin efforts to eradicate illegal cultivations of coca leaf
  - El Diario, 24 July 2017

• The Minister of Rural Development in Bolivia, César Cocarico, denounced that the Adepcoca is delivering coca leaf production permits to those not authorized for the cultivation of the bush
  - Erbol Digital, 24 July 2017

• A pause in the coca leaf protests en Colomi for two weeks, as they wait a the decision of the Supreme Court
  - Los Tiempos, 24 July 2017

• Opinion: coca, cocaine and Cocarico (the minister overseeing coca]
  - El Diario, 23 July 2017

• The United States and Bolivia are worried about the increase in coca harvests in Bolivia
  - El Deber, 23 July 2017

• Coca growers yell 'Evo murderer!' in Colomi after protester is killed with a marble used as a bullet
  - El Deber, 22 July 2017

• Coca growers of Colomi (Boliva) end their highway blockade and bus lines in La Paz and Cochabamba re-open travel to Santa Cruz
  - La Razon, 22 July 2017

• Coca growers of Colomi (Boliva) end their highway blockade and police re-open the Cochabamba-Santa Cruz highway
  - La Razon, 22 July 2017

• UN Office of Drug Control suggests three challenges to avoid increases in coca leaf farming in Bolivia
  - La Prensa, 21 July 2017

• Opposition deputies in Bolivian national assembly demand reinforcing efforts to eradicate illegal coca farming
  - El Diario, 21 July 2017

• Coca farmers of Colomi say that Bolivian rural development minister César Cocarico is controlled by the coca farmers of the Six Federations of the Tropics
  - Los Tiempos, 21 July 2017

• Cuba and Uruguay to jointly research medical and nutritional uses of the coca leaf.
  - Escambray, 21 July 2017

• The Bolivian government warns, again, about eradicating all of the illegal coca farming
  - El Diario, 20 July 2017

• The Tropics of Cochabamba region of Bolivia harvested 17,300 metric tons of coca leaf, with only 1,861 tons going to the legal markets
  - Erbol Digital, 20 July 2017

• En 2016, eradication of coca drops 40% in Bolivia, and cultivation rises 14%
  - El Diario, 20 July 2017

• En 2016, eradication of coca drops 40% in Bolivia, and cultivation rises 14%
  - Pagina Siete, 20 July 2017

• In Bolivia, farming of coca leaves in the national parks rises by 24%
  - Pagina Siete, 20 July 2017

• Planting more coca and eradicating less in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 20 July 2017

• The government of Bolivia rules out recognizing, as coca growers, the protestors in Colomia who demand the government assign them 700 hectares of the 7,700 hectares made legal in the new Law of Coca
  - La Razon, 20 July 2017

• President Evo Morales warns the Chapare coca growers that they will have problems if they grow coca in national parks
  - Los Tiempos, 18 July 2017

• President Evo Morales guarantees the Chapare coca growers they will be given lands to grow coca outside of the national parks
  - La Razon, 18 July 2017

• After decades of war, Colombian coca farmers face a new test - peace.
  - New York Times, 18 July 2017

• The Pacific region of Colombia continues being the region with the most cultivation of coca in the country
  - El Pais, 15 July 2017

• Opposition party senator in Bolivia, Oscar Ortiz, to present all of the documentation that is the basis for his lawsuit before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of a new law that extends coca farming into the Chapare region.
  - El Diario, 12 July 2017

• Supreme Court in Bolivia admits lawsuit against the new law of coca farming.
  - La Razon, 10 July 2017

• The rural development minister of Bolivia, Cesar Cocarico, trusts that the Supreme Court will validate the new coca farming law.
  - La Razon, 10 July 2017

• 50 buses of Coca leaf growers from northern Bolivia (the Yungas) travel to Sucre to march on the country's Supreme Court to demand that parts of the new coca law that favor southern Bolivian growers be ruled unconstitutional.
  - La Razon, 10 July 2017

• 50 buses of Coca leaf growers from northern Bolivia (the Yungas) travel to Sucre to march on the country's Supreme Court to demand that parts of the new coca law that favor southern Bolivian growers be ruled unconstitutional.
  - El Deber, 10 July 2017

• Uruguay will investigate the medical benefits of Bolivian coca leaf
  - NotiAmerica, 07 July 2017

• The Honduran army destroys first coca crop detected in the country.
  - Dialogo, 06 July 2017

• Retail vendors of coca leaf in La Paz, Bolivia, boycott purchases of coca leaves from Adepcoca
  - Pagina Siete, 06 July 2017

• UN Drug Control Office wants to re-analyze the amount of farming of coca leaf in Bolivia
  - La Prensa, 06 July 2017

• The ten fundamental criticiams of the policy of coca crop substitution in Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 04 July 2017

• In Ecuador, cultivate coca leaf with the permission of a judge!
  - Extra (Ec), 28 June 2017

• 53% of the Bolivian population does not chew coca leaf
  - Pagina Siete, 25 June 2017

• In Bolivia, coca leaf producers can sell 25% more coca without waiting for a new regulation to be approved
  - Pagina Siete, 20 June 2017

• Adepcoca, the association of 35,000 coca growers in northern Bolivia (the Yungas region), votes to not recognize the new law of coca farming
  - La Prensa, 18 June 2017

• The government of Bolivia will increase from 8 to 10 taques (50 pound bags) that licensed sellers of coca leaf can sell each month
  - Pagina Siete, 15 June 2017

• In Bolivia, rural development minister Cesar Cocarico is accused for private negotiations with a small, select group of northern (Yungas) coca growers
  - El Diario, 15 June 2017

• Are Colombians trying to expand cultivation of coca into Honduras?
  - InSight Crime, 13 June 2017

• In Perú, growers of 'world's best' coffee are losing ground to the popularity of coca farming.
  - Scroll.in, 10 June 2017

• Colombians are growing coca plants in Olancho, Honduras
  - La Prensa (Hn), 09 June 2017

• Honduras destroys its first coca plantation.
  - La Prensa (Hn), 08 June 2017

• Coca plantation 'experiment', 8.4 hectares, in Olancho, Honduras raises eyebrows.
  - InSight Crime, 26 May 2017

• Discovering 12 fields of coca plants on a mountain in Olancho, Honduras
  - La Prensa (Hn), 22 May 2017

• The United States requests that Colombia resume the aerial spraying of coca crops with herbicides
  - El Pais, 13 May 2017

• Bolivia admits losing to China, India and the U.S. in international markets for quinua exports
  - Erbol, 11 May 2017

• Legal complaint being readied against Bolivian coca growers in the Yungas who acted violently during a visit of a government minister
  - Los Tiempos, 11 May 2017

• Bolivian coca growers in the Yungas (Arapata) use dynamite during visit by Rural Development minister Cesar Cocarico
  - Erbol, 11 May 2017

• Bolivian government security forces to investigate violent acts by Yungas coca growers protesting the new coca law
  - La Prensa, 11 May 2017

• Legal complaint being readied against Bolivian coca growers in the Yungas who acted violently during a visit of a government minister
  - Erbol, 11 May 2017

• A new group of coca growers from the north of La Paz are forming a new association separate from Adepcoca.
  - Pagina Siete, 04 May 2017

• Editorial: coca farming in Bolivia results in over 500,000 low quality jobs
  - El Diario, 29 May 2017

• Only 3 of 32 departments in Colombia are free of coca farming.
  - El Tiempo, 29 May 2017

• Peru plans to redice by half its cultivation of coca by 2021
  - Pagina Siete, 25 May 2017

• Government of Bolivia warns the Supreme Court (TCP) against suspending the new coca law
  - La Razon, 24 May 2017

• Missed deadlines with the peace agreement in Colombia, with no progress with the coca farming problem.
  - Economist, 20 May 2017

• Northern coca growers (Adepcoca) and UD opposition party in Bolivia file lawsuit that annuls the expansion of coca farming into the Chapare
  - La Razon, 18 May 2017

• Opposition political party in Bolivia (the UD party) seeks a 20-year jail penalty for those who illegally grow coca
  - El Diario, 16 May 2017

• Government of Colombia starts new strategy to reduce the farming of coca leaf, but drug trafficking groups take immediate steps against new plans.
  - Colombia Reports, 13 May 2017

• Opposition political party in Bolivia, Unidad Democrata, offers to file lawsuit challenging constitutionality of new coca law
  - Erbol Digital, 11 May 2017

• Adepcoca (northern coca growers in Bolivia) look to the opposition UD party to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new coca law
  - La Razon, 11 May 2017

• In Bolivia, Adepcoca (northern coca growers) request support of the Public Defender to file a lawsuit against the new Coca Law
  - Los Tiempos, 03 May 2017

• Bolivian governments intends to open a plant to manufacture decocainized coca leaf products, and seek to reactivate two industrialization plants
  - La Razon, 24 April 2017

• Mauricio Mamani: the coca leaf, from the sacred to folklore
  - El Diario, 24 April 2017

• The hidden truths of the coca farmers' conflict in Tumaco, Colombia
  - El Pais, 23 April 2017

• President Evo Morales asks the coca farmers of Cochabamba to not plant coca in protected areas of national parks
  - Los Tiempos, 23 April 2017

• Coca farmers from the Chaparé seek a meeting with their peers from the Yungas (Bolivia)
  - El Diario, 20 April 2017

• Debate in La Paz: prohibited plants under the new anti-drug policy in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 20 April 2017

• United Nations recommends to Colombia to focus on voluntary substitution of illegal cultivations
  - El Pais (Co), 19 April 2017

• The Bolivian Economics Minister, Luis Arce Catacora, called on the media to help raise awareness among coca farmers in the Yungas to pay taxes
  - Erbol Digital, 19 April 2017

• Adepcoca, representing the Yungas coca farmers (Bolivia) seek to have the new Coca Law declared unconstitutional
  - Pagina Siete, 18 April 2017

• Adepcoca, representing the Yungas coca farmers (Bolivia) seek to have the new Coca Law declared unconstitutional
  - El Diario, 18 April 2017

• Chocolate that defeats the coca - Colombian peasants change the violence and the illegality of coca with cacao
  - El Pais (Es), 17 April 2017

• Bolivian coca farmers from the Yungas file an appeal against the new Coca Law
  - Erbol Digital, 17 April 2017

• The Bolivian Economics Minister, Luis Arce Catacora, called on the media to help raise awareness among coca farmers in the Yungas to pay taxes
  - Erbol Digital, 17 April 2017

• As U.S. pressures Colombia to curb coca boom, eradication meets growing local resistance
  - Colombia Reports, 14 April 2017

• Coca farmers in Argelia, Cauca (Colombia) reject eradication and block the streets
  - W Radio (Co), 11 April 2017

• Negotiating with growers, Bolivia forges its own approach to coca production
  - World Politics Review, 11 April 2017

• Coca farmers in Cochabamba (Bolivia) request consideration of paying taxes under the new coca law
  - El Dia, 10 April 2017

• The Fundación Acción Semila (Bolivia) seeks to produce organic coca for export
  - Pagina Siete, 10 April 2017

• The new coca law in Bolivia provokes confrontations between Yungas producers and authorities
  - El Diario, 10 April 2017

• Coca farmers march this Friday in Popayan (Colombia)
  - W Radio (Co), 07 April 2017

• The new coca law in Bolivia: the new regulation scenarios
  - Oxigeno, 06 April 2017

• Coca for cacao: the way towards legality for the Colombian communities of Vichada
  - Dialogo Americas, 05 April 2017

• Thousands of coca farmers of Colombia: we campesinos, we coca farmers, are not deliquents!
  - Rebelion, 05 April 2017

• The other enemy of coca substitution that was uncovered in Tumaco, Colombia - enemies much more powerful and armed than small coca farmers
  - La Silla Vacia, 04 April 2017

• Growing coffee instead of coca in Peru.
  - Digital Development Debates, 03 April 2017

• The new coca law favors the elite coca growers of the Chapare and the Yungas in Bolivia
  - El Pais, 01 April 2017

• Seven people injured during a street blockade by coca growers in Tumaco (Colombia)
  - El Tiempo, 30 March 2017

• Coca farmers burn buses and block the highway in Tumaco, Colombia
  - Panama Post, 30 March 2017

• Argentina worries about the new law that almost doubles the cultivation of coca in Bolivia
  - Panama Post, 30 March 2017

• United States differs with the UN Office of Drug Control, and firmly insists that in Bolivia there are 36,500 hectares of coca farming
  - La Razon, 30 March 2017

• In Bolivia, coca production creates overexploitation, generates 675,149 precarious jobs, a large majority of them between farm workers and day laborers
  - El Diario, 29 March 2017

• With the help of Cubans, Bolivian is elaborating a project for the industrialization of coca
  - Pagina Siete, 29 March 2017

• Bolivian government believes that coca "is the mother of our dignity"
  - El Deber, 28 March 2017

• The new law of coca (Bolivia) benefits coca-growing capitalists, big or small, but not for the poor salaried campesinos
  - BolPress, 27 March 2017

• Wilfredo Llojlla es the new Vice Minister of Coca in Bolivia
  - Erbol Digital, 27 March 2017

• The United States is worried about the new Law of Coca Leaf in Bolivia
  - Erbol Dibitial, 26 March 2017

• 3,700 hectares in the Cauca region of Colombia are ready for substitution of illegal cultivations such as coca
  - El Pais, 27 March 2017

• Manufacturers in Bolivia: the government fails to support the industrialization of coca
  - Pagina Siete, 26 March 2017

• In Bolivia, the coca leaf from the Yungas is preferred in Santa Cruz for chewing and making tea, but not coca leaf from the Chapare
  - Pagina Siete, 26 March 2017

• Colombia's coca substitution pilot program suspended after farmers rise up.
  - Colombia Reports, 26 March 2017

• The coca farming revolution in Bolivia
  - La Vanguardia, 25 March 2017

• Bolivia law 1008 confuses the traditional farming of coca with a crime of international dimensions
  - La Razon, 25 March 2017

• Corinto (a municipality in the north of Cauaca, Colombia) is one of the acid tests of coca crop substitution in Colombia
  - CRIC Colombia, 24 March 2017

• Rich-world agricultural subsidies ensure coca leaves are Colombia's only viable cash crop.
  - Boing Boing, 24 March 2017

• Corinto, a municipality in north Cauca, Colombia, is an acid test for the substitution of coca farming
  - La Silla Vacia, 23 March 2017

• Colombian in Spain acquited of charges of drug trafficking due to importing ground coca leaf
  - TNI, 23 March 2017

• Which regions of Colombia are playing the biggest role in the coca boom?
  - Insight Crime, 23 March 2017

• Coca-growing in Colombia is at an all time high, with the government hoping that former FARC guerillas will persuade villagers to switch crops
  - Economist, 23 March 2017

• Myths and truths about the coca farming bonanza (including 188,000 illegal hectares) in Colombia
  - El Tiempo, 22 March 2017

• Why coca leaf, not coffee, may always be Colombia's favorite cash crop
  - Today Colombia, 20 March 2017

• Why coca leaf, not coffee, may always be Colombia's favourite cash crop
  - Huffington Post, 20 March 2017

• Editorial: increased coca farming in Bolivia will not lead to more legal products through industrialization, but rather more cocaine production
  - El Diario, 20 March 2017

• Why coca leaf, not coffee, may always be Colombia's favourite cash crop
  - The World Post, 20 March 2017

• Three out of ten Bolivians regularly consume coca leaf
  - El Deber, 18 March 2017

• President Evo Morales impassions the coca growers of Cochabamba: "¡Long live coca, death to the Yankees!"
  - Erbol Digital, 18 March 2017

• Cuban scientists investigating properties of the coca leaf in Bolivia
  - ambio, 17 March 2017

• UN Office of Drug Control is collecting data for a report on coca leaf crops in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 17 March 2017

• The new law of coca, a serious measure against Bolivia
  - El Diario, 17 March 2017

• The campesino face of coca in Colombia
  - El Espectador, 16 March 2017

• Will there be more legal consumption of coca in Bolivia, now that there is more legal coca growing allowed?
  - El Deber, 16 March 2017

• Bolivia will eventually repent for its expansion of coca farming, and bury coca law Law 1008.
  - El Diario, 16 March 2017

• The Plan Colombian eradication failure: 17 years and $10 billion later, coca production in Colombia is up 38%
  - Colombia Reports, 15 March 2017

• Bolivia dreams of selling coca leaf, but all the world sees is cocaine
  - The Guardian, 15 March 2017

• Bolivia dreams of selling coca leaf, but all the world sees is cocaine
  - Erbol Digital, 19 March 2017

• In Bolivia, the government elevates the production of coca, but abandons the food production sectors
  - El Diario, 15 March 2017

• Colombian government confirms that coca farming reached a historic record in Colombia - 188,000 hectares and 710 tons
  - El Tiempo, 15 March 2017

• United States reports that coca farming reached a historic record in Colombia - 188,000 hectares and 710 tons
  - El Tiempo, 15 March 2017

• The European Union requests more studies about the coca leaf in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 14 March 2017

• The resurgence in coca cultivation in Colombia worries the United States
  - Wall Street Journal, 13 March 2017

• The controversial new law for coca, and its effects in Bolivia [good photos]
  - Los Tiempos, 13 March 2017

• The new controversial law of coca farming and its effects in Bolivia (with graphics)
  - Los Tiempos, 13 March 2017

• Deputy Lino Cárdenas states that 3 of 10 Bolivians consume legal coca leaf daily, the others occasionally
  - Erbol Digital, 13 March 2017

• In Vienna, Bolivia will defend its coca leaf policies and anti-drug fight, in reports to the UN
  - La Razon, 13 March 2017

• Coca, the 1000-year-old leaf that survived the fight against drug trafficking in Colombia
  - La Vanguardia, 12 March 2017

• President Evo Morales sees a contradictory reaction from Europe about aid and coca leaf, which helped when Bolivia had 37,000 to 42,000 hectares of coca, but won't cooperate after Bolivia expands coca from 12,000 to 22,000 hectares
  - ErbolTV, 12 March 2017

• In Bolivia, production of coca leaf in the Chapare region equals that of the Yungas region
  - Pagina Siete, 12 March 2017

• The government of Bolivia announces that a German business is negotiating to buy a coca beverage from Bolivia
  - La Razon, 11 March 2017

• The fight against cocaine: its failure and a solution
  - El Diario, 11 March 2017

• The politics of a tax on legal coca farming in Bolivia
  - El Deber, 11 March 2017

• The new coca leaf law in Bolivia: solution or sacrifice?
  - El Diario, 09 March 2017

• One of the desires of President Evo Morales is that there will be coca leaf forever, and that the practice of coca chewing expand around the world
  - Pagina Siete, 09 March 2017

• Chapare region in Bolivia evaluating areas where legal coca will be farmed
  - El Deber, 09 March 2017

• Coca leaf from Chapare will be sold directly to consumers in local communities
  - Los Tiempos, 09 March 2017

• The Bolivian government admits failings in the control of legal coca farming and bets on penalties to prevent diversion to drug traffickers
  - La Razon, 09 March 2017

• The fraud of coca industrialization in Bolivia
  - Erbol Digitial, 08 March 2017

• President Evo Morales signs new coca farming law without the support of the Yungas region of Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 08 March 2017

• Coca leaf growers from the Yungas region reject the new coca leaf law in Bolivia, rejecting the increase in legal cultivation in the Cochabamba region of the Chapare
  - El Diario, 08 March 2017

• President Evo Morales signs the new law that expands legal plantings of coca leaf and calls for effort to industrialize coca products
  - La Razon, 08 March 2017

• President Evo Morales labels as traitors those who reject the new law of coca farming in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 08 March 2017

• The government of Bolivia will work with leaders of the coca growers from the Yungas and Chapare to create a tax law for coca farming
  - La Razon, 08 March 2017

• Bolivian government expects to impose a tax on coca leaf sales
  - El Deber, 08 March 2017

• Bolivia faces the challenging of explaining to the world the increase in coca farming under the new law
  - El Deber, 08 March 2017

• In La Paz (Bolivia), they only sell and consume coca leaf from the northern Yungas region
  - El Diario, 06 March 2017

• The environment and security at risk due to the new coca laws in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 05 March 2017

• The new coca law in Bolivia: peace and money in exchange for a greater social risk
  - El Deber, 05 March 2017

• The increase in coca farming threatens relations between Colombia and the United States, now more than 200,000 hectares
  - El Tiempo, 05 March 2017

• Tumaco and Briceño: two of the zones with the most cultivation of coca in Colombia
  - Semana, 04 March 2017

• The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, rejects a U.S. report about anti-drug efforts in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 03 March 2017

• Life in the VRAEM, Peru's 'cocaine valley'.
  - Al Jazeera, 03 March 2017

• The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, rejects a U.S. report about anti-drug efforts in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 03 March 2017

• An annual report of the U.S. State Department warns that in 2016, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia continue being the biggest producers of coca and cocaine in the world
  - agina Siete, 03 March 2017

• An annual report of the U.S. State Department warns that in 2016, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia continue being the biggest producers of coca and cocaine in the world
  - El Diario, 03 March 2017

• 'Coca farming increased because the Government of Colombia peace activities with FARC', according to the U.S. Department of State
  - Colombia Reports, 03 March 2017

• 'Coca farming increased because the Government of Colombia peace activities with FARC', according to the U.S. Department of State
  - El Tiempo, 03 March 2017

• Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, justifies approval of expansion of coca leaf cultivation to 22,000 hectares and assures that legal demand is growing
  - La Razon, 01 March 2017

• Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, justifies approval of expansion of coca leaf cultivation to 22,000 hectares
  - El Deber, 01 March 2017

• Increase of allowed patents of coca leaf will have an effect on the environment in Bolivia
  - El Deber, 01 March 2017

• Increase of allowed patents of coca leaf will have an effect on the environment in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 01 March 2017

• Evo Morales argues that the political right has moral basis to criticize expanded cultivation of coca
  - Cambio, 01 March 2017

• Evo Morales argues that the political right has moral basis to criticize expanded cultivation of coca
  - Pagina Siete, 01 March 2017

• 56 intellectuals and professionals in Bolivia reject the new law that expands growth of coca
  - Pagina Siete, 01 March 2017

• 147 intellectuals in Bolivia reject the new law that expands growth of coca
  - Pagina Siete, 01 March 2017

• In Bolivia, political opposition argues that the new coca law favors drug traffickers
  - Erbol Digital, 01 March 2017

• Coca leaf in Bolivia: 25,000 tons are being chewed of the 39,000 tons being harvested?
  - Erbol Digital, 01 March 2017

• The increase in hectares of coca farming in Bolivia was due to pressure from coca farmers
  - El Diario, 28 February 2017

• Bolivian government calculates that 6000 tons of coca leaf are for legal industrial and commercial uses, and 18000 tons of coca are being consumed
  - La Razon, 26 February 2017

• Proposed new law for legal coca farming temporarily ends tax on coca leaf harvests.
  - El Deber, 25 February 2017

• Foreign diplomats and social networks in Bolivia raises concerns and voice objections to new law that expands coca farming from 10,000 hectares to 22,000 hectares.
  - Pagina Siete, 25 February 2017

• Bolivian Senate approves new coca farming law that expands legal growth to 22,000 hectares, up from 12,000 hectares under the old law
  - La Razon, 24 February 2017

• Bolivian Senate approves new coca farming law that expands legal growth to 22,000 hectares, up from 12,000 hectares under the old law
  - Los Tiempos, 24 February 2017

• Bolivian Senate approves new coca farming law that expands legal growth to 22,000 hectares, up from 12,000 hectares under the old law
  - El Diario, 24 February 2017

• Bolivian Senate approves new coca farming law that expands legal growth to 22,000 hectares, up from 12,000 hectares under the old law
  - Pagina Siete, 24 February 2017

• Northern Bolivian coca farmers (from the Yungas) accept agreement with governent to allow some legal coca growing in the Chapare
  - El Deber, 23 February 2017

• Northern Bolivian coca farmers (from the Yungas) accept agreement with governent to allow some legal coca growing in the Chapare
  - Los Tiempos, 23 February 2017

• Northern Bolivian coca farmers (from the Yungas) accept agreement with governent to allow some legal coca growing in the Chapare
  - Pagina Siete, 23 February 2017

• Northern Bolivian coca farmers (from the Yungas) accept agreement with governent to allow some legal coca growing in the Chapare
  - La Razon, 23 February 2017

• Bolivian government accuses leader of northern coca growers of frustrating attempts to reach an agreement
  - La Razon, 23 February 2017

• Government of Bolivia requests that the coca growers halt their protests after an agreement is reached on expanded farming
  - La Razon, 23 February 2017

• Government of Bolivia agrees to allow northern coca growers (Yungas) to harvest 14,300 hectares of coca, and southern growers (Chapare) to harvest 7000 hectares.
  - La Razon, 23 February 2017

• Government of Bolivia agrees to allow northern coca growers (Yungas) to harvest 14,300 hectares of coca, and southern growers (Chapare) to harvest 7000 hectares.
  - Pagina Siete, 23 February 2017

• Political opposition in Bolivia proposes a referendum to define the increase in legal coca growth
  - Pagina Siete, 22 February 2017

• Government of Bolivia and northern coca growers (Adepcoca) start discussions on the new coca leaf laws
  - Pagina Siete, 22 February 2017

• 30 injured and 148 coca growers arrested in confrontations with police in La Paz
  - El Diario, 22 February 2017

• Government defends allowing coca farming in the Chapare (Bolivia) and wants coca growers to understand the importance of the proposed law
  - La Razon, 22 February 2017

• Police in Bolivia free 111 coca growers that were arrested for their public disturbances during protests
  - La Razon, 22 February 2017

• Politicians in Bolivia start formal discussions on a new coca farming law, while protests rage in streets of La Paz
  - La Razon, 22 February 2017

• Northern Bolivian coca farmers (from the Yungas) decide to restart protests and block the streets in Villa Fatima
  - La Razon, 21 February 2017

• Indigenous villagers in Peru losing patience with land seizures by other farmers growing illegal coca crops.
  - Reuters, 21 February 2017

• Coca growers reiterate and threaten new blockades in the city of La Paz
  - ErBol, 21 February 2017

• Northern Bolivian coca farmers (from the Yungas) decide to restart protes ts in La Paz, and the UN Office of Drug Control offers to mediate the conflict with the government
  - La Razon, 20 February 2017

• Police in La Paz suppress protests of coca growers; at least 40 are arrested, while the government calls for dialog
  - La Razon, 20 February 2017

• Police in La Paz suppress protests of coca growers; at least 40 are arrested, while the government calls for dialog
  - ErBol, 20 February 2017

• Police in Bolivia intervene in a vigil of coca leaf growers at the Murillo government plaza, as the government complains of confrontations
  - La Razon, 20 February 2017

• Police in Bolivia intervene in a vigil of coca leaf growers at the Murillo government plaza, as the government complains of confrontations
  - Pagina Siete, 20 February 2017

• Under the proposed law, the Chapare region of Bolivia will now be able to grow 7000 hectares of coca leaf, producing 19,000 tons a year.
  - Los Tiempos, 19 February 2017

• Northern coca growers (Adepcoca) in the Yungas region of Bolivia demand that the government justify why it is making legal the farming of 7,000 hectares of coca farming in the southern Chapare region.
  - Erbol, 19 February 2017

• Northern coca growers (Adepcoca) in the Yungas region of Bolivia demand that the government eradicate all of the coca farming in the southern region of Chapare which is now illegal
  - Cambio, 19 February 2017

• Government of Bolivia convened a meeting with the northern coca growers from the Yungas to discuss changes to the coca growing laws
  - Cambio, 19 February 2017

• Cesar Cocarico, the rural development minister of Bolivia, says that protests by the northern coca growers of the Yungas is just policitics
  - El Diario, 19 February 2017

• Cesar Cocarico, the rural development minister of Bolivia, says that the northern coca growers of the Yungas requested the right to grow 24,000 hectares of coca leaf, not the 13,000 hectares as in the proposed law
  - Pagina Siete, 19 February 2017

• The Legislative Assembly of Bolivia suspends debate over proposed changes to the coca growing laws
  - Los Tiempos, 18 February 2017

• Coca growers from the Yungas region of Bolivia close the Murillo government plaza to protest proposed changes to the coca growing laws that favors coca growers from the Chapare
  - El Diario, 18 February 2017

• Coca growers from the Yungas region of Bolivia close the Murillo government plaza to protest proposed changes to the coca growing laws that favors coca growers from the Chapare
  - Pagina Siete, 18 February 2017

• Coca growers from the Yungas region of Bolivia close the Murillo government plaza to protest proposed changes to the coca growing laws that favors coca growers from the Chapare
  - La Razon, 18 February 2017

• Vice Ministry of Coca Production resigns in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 17 February 2017

• Editorial: Bolivia really doesn't need to expand coca farming from 12,000 hectares to 20,000 hectares
  - El Diario, 17 February 2017

• The government of Colombia hopes to substitute/eradicate 100,000 hectares of coca farming in 2017
  - El Pais, 13 February 2017

• Colombia will grant land titles to 10,000 families to abandon coca growing, in three departments of the southwest region of the country where 40% of the coca in the country is grown
  - Gestion, 06 February 2017

• Government of Bolivia begins plan to erradicate 5000 hectares of coca leaf plants this year
  - El Diario, 01 February 2017

• Yungas coca leaf growers and government of Bolivia continue fighting over changes to Law 1008 regulating legal coca leaf growing
  - El Deber, 01 February 2017

• Coca farmers in the Yungas (Bolivia) request respect for their current acreages of cultivation
  - Pagina Siete, 29 January 2017

• Coca farmers in the Yungas (Bolivia) request respect for their current acreages of cultivation
  - El Diario, 29 January 2017

• Colombia and FARC rebels to wage joint fight against coca cultivation.
  - Reuters, 28 January 2017

• The deaths of those at "war" over coca in the Córdoba south, Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 27 January 2017

• The coca leaf growers of Colombia want to have a strong voice in drug politics, and launch a new association of coca growers, the National Council for Growers of Coca, Marijuana and Opium (COCCAM in Spanish)
  - La Silla Vacia, 23 January 2017

• In Bolivia, arguments over a proposed new law for coca farming saddens the celebrations for the Day of Coca Chewing
  - Pagina Siete, 12 January 2017

• Why getting farmers to switch from tobacco crops is a struggle.
  - CNBC, 10 January 2017

• Government of Bolivia will set limit of 20,000 hectares of legal coca, and a tax of 2 bolivianos per pound
  - El Deber, 08 January 2017

• Coca growers in the Yungas and in Cochabamba regions disagree over proposed law for legal coca growing
  - La Prensa, 08 January 2017

• Margaret Thatcher planned to infest Latin America coca crops with a plant-eating moth without informing the local governments.
  - The Times, 30 December 2016

• Adepcoca (association of coca growers in Bolivia) reject meeting with Minister Cocarico, insisting they want to talk with President Morales
  - El Diario, 28 December 2016

• The government of Bolivia seeks to provide public lands to coca growers, and admits that eradication efforts "are not a total success"
  - La Razon, 22 December 2016

• Bolivia projects exporting to Ecuador, starting in February, products derived from the coca leaf
  - La Razon, 22 December 2016

• Bolivia eradicates a lower quantity of coca leaf, 6,576 hectares in 2016 versus 11,025 in 2015, as it approaches goal of 20,000 legal hectares of coca farmign
  - El Deber, 22 December 2016

• Of the 32 departments (provinces) of Colombia, 29 cultivate coca leaf
  - Prensa Latina, 17 December 2016

• "It isn't impossible to live without coca leaf", according to inhabitants of El Placer (Putumayo, Colombia) - substituting coca leaf with cacao
  - El Espectador, 17 December 2016

• Farmers in Antioquia (Colombia) denounce the forced eradication of coca leaf
  - Colombia Informa, 16 December 2016

• The FARC guerillas of Colombia: not just drug traffickers nor just revolutionaries
  - La Silla Vacia, 15 December 2016

• AIN short film explores community coca control in Bolivia.
  - Andean Information Network, 14 December 2016

• How community coca control and integral development prioritize SDGs in Chapare.
  - Andean Information Network, 14 December 2016

• Cacao - an option en Paramillo (Colombia) for switching from coca farming
  - El Colombiano, 14 December 2016

• Colombia will being the manual use of glyphosate to eradicate coca cultivation
  - La Razon, 12 December 2016

• Interview with coca grower Amapola Duran Salas in Peru.
  - Andean Information Network, 08 December 2016

• What are we going to do to lower the production of coca in Colombia?
  - El Tiempo, 05 December 2016

• Bolivia plans to export coca teas and coca liquors to Ecuador
  - La Razon, 29 November 2016

• The 'traditional zone' of coca cultivation in Bolivia, the debate that is coming - the statistics
  - La Razon, 28 November 2016

• Bolivia signs agreement with Ecuador to export coca products
  - La Razon, 21 November 2016

• Bolivia will export to Ecuador products derived from coca
  - Pagina Siete, 22 November 2016

• If Bolivians want more water to drink, say "no" to illegal coca farming
  - Opinion, 11 November 2016

• Coca leaf farmers in northern Bolivia propose a law to guarantee the perpetual right to grow coca in eight regions of Bolivia
  - La Razon, 15 November 2016

• Coca growers of the Chapare (Bolivia) propose their own modifications to the coca laws
  - El Deber, 15 November 2016

• Excessive chewing of coca leaf can cause mouth cancer
  - Pagina Siete, 06 November 2016

• Coca leaf was used as money during the pre-Hispanic era in the Andes
  - Pagina Siete, 06 November 2016

• Police in Argentina seize 1.25 tons of coca leaf hidden in a shipment of oranges from Bolivia.
  - La Razon, 30 October 2016

• Police in Peru and Bolivia seize 1.2 tons of coca leaf from Peru being shipped to Bolivia thru Lake Titicaca region.
  - La Razon, 30 October 2016

• UNASUR report highlights achievements of Bolivian coca control
  - Andean Information Network, 27 October 2016

• Bolivia proposes a new law to protect the cultural heritage of coca chewing.
  - La Razon, 26 October 2016

• International Narcotics Control Board (INCB/JIFE) congratulates Bolivia for its antidrug efforts based on manual eradication of coca
  - La Razon, 19 October 2016

• Peru renews military operations in VRAEM coca hub.
  - InSight Crime, 11 October 2016

• High schools in Cochabamba region (Bolivia) will include the history of coca in their educational curriculum
  - La Razon, 20 September 2016

• How Bolivia successfully fights drug trafficking.
  - New York Times, 14 September 2016

• Putting coca back in the cola, Colombia mulls coca-based products, for example, from the Coca Nasa indigenous coca products company
  - Miami Herald, 09 September 2016

• Cacao for coca in Colombia.
  - The Bogota Post, 09 September 2016

• Colombia struggles to reduce illegal farming of coca leaf.
  - StratFor, 31 August 2016

• Poverty could hobble efforts in Colombia to reduce coca leaf farming after a peace deal is reached with FARC
  - Voice of America, 26 August 2016

• Vice-minister of Defense of Bolivia proposes three years in jail for the illegal cultivation of coca
  - La Razon, 22 August 2016

• In 8 months, Bolivia eradicated 4,200 hectares of coca
  - La Razon, 20 August 2016

• Links between gold and coca in Colombia.
  - COHA News, 18 August 2016

• A journey to the town of El Tambo, the 'coca heart' of Cauca, Colombia
  - El Pais, 16 August 2016

• New Colombia Resources (www.newcolombiaresources.com) plans to develop medicinal coca.
  - Finance Colombia, 12 August 2016

• In Colombia, Senator Jual Manuel Galán open the debate above the medical use of coca leaf
  - RCN Radio, 09 August 2016

• New defense minister of Peru vists the coca growing region of VRAEM.
  - El Commercio, 09 August 2016

• Why is coca leaf left out of the drug research renaissance?
  - Inverse, 03 August 2016

• Illegal cultivation of coca leaf, and rates of changes of currencies
  - Portfolio, 25 July 2016

• Why has the harvesting of coca leaf in Colombia risen sharply?
  - El Pais, 23 July 2016

• Coca growers report that 30% of the production of coca leaf in the Yungas region of Bolivia is affected by insect pests
  - La Razon, 19 July 2016

• Coca growing zones of Caranavi and Apolo (Bolivia) will be added to list of legal zones for coca farming
  - La Razon, 15 July 2016

• Who will control the coca fields in Colombia without FARC?
  - The Atlantic, 01 July 2016

• It is time to respect the indigenous biocultural heritage of the coca plant.
  - Intercontinental Cry, 28 June 2016

• Bolivia has its 7th vice minister of coca farming in 10 years
  - La Razon, 19 June 2016

• Ecuador agrees to imports of coca products from Bolivia such as coca teas.
  - La Razon, 11 July 2016

• Bolivia to expand legal cultivation of coca leaves from 14,750 hectares to 20,000 hectares, though only 8,000 hectares needed for legal consumption
  - El Deber, 11 July 2016

• Chapare coca growers propose that Bolivia expand legal cultivation of coca leaves from 14,750 hectares to 20,000 hectares
  - El Deber, 11 July 2016

• Bolivia to expand legal cultivation of coca leaves from 14,750 hectares to 20,000 hectares, though only 8,000 hectares needed for legal consumption
  - La Razon, 11 July 2016

• Bolivia to expand legal cultivation of coca leaves from 14,750 hectares to 20,000 hectares, though only 8,000 hectares needed for legal consumption
  - Pagina Siete, 11 July 2016

• Colombia doubles in two years its cultivation of coca leaf, now growing 96,000 hectares
  - El Diario, 09 July 2016

• Contradictory statistics about the amount of coca leaf being grown in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 08 July 2016

• Between 2015 and 2015, cultivation of coca leaf grew 39% in Colombia
  - El Deber, 08 July 2016

• Bolivia assumes head of the regional ALADI committee on the industrialization of coca
  - La Razon, 07 July 2016

• UNODC recommends that Bolivia design a new strategy to "sustainably reduce" coca cultivation
  - La Razon, 06 July 2016

• European Union finances a study about the potential of producing medicinal cocaine in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 05 July 2016

• Laws regulating the coca leaf in Bolivia to be updated by the end of 2016
  - La Razon, 21 June 2016

• How the coca leaf became the new superfood of Colombia.
  - Vice, 19 May 2016

• Coca tea is slowly becoming popular with people in Spain
  - El Deber, 17 May 2017

• What Colombian farmers can buy when they use coca leaves and coca paste as currency [good photos]
  - Business Insider, 08 May 2016

• Coca growers of the Six Federations of Cochabamba launch a newspaper and radio station
  - La Razon, 02 May 2016

• U.S. taxpayers wasted $4.3 billion fighting the cocaine war in Colombia from 2000 to 2008, achieving little reduction through eradication of coca leaves
  - Washington Post, 31 May 2016

• Peru and Bolivia create an intelligence center to work together to halt illegal coca farming along their borders
  - La Razon, 28 May 2016

• The new law in the United States against drug trafficking violates the sovereignty of other countries
  - EL Diario, 25 May 2016

• Sellers of coca leaf in three regions of Bolivia hold street protests to demand the creation of a State Market for coca leaf
  - La Razon, 24 May 2016

• Works of art using coca leaves of the Bolivian artist, Gastón Ugalde, are burned by authorities in Holland
  - La Razon, 24 May 2016

• Is the coca leaf eradication policy in South America obsolete?
  - Poder, 21 May 2016

• Who will hire FARC guerillas after peace, if they can't continue to farm coca leaf?
  - The Daily Beast, 20 May 2016

• President Evo Morales criticizes new law of the United States that could be used to extradict coca leaf farmers.
  - El Deber, 19 May 2016

• Coca leaf farmers of Cochabamba (Bolivia) reject new law of the United States that could be used to extradict coca leaf farmers.
  - Los Tiempos, 19 May 2016

• How the coca leaf became the new superfood of Colombia.
  - Vice, 19 May 2016

• A big increase in Coca cultivation in Norte de Santander is troubling for peace plans in Colombia.
  - InSight Crime, 19 May 2016

• On video: why farming coca leaf is a good business for a farmer in Colombia
  - Las 2 Orillas, 19 May 2016

• On video: how will coca farmers survive the peace plans of Colombia?
  - Las 2 Orillas, 18 May 2016

• Minister of Justice of Colombia, Jorge Londoño, rules out that cultivators of coca leaf will be extradited to the U.S.
  - Caracol Radio, 18 May 2016

• Coca leaf farmers in the Asociacion de Zonas de Reserva Campesina oppose the new anti-drug law signed by President Obama.
  - CMI, 17 May 2016

• New law against drug trafficking signed by President Obama won't be used to extradict coca leaf farmers, but rather make it easier to extradict leaders of drug trafficking gangs.
  - El Espectador, 17 May 2016

• Because of a new law of the United States, farmers of coca leaf could be extradited to the United States
  - El Colombiano, 17 May 2016

• 50 former coca leaf farmers sell their first year of production of cacao
  - Info Region, 17 May 2016

• Peruvian presidential candidate, Keiko Fujimori, snubs for the second time the coca growers of the VRAEM region
  - La Republica, 13 May 2016

• The government of Bolivia and the UN Office of Drug Control will update methods of measurement of coca cultivation
  - La Razon, 10 May 2016

• The PPK party of Peru (led by Pedro Pablo Kuczynaki) will continue efforts to eradicate coca leaf, if it wins the presidential election
  - America Economia, 10 May 2016

• José Chãvez Peñherrera, brother of Peruvian drug trafficker "Vaticano", changes from growing coca leaf to growing cacao.
  - RPP, 10 May 2016

• Peruvian presidential candidate, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, rejects any political alliance with a jailed leader of coca growers, Nelson Palomino.
  - Alta Voz, 06 May 2016

• Peruvian presidential candidate, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, signs agreement with a jailed leader of coca growers, Nelson Palomino.
  - Peru21, 06 May 2016

• Coca growers in La Asunta (the Yungas of Bolivia) declare an emergency, and demand that the government cease eradication efforts.
  - La Razon, 05 May 2016

• Coca growers in La Asunta (the Yungas of Bolivia) declare an emergency, and demand that the government cease eradication efforts.
  - La Razon, 04 May 2016

• Replacing the cultivation of coca leaf with that of cacao in Sion Valley (Peru)
  - RPP, 02 May 2016

• Coca farmers in Cauca (Colombia) block a highway to protest the eradication of illegal plantings
  - Caracol Radio, 03 May 2016

• Peruvian police in the VRAEM incinerate more than 3 tons of dry coca leaf.
  - Info Region, 02 May 2016

• Without eradication nor substitutions, coca leaf harvests in Catatumbo (Colombia) rise 82%.
  - El Tiempo, 01 May 2016

• The ELN guerrilas and the business of coca leaf in Norte de Santander (Colombia)
  - La Opinion, 01 May 2016

• Coca growers across Bolivia are debating a new law for coca growing to replace Law 1008 passed in 1988.
  - El Deber, 01 May 2016

• Government of Colombia is preparing a decree to expand the use of coca leaf for medical purposes
  - Minuto30, 27 April 2016

• In Arauca (Colombia), changing from the cultivation of coca leaf to cacao to earn $20,000
  - RCN Radio, 27 April 2016

• The war against the coca leaf has criminalized an expression of Andean culture.
  - Open Democracy, 26 April 2016

• Coca growers in Northern Bolivia (ADEPCOCA) are analyzing the proposed revisions to the coca laws.
  - La Razon, 26 April 2016

• Colombia rethinks its strategy for coca eradication, and targets laboratories that make cocaine.
  - Insight Crime, 25 April 2016

• Ineffective and possible carcinogenic, but Colombia will go back to attacking coca plants with glyphosate.
  - Mint Press News, 22 April 2016

• Peru attributes a 50% drop in the price of coca leaf (down to $1.80 per kilogram) due to drop in demand from drug traffickers.
  - Insight Crime, 22 April 2016

• President Evo Morales of Bolivia defends the coca leaf, and requests that the U.S. DEA be kept away from the fight against drugs
  - La Razon, 22 April 2016

• Fashion models in Bolivia that chew coca leaf.
  - El Deber, 20 April 2016

• Colombia considers resuming glyphosate use on crops of coca leaf.
  - InSight Crime, 19 April 2016

• Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, urges the Pope to chew coca leaves.
  - Vice News, 15 April 2016

• Coca leaf: doubts, questions, ideas (by Carlos Mesa, former president of Bolivia)
  - Los Tiempos, 10 April 2016

• In Bolivia, in May, government to start a debate about modifying the laws to legally grow coca leaf (Law 1008).
  - La Razon, 06 April 2016

• Citizenship or repression? Coca, eradication and development in the Andes - Bolivia.
  - Andean Information Network, 01 April 2016

• In Bolivia, southern coca growers (six federations of Cochabamba) give support to proposed law for government control of social networks during the next elections (a law supported by President Morales and the ruling party)
  - Pagina Siete, 28 March 2016

• Five employees of the state company for coca leaf (ENACO), in the Puno region, are arrested after robbing and kidnapping a coca leaf trader
  - RPP, 22 March 2016

• Secretive corporation (Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals) that uses cocaine extracted for coca leaves (which are sold to Coca Cola) paid zero taxes in 2015.
  - Natural News, 21 March 2016

• Colombia's big comeback - farmers moving from coca leaf to cacao.
  - Christian Science Monitor, 20 March 2016

• Questioning the myth of the profitability of growing coca leaf
  - La Silla Vacia, 18 March 2016

• In the Southwest Colombia region of Tumaco, the government of Colombia to initiate an experimental program to eradicate coca leaf.
  - InSight Crime, 18 March 2016

• Coffee or coca? Colombian farmers face a difficult choice.
  - Latin Correspondent, 14 March 2016

• President Morales declares that coca leaf from the Yungas is the best in Bolivia.
  - La Razon, 13 March 2016

• Bolivia celebrates the day of coca chewing (photos)
  - Los Tiempos, 12 March 2016

• Coca leaf growers in the Chapare (Bolivia) want to increase their legal cultivation from 12,000 to 20,000 hectares.
  - El Diario, 04 March 2016

• Former coca leaf plantations in Colombia are given a new purpose by funding from the European Union.
  - EurActiv, 04 March 2016

• UN reports on decreasing amounts of coca leaf being cultivated in South America, but growing cocaine consumption
  - Pagina Siete, 03 March 2016

• UN reports on decreasing amounts of coca leaf being cultivated in South America, but growing cocaine consumption
  - El Deber, 02 March 2016

• Bolivia maintains its rhythm of erradication of coca leaf plants
  - El Deber, 02 March 2016

• Colombia recovers first place in the production of coca leaf
  - El Deber, 02 March 2016

• Northern Bolivian coca growers (Adepcoca) and government trying to increase the legal sales of coca leaf.
  - La Razon, 01 March 2016

• What would happen if the government of Colombia, instead of destroying cultivations of coca, bought the coca leaf supplies?
  - La Silla Vacia, 29 February 2016

• The government of Bolivia seeks to eradicate 6000 hectares of coca leaf
  - La Razon, 27 February 2016

• 30 coca growers in Peru (from Alto Huallaga and VRAEM) are running for Congress in elections, some financed by drug traffickers.
  - El Comercio, 16 February 2016

• Coca leaf farmers in the Yungas continue to protest, demanding referendum over failed government promises for new services, and over failed discussions to increase the acreage of coca plantings in the Yungas versus Chapare
  - Pagina Siete, 15 February 2016

• Coca leaf farmers in the Yungas sign agreement with the government, and end their blockade of the highway, in return for more government services such as roadway constructions, a new technology center and better medical services
  - La Razon, 14 February 2016

• For third day, coca leaf farmers block highway between La Paz and the Yungas, with 800 cars and trucks trapped on the highway
  - El Deber, 13 February 2016

• Coca leaf farmers in the Yungas (Bolivia) block roadway to La Paz, with 17 arrested from coca growers union (Adepcoca), while making demands for more social services from the government
  - La Razon, 10 February 2016

• Plan Colombia's mixed legacy: coca thrives but peace deal may be on the horizon
  - The Guardian, 03 February 2016

• Colombia is preparing for peace, but so are its coca drug traffickers.
  - Washington Post, 02 February 2016

• UN drug control office (UNODC) to quanitfy the cultivation of coca in the northern part of La Paz province.
  - El Diario, 25 January 2016

• President Evo Morales of Bolivia returns to the Chapare region to do a bit of coca leaf harvesting.
  - El Deber, 03 January 2016

• President Evo Morales of Bolivia announces "battle" to fight for the decriminalization of coca.
  - Los Tiempos, 02 January 2016

• Cocaleros from the Chapare region of Bolivia, the Six Federations, meet with President Morales in Cochabamba to review the weaknesses of the government
  - La Razon, 27 December 2015

• Cocaleros from the Chapare region of Bolivia, the Six Federations, meet with President Morales in Cochabamba to review the management of coca farming in their region.
  - Los Tiempos, 26 December 2015

• Cocaleros from the Chapare region of Bolivia, the Six Federations, start efforts across their country to support the campaign to change the constitution to allow the re-election of President Morales.
  - La Razon, 26 December 2015

• Italian police discover coca tea being sold illegally in Italy for many years.
  - The Telegraph, 25 December 2015

• The government of Bolivia expects to reduce coca farming to 20,000 hectares by the end of 2015, down from as much as 56,000 hectares in the 1990s
  - La Razon, 19 December 2015

• United Nations salutes the achievements in the elimination of illegal coca growing in Bolivia.
  - El Deber, 12 December 2015

• President Morales of Bolivia announces French scientists will support the industrialization of coca
  - La Razon, 03 December 2015

• Coca growers intend to buy radio and newspaper in Cochabamba (Bolivia)
  - El Deber, 27 November 2015

• In Bolivia, unlikely outlaws: indigenous coca farmers as indigenous advocates.
  - DEVEX, 25 November 2015

• What you should know about the coca leaf, beyond its criminalization
  - Lamula (Peru), 22 November 2015

• Mauricio Macri, opposition candidate in the presidential elections in Argentina, chews coca leaf on the campaign trail.
  - New York Times, 20 November 2015

• Coca farmer killed in revolt against crops eradication in Argelia (Cauca), a municipality in the southwest of Colombia.
  - Colombia Reports, 20 November 2015

• In Pery, coca growers of the VRAEM region insist that their coca plantings not be erradicated
  - InfoRegion, 19 November 2015

• Residents of the South Yungas (Bolivia) burning forest land to create terrain for coca growing
  - El Diario, 19 November 2015

• Bolivia is running out of space to store seizures of illegal coca leaf, now with 3 million pounds in rented space
  - InSight Crime, 13 November 2015

• Will the proposed law from the U.S. Senate lead to more extraditions of drug traffickers from South America?
  - InsightCrime, 13 November 2015

• "The potential market for legal coca leaf products is the same as or greater than that of drug trafficking" - Alfredo Menacho, director of Wawasana
  - Lamula (Peru), 11 November 2017

• President Morales urges coca growers of the Chapare to continue to help support the economy
  - Los Tiempos, 01 November 2015

• U.S. Senate proposes law to make it easier for the U.S. Justice Department to request extradition of drug traffickers from Colombia, including coca growers
  - El Colombiano, 15 October 2015

• There are a growing number of deaths and misuses of prescription opioids in the United States
  - Fox News, 14 October 2015

• Government of Bolivia seeks to erradicate 11,000 hectares of illegal coca farming in 2015
  - La Razon, 13 October 2015

• Sugar cane growers in Bermejo (Tarija province of Bolivia) are switching from sugar cane to coca leaf, due to lack of government support for alternative crops
  - El Deber, 11 October 2015

• Colombia announces a plan to support coca growers who switch to alternative crops
  - New York Times, 22 September 2015

• United Nations drug control office (UNODC) requests better control of the legal coca leaf market in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 18 September 2015

• United Nations drug control office (UNODC) requests better control of the legal coca leaf market in Bolivia
  - ErBol, 18 September 2015

• Bolivia considers new taxes on coca leaf farmers, to provide a new source of revenue for the government as oil revenues decrease
  - El Diario, 16 September 2015

• The White House blacklisted Bolivia for growing coca while US states legally sell illegal marijuana.
  - Vice News, 16 September 2015

• 11 countries in Latin America support the idea of Bolivia to promote the commerce of coca leaf and its derivatives
  - El Deber, 11 September 2015

• Editorial: Bolivia needs to measure more accurately its growth of illegal coca, to better reduce these illegal cultivations
  - La Razon, 06 September 2015

• Colombia promises to reduce the farming of coca leaf near the Venezuelan border in Catatumbo
  - Colombia Reports, 04 September 2015

• Over 500,000 pineapple offshoots to replace in coca plants in the VRAEM region of Peru
  - Freshplaza, 01 September 2015

• The first Coca Technology Fair in Bolivia is held in Santa Cruz
  - El Deber, 30 August 2015

• CocaCola still has the best taste for its use of coca leaves that have been decocainized
  - BGR, 24 August 2015

• United States is willing to analyze its method for measuring coca growth in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 26 August 2015

• United States is willing to analyze its method for measuring coca growth in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 26 August 2015

• United States is pressured to analyze its method for measuring coca growth in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 26 August 2015

• Editorial: the increase of coca growing in Bolivia is not the problem [to be discussed], but rather the chain of production of illegal drugs
  - Los Tiempos, 25 August 2015

• Opinion: We are [Bolivia] a coca farming country, as is our economy
  - El Diario, 25 August 2015

• United Nations Drug Control Office does not recognize the method used by the DEA to measure coca growth in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 25 August 2015

• United Nations Drug Control Office requests that Bolivia and the United States correlate their data on coca growth
  - La Razon, 25 August 2015

• In Bolivia, the coca leaf diverted to the illegal market dropped between 2010 and 2014, from 65% to 40%
  - La Razon, 24 August 2015

• President Evo Morales challenges the United States to verify its data on the growth of coca leaf in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 24 August 2015

• United States says Bolivia is growing 35,000 hectares of coca, a claim that Bolivia rejects
  - La Razon, 23 August 2015

• Tensions revive between Bolivia and the United States after U.S. report on coca growing in Bolivia
  - El Deber, 23 August 2015

• Government of Bolivia: the United States persists in discrediting our anti-drug fight
  - Pagina Siete, 23 August 2015

• How Bolivia became a drug war success story -- after ousting the DEA
  - Fusion, 19 August 2015

• How Bolivia got smart and convinced poor farmers to grow less coca.
  - Vice, 19 August 2015

• UN Office of Drug Control reports that 60% of the coca leaf grown in Bolivia is used for legal purposes
  - El Diario, 18 August 2015

• Eradication of coca plantations means misery for some of the farmers of Peru
  - Fox News, 17 August 2015

• Eradication creates misery for the coca farmers of Peru.
  - New York Times, 17 August 2015

• Government in Bolivia resumes the eradication of coca plants in national parks, removing 800 hectares in two parks in Cochabamba
  - Los Tiempos, 13 August 2015

• Why sugar and soy and palm oil farming is worse for the forests of Colombia than is coca farming
  - New Scientist, 09 August 2015

• Coca growers in La Asunta (Yungas, Bolivia) fight with municipal leaders over fears that they will not be included in the allocations of the new coca law
  - ErBol, 09 August 2015

• Bolivia is growing about 25,000 hectares of coca a year (with a goal to reduce to 20,000 hectares), while destroying about 10,000 hectares a year
  - La Razon, 07 August 2015

• Industrialization of coca grown in Bolivia only requires 46 hectares per eyar
  - El Deber, 31 July 2015

• Emmanuel Hondrat (of the EU): it was impossible to see coca as a supplement to income
  - El Deber, 26 July 2015

• Chapare coca growers diversify to change their lives
  - El Deber, 26 July 2015

• Colombia is growing more coca leaf than Peru, according to the latest U.N. report, 69,000 hectares versus 42,900 hectares
  - New York Times, 15 July 2015

• Government of Bolivia discusses with Colombia a model to reduce illegal plantings of coca leaf
  - La Razon, 14 July 2015

• UN Office of Drug Control to present annual report on coca growing in Peru
  - Andina News, 13 July 2015

• Coca growers from Arapato, Coripata, in the Yungas (Bolivia), block strategic roadway for the region, protesting lack of support from Vice Ministry of Coca
  - Los Tiempos, 06 July 2015

• Coca growers from Arapato, Coripata, in the Yungas, block strategic roadway for the region, protesting lack of support from Vice Ministry of Coca
  - La Razon, 06 July 2015

• Coca growers from Arapato, Coripata, in the Yungas, block strategic roadway for the region, protesting lack of support from Vice Ministry of Coca
  - Pagina Siete, 06 July 2015

• Coca leaf production in Colombia has risen 44%, mostly in areas controlled by the FARC guerrillas
  - BBC, 02 July 2015

• The negative health consequences of aerial spraying of coca crops with glyphosate in Colombia
  - Center for Global Development, 29 June 2015

• Pope Francis wants to chew coca leaf when he arrives in La Paz, to counter the effects of high altitude
  - BBC, 29 June 2015

• Pope Francis wants to chew coca leaf when he arrives in La Paz, to counter the effects of high altitude
  - La Razon, 29 June 2015

• Pope Francis wants to chew coca leaf when he arrives in La Paz, to counter the effects of high altitude
  - Prensa, 29 June 2015

• Pope Francis wants to chew coca leaf when he arrives in La Paz, to counter the effects of high altitude
  - El Diario, 29 June 2015

• Tropical coca growers in Bolivia (the federations of Cochabamba) assume that Evo Morales will run for president in 2020 (which requires a change to the Constitution)
  - ErBol Digital, 28 June 2015

• Coca growers of the six federations of Cochabamba insist on the government legalizing their growing of 7000 hectares of coca
  - ErBol, 24 June 2015

• Coca growers of the six federations of Cochabamba analyzing the idea of paying a 5 boliviano tax on sales of coca leaf
  - ErBol, 23 June 2015

• Legal experts say that coca growers should pay a value added tax of 13%, and not less than 1% as proposed by way of a five boliviano tax on a 50 pound bag of coca leaf
  - Pagina Siete, 21 June 2015

• Coca growers from the Yungas region propose a five boliviano tax on a 50 pound bad of coca leaf
  - Pagina Siete, 21 June 2015

• Recalling the 1994 march of the coca growers, and its political impact
  - El Diario, 21 June 2015

• Coca growers of the Yungas discussing with the government on how to pay taxes on their legal coca leaves
  - La Razon, 19 June 2015

• Coca growers of the Chapare region can't pay taxes on sales of their leaves, because their leaves are illegal
  - El Diario, 19 June 2015

• President Evo Morales promises to build the coca growers of the Yungas a new headquarter for $400,000
  - El Deber, 19 June 2015

• Economists and analysts say Bolivia should define the legal limits of coca growing, before imposing taxes
  - Los Tiempos, 18 June 2015

• The Prime Minister of Bolivia says taxes on sales of coca leaf will only be for legal harvesting of coca leaves
  - La Razon, 18 June 2015

• What is the optimal way to impose taxes of legal coca growing?
  - El Diarrio, 18 June 2015

• President Morales says that coca growers are still discussing with the Finance Ministry about a new tax on sales of coca leaf
  - La Razon, 17 June 2015

• Finance Minister of Bolivia, Luis Arce, says proposed law to tax the sales of coca leaf has not been sent to the Legislature
  - El Deber, 16 June 2015

• Coca growing associations in Bolivia have not reached consensus on proposed law to apply a tax to sales of coca leaf
  - Pagina Siete, 16 June 2015

• Coca growers of the Six Federations of Tropic of Cochabamba are willing to pay a tax on sales of coca leaf, but want details of proposed law
  - La Razon, 16 June 2015

• Coca growers of La Paz province, Adepcoca, are willing to pay a tax on sales of coca leaf, but want details of proposed law
  - La Razon, 16 June 2015

• Government of Bolivia preparing change to the laws for legal coca sales, to standardize the tax on legal sales of coca leaf
  - La Razon, 15 June 2015

• Government of Bolivia preparing change to the laws for legal coca sales, to standardize the tax on legal sales of coca leaf
  - Pagina Siete, 15 June 2015

• In Oruro (Bolivia), there are legally sold each month between 500 and 700 taques (50 pound bags) of coca leaves
  - La Razon, 09 June 2015

• Colombia is struggling to support farmers in their efforts to grow food products other than coca
  - New York Times, 02 June 2015

• The new governor of La Paz province, Felix Patzi, will seek some of the fees paid to the national government by coca growers in the Yungas
  - La Razon, 02 June 2015

• The new governor of La Paz province, Felix Patzi, will seek some of the fees paid to the national government by coca growers in the Yungas
  - Pagina Siete, 02 June 2015

• The new governor of La Paz province, Felix Patzi, will seek some of the fees paid to the national government by coca growers in the Yungas
  - El Diario, 02 June 2015

• The Ministry of Agriculture in Peru donates 150,000 coffee saplings to coca growers in the VRAEM
  - Peru This Week, 25 May 2015

• The coca growers of Cochabamba propose law to boost the legal production of coca leaf, and seek support of coca growers from the Yungas
  - La Razon, 22 May 2015

• Decriminalization, the change in focus in the war against drugs.
  - Los Tiempos, 18 May 2015

• Latin American countries are increasingly resisting the U.S. approach to the failed war on drugs
  - New York Times, 16 May 2015

• The futility of the war to eradicate coca growing
  - Economist, 16 May 2015

• U.S. accepts the decision of Colombia to stop the fumigation of coca fields with glyphosate, a herbicide that can cause cancer
  - Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2015

• Colombia decides to stop the fumigation of coca fields with glyphosate, a herbicide that can cause cancer
  - New York Times, 15 May 2015

• Colombia decides to stop the fumigation of coca fields with glyphosate, a herbicide that can cause cancer
  - Wall Street Journal, 15 May 2015

• The European Union will give Bolivia $68 million dollars over five years, to fight illegal drugs and promote alternative development in coca growing regions
  - Pagina Siete, 14 May 2015

• Butterflies that eat coca leaves are proposed to replace herbicides in Colombia
  - Associated Press, 12 May 2015

• The president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, orders the suspension of the use of glyphosate to eradicate coca plants, after the WHO declares the chemical to be carcinogenic
  - Pagina Siete, 10 May 2015

• Opposition candidate, a coca grower, has his allotment of coca (one cato, about 1600 squares meters) eradicated by anti-drug police
  - La Razon, 09 May 2015

• Opposition candidate, a coca grower, has his allotment of coca (one cato, about 1600 squares meters) eradicated by anti-drug police
  - Pagina Siete, 09 May 2015

• Opposition candidate, a coca grower, has his allotment of coca (one cato, about 1600 squares meters) eradicated by anti-drug police
  - Los Tiempos, 09 May 2015

• More land in Colombia is used to grow coca leaf, according to the United States
  - New York Times, 07 May 2015

• President Morales should annul the sanctions against coca growers in the Chapare who voted for the opposition
  - La Razon, 03 May 2015

• Laid-off textile workers in Bolivia, we all know, will end up growing coca
  - El Diario, 03 May 2015

• Coca growers punished for defecting from the MAS party, will defend their coca growing allotments in Cochabamba
  - Pagina Siete, 01 May 2015

• Suspending the fumigation of coca leaf plants with glyphosate is not easy in Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 30 April 2015

• Political opposition in Bolivia objects to coca growers losing their permits, if they support opposition political parties
  - ErBol, 29 April 2015

• The Ministry of Health in Colombia recommends banning the use of a herbicide that kills the coca plant, but also causes cancer
  - Int. Business Times, 28 April 2015

• In Bolivia, coca growers in the Yungas say coca from the Chapare is not consumable, and thus should not be legalized
  - Pagina Siete, 28 April 2015

• Ten coca growers in Cochabamba expelled from the union of coca growers, and lose their permits to grow coca, for supporting an opposition party
  - Pagina Siete, 29 April 2015

• Ten coca growers in Cochabamba expelled from the union of coca growers, and lose their permits to grow coca, for supporting an opposition party
  - Los Tiempos, 25 April 2015

• In Cochabamaba (Bolivia), members of the union for coca growers, who do not vote for the candidates of the government party, will be expelled from the union and lose their allotment to grow and sell coca
  - Los Tiempos, 25 April 2015

• In Bolivia, a proposed law will increase the amount of coca grown to 20,000 hectares
  - Los Tiempos, 24 April 2015

• Bolivia resists global pressure to do away with its coca crop
  - The Guardian, 24 April 2015

• The government of Peru allocates $512 million to develop the VRAEM region where coca is grown
  - Peru This Week, 21 April 2015

• Farmers in the VRAEM region of Peru are struggling to grow crops other than coca because lack of government support and good roads
  - El Comercio, 13 April 2015

• Government of Bolivia to invest US $67 million to develop technology to manufacture lithium batteries
  - La Razon, 02 April 2015

• The prime minister of Bolivia explains how the government wants to seek foreign markets for coca products
  - La Razon, 21 March 2015

• Less than 1% of Bolivians use cocaine
  - Los Tiempos, 19 March 2015

• The government in Bolivia seeks to have the use of coca leaf depenalized around the world
  - La Razon, 13 March 2015

• The price of quinua in Bolivia has dropped 73% in the last 4 months, due to imports of cheaper quinua from Peru, quinua being an alternative to coca
  - La Razon, 11 March 2015

• The quinua from Bolivia is losing its competitiveness in global markets
  - El Diario, 11 March 2015

• Bolivian government will invest $953,000 to build a manufacturing plant to remove cocaine from coca leaves, to create products for export
  - Eju.tv, 06 March 2015

• Bolivia reduces by 10.8% the cultivation of coca leaf from 2012 to 2013
  - Pagina Siete, 04 March 2015

• Cultivation of coca leaf in 3 countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Peru) drops by one-third from 2002 to 2013
  - La Razon, 04 March 2015

• Peru is finding it difficult to convert coca fields in the VRAEM to other crops
  - El Comercio, 02 March 2015

• Peru is finding it difficult to convert coca fields in the VRAEM to other crops
  - Peru This Week, 02 March 2015

• Candy producers in Bolivia want government help to find new export markets, after losses due to problems with Venezuela
  - El Diario, 01 March 2015

• Price of coca leaf in the legal markets (controlled by Adepcoca) rises 30% to 1200 bolivianos ($170) for a 50 pound bag
  - La Prensa, 27 February 2015

• Adepcoca announces that 15,000 people will celebrate Coca Chewing Day in La Paz on March 12th
  - Opinion (Bo), 24 February 2015

• Peru declares a no-fly zone, over the VRAEM region, where coca leaf is grown
  - World War 4 Report, 18 February 2015

• Due to infested coffee plants, farmers in Peru growing more coca leaf
  - Peru This Week, 16 February 2015

• Coca growers from Cochabamba will support the ruling party candidates (MAS) in upcoming elections
  - La Prensa (Bo), 15 February 2015

• Could cocaine by the next medical treatment for depression?
  - Voxxi, 14 February 2015

• Alternative agriculture products are displacing some coca farming in the Yungas of Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 09 February 2015

• In Peru, the government has not reduced the acreage of illegal coca in the VRAEM
  - El Comercio, 05 February 2015

• Opinion: how to integrate coca farming and food farming in Bolivia?
  - El Diario, 01 February 2015

• Alcohol and cigarettes are bigger health risks to a population than use of cocaine, amphetamine or marijuana
  - Scientific Reports, 30 January 2015

• Questioning the inclusion of coca growers in a farming summit in Bolivia
  - El Dia, 29 January 2015

• Police in Bolivia will only eradicate 10,000 hectares of coca leaf in this year
  - La Razon, 20 January 2015

• Coca growers in Bolivia will lose their allocations if they have excessive cultivations
  - Pagina Siete, 20 January 2015

• Radars detect illegal plantations of coca in national parks in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 20 January 2015

• Producers of Cochabamba will exhibit and will distribute coca and coca products at the Dakar 2015 rally
  - Bolivia.com, 08 January 2015

• In Bolivia, coca growers of Shinahota demand freedom for three leaders
  - Los Tiempos, 21 December 2014

• A judge in Bolivia sends to jail 2 coca growers for disruptive behavior in meeting with president Evo Morales
  - La Razon, 28 December 2014

• Bolivia wants to reduce coca growing from 23,000 to 20,000 hectares
  - La Razon, 27 December 2014

• Former coca growers in Monzon Valley (Huanaco, Peru) receive funds from the government
  - Peru This Week, 26 December 2014

• Bolivian government requests projects to treat confiscated illegal coca leaf
  - La Razon, 24 December 2014

• Lack of budget impedes the government (of Bolivia) of incinerating 3 million pounds of seized coca leaf
  - La Razon, 22 December 2014

• President Evo Morales begins eradication of 40 hectares of illegal coca in Carrasco National Park
  - La Razon, 21 December 2014

• Coca growers of Vandiola (Bolivia) end hunger strike
  - El Diario, 20 December 2014

• In 2014, Peru destroyed more than 31,000 hectares of coca plants
  - Latin Correspondent, 19 December 2014

• The coca leaf - satanized from colonial times
  - Informador, 14 December 2014

• Coca, the sacred leaf of the Inca, Nazca and Mochica cultures
  - NTR Zacatecas, 13 December 2014

• Opinion: more or less coca growing in Bolivia?
  - Los Tiempos, 12 December 2014

• In Bolivia, President Evo Morales rejects coca plantations in the Yungas de Vandiola
  - Los Tiempos, 11 December 2014

• In Bolivia, government breaks off discussions with coca growers from the Yungas, who are seeking to grow more coca leaf
  - La Razon, 10 December 2014

• In Bolivia, government breaks off discussions with coca growers from the Yungas, who are seeking to grow more coca leaf
  - Los Tiempos, 10 December 2014

• Coca leaf producers in the Yungas (Bolivia) demand the government permit them to grow larger areas, 785 catos, of coca leaf (an increase of 49 catos)
  - Los Tiempos, 09 December 2014

• A Bolivian artist, Efe Quispe, intends to break the taboo about the coca leaf with her works
  - Radio Nacional de Colombia, 27 November 2017

• Evo Morales and coca growers agree to a limit of 20,000 hectares, with no payment of taxes for production
  - EJU.tv, 18 November 2014

• Fifth International Forum on Coca Leaf held in Ecuador between October 29 and 30
  - El Diario, 18 November 2014

• The controversy of the coca leaf
  - Pharmaceutical Journal, 17 November 2014

• A senator in the Colombian legislature demonstrates a tea made from coca leaf and marijuana
  - El Espectador, 11 November 2014

• Lack of government support is forcing coffee growers in Bolivia to switch to growing coca leaf
  - Pagina Siete, 10 November 2014

• The coca vice-ministry in Bolivia has confiscated two million pounds of poor quality coca leaf, and doesn't know what to do with it all
  - La Razon, 10 November 2014

• Banana growers in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia receive so little money from multinational exporters that they have no choice but to grow coca
  - Ground Report, 09 November 2014

• Government in Bolivia adds coca cakes to food basket given to pregnant women and newborn babies during their first year of life
  - Pagina Siete, 08 November 2014

• Medical study: sugar can be as addictive as heroin
  - KeroNews23, 07 November 2014

• The tough coca bush will not suffer much from global warming
  - Scientific America, 07 November 2014

• The first billionarie in Nicaragua is head of the country's sugar cartel
  - Bloomberg, 05 November 2014

• Farmers in 16 provinces of Cochabamba (Bolivia) elect former coca grower as their candidate for Governor of the province
  - EJU.tv, 07 November 2014

• Opinion: seeking medical uses of our sacred coca leaf in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 04 November 2014

• In Apolo (Bolivia) in 2013, the government erradicated coca in a zone of traditional cultivation, which is allowed by law
  - Pagina Siete, 02 November 2014

• Bolivian government earns about $50,000 per month from taxes on legal sales of coca leaf
  - EJU.tv, 31 October 2014

• The hard-hitting criticism of John Oliver is correct about the dangers of the sugar cartel
  - Washington Post, 27 October 2014

• VIDEO: The hard-hitting criticism of John Oliver about the dangers of the sugar cartel
  - Last Week Tonight, 26 October 2014

• Assessing the feasibility of increased proliferation of the coca plant
  - RUSI, 13 October 2014

• Coca grower in Choro Grande (Yungas, Bolivia) is killed by local gold miners
  - Los Tiempos, 11 October 2014

• Prohibitionist insanity about coca leaf is across the board from candidates for the presidency in Bolivia
  - Panam Post, 07 October 2014

• Opposition presidential candidate in Bolivia promises to respect the "good" coca produced in the Yungas
  - Los Tiempos, 06 October 2014

• Paying a tax on coca leaf sales in Bolivia - ending tax evasion, or helping to make the illegal to be legal?
  - El Diario, 04 October 2014

• Opposition politician in Bolivia wants to support coca grown in the Yungas (which is consumed) and eliminate coca grown in the Chapare (used for drugs)
  - La Razon, 03 October 2014

• In Bolivia, coca growers in Yungas region concerned about taxes on coca leaves being more favorable to coca growers in Chapare
  - Pagina Siete, 03 October 2014

• In Bolivia, coca growers in Yungas region concerned about taxes on coca leaves being more favorable to coca growers in Chapare
  - ERBOL, 02 October 2014

• Future law for coca will permit farming of 15,000 hectares in Bolivia
  - Prensa (Bo), 01 October 2014

• Government in Bolivia seeks to define a tax on coca sales, after proposals from two associations of coca growers
  - La Razon, 01 October 2014

• Coca growers in Bolivia (Adepcoca) propose a tax of 2 bolivianos for selling 50 pounds (one taque) of coca leaf
  - La Razon, 30 September 2014

• While many countries in the world are legalizing marijuana, and maybe other drugs, President Evo Morales is only advocating legalization of coca
  - Los Tiempos, 29 September 2014

• Campaign platforms for the political parties of Bolivia with regards to the future of coca farming
  - La Razon, 29 September 2014

• Editorial: time for the Americas to start decriminalizing some drugs, such as marijuana and coca leaf
  - Pagina Siete (Bolivia), 26 September 2014

• Campaign platforms for the political parties of Bolivia with regards to the future of coca farming
  - Pagina Siete, 29 September 2014

• Editorial: time for the Americas to start decriminalizing some drugs, such as marijuana and coca leaf
  - Pagina Siete (Bolivia), 26 September 2014

• In Bolivia, opposition candidate for the presidency pledges to have the government control coca farming in the Chapare
  - La Razon, 22 September 2014

• In Bolivia, political parties raise several options for new legislation on coca leaf farming
  - Los Tiempos, 18 September 2014

• Discovery of the first coca plantation in Mexico could upend the cocaine business
  - VICE News, 15 September 2014

• Tax of 5 Bolivianos (for 50 pounds) on coca leaf will support the anti-drug fight in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 12 September 2014

• Coca growers in the Yungas (Bolivia) reject paying taxes of 5 Bolivianos per 50 pounds
  - La Razon, 11 September 2014

• Government of Peru to invest 1.5 billion soles (about $750 million) in the main coca growing region, the VRAEM
  - CronicaViva, 11 September 2014

• Coca growers in the Yungas (Bolivia) reject paying taxes of 5 Bolivianos per 50 pounds
  - Los Tiempos, 11 September 2014

• Coca growers in Cochabamba (Bolivia) agree to pay taxes of 5 Bolivianos per 50 pounds
  - Los Tiempos, 10 September 2014

• Editorial - the calamity of falling coffee production in Bolivia, due to low profits as compared to the farming of coca leaf
  - El Diario, 08 September 2014

• Yet another study finds that marijuana can help people who are afflicted with Alzheimer's disease
  - The WeedBlog, 02 September 2014

• Coffee production in the Yungas is down 66% in the last ten years
  - El Diario, 30 August 2014

• Caballococha, a new growing coca growing region of Peru similar to the Vraem river valley region
  - Inforegion, 29 August 2014

• Raising coca growing limits to 20,000 hectares, the task of the legislative candidates from the Cochabamba region of Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 22 August 2014

• 600,000 pounds of illegal coca leave were seized so far in the current fiscal year en Bolivia
  - ERBOL, 21 August 2014

• Coca growers in Vandiola (Bolivia) wait for a meeting with President Morales to discuss the topic of acreage of coca growing
  - Los Tiempos, 16 August 2014

• Coca growers in the Vandiola area of the Yungas (Bolivia) reject a government proposal and break-off their discussions
  - Los Tiempos, 12 August 2014

• Coca leaf retailers in La Paz request the government create a state marketplace for coca leaf, saying Adepcoca facilities are unsafe and unclean
  - Pagina Siete, 11 August 2014

• President Evo Morales announces the exportation from Bolivia of medicines by 2025
  - La Razon, 07 August 2014

• President Evo Morales is re-elected as director of federation of coca growers
  - Opinion (Bolivia), 28 July 2014

• Challenging the myths about production of coca paste in the Chapare
  - AIN Bolivia, 22 July 2014

• Community control of coca farming in Bolivia
  - AIN Bolivia, 22 July 2014

• Coca grower from Cochabamba is new director Digcoin
  - ERBOL, 22 July 2014

• The poporo and the coca leaf of the indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada of Colombia
  - Funtayrona, 16 July 2014

• Cocaine paste production in the Chapare - can you get rich?
  - AIN Bolivia, 22 March 2014

• President Evo Morales delivers an association headquarters to coca growers of Oruro
  - La Razon, 02 August 2014

• Editorial: allowing coca farmers to sell more big bags of coca leaves (taques) leads to more demand which leads to more production - is that what Bolivia wants?
  - El Diario, 31 July 2014

• Coca growers in the Chapare (Bolivia) are nervous and upset after nine years that President Morales has not legalized their coca growing
  - El Diario, 30 July 2014

• The future of coca in Bolivia should be an important campaign issue in this year's elections
  - Los Tiempos, 30 July 2014

• Government of Bolivia hopes to certify international companies to export Bolivian coca products to Ecuador
  - La Razon, 30 July 2014

• Government of Peru fails to eradicate coca growing in the VRAEM region
  - Radio Publica, 29 July 2014

• Is tea the new "coffee" of the United States?
  - Economist, 28 July 2014

• Wholesalers of coca leaf in La Paz will be able to sell 8 large bags (taques) of coca leaf every eight days (limit is now six), with 1.2 million pounds of coca leaf wholesaled now each month
  - Pagina Siete, 25 July 2014

• Political positions of presidential candidates in Bolivia with regards to coca
  - El Diario, 25 July 2014

• Editorial: the contradictory policies of the promotion, while eradicating, coca in Bolivia must be resolved
  - Los Tiempos, 24 July 2014

• Legal sellers of coca leaf in Bolivia say that "much" coca leaf is diverted towards illegal activities
  - Pagina Siete, 24 July 2014

• Yungas coca growers in Vandiola demand the government legalize more catos of coca in this traditional area of cultivation
  - Los Tiempos, 23 July 2014

• In Bolivia, the government approved a resolution that permits increasing the quota of selling coca sales by coca producers, from six to eight 'taques' (each of 50 pounds of leaves)
  - Los Tiempos, 22 July 2014

• In Bolivia, the government approved a resolution that permits increasing the quota of selling coca sales by coca producers, from six to eight 'taques' (each of 50 pounds of leaves)
  - Pagina Siete, 22 July 2014

• In Bolivia, the government approved a resolution that permits increasing the quota of selling coca sales by coca producers, from six to eight 'taques' (each of 50 pounds of leaves)
  - La Razon, 22 July 2014

• In Bolivia, after elections, president Morales plans to legalize having one cato of coca for growing
  - Pagina Siete, 21 July 2014

• In Bolivia, after elections, president Morales plans to legalize having one cato of coca for growing
  - Los Tiempos, 21 July 2014

• In Bolivia, after elections, president Morales plans to legalize having one cato of coca for growing
  - La Razon, 21 July 2014

• World Health Organization calls for the decriminalization of drug use
  - TDPF News, 19 July 2014

• President Evo Morales (Bolivia) says that all can campaign in the Chapare
  - La Razon, 18 July 2014

• Operations stop at Pan American's mine in Potosi (Bolivia) as workers go on strike after chewing coca was banned
  - Mining Technology, 17 July 2014

• Tuto (opposition candidate in Bolivia) says he will campaign in the Chapare (depsite threats) and propose controls for coca production
  - Los Tiempos, 17 July 2014

• Coca growers warn the opposition (in Bolivia) that they will not be permitted to campaign in the Chapare
  - Los Tiempos, 16 July 2014

• In 2014, Peru invested US $150 million in alternative development in coca valleys
  - El Peruano, 15 July 2014

• Yungas coca growers in Bolivia request resignations of Felipe Cáceres and Modesto Condori (DIGCOIN)
  - ERBOL, 12 July 2014

• In Colombia, rural farmers don't have an alternative to coca growing
  - El Mercurio, 12 July 2014

• Coca growers in Yungas region of Bolivia demand the expansion of the commercialization of a greater quantity of coca leaf
  - La Razon, 12 July 2014

• In Bolivia, civic groups demand that coca growers pay taxes according to the law
  - FM Bolivia, 02 July 2014

• Bolivia draws its own future for coca
  - Periodistas en Espanol, 29 June 2014

• Coca growers near Cusco threaten new protests if government of Peru doesn't pay more for their coca leaf, as promised
  - La Republica, 29 June 2014

• The government of Bolivia hopes to export coca tea to Ecuador and Cuba
  - La Razon, 26 June 2014

• In Bolivia, the government is considering applying a tax to the sale of coca leaf, with coca producers in agreement
  - La Razon, 25 June 2014

• United Nations considers obsolete Law 1008 of Bolivia that permits some coca farming
  - La Razon, 25 June 2014

• In Bolivia, United Nations considers that it is urgent to modify Law 1008
  - Pagina Siete, 25 June 2014

• In Bolivia, rising commercialization of the "sacred coca"
  - Los Tiempos, 25 June 2014

• UN: Bolivia reduces from 25,300 to 23,000 the hectares of coca farming, and is on the road to the goal of 20,000 hectares
  - La Razon, 23 June 2014

• Margarita Terán Gonzales, new leader of coca growers in Cochabamba in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 22 June 2014

• The coca industrialization agency of Bolivia, DIGCOIN, seizes 3 million kilos of illegal coca leaf so far in 2014, which university labs convert to fertilizer
  - Pagina Siete, 21 June 2014

• Factory for coca leaf products in La Paz (Villa El Carmen) opened in 2013 with machinery prodived by the government, is still not operating commercially
  - La Razon, 21 June 2014

• In Bolivia, Yungas coca growers should each produce 1 cato (1600 sq. meters) of citrus fruits
  - Entorno Intelligence, 18 June 2014

• MAS political party in Bolivia requests the government to suggest to the UN that coca leaf be decriminalized
  - EJU TV, 17 June 2014

• Coca growers of Coripata (Bolivia) achieved recognition as a federation, and block traffic to the Yungas
  - La Razon, 10 June 2014

• President of Peru, Ollanta Humala, was correct to fire the head of Peru's anti-drug agency, for launching a plan of forced eradication of coca
  - Generaccion, 04 June 2014

• Government of Peru wants 5000 less hectares of coca grown in the Vraem, where are grown 60,000 hectares of coffee and 40,000 hectares of cacao
  - Andina, 04 June 2014

• Peru to stop trying to eradicate coca leaf, and will promote other crops
  - Wall Street Journal, 02 June 2014

• Government of Peru wants to eliminate 5000 of the 18000 hectares of coca farming in the Vraem
  - Andina, 01 June 2014

• In Bolivia, the government will invest $87,000 for the design of the first center for scientific investigation which will benefit 34,000 Yungas families
  - La Razon, 01 June 2014

• In Bolivia, Adepcoca manages the exportation of bimate to Ecuador
  - La Razon, 31 May 2014

• United Kingdom will include revenues from sales of illegal cocaine in its count of the country's GDP
  - Financial Times, 29 May 2014

• Italy will include revenues from sales of illegal cocaine in its count of the country's GDP
  - Independent, 24 May 2014

• European Union will not support industrialization of coca in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 19 May 2014

• Coca growers don't want eradication nor alternative crops in the Vraem (a region of Peru)
  - InfoRegion (Peru), 18 May 2014

• En Peru, 8000 coca growers paralyzed the VRAEM protesting eradication, marching in Kimbiri
  - Diario La Voz, 15 May 2014

• So many people in Britain (2%) use so much cocaine that it is now in the water supply
  - Washington Post, 12 May 2014

• In the Catatumbo region of Colombia, coca is grown for survival
  - Kaos en la Red, 09 May 2014

• Tocache, Peru - their transition from growing coca to growing cacao
  - Peru This Week, 21 September 2012

• Peru: coca leaf, militarization and decriminalization of marijuana - an interview with Baldomero Cáceres Santa María
  - Mariategui, 31 December 2009

• Ambassador William Brownfield of the United States promotes in Colombia a policy of fumigation and forced eradication of coca declared by the European Union as a failure in Afghanistan
  - La Silla Vacia, 24 July 2009

• President Uribe gets it wrong again with proposal to crackdown on Colombia's coca growers
  - Columbia Journal, 02 May 2009

• Five winners of the Nobel Prize in economics release a report "Ending the Drug Wars", published by London School of Economics
  - LSE, 06 May 2014

• Babies exposed to coca alkaloids do not experience brain damage, but do experience brain damage due to poverty
  - Deseret News, 02 May 2014

• Between 1997 and 2014, the European Union provided $166 million in funding to Bolivia to help coca growers in Bolivia to grow other products
  - eju.tv, 19 April 2014

• In last ten years, U.S. has spent $10 billion in Afghanistan fighting opium, and completely failed, with opium production reaching a high in 2013
  - Economist, 12 April 2014

• In Yungas region of Bolivia, citrus and coffee farming gradually being replaced by coca leaf growing
  - Los Tiempos, 03 April 2014

• Bolivian coca growers protest in front of U.S. Embassy (in La Paz) that coca leaf is not a drug
  - El Colombiano, 12 March 2014

• Bolivian government to call for debate on coca industrialization at UN meeting in Vienna
  - La Razon, 12 March 2014

• Government of Bolivia announces advances in the medical use of coca with the help of Cuba
  - Los Tiempos, 12 March 2014

• Coca growers celebrate national day of coca chewing in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 11 March 2014

• UN Drug Control office document for release next week suggests for first time that some drugs be decriminalized
  - Los Tiempos, 09 March 2014

• UN Drug Control office document for release next week suggests for first time that some drugs be decriminalized
  - Panama America, 08 March 2014

• Government of Bolivia highlights UN's INCB report that Bolivia is making progress eradicating coca cultivation
  - Los Tiempos, 07 March 2014

• Andean Parliament declares that coca leaf in its natural state as the "Ancestral and Cultural Heritage of the Andean People"
  - Pagina Siete, 28 February 2014

• European Union asks for clarification on coca consumption in border areas of Bolivia
  - La Razon, 20 February 2014

• U.S. Pentagon considers using electricity to stimulate troops' brains to supplement stimulants such as caffeine
  - Boston Globe, 18 February 2014

• Bolivian political parties request report about old machines bought for a government manufacturing plant for coca tea installed in Adepcoca facilities in Villa Fatima section of La Paz
  - Pagina Siete, 17 February 2014

• Horrible living conditions of 30,000 black/green tea plantation serfs in India
  - New York Times, 14 February 2014

• Colombia's FARC rebel group and their support for coca industrialization and new medical/health uses
  - Voice of Russia, 11 February 2014

• CL Trading (Hong Kong) now manufacturing Cocalero, an alcoholic drink (29%) made with cocaine-free coca flavoring
  - SCMP, 07 February 2014

• Colombia's FARC guerilla group proposes that the Colombian government implement a policy that recognizes the medical benefits of coca leaf
  - RT News, 24 January 2014

• In Bolivia, time to expand the national debate about coca policies
  - Los Tiempos, 13 January 2014

• Bolivian government denounces those Venezuelans, Colombians and Peruvians growing coca in Bolivia's Apolo border region
  - La Razon, 10 January 2014

• Bolivian government denounces those Venezuelans, Colombians and Peruvians growing coca in Bolivia's Apolo border region
  - Los Tiempos, 10 January 2014

• While president of the G77+China, Evo Morales will champion the importance and beneficial uses of coca leaf
  - La Razon, 07 January 2014

• In Bolivia, Evo Morales urges coca growers to not grow coca in the national parks
  - La Razon, 05 January 2014

• The coca leaf massage - a new therapy from South American spas to relieve muscle ache
  - Men's Journal, 03 January 2014

• Evo Morales will use his presidency of the G77 to promote the culture and medical uses of coca
  - La Razon, 31 December 2013

• Evo Morales will use his presidency of the G77 to promote the culture and medical uses of coca
  - Los Tiempos, 31 December 2013

• 55,000 families in Peru join program to farm crops other than coca leaf
  - La Razon, 25 December 2013

• Editorial: the economy of coca is still mostly driven by illegal uses
  - El Diario, 23 December 2013

• Government in Bolivia seeking to regulate traditional medicines
  - La Prensa (BO), 22 December 2013

• South America needs co-ordinated response to combat scourge of cocaine
  - The Guardian (UK), 17 December 2013

• Manufacturing Cerveza de Coca, coca beer, in Bolivia
  - Ultimas Noticias, 12 December 2013

• U.N. Office of Drug Control (UNODC) to send Bolivia's country study of coca to Vienna for analysis
  - El Diario, 08 December 2013

• UN Drug Control agency (UNODC) hopes recent government coca report in Bolivia will lead to a new policy for regulating coca farming
  - La Razon, 06 December 2013

• Interview of Fabiola Piñacué, coca products entrepreneur in Bogota
  - Rebellion, 03 December 2013

• Growing coca in Bolivia should not be at expense of growing food
  - El Diario, 02 December 2013

• Colombia's Attorney General: Colombia can't unilaterally legalize cultivation of coca due to international consensus
  - El Nuevo Herald, 02 December 2013

• Opinion: is there really an international market for industralizing coca in Bolivia?
  - El Diario, 01 December 2013

• A visit to a hidden coca plantation in Peru
  - BBC, 30 November 2013

• The racist lies behind the myth of coca's evilness
  - Los Tiempos, 20 November 2013

• European Union is satisfied with Bolivia's report on coca, and will continue its financial support for 2014-2020
  - Pagina Siete, 20 November 2013

• Bolivia's study of coca growth and use is unprecedented for its detailed data gathering and analysis
  - Cambio (Bo), 18 November 2013

• Bolivian government study of coca use gathered detailed country data
  - La Razon, 18 November 2013

• Opinion of former president Carlos Mesa Gisbert: properly managing the future of coca in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 17 November 2013

• Bolivia's agricultural innovation agency, INIAF, funding research to lower the costs of foods
  - La Razon, 17 November 2013

• Bolivian Minister of Government Carlos Romero is interviewed about recent government report on coca growth
  - La Razon, 17 November 2013

• Coca growers in Bolivia will debate about how much legal coca growing is needed
  - Los Tiempos, 15 November 2013

• UN reminds Bolivia that export of coca, without removing alkaloids, is still in violation of the 1961 UN treaty
  - La Razon, 15 November 2013

• UN reminds Bolivia that export of coca, without removing alkaloids, is still in violation of the 1961 UN treaty
  - Pagina Siete, 15 November 2013

• Government of Bolivia plans to eliminate 10,000 hectares of coca farming by 2016
  - La Razon, 15 November 2013

• Government of Bolivia plans to eliminate 10,000 hectares of coca farming by 2016
  - Pagina Siete, 15 November 2013

• PDF file of results of Bolivian government study on legal use of coca
  - Government of Bolivia, 14 November 2013

• Government of Bolivia affirms that changing coca laws is not on its agenda
  - Pagina Siete, 14 November 2013

• Ruling MAS party in Bolivia wants to change law to increase coca growing to 20,000 hectares
  - Pagina Siete, 14 November 2013

• OAS will look with "much attention" to coca industrialization in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 14 November 2013

• OAS will look with "much attention" to coca industrialization in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 14 November 2013

• 30% of people in Bolivia regularly use coca
  - La Razon, 14 November 2013

• 30% of people in Bolivia regularly use coca
  - La Prensa, 14 November 2013

• The agricultural sector in Bolivia demands to be able to grow more legal coca
  - La Razon, 14 November 2013

• Bolivian government study concludes that there are 3 million consumers of coca products, which needs 14,700 hectares to supply
  - Los Tiempos, 14 November 2013

• Bolivian government study concludes that there are 3 million consumers of coca products, which needs 14,700 hectares to supply
  - La Razon, 13 November 2013

• Of 20,690 tons of coca leaf harvested, only 73 tons are used industrially, with 19,000 tons used in homes
  - Pagina Siete, 14 November 2013

• Opinion: inconsistencies in government's report on coca growth and use
  - Pagina Siete, 14 November 2013

• 58% of Bolivia's coca crop goes to traditional uses
  - San Jose Mercury News, 13 November 2013

• Government study reports that traditional use of coca in Bolivia requires 14,700 hectares
  - Los Tiempos, 13 November 2013

• Government study reports that traditional use of coca in Bolivia requires 14,700 hectares
  - La Razon, 13 November 2013

• Government study reports that traditional use of coca in Bolivia requires 14,700 hectares
  - Pagina Siete, 13 November 2013

• Modesto Condori is new head of coca industrialization agency (Digcoin) in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 12 November 2013

• Bolivian government downplays opposition gossip that new report shows only 6000 hectares of coca growing is needed
  - La Razon, 12 November 2013

• Bolivian scientist Franklin Alcatraz says traditional consumption of coca in Bolivia only needs 8000 hectares
  - eju.tv, 12 November 2013

• Coca tea and coca leaf chewing as one element in a strategy to reduce harmful effects of drug abuse
  - Euronews, 11 November 2013

• Growing number of MAS ruling-party members supporting an increase in the legal acreage for coca growing in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 11 November 2013

• Growing number of MAS ruling-party members supporting an increase in the legal acreage for coca growing in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 11 November 2013

• Next week, Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, releases study on consumption of coca in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 10 November 2013

• Bolivian Minister of Government Carlos Romero: acreage for legal coca growing is not for political negotiation
  - La Razon, 10 November 2013

• Cost of commercial coca license will remain at 1200 bolivianos for next five years
  - La Razon, 08 November 2013

• Peasant workers' trade union (CSUCB) wants a new study of coca use in Bolivia conducted by consumers and producers, not consultants
  - Pagina Siete, 07 November 2013

• Next Monday, coca growers will be shown government report on amount of hectares needed for legal coca growing
  - Los Tiempos, 07 November 2013

• Minister of Government Romero says deadline for government study of legal coca use was a promise of previous governments of Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 04 November 2013

• Minister of Government Romero says deadline for government study of legal coca use was a promise of previous governments
  - Los Tiempos, 04 November 2013

• Legal coca growers in Chapare need more legal support to prevent illegal plantings of coca
  - La Razon, 04 November 2013

• Students in Northern Argentinian town win educational contest with a liquor made from coca leaves
  - Los Andes (Ar), 03 November 2013

• Pijchea/akulliku (ball of coca to be chewed) is most common use of coca leaf, followed by coca tea
  - Los Tiempos, 03 November 2013

• Guatemala's foreign minister, Fernando Carrera, calls for some drugs to be legalized to end drug trafficking
  - Prensa Libre, 30 October 2013

• Coca growers of Caranavi and Apolo hope their third coca market, now with a temporary authorization, will be legalized under new law
  - eju.tv, 30 October 2013

• In Bolivia, Head of governing ruling party, MAS' Eugenio Rojas, suggests that new coca law specify a varying level of legal coca production
  - La Razon, 29 October 2013

• Coca growers in Yungas and Cochabamba to meet discuss how much more coca cultivation they will seek for their regions
  - Los Tiempos, 29 October 2013

• Head of legal coca growers association (Adepcoca), Ernesto Cordero, complains of illegal coca market near their legal facilities in Villa Fatima
  - Los Tiempos, 29 October 2013

• Arowana fish cultivation as an alternative to growing coca in the Colombian Amazon region
  - Infosurhoy, 28 October 2013

• Bolivian economist Roberto Laserna says government should be more clear about its coca policies
  - Pagina Siete, 27 October 2013

• Coca growers in Peru seeing profit and peace in switching from coco to cacao cultivation
  - Peru 21, 27 October 2013

• Bolivian government supports legislative efforts to increase legal coca production to 20,000 hectares
  - Pagina Siete, 26 October 2013

• Gumercindo Pucho, vice minister of coca development, says it is absurd to claim that Bolivia only needs 6,000 hectares of legal coca growth
  - La Razon, 26 October 2013

• While coca growing dropped from 64,000 hectares in 2011 to 48,000 in 2012, in Colombia, many farmers just switched to illegal gold mining
  - InfoSurHoy, 25 October 2013

• Head of MSM party says European Union report on coca states that Bolivia only needs 6,000 hectares of coca growth for local consumption
  - La Razon, 25 October 2013

• Bolivian Senate considering increasing legal coca cultivation from 12,000 hectares to 20,000 hectares
  - Pagina Siete, 24 October 2013

• Sharp rise in coca prices in Cochabamba, from US $200 to almost US $300 for a 50 pound sack/taque
  - eju.tv, 24 October 2013

• How DEA policies, counter-intuitively, force many coca growers into the arms of drug traffickers
  - Las Vegas Guardian, 20 October 2013

• Coca - the plant that feeds Peru, and the farmers that grow it
  - THe Independent (UK), 18 October 2013

• Chewing coca leaf combats obesity
  - Pagina Siete, 16 October 2013

• Lawyer Yuri Garamendi assume head of DIGCOIN, Bolivia's coca industrialization agency
  - La Razon, 11 October 2013

• Bolivian ruling party deputies see need to improve the laws regulating the commercialization of coca leaf
  - Los Tiempos, 08 October 2013

• UK Parliament members urged in report to lift ban on use of coca leaf
  - The Independent (UK), 07 October 2013

• Remote Peruvian valley of Pichari is number one coca growing valley of the world
  - Michigan Morning Sun, 07 October 2013

• Bolivia will send to Ecuador a proposal to export coca products
  - La Razon, 06 October 2013

• President Morales hopes to sign agreement with Ecuador to export industrialied coca products, such as tea, to Ecuador
  - La Razon, 05 October 2013

• Bolivia expects to sign agreement with Ecuador to export industrialied coca products, such as tea, to Ecuador
  - La Razon, 04 October 2013

• Bolivia expects to sign agreement with Ecuador to export industrialied coca products, such as tea, to Ecuador
  - Los Tiempos, 04 October 2013

• Amazon fruits and organic chocolate are taking over from coca in Colombia
  - El Pais, 02 October 2013

• Licenses for selling coca leaf to rise from 600 to 1200 bolivianos
  - La Razon, 01 October 2013

• Crushed coca leaves and quinoa is good for your skin
  - Esquire, 01 October 2013

• Five reasons why efforts to fumigate coca are a failure in Colombia
  - La Silla Vacia, 01 October 2013

• Foreign legalization of coca commercialization
  - Bolivia Opinion, 28 September 2013

• Government promises to deliver report on coca consumption in October
  - Los Tiempos, 27 September 2013

• UN says Bolivia is obligated to present study on national legal demand for coca for purposes such as chewing and medical consumption
  - La Razon, 25 September 2013

• UN says Bolivia is obligated to present study on national legal demand for coca for purposes such as chewing and medical consumption
  - Los Tiempos, 25 September 2013

• Bolivia's vice minister for drug control, Felipe Caceres, says coca consumption study will be ready in October
  - La Razon, 25 September 2013

• Drug trafficking - another threat to Bolivia's Gran Chaco ecosystem
  - Infosurhoy, 25 September 2013

• Peru now first in production of coca leaf (62,500 hectares), surpassing Colombia (48,000 hectares)
  - ABC News, 25 September 2013

• Hypocrisy of U.S. decertifying Bolivia, but not Colombia or Peru, for its drug control efforts
  - Andean Information Network, 20 September 2013

• Government and MAS party strongly criticizes U.S. government report that says Bolivia is failing to fight drug trafficking
  - Los Tiempos, 15 September 2013

• U.S. condemns war on drugs in Bolivia - Bolivia says complaint is contradictory
  - La Razon, 14 September 2013

• Better controls needed for use of pesticides in coca farming
  - Los Tiempos, 2 September 2013

• UMSS Food Center study (done at request of MSM Senator Julio Salazar) shows only 2 percent of the 20 percent of coca protein are absorbed, low compared to soy protein absorption
  - Los Tiempos, 2 September 2013

• European Union will support market for products derived from coca
  - La Razon, 31 August 2013

• Colombia's fight against the coca trade
  - IRIN News, 28 August 2013

• Illegal coca plantings discovered in Comarapa, close to Amboro national park, government worried about incursions of such plantings into national parks
  - La Razon, 27 August 2013

• European Union will give $8 million to reduce demand for cocaine in the Andean Community
  - La Razon, 23 August 2013

• Government studying outbreak of coca plant fungus to see where to move plantings
  - La Razon, 23 August 2013

• UN Office of Drug Control will measure, in first half of 2014, Bolivia's capacity for cocaine production
  - La Razon, 23 August 2013

• Bolivia touts coca flour as a way for cocaine addicts to kick the habit
  - Fox News, 21 August 2013

• Bolivia plans effort to turn coca into a prestigious plant
  - Prensa, 19 August 2013

• European Union will give Bolivia $33 million to diversify agriculture in Bolivia to reduce coca growing
  - La Razon, 19 August 2013

• Bolivian government hopes to have coca leaf sales legalized in northern Argentina
  - La Razon, 17 August 2013

• Foreign coca specialists admit that there are internal and external fears about sales of coca products
  - Pagina Siete (pages 4-5), 16 August 2013

• Don Carmelo Flores, happy and healthy at 123 years of age, thanks to quinoa and coca
  - La Razon, 16 August 2013

• Proposal to export coca leaf flour to use to treat cocaine addiction
  - La Razon, 15 August 2013

• Fungus infecting coca plants may require coca farmers to change location of their plantings
  - La Razon, 14 August 2013

• Government investigating why coca plants in Chapare are drying out, either due to fungus or pesticides
  - La Razon, 14 August 2013

• For second year, coca production has dropped 7% (2400 hectares) in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 06 August 2013

• 59% of the coca produced in Bolivia does not go to legal markets
  - La Razon, 06 August 2013

• UN Office of Drug Control presents report on cultivation of coca in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 05 August 2013

• President Morales seeks to export mate de coca to ALBA countries
  - La Razon, 30 July 2013

• After $11 million investment by government, Ebococa coca manufacturing plant stands mostly idle due to lack of demand
  - Economia Bolivia, 24 June 2013

• Profiting from pain in the U.S. - 240 million prescriptions for legal opioid drugs in 2012 with sales totalling $8.34 billion - legal drug cartels
  - New York Times, 22 June 2013

• Coca toothpaste? Bolivia tries to drum up demand for 'legal' coca products
  - Christian Science Monitor, 03 June 2013

• New Bolivian beer made from coca leaf
  - New Zealand Herald, 09 May 2013

• Bolivian consumers reject coca-based foods because of the taste of coca-flavored foods
  - The Telegraph (UK), 09 May 2013

• Bolivia's challenge: making coca palatable
  - Associated Press, 08 May 2013

• The defined line between coca and cocaine
  - Global Mail, 07 May 2013

• Government of Bolivia initiates new study about the legal uses of coca
  - Prensa (Panama), 28 April 2013

• Mauricio Mamani Pocoaca: Coca-cocaine - between the irony and reality of few alternative uses
  - Semanario Alternativas, 04 April 2013

• Organization of American States report pushes for regional coca leaf market, and legalizing marijuana
  - Economist, 25 May 2013

• Finding coca tea for sale in Bogota
  - Bogota Blog, 15 March 2013

• Bolivia's Evo Morales recommends coca wine to next Pope
  - Reuters, 11 March 2013

• Former U.S. federal prosecutors who used to fight drugs, now switching sides and defending accused drug traffickers
  - Guardian (UK), 27 February 2013

• The Bolivian coca leaf
  - Penn State International Affairs Review, 10 February 2013

• Six reasons why the drug policy proposal of the FARC makes sense - the FARC proposed to the government for the first time that it study how to make a transition from illicit crops to other sustainable alternatives for the peasants who live there
  - La Silla Vacia, 23 January 2013

• Evo Morales wins UN recognition of rights of Bolivians to chew coca
  - ABC News, 12 January 2013

• Coca licensing is a weapon in Bolivia's drug war
  - New York Times, 26 December 2012

• IberoAmerican Chamber of Cadiz will support coca chewing
  - Diariocritico de Bolivia, 17 November 2012

• Hollywood actor Sean Penn asked to become ambassador for Bolivia to defend coca leaf chewing
  - Daily Mail (UK), 31 October 2012

• Bolivian chancellor Choquehuanca says 120 non-aligned countries support the right of Bolivians to chew coca
  - Tierra Fundaction, 28 September 2012

• Colombia's chief public prosecutor, Alejandro Ordóñez, calls for referendum in Colombia to legalize some drug consumption
  - Irish Times, 20 August 2012

• 'Decocainized' coca leaf extract debuts for weight management sector
  - NutraIngredients, 11 July 2012

• Why Bolivian President Morales still heads coca growers union
  - International Business Times, 10 July 2012

• Two state-owned coca companies in Chapare are not operating
  - Opinion Bolivia, 03 July 2012

• The "coca diplomacy" of Evo Morales
  - Council on Hemispheric Affairs, 25 April 2012

• U.S. anti-coca growing efforts in Peru embitters Peruvian chocolate farmers given inferior cocoa hybrid to plant as an alternative
  - Reuters, 25 April 2012

• DIGCOIN starts project to use turn seized coca into food, cardboard and paper
  - La Razon, 25 March 2012

• Bolivian government rejects U.N. report on coca chewing
  - Opinion.no, 28 February 2012

• Ebococa lanza el "panetón de coca" para esta Navidad
  - La Razon, 16 December 2011

• A coca farmer in Bolivia earns upto 5 times the national minimum wage of 815 bolivianos
  - EJV News, 23 November 2011

• Tired of coffee? This tea has cocaine!
  - io9, 22 November 2011

• Coca is not cocaine
  - Thomas Grisaffi, London School of Economics, July 2011

• Products of Ebococa will be sold throughout Bolivia
  - Radio FMBolivia, 08 June 2011

• Bolivia's illegal coca becomes compost for fertilizer, rather than cocaine
  - Guardian (London), 31 March 2011

• Peru must consider decriminalizing recreational drug use, according to former president Alejandro Toledo
  - Reuters, 28 January 2011

• Spain supports Bolivia in its campaign to decriminalize use of coca leaf
  - Telegraph (UK), 20 January 2014

• Coca puts fizz in new Bolivian energy drink, Coca Brynco
  - Reuters, 18 January 2011

• Coca leaf liquor launched in UK at London Fashion Week parties
  - The Grocer, 18 September 2010

• Need more calcium and don't want milk? Try the coca leaf
  - Renegade Health, 08 July 2010

• New coca-leaf energy drink, Coca Colla, hits the market
  - NotiSur, 04 June 2010

• Evo Morales - "Let me chew my coca leaves"
  - New York Times, 13 March 2009

• Coca leaves are not cocaine, Evo Morales insists
  - The Telegraph, 12 March 2009

• Legislators in Peru's Congress defend traditional coca use
  - Reuters, 14 March 2008

• Fighting for the right to chew coca
  - Time, 17 March 2008

• UN needs to chew on its [anti-coca] drug policy
  - National Post, 06 March 2008

• Hugo Chavez's support for coca leaf and coca efforts of Bolivia's Morales
  - Venezuealanalysis, 08 February 2008

• Bolivians seek world market for coca cures
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 07 October 2007

• The coca leaf, benefits of traditional use smothered by drug policy
  - Comunidad Segura, 31 July 2007

• Coca growers in Bolivia turn a new leaf
  - Fortune, 06 July 2007

• Bolivians request that Coca Cola Company no longer use the word "coca"
  - Portfolio, 16 March 2007

• Brazilian football coach bans players from drinking coca tea when they are in Peru for Copa America games
  - NDTV News, 25 February 2007

• Yungas coca growers seek industrialization of coca but split on its legalization
  - Bolivia Rising blog, 08 February 2007

• Peruvian chef looks beyond cocaine to create coca-leaf cuisine
  - Bloomberg, 31 January 2007

• In Coroico, Bolivia: coca, poverty and hope
  - IPSNET, 04 January 2007

• The president of Peru, Alan Garcia, recommends coca leaf
  - BBC, 20 December 2006

• Osteoporosis free by eating coca leaf? One Peruvian boy did so.
  - PRLOG, 30 August 2006

• Of tin mines, coca leaves and eternal recurrence
  - Library of Economics and Liberty, 05 June 2006

• The coca plant paradox - a simple leaf with a complicated history
  - Transitions Abroad, 31 May 2006

• Coca yes, cocaine no? Legal options for the coca leaf
  - TransNational Institute, May 2006

• Coffee, coca and a clash of cultures between Bolivia and the U.S.
  - The Independent (UK), 21 March 2006

• Bolivian official tells U.S. Congress that a healthy breakfast can include coca
  - Washington Times, 9 March 2006

• Bolivia's knot: no to cocaine, but yes to coca
  - New York Times, 12 February 2006

• Genetically modified coca bush boosts levels of coca alkaloids
  - Financial Times, 07 December 2004

• How Evo Morales has championed Bolivia's coca farmers
  - Time Magazine, 31 July 2002

• El Alto journal: a cup of coca tea, anyone? Bolivia sees a market
  - New York Times, 17 June 1992

• Coca leaf in Peru has an ancient mystique
  - Philadelphia Inquirer, 16 July 1989

• Cultivation of coca leaves - a pillar of the Bolivian economy
  - Globe and Mail, 26 February 1985

• Cup of coca: not so nice [flavor for Americans]
  - New York Times, 12 September 1984

• Health benefits found in chewing coca leaf
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 19 October 1983

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NUTRACEUTICAL NEWS

Nutraceuticals are foods that also have medicinal properties. Two such nutraceuticals, maca and quinoa, are sourced in the Andean/Amazonia regions.

• Chemicals in the bark of the Palo Azul tree of Mexico could help cure breast cancer
  - La Prensa, 06 July 2017

• Coconut oil isn't healthy - it has never been healthy, because of its saturated fats
  - USA Today, 16 2017

• Bolivia demonstrtes to the world the potential of its Royal Quinua
  - Pagina Siete, 26 March 2017

• Blueberry concentrate improves brain function in older people
  - ScienceDaily, 07 March 2017

• Botox: the drug that is treating everything
  - Time, 05 January 2017

• China is planting quinua and wants to be the leading producer in the world
  - El Diario, 25 December 2016

• Can you eat too much protein, since the body can only digest and absorb about 20 to 40 grams of protein at each meal?
  - New York Times, 06 December 2016

• Ingredient in magic mushrooms, psilocybin, is shown to ease anxiety and depression in cancer patients in one dose
  - Los Angeles Times, 30 November 2016

• No evidence of aloe vera doun in the Aloe Vera products at WalMart and CVS
  - Bloomberg, 22 November 2016

• Studies show little benefit in vitamin and nutritional supplements
  - New York Times, 15 November 2016

• Soylent stops shipping new version of health food powder, after it makes people sick FNR
  - The Verge, 28 October 2016

• Is teff the new super-grain?
  - New York Times, 16 August 2016

• Chuño - a space-age food product cultivated by the Incas

• McDonald's tweaks its recipes: now with real butter in its McMuffins
  - New York Times, 02 August 2016 Tiny state of Vermont brings food industry to its knees be requiring products to be labelled if they contain genetically modified ingredients
  - Associated Press, 19 March 2016

• How many popular herbal supplements interfere with prescription drugs
  - Wall Street Journal, 29 February 2016

• Quinua farming in Bolivia is in crisis: exports and internal consumption are both decreasing
  - Los Tiempos, 15 February 2016

• The Republic of Tea company could be worth $125 million, but its CEO, Ron Rubin, doesn't want to sell
  - Forbes, 10 February 2016

• Industrialized food additives, including emulsifiers such as soy lecithin, raise risk of automimmune diseases such as obesity
  - Food Navigator, 29 January 2016

• Increased dietary intake of flavonoid-rich foods reduced erectile dysfunction in men - best sources are strawberries, blueberries, red wine, apples and pears, and citrus products
  - Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, 13 January 2016

• Wild dulse, the superfood of the future, a crimson seaweed that tastes like bacon when fried, and has lots of nutrients
  - Fast Company, 11 January 2016

• The unwanted chemicals (lead and arsenic) in rice and green tea
  - Financial Times, 11 January 2016

• How MSG obtained a bad reputation: bad science and xenophobia
  - 538.com, 08 January 2016

• Kratom, a leaf from Southeast Asia, that is suggested as a natural cure for drug addiction, is itself an addictive drug and a gateway to heroin, but still is not regulated by the DEA
  - New York Times, 02 January 2016

• Tarwi, a superfood that is winning market share, popular in Bolivia and Ecuador
  - Los Tiempos, 19 December 2015

• F.D.A. allows Hampton Creek to continue to call its egg-free mayonnaise "Just Mayo", as long as it emphasizes "egg-free" on the product label DRN
  - New York Times, 18 December 2015

• In Bolivia, exports of quinua drop almost 50% in value and volume, with respect to last year
  - Los Tiempos, 04 December 2015

• Producers of quinua in Bolivia are losing at least $44 per quintal due to higher costs and lower sales prices in the market
  - La Razon, 07 November 2015

• Artisan coffee roasters ignore the coffee futures markets, and buy and set prices directly with coffee farmers
  - Financial Times, 05 November 2015

• Editorial: the decline of quinua farming in Bolivia, due to decreasing world prices and competition from Peru, and lack of government support
  - El Diario, 04 November 2015

• Studies indicate that synthetic statins could dampen the effect of flu vaccines
  - CIDRAP News, 31 October 2015

• World Health Organization reports that eating processed meat raises the risk of colon cancer
  - New York Times, 27 October 2015

• World Health Organization reports that eating processed meat raises the risk of colon cancer
  - Washington Post, 27 October 2015

• 80% of the production of amaranth in Bolivia is exported to Europe
  - La Razon, 25 October 2015

• Breast milk - a miracle cure for many ailments of babies, use of which is discouraged by sexual mores and infant formula products from the West
  - New York Times, 22 October 2015

• Dietary supplements cause 20,000 visitations to emergency rooms, each year, in the United States
  - New York Times, 16 October 2015

• Is drinking red wine at dinner good for people with type 2 diabetes?
  - CBS News, 13 October 2015

• From liver disease to diabetes, chemicals in coffee protect against an array of health conditions
  - Science News, 18 September 2015

• Drinking tea probably doesn't provide much in the way of health benefits
  - New York Times, 06 October 2015

• Why students hate school lunches that are healthier
  - New York Times, 26 September 2015

• Omega-3 supplements may only benefit humans with same mutation found in the Inuit people, so that their use is no longer evidence of the benefits of Omega-3
  - Market Business, 19 September 2015

• Traditional medicine experts in La Paz, Bolivia, count 3000 medicinal plants in the country
  - El Deber, 18 September 2015

• NIH study is halted early, after positive results indicate that blood pressure guidelines should be much lower, saving many lives (cacao's theobromine is reported to lower blood pressure)
  - New York Times, 11 September 2015

• Widely prescribed statins accelerate aging, deactivate DNA repair and promote diabetes
  - Am. J. of Physiology, 29 July 2015

• Widely prescribed statins accelerate aging, deactivate DNA repair and promote diabetes
  - Natural News, 29 July 2015

• How we are making bitter fruits and vegetables less healthy, by making them less bitter
  - New Scientist, 29 July 2015

• Time to lift the ban on total dietary fat (which includes the saturated fats of chocolate)
  - Journal of the AMA, 23 2015

• How flavor drives nutrition - as food has become blander to be easy to sell, it has become less nutritious and less delicious
  - Wall Street Journal, 09 April 2015

• The quinoa quarrel - who own's the world greatest superfood?
  - Harper's Magazine, 01 May 2014

• The sneaky attempt of the FDA to ban another natural B vitamin
  - ProHealth, 19 March 2014

• McDonald's Corporation announces that it will buying eggs produced by hens housed in cages
  - ew York Times, 10 September 2015

• Organic food producers and industrial food conglomerates are each buying their own scientists to battle over the issue of genetically modified crops
  - New York Times, 06 September 2015

• Two diseases attacking 50% of the coffee cultivation in Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 04 September 2015

• U.S. government-controlled industry group, the American Egg Board, paid food bloggers to attack the egg substitute created by Hampton Creek, an attack that could violate American lawse
  - The Guardian, 06 September 2015

• The FDA says that Hampton Creek cannot call its egg-free mayonnaise product "mayonnaise", because it has no eggs, despite being just as healthy and despite being made only from vegetables
  - Business Week, 03 September 2015

• United States rejects and returns 200 of Peruvian quinua, the motive being the use of pesticides
  - Cambio, 01 September 2015

• Inside of the efforts of Kellogg to profit from the health-food craze, such as its Kashi brand
  - Wall Street Journal, 01 September 2015

• Can some probiotics, healthy bacteria added to foods, have an antibiotic effect?
  - Wall Street Journal, 01 September 2015

• Can some probiotics have an antibiotic effect?
  - Wall Street Journal, 31 August 2015

• In India, as new drug molecules are hard to find, pharmaceutical companies are considering nutraceuticals
  - DNA India, 30 August 2015

• Buying organic vegetables at the supermarket is a waste of money
  - Quartz, 29 August 2015

• Eating foods that are high in protein can boost cardiovascular health, as much as getting exercise
  - ScienceDaily, 27 August 2015

• Almond milk producers sued for having small amounts of almonds in the milk, and too much of thickeners such as carrageenan
  - Fox Business, 28 August 2015

• More efficient emulsions to deliver nutraceuticals in foods
  - Chemistry World, 25 August 2015

• Nutraceutical market to be work $38 billion by 2020
  - Ingredients Network, 17 August 2015

• As You Sow files notice it intends to sue Soylent because its Super Food has too high levels of lead and cadmium
  - Yahoo News, 13 August 2015

• Trans fats, but not saturated fats such as [cacao] butter, are linked to greater risk of early death and heart disease
  - Science Daily, 11 August 2015

• Founder of yogurt manufacturer Chobani, Hamadi Ulukaya, is now entering the specialty coffee business
  - New York Times, 10 August 2015

• Coffee producers are using the futures markets less as they invest directly with farmers of specialty coffees, and don't use futures to manage risk
  - Wall Street Journal, 08 August 2015

• Bolivia to use amaranth and cañahua, protein rich grains, to treat diabetes, spending $80 million to benefit 840,000 people
  - La Razon, 07 August 2015

• Peru displaces Bolivia in global markets in terms of exports of quinua
  - La Razon, 02 August 2015

• Bulletproof raises $9 million to sell butter-infused coffee
  - Fast Company, 24 July 2015

• Jamaica positioning its agriculture to benefit from the nutraceutical industry
  - Caribbean News Now, 16 July 2015

• Two studies support guidelines for increasing the use of statins
  - New York Times, 15 July 2015

• Achachairú, the low-sugar tasty fruit from Bolivia
  - Daily Mail, 13 July 2015

• The United States is buying less quinua from Bolivia due to supplies of less expensive quinoa from Peru
  - La Razon, 11 July 2015

• Production of quinua has tripled in Bolivia in three years, to 176,000 hectares
  - Cambio, 07 July 2015

• Muscadine grape seed oil as a novel source of tocotrienols to reduce adipogenesis and adipocyte inflammation (to reduce obesity)
  - Food & Function, 05 2015

• The increasing use of medicinal plants in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 02 May 2015

• The valleys of Tarija are the principal regions for growing nuts in Bolivia
  - ErBol, 01 May 2015

• In Bolivia, organic farming costs 30% more than conventional farming
  - Los Tiempos, 17 April 2015

• Coca growers in Colombia are switching to growing the cacay tree, the seeds of which have an oil very beneficial for human skin
  - Bloomberg Business, 14 April 2015

• Maryland-based New Colombia Resources launches a Cali, Colombia subsidiary, Sannabis SAS, to grow hemp to mix with coal for power generation
  - Power Engineering, 08 April 2015

• Dietary supplements of diindolylmethane, obtained from vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower, can help fight some cancers
  - Wall Street Journal, 06 April 2015

• A medieval recipe using garlic, onion or leek, and cow bile, brewed in a brass vessel, kills the MRSA bacteria that is resistant to most drugs
  - CBS News, 31 March 2015

• Pesticide residue in fruits and vegetables associated with low sperm count
  - Washington Post, 30 March 2015

• A fatty acid in fish oil supplements interferes with chemotherapy drugs
  - JAMA Oncology, 02 April 2015

• There is little to no scientific evidence that fish oil supplements lower the risk of heart attack and stroke
  - New York Times, 30 March 2015

• A comprehensive medical study shows that the more nuts you eat, the less likely you are to die, at any age, of cancer or heart disease
  - New York Times, 30 March 2015

• A daily supplement of saffron can prevent muscle weakness and pain after a strenuous workout
  - Wall Street Journal, 30 March 2015

• Consuming eggs with raw vegetables increases nutritive value by a factor of 3 to 9
  - Science Daily, 29 March 2015

• In Brazil, some prison inmates are receiving therapy with hallucinogenic tea that is brewed from the ayahuasca plant
  - New York Times, 28 March 2015

• Cooking some rice with coconut oil dramatically reduces the amount of calories
  - Washington Post, 25 March 2015

• The myths of diets that are high in animal protein
  - New York Times, 23 March 2015

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recognizes that apples and potatoes that have their genes altered (to remain fresh) are generally recognized as safe (GRAS)
  - New York Times, 21 March 2015

• Psychedelics are not linked to mental health problems or suicidal behavior
  - Psychopharm, 28 February 2015

• Four natural supplements that are as powerful as medicine: berberine, curcumin, red yeast rice, and garlic
  - Care2, 28 February 2015

• The next "new" grain from the Andes: the tarwi and its benefits
  - El Diario, 19 February 2015

• Beetroot juice may help lower blood pressure for people with high blood pressure
  - Wall Street Journal, 16 February 2015

• Vitamins hide the low quality of our processed foods
  - New York Times, 15 February 2015

• The truth about 'miracle foods' - from chia seeds to coconut oil
  - The Guardian, 15 February 2015

• Rapamycin, a natural antifungal compound from a bacteria, could be an anti-aging drug
  - Business Week, 12 February 2015

• Doctors in the United States are selling medical foods from their offices, and selling new doses of old drugs (but at higher prices)
  - New York Times, 10 February 2015

• Cholesterol in food, such as in butters, no longer is a health concern
  - Yahoo News, 11 February 2015

• The U.S. government is ready to withdraw longstanding warnings about the dangers of eating foods with high levels of cholesterol, which don't greatly affect levels of cholesterol in the blood
  - Washington Post, 10 February 2015

• A chemical in red wine and dark grapes, Ellagic acid, helps reduce body fat and improve liver function
  - Wall Street OTC, 08 February 2015

• How Howard Schultz is transforming Starbucks
  - Time, 05 February 2015

• Climate change is lowering the coffee production in the Yungas region of Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 02 February 2015

• Pom Wonderful's advertisements, that claimed that pomegranate juice fights heart disease and prostate cancer, are ruled false by a court
  - Wall Street Journal, 30 January 2015

• A protein in coffee, with effects like morphine, is discovered in Brazil
  - Fox News, 24 January 2015

• Teff, the next popular super grain from Ethiopia, rich in calcium, iron and protein
  - The Guardian, 23 January 2015

• Cocoa beans, blueberries and avocados may keep cardiologists at bay
  - Bioscience Technology, 20 January 2015

• Dried whole-plant Artemisia annua is more effective against malaria than just the extract of artemisinin
  - Proc. National Academy of Sciences, 20 January 2015

• Bolivia maintains leadership and surpasses Peru in the sale of quinua
  - La Razon, 20 January 2015

• Peru is the leading producer and exporter of quinua
  - El Diario, 20 January 2015

• In Bolivia, the government and quinua producers form workshops to debate the boosting of the sector
  - La Razon, 16 January 2015

• In Peru, the government affirms that they produce more quinua than Bolivia
  - Pagina Siete, 19 January 2015

• Quinua exports from Bolivia drop 16%, losing market share to cheaper quinua from Peru
  - La Razon, 15 January 2015

• Global market for nutraceuticals projected to reach $240 billion by 2019
  - Virtual Strategy, 12 January 2015

• Adding bacteria to your food to improve the health of your microbiome
  - Fast Company, 06 January 2015

• Women in Bolivia create energy bars using quinoa, that are covered in chocolate
  - The Guardian, 05 January 2015

• Noemí, a small business in Bolivia, is producing natural cosmetics from plants of the altiplano
  - La Razon, 04 January 2015

• Curry powder and soy sauce that are fortified with vitamins could alleviate malnutrition around the world
  - Newsweek, 18 December 2014

• Nutraceutical ingredient market will reach $33.6 billion globally in 2018
  - PR Newswire, 30 September 2014

• Galacto-oligosaccharides market will be worth $1 billion by 2020
  - Global News Wire, 12 January 2015

• Value and volume of exports of chia seed from Bolivia decrease in 2014, while Argentina and Paraguay increase their production
  - La Razon, 04 January 2015

• Chia seed producers request the government to boost the national and international promotion of the nutritive qualities of chia
  - La Razon, 03 January 2015

• Cañahua is more nutritious than quinua, with more protein, fiber and minerals
  - El Diario, 01 January 2015

• Only 9% of the quinua that Bolivia exports is as value-added products
  - Pagina Siete, 26 December 2014

• Exports decrease of quinoa from Bolivia to the United States
  - El Diario, 21 December 2014

• Quinoa producers in Bolivia demand that the government provide them with new export markets
  - El Diario, 21 December 2014

• Swiss group announces investment of $650 million to farm quinua on the altiplano region near La Paz
  - Los Tiempo, 19 December 2014

• A cheap natural compound (cytisine) may help smokers to quit
  - US News & World Report, 17 December 2014

• In Peru, Chinese buyers are forcing higher the price of maca root, making some farmers rich while others are exploited, and making it harder for Peruvians to buy their native plant
  - New York Times, 07 December 2014

• Quinua farmers in Potosi and Oruro spending 75% of their income on production cost, due to lack of supplies
  - EL Diario, 05 December 2014

• Anti-inflammatory properties found in the leaves of the Mabolo tree
  - Los Tiempos, 04 December 2014

• The latest superfood? Peru's maca root
  - Wall Street Journal, 03 December 2014

• Prescribing vegetables, not pills, to fight obesity in children
  - New York Times, 02 December 2014

• The competition for producing quinua is increasing
  - La Razon, 01 December 2014

• Chia, the prodigious seed
  - El Diario, 27 November 2014

• Government in Bolivia worried that smuggling lower-quality quinoa from Peru is driving down prices in Bolivia, hurting farmers in Bolivia
  - El Diario, 25 November 2014

• Chilca (a ragwort) - a "magic plant" from La Paz useful for treating inflammation
  - Pagina Siete, 23 November 2014

• Contraband quinoa from Peru, of lower quality, is driving down the prices of quinoa from Bolivia in national markets and for export
  - El Diario, 21 November 2014

• United States returns Peruvian quinua that was exported as being Bolivian
  - La Razon, 18 November 2014

• Plan seeks to triple the productivity of quinua farming in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 16 November 2014

• Bolivia has the first plant for quinua milk in the world
  - La Razon, 09 November 2014

• InterAmerican Development Bank donates $1.9 million to the Bolivian Chamber of Quinua (Cabolqui)
  - El Diario, 08 November 2014

• How to sell quinoa in the Atlanta, Georgia, the land of grits
  - New York Times, 07 November 2014

• Producers of quinoa in Bolivia seeking to develop value-added products based on quinoa
  - La Razon, 06 November 2014

• Using genetically engineered yeast to produce custom milk
  - National Geographic, 22 October 2014

• Price of quinua collapses, with exporters in Bolivia receiving $6000 per ton, down from $8000 per ton
  - El Diario, 22 October 2014

• Annual consumption of quinua per person in Bolivia rises from 0.35 kilos in 2011 to 2.0 kilos in 2013
  - Los Tiempos, 06 October 2014

• Green tea could help scientists develop new cancer fighting drugs
  - Daily Mail (UK), 05 October 2014

• Bolivia and Pery compete for leadership in the sales of quinua
  - La Razon, 05 October 2014

• New cooking techniques based on weird ingredients
  - Technology Review, 02 October 2014

• Should we all take a bit of lithium to improve our mental health?
  - New York Times, 14 September 2014

• The hot pursuit of kale and its trendy friends such as quinoa and amaranth, and rumors of shortages
  - New York Times, 31 August 2014

• Cashew juice - a new tangy, fruit juice from India that Pepsi is turning into the latest fad juice
  - New York Times, 09 August 2014

• The value of the export of chia from Bolivia has grown from nothing to $51 million in 13 years
  - La Razon, 27 July 2014

• A study of organic crops finds they have fewer pesticides and more antioxidants
  - New York Times, 12 July 2014

• Quinoa is the king of the so-called superfoods
  - Wall Street Journal, 09 July 2014

• What's the next quinoa? Farmers reviving heritage grains such as fonio and amaranth
  - National Geographic, 08 July 2014

• Cultivating quinua in England
  - Los Tiempos, 02 July 2014

• Quinua: productivity en Peru es 4 times greater than in Bolivia
  - Los Tiempos, 28 2014

• United States almost tripled its purchase of Bolivian quinua in four years
  - La Razon, 16 2014

• Resveratrol, a component of red wine and chocolate, does not seem to have an influence on health or mortality
  - JAMA Internal Medicine, 12 May 2014

• Little evidence that many fruits and vegetables offer protection against cancer
  - New York Times, 22 April 2014

• Do rice plants absorb too much arsenic, cadmium and mercury
  - New York Times, 18 April 2014

• In Bolivia, fruit fair promotes the use of Tarwi powder and milk to combat diabetes and renal disease
  - Pagina Siete, 17 April 2014

• Eating modest amounts of beans and peas lowers LDL, the bad cholesterol
  - New York Times, 14 April 2014

• Nuzee launches Coffee Blenders, first group of K-Cup compatible coffees fortified with nutraceuticals
  - PR Newswire, 08 April 2014

• Hydrocolloids (gelatin, starch, agar, etc.) - the below-the-radar food additives used as texturizing agents
  - PR Newswire, 07 April 2014

• How Mexican drug gangs are making the lime an endangered species, and destroying other healthy fruits
  - New York Times, 29 March 2014

• Astaxanthin, a carotenoid with much anti-oxidant power of marine origin
  - Natural Products Insider, 18 March 2014

• Experts highlight R&D in dietary supplements and nutraceuticals to control aging
  - FnBNews, 15 March 2014

• Bolivia initiates International Center of Quinua in La Paz
  - El Diario, 13 March 2014

• United States is the principal buyer of Bolivian quinua
  - El Diario, 11 March 2014

• In Bolivia, increasing production of quinua should lead to lower prices
  - Cambio, 11 March 2014

• Study finds a potent painkiller in a Chinese underground tuber of the Corydalis plant
  - Los Angeles Times, 02 January 2014

• FAO laments that only global distributors of quinua are making the big bucks, with little of the profits from inflated prices going to the producers/farmers
  - El Diario, 16 December 2013

• Bolivian government bets on industrialization of quinua
  - La Razon, 15 December 2013

• Bolivian president Evo Morales launches global effort to fight hunger based on quinua
  - La Razon, 15 December 2013

• Bolivia increases consumption of quinua at the world level
  - El Diario, 15 December 2013

• Exports of quinua from Bolivia increased 30% in 2013
  - Pagina Siete, 12 December 2013

• Bolivia is the world's leading exporter of quinua
  - La Razon, 08 December 2013

• Bolivia exports quinua to 30 countries, with the U.S. buying 60%
  - La Razon, 08 December 2013

• Is now the decade of quinua in Bolivia?
  - La Razon, 02 December 2013

• High amounts of six nutrients from tumeric, soybeans, broccoli, grapes and tea, together, kill breast cancer cells in vitro
  - Inside CostaRica, 27 November 2013

• Harvard University study reports that eating dried fruits protects against cancer and heart attacks
  - Los Tiempos, 26 November 2013

• At food trade show in La Paz, a growing number of new products using quinua and amaranth
  - Pagina Siete, 25 November 2013

• Hampton Creek Foods (San Francisco) close to replacing chicken eggs with a combination of plant-based protein sources
  - Wall Street Journal, 25 November 2013

• Coffee's caffeine as medicine? Japanese scientists show it improves blood flow
  - Los Angeles Times, 20 November 2013

• Arabica coffee futures prices hit a seven year low with supply exceeding demand
  - Wall Street Journal, 07 November 2013

• Bolivia leads Peru for the second year in quinoa harvests
  - La Razon, 03 November 2013

• Quinoa industrial plants around La Paz will export over 40,000 tons of quinoa in 2013
  - La Razon, 02 November 2013

• How Bolivian farmers made the world crave quinoa
  - Bloomberg, 13 October 2013

• International Center for Quinoa in La Paz to help fight hunger
  - La Razon, 10 October 2013

• In first eight months of August, quinoa exports exceed all of exports for 2012
  - La Razon, 3 October 2013

• Productivity Development Bank (BDP) provides ten-year, $6.6 million loan to build fruit processing plant in the Tropic of Cochabamba
  - La Razon, 30 September 2013

• Bolivia defends the benefits of quinoa before European Parliament
  - La Razon, 18 September 2013

• Quinoa faces a backlash among the trendy for bland taste
  - Wall Street Journal, 14 September 2013

• High foreign demand for quinoa raises price in Bolivia by 32%
  - La Razon, 1 September 2013

• Growing edible, healthy spirulina algae on rooftops in Bangkok
  - Medical Daily, 27 August 2013

• Health ministry's Food and Nutrition office publishes guide to Andean foods such as quinoa and amaranth
  - La Razon, 24 August 2013

• Food and Nutrition Office of the Health Ministry prepares guide to Andean foods such as quinua and willcapuru
  - La Razon, 24 August 2013

• Bolivia is the leading producer of quinoa
  - La Razon, 06 August 2013

• Greatly expanding quinoa's foreign market could lead to a bubble, as foreign countries start growing their own quinoa, crashing prices and hurting quinoa farms in Bolivia
  - La Razon, 06 August 2013

• 60 grams of strawberry powder a day for six months helps prevent esophagael cancer and probably other cancers
  - Cancer Prevention Research, January 2012

---

---

NEWS OF DANGERS OF SUGAR

Sugar, especially fructose, is increasingly being recognized as a dangerous addictive drug causing rampant obesity and diabetes around the world, killing millions and costing tens of billions for health care. Use of coca leaf neither kills nor causes diabetes.

The sugar drug cartel is the oldest drug cartel in history. As far back as 1700s, people wrote about the dangers of the sugar cartel. For example, in 1760, English economist Joseph Massie published a pamphlet: "A Computation of the Money that Hath Been Exorbitantly Raised Upon the People of Great Britain by the Sugar-planters, in One Year, from January 1759 to January 1760: Shewing how Much Money a Family of Each Rank, Degree, Or Class Hath Lost by that Rapacious Monopoly Having Continued So Long After I Laid it Open, in My State of the British Sugar-colony Trade, which was Published Last Winter"

• Obesity map reveals more than 35 percent of people in seven US states are dangerously overweight
  - Daily Mail, 12 September 2018

• Philadelphians sure drink a lot more alcohol since the city's soda tax was imposed
  - Political Calculations, 17 August 2018

• Too much sugar could increase depression risk in men, UCL study suggests
  - The Guardian, 27 July 2017

• Are you a carboholic? Why cutting carbs is so tough
  - New York Times, 25 July 2017

• No fruit juices for children under 1, recommends American Academy of Pediatrics, due to sugar (9% of 1500 calories/day is 135 calories, or 33 grams of sugar, an entire day's added sugar budget)
  - CNN Health, 22 May 2017

• Sugar-sweetened beverages are now cheaper than bottled water in many countries
  - Newsweek, 04 May 2017

• How energy drinks can hurt your body
  - CNN Health, 26 April 2017

• Sugary drinks tied to accelerated brain again
  - New York Times, 24 April 2017

• Sugar- and artificially-sweetened beverages and the risks of incident stroke and dementia - artificially sweetened beverages consumption leads to higher risk of stroke and dementia, but not consumption of sugar beverages
  - Stroke, 20 April 2017

• Americans now drinking more bottled water than sugary sodas
  - Wall Street Journal, 10 March 2017

• Excess sugar consumption linked to Alzheimer's disease: study finds a 'tipping point'
  - Fox News, 24 February 2017

• Sales fall again in Mexico's second year of taxing soda, down 5.5% in 2014 and down 9.7% in 2015
  - New York Times, 22 February 2017

• Philadelphia soda tax leads to 30-50% plunge in sales and mass layoffs
  - ZeroHedge, 22 February 2017

• As obesity rises, remote Pacific Islands plan to abanbon ák and sugary foods
  - New York Times, 20 February 2017

• PepsiCo profits from healthy foods as Americans abandon sugary sodas
  - Bloomberg, 15 February 2017

• Restricted spyware used to hack advocates of Mexico's new taxes on sugary beverages
  - New York Times, 12 February 2017

• France bans free soda refills at restaurants in attack on obesity
  - New York Times, 27 January 2017

• Americans spend over $7 billion worth of food stamps, each year, to buy sugary drinks - a taxpayer subsidy for the soda and sugar industries
  - New York Times, 13 January 2017

• How to quit sugar this yer: "It's a lifestyle change, not a diet"
  - The Guardian, 07 January 2017

• A month without sugar - just as enjoyable eating that is good for your health
  - New York Times, 01 January 2017

• Book review: "The Case Against Sugar" - how sweet it isn't
  - New York Times, 02 January 2017

• Book review: "The Case Against Sugar" - on the trial of a dietary villian
  - Seattle Times, 29 December 2016

• Book review: "The Case Against Sugar" - a matter of life and death
  - Wall Street Journal, 29 December 2016

• Book review: "The Case Against Sugar" - why sugar is bad for you, really bad
  - Economist, 17 December 2016

• Book review: "The Case Against Sugar" - does the sweet stuff kill?
  - The Atlantic, 13 December 2016

• Book review: "The Case Against Sugar" - how sugar helped hook America on cigarettes
  - Bloomberg, 09 December 2016

• Is sugar killing us?
  - Wall Street Journal, 09 December 2016

• Study paid for by the sugar industry tries to discredit new health guidelines critical of sugar
  - New York Times, 19 December 2016

• Nestle reformulates sugar and says it will use less in candy
  - New York Times, 30 November 2016

• As soda taxes gain wider acceptance, your bottle may be next
  - New York Times, 27 November 2016

• Sugar-sweetened beverage but not dit soda consumption is positively associated with progression of insulin resistance and prediabetes
  - Journal of Nutrition, 09 November 2016

• Sweetened beverage industry paid scientists to lie about the negative effects of added sugar on diabetes, obesity and health
  - NY Daily News, 31 October 2016

• 60 studies linked to soda industry mask health risks of sugar
  - New York Times, 31 October 2016

• PepsiCo sets global target for sugar reduction
  - Fox News, 17 October 2016

• Tax on sugary foods and drinks backed by the World Health Organization
  - BBC, 11 October 2016

• New diabetes technology is coming - but will people use them?
  - Boston Globe, 11 October 2016

• 
  - New York Times, 10 October 2016

• The unethical history of Big Sugar
  - New York Times, 16 September 2016

• Little scientific data supports the low-carb diet to avoid diabetes
  - New York Times, 15 September 2016

• How the sugar industry paid doctors to shift blame for health problems from sugar to fat
  - New York Times, 12 September 2016

• Swapping one sugary drink per day for water can help prevent obesity, cardiovascular disease and other adverse health conditions
  - UPI, 15 August 2016

• McDonald's to replace high-fructose corn syrup in sandwich buns with regular sugar
  - Wall Street Journal, 02 August 2016

• Taxing sugar to fund a city, Philadelphia
  - New York Times, 25 May 2016

• Why the sugar industry hates the FDA's new Nutrition Facts label
  - Washington Post, 20 May 2016

• Soda industry fails to stop San Francisco law targeting sugar
  - Wall Street Journal, 17 May 2016

• Soda sales in Mexico rise despite 10% tax on sugary drinks
  - Wall Street Journal, 04 May 2016

• Profits and revenue at Coca Cola decrease, after volume of soda sold remains unchanged in first quarter
  - Wall Street Journal, 20 April 2016

• Diabetes cases reach 422 million as poorer countries see steep rises
  - Reuters, 06 April 2016

• The cost of insulin in the United States has more than doubled between 2002 and 2013
  - Reuters, 05 April 2016

• A doctor fighting the epidemic of diabetes in San Francicso is supporting a tax on soda
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 03 April 2016

• Soft-drink markets have new secret ingredient: 'real sugar'!
  - Wall Street Journal, 30 March 2016

• How the new tax on sugary drinks in Britain could inspire new low-sugar drinks
  - New York Times, 29 March 2016

• Fruit drinks and juices given to children contain a day's worth of sugar in a single serving
  - Phily.com, 24 March 2016

• Medicare to fund diabetes prevention programs
  - Am. J. Managed Care, 23 March 2016

• Pretty much everything that we eat is full of sugar, and that is a major health problem
  - Huffington Post, 10 March 2016

• Half of the calories in the diets of Americans are derived from 'ultra-processed' foods, which comprise 90 percent of the excess sugar calories that are consumed by Americans
  - UPI, 09 March 2016

• Sugarery foods and beverages are more dangerous than we imagine
  - Republica, 03 March 2016

• Exposure to thirdhand smoke causes insulin resistance in mice, a pre-cursor to type 2 diabetes
  - ScienceDaily, 02 March 2016

• Exposure to thirdhand smoke causes insulin resistance in mice, a pre-cursor to type 2 diabetes
  - PLoS One, 02 March 2016

• How drug companies (Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk) and middlemen (PBMs) make billions in profits by excessively raising prices for insulin, for example, prices of Eli Lilly's Humulin RU-500 are up 325% in last five years
  - New York Times, 20 February 2016

• Starbucks under fire for sugar content of drinks
  - Fortune, 17 February 2016

• Largest sugar cane processing plant opens in Olmos region of Peru, able to process 5400 tons of sugar cane a day
  - El Comercio, 12 February 2016

• What soda commercials would look like if they told the truth
  - Huffington Post, 08 February 2016

• Childhood obesity an 'exploding nightmare' in the developing world, with 40 million children under 5 years of age being obese across 100 countries
  - ahoo News, 25 January 2016

• The National Health Service in the UK plans to impose a sugar tax in hospitals to fight the "national sugar high" that is creating an obesity crisis
  - The Guardian, 17 January 2016

• The great increase in diabetes in China, with more than 100 million diabetics and 500 million with prediabetes, will lead to $23 billion in sales of diabetes medicines
  - MarketWatch, 15 January 2016

• New dietary guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture urge sharp cuts in sugar consumed in foods, consuming no more than the sugar in one 16-ounce can of CocaCola
  - OC Register, 07 January 2016

• Mexico's 10% tax on sugary drinks leads to a 12% decline in sales in two years
  - MedPageToday, 06 January 2016

• The sugar added to food products such as ketchup and CocaCola is linked to breast cancer
  - The Telegraph, 01 January 2016

• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NASH) is the 21st century's looking public health threat, and drug companies can't wait to profit
  - Newsweek, 01 January 2016

• High levels of sugar in the typical Western diet increase the risk of breast cancer
  - UPI, 01 January 2016

• Slightly elevated levels of blood sugar in pre-diabetics is linked to kidney disease
  - FoxNews, 29 December 2015

• Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of dementia, especially vascular dementia in women
  - Reuters, 29 December 2015

• How sugar and fat trick the brain into wanting more food
  - Scientific American, 16 December 2015

• India orders its farmers to flood global markets with 4 million tons of sugar, to reduce huge stockpiles of the drug that exist in the country
  - Wall Street Journal, 14 December 2015

• Why it is so difficult to stop your addiction to sugar - too much sugar that is added to foods and beverages
  - CNN, 10 December 2015

• How the relationship of Coca-Cola with sugar has changed in just two years
  - Business Insider, 09 December 2014

• Research group funded by Coca-Cola to lie about the effects of added sugar and obesity, is disbanded
  - New York Times, 03 December 2015

• Are sugar alcohols causing digestive problems in the stomachs of people?
  - US News World Report, 03 December 2015

• How food scientists at food conglomerates are using natural flavors to remove artificial ingredients in response to consumer demand
  - Wall Street Journal, 02 December 2015

• The combination of caffeine and sugar in energy drinks causes the levels of glucose and insulin to 'spike' in teenagers
  - Daily Mail, 02 December 2015

• Is sugar killing us, a growing global health crisis?
  - Al Jazeera, 02 December 2015

• Soaring sales of soft drinks and more sugar in foods is contributing to a 'growing crisis in obesity, diabetes and heart disease'
  - Daily Mail, 01 December 2015

• Sugar is more addictive than salt
  - Food Navigator, 01 December 2015

• Sugar-free drinks may damage teeth due to acidic additives
  - Washington Post, 30 November 2015

• How safe is the newest "natural" sugar substitute, allulose?
  - Yahoo Health, 30 November 2015

• Taxes on sugary drinks seem to reduce consumption, as intended
  - Economist, 28 November 2015

• The decline of sugary cereal, such as the currently deceptive cereal, Cheerios Protein - a bit more protein, a lot more addictive sugar
  - The Atlantic, 27 November 2015

• State of Maine wants to exclude purchase of candy and sugary sodas from its food stamp program
  - Wall Street Journal, 25 November 2015

• The chief scientist of Coca-Cola, Rhona Applebaum, quits job after it was revealed she orchestrated a biased studied about the role of Coca-Cola products in the spread of obesity
  - New York Times, 25 November 2015

• The Kenyan army is accused of running a sugar-smuggling racket with Somali terrorists
  - Economist, 23 November 2015

• The United States needs a national sugar tax
  - Washington Post, 18 November 2015

• There's a new Big Tobacco - and the beverage industry is determined to silence its critics
  - Business Insider, 16 November 2015

• WHO warns against a global epidemic of diabetes
  - The Hindu, 15 November 2015

• Low-energy sweeteners do not affect energy intake or cause increases in body weight
  - Int. Journal of Obesity, 10 November 2015

• FDA is recommending a daily maximum intake of sugar of no more than 50 grams
  - New York Times, 09 November 2015

• A seismic shift in the public demand for packaged foods with healthier ingredients
  - New York Times, 08 November 2015

• University of Colorado returns $1 million of grant money to Coca-Cola to end participation in organization favorable to Coca-Cola's use of added sugar
  - New York Times, 07 November 2015

• Senator Marco Rubio does the bidding of the Florida sugar drug cartel
  - Wall Street Journal, 05 November 2015

• Sodas linked to increased risk of heart failure
  - Fox News, 04 November 2015

• Video: this is how sugar affects your brain
  - Science Alert, 02 November 2015

• The Congress of the Union of Mexico blocks attempt to reduce 10% tax on sugary-drinks
  - New York Times, 30 October 2015

• The surprising link between sugar and chronic pain
  - KTAR TV, 28 October 2015

• Sugar is definitely toxic, according to a new study from the University of California, worse than carbohydrates in general
  - Diet Doctor, 28 October 2015

• Isocaloric fructose restriction and metabolic improvement in children with obesity and metabolic syndrome (Robert Lustig, et al.)
  - Obesity, 26 October 2015

• Sugar is definitely toxix, according to a new study from the University of California, worse than carbohydrates in general
  - TIME, 28 October 2015

• Supermarket ready meals in the United Kingdom contain double as much sugar as a can of Coca-Cola
  - The Telegraph, 24 October 2015

• Is dried fruit just a sugar bomb?
  - Time, 22 October 2015

• How Coca-Cola and the Kock brothers abused race politics and engaged in nasty public relations to fight taxes on sugary beverages
  - Salon, 17 October 2015

• Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots, calls Coca-Cola a "Poison for Kids"
  - Wall Street Journal, 13 October 2015

• In Mexico, a tax on sugary drinks has resulted in a drop in sales, especially among consumers who are poor
  - New York Times, 13 October 2015

• Health officials in the United Kingdom refuse to release report on how to reduce consumption of sugar, for example, by using taxes
  - The Telegraph, 11 October 2015

• The massive health benefits of giving up sugar and alcohol for just one month
  - The Independent, 08 October 2015

• The government of Colombia imposes fines on sugar cartel companies for $112 million, for blocking imports of sugar that raised the prices of products of companies such as Coca-Cola and Nestle
  - BusinessWeek, 07 October 2015

• The 25% drop in soda consumption represents the single largest change in the American diet in the last decade
  - New York Times, 02 October 2015

• Soda beverages have a lot less sugar if you are not in the United States
  - TakePart, 02 October 2015

• Coca-Cola and Pepsi brands differ in sugar content around the world
  - Daily Mail, 30 September 2015

• Coca-Cola ends its financial sponsorship of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
  - New York Times, 30 September 2015

• Coca-Cola ends its financial sponsorship of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
  - Wall Street Journal, 29 September 2015

• Coke spends lavishly, tens of millions, on pediatricians and dietitians
  - New York Times, 29 September 2015

• A new review of medical research provides compelling evidence that drinking too many beverages sweetened with sugar (especially fructose) lead to excess weight gain and a greater risk for type 2 diabetes
  - Science Daily, 28 September 2015

• A new review of medical research provides compelling evidence that drinking too many beverages sweetened with sugar (especially fructose) lead to excess weight gain and a greater risk for type 2 diabetes
  - J. Am. Coll. Cardiology, 28 September 2015

• The money spent selling sugar to Americans is staggering
  - The Atlantic, 27 September 2015

• Each Bolivian person consumes an average of 94 liters of soda a year
  - Pagina Siete, 16 September 2015

• What damage is sugar really doing to our skin?
  - Daily Mail, 15 September 2015

• Politicians are needed to help end the obesity crisis, with a tax on processed foods
  - Boston Globe, 11 September 2015

• High consumption of sugary drinks causes higher triglyceride levels in children
  - MedpageToday, 06 September 2015

• Six "healthy" foods that are loaded with tons of sugar, including orange juice
  - Care2, 02 September 2015

• Carbonated drinks are linked with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
  - Science Daily, 01 September 2015

• How sugar and alcohol mess with your hormones
  - Yahoo Health, 31 August 2015

• Family dysfunction linked to higher amounts of sugar in the diet of children
  - PsychCentral, 22 August 2015

• New film: how to get sick eating 40 teaspoons per day of sugar
  - New York Times, 18 August 2015

• A falling Brazilian currency, and global oversupplies, pushing down sugar prices
  - Barron's, 15 August 2015

• There is enough sugar in a can of CocaCola to make a giant lollipop
  - Huffington Post, 10 August 2015

• How to stop sugar binges using psychiatric treatments for drug addicts
  - Huffington Post, 10 August 2015

• Coca-Cola bribes some scientists to say that exercise is more important to fight obesity than to drink less sugary beverages
  - New York Times, 09 August 2015

• U.S. Congress tries to end one form of corporate welfare: sugar price guarantees and high tariffs on imported sugar
  - Wall Street Journal, 30 July 2015

• FDA wants food labels to quantify added sugars
  - New York Times, 27 July 2015

• Insulin resistance may impair glucose metabolism in the brain
  - MedPage Today, 27 July 2015

• A bitter future for the small producers of panela, the national sugar of Colombia, as new regulations increase production costs
  - Slowfood, 23 July 2015

• Sugary drinks may cause type 2 diabetes, even if you are not obese
  - British Medical Journal, 21 July 2015

• Sugary drinks may cause type 2 diabetes, even if you are not obese
  - The Guardian, 21 July 2015

• Scientific experts in the United Kingdom say that the daily consumption of sugar should be reduced by 50%
  - BBC News, 17 July 2015

• How sugar addicted people to yogurt
  - NPR, 17 July 2015

• Taxes on tobacco and alcohol that reduce demand suggest taxes on sugar sweetened beverages
  - Social Science & Medicine, 17 July 2015

• Less than one percent chance of returning to normal weight for people who are obese
  - BBC, 16 July 2015

• Whole Foods sued over false advertising by using "evaporated cane juice" instead of "sugar" on its label
  - Fox News, 14 July 2015

• British government criticized for not releasing health report that calls for reducing sugar intake to fight obesity
  - The Guardian, 13 July 2015

• British government criticized for not releasing health report that calls for reducing sugar intake to fight obesity
  - Belfast Telegraph, 13 July 2015

• Construction is 92% complete of a state-owned sugar processing plant in Bolivia, which will be able to produce 1.2 million quintals of sugar a year, while employing 500 people
  - La Razon, 07 July 2015

• Sugar is literally killing us: the stunning fatality rates behind our soda addiction
  - Salon, 05 July 2015

• Pandera Bread is eliminating high fructose corn syrup from all of the products on its menus
  - New York Times, 05 July 2015

• Mars Chocolate supports the guidance of the WHO that added sugar should be less than 10% of a person's consumption of calories
  - Confectionary News, 02 July 2015

• Why our brains are addicted to the sweetest milkshakes
  - Today, 30 2015

• Sugary drinks linked to 180,000 deaths a year around the world, including more than 25,000 Americans
  - Washington Post, 29 2015

• Why sugary soda beverages are the new "evil" cigarettes, as sales drop at McDonalds
  - Money Magazine, 26 2015

• Sales of sugary soda beverages with Happy Meals at McDonalds drops from 56% of meals purchased to 48%
  - Wall Street Journal, 26 2015

• Corn growers in the United States are attacking the high subsidies given to sugar growers (beet farmers in the MidWest, cane growers in the South, and the Fanjul drug cartel in Florida)
  - Washington Post, 24 2015

• Excessive consumption of fat and sugar cause changes in gut bacteria that can lead to loss of cognitive function
  - Science Daily, 22 2015

• Excessive consumption of fat and sugar cause changes in gut bacteria that can lead to loss of cognitive function
  - Neuroscience, 22 2015

• Consumption of fructose can lead to heart enlargement and heart failure
  - Science Daily, 17 2015

• Coca-Cola Enterprises plans to cut calories in their beverage products by 10% by 2010, in response to criticism that their sugary drinks cause obesity
  - Wall Street Journal, 10 2015

• Colombia's sugar cartel and its attempts to keep sugar prices high
  - Colombia Reports, 03 2015

• Death by chocolate: the sugar-fueled surge of diabetes in South Asia
  - The Guardian, 02 March 2015

• Hershey drops bioengineered sugar from its products
  - Genetic Literacy Project, 23 February 2015

• Milk consumption by children dropped 41% when chocolate milk (with much added sugar) was removed from school lunchrooms
  - ZME Science, 16 January 2015

• "Eating addiction", rather than "food addiction", better captures addictive-like eating behavior
  - Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 01 November 2014

• Scientists say that eliminating the sugar intake of the HIV virus will kill its growth
  - Toronto Sun, 31 May 2015

• Mars, the large candy manufacturer, supports labels for sugar added to food products
  - Huffington Post, 24 May 2015

• Five ways to kick your addiction to sugar
  - Newsmax, 19 May 2015

• The new food pyramid in Australia eliminates sugar
  - Quartz, 19 May 2015

• Curbing global sugar consumption
  - World Cancer Research Fund, 17 May 2015

• ák food kills the bacteria that protect the human body against obesity, heart disease and cancer
  - The Telegraph, 10 May 2015

• Mars, the huge candy manufacturer, to support government recommendations to limit sugar intake, and to label candies with the amount of added sugar
  - CNN Money, 08 May 2015

• Panera Bread joins Nestle, Hersheys, Kraft and other food companies in removing high fructose corn syrup and other artificial additives
  - New York Times, 05 May 2015

• Three ways that sugar kills your libido
  - Yahoo Health, 05 May 2015

• Experiments conducted by Philip Morris with rats showed that adding sugar to cigarettes makes the nicotine more addictive
  - AIM Digital (Ar), 30 April 2015

• Diabetes rises with daily consumption of soda and daily consumption of diet soda
  - Los Angeles Times, 30 April 2015

• More evidence that links sugared drinks to diabetes
  - Diabetologia, 30 April 2015

• More evidence that links sugared drinks to diabetes
  - Forbes, 30 April 2015

• British medical journal reports that sugar is mostly to blame for the epidemic of obesity, and not a lack of exercise
  - The Telegraph, 22 April 2015

• U.S. Senator Marco Rubio attends fundraiser at the home of U.S. sugar cartel member, Pepe Fanjul Jr.
  - Crowley Political Report, 22 April 2015

• People suffering from stress become more addicted to sugar, with an increased risk for diabetes and obesity
  - J. Clin. Endo. Metab., 16 April 2015

• How to reduce the intake of deadly sugars in your diet
  - The Telegraph, 16 April 2015

• Consuming too much sugar in your diet, it damages your brain
  - Huffington Post, 06 April 2015

• Powerful sugar businessmen who are smuggling sugar across Kenyan borders are scaring both the police and intelligence agents
  - Standard Digital (KE), 28 March 2015

• 2014 registers the tenth straight year of declines in the consumption of soda products such as Coca Cola and Pepsi
  - Wall Street Journal, 26 March 2015

• Which white powder from South America is worse: sugar or cocaine?
  - The Spectator, 26 March 2015

• The stock portfolios of Warren Buffett are stuffed with "ák food" companies that are making him rich, and making everyone else sick
  - Reuters, 25 March 2015

• As sales of its sugary drinks are decreasing, Coca Cola decides to try to sell more sugary drinks
  - Wall Street Journal, 18 March 2015

• How the epidemic of obesity and diabetes, due to excess sugar consumption, poses a threat to global economic growth
  - Morgan Stanley, 18 March 2015

• World Health Organization to basically everyone: stop eating so much sugar
  - Washington Post, 05 March 2015

• Excess sugar in the blood exacerbates Alzheimer's disease
  - Nature Neuroscience, 02 March 2015

• Death by chocolate: the surge in diabetes in South Asia fueled by sugar
  - The Guardian, 02 March 2015

• The fruits with the most sugar: figs, grapes, mangos, pomegranates, cherries and banana
  - Daily Meal, 30 January 2015

• How the sugar cartel in the U.S. convinced the National Institutes of Health with lies, by arguing that sugary foods did not lead to tooth decay in children
  - Salon, 11 March 2015

• How the sugar cartel in the U.S. convinced the National Institutes of Health with lies, by arguing that sugary foods did not lead to tooth decay in children
  - Washington Post, 11 March 2015

• How the sugar cartel in the U.S. convinced the National Institutes of Health with lies, by arguing that sugary foods did not lead to tooth decay in children
  - Time, 10 March 2015

• How the sugar cartel in the U.S. convinced the National Institutes of Health with lies, by arguing that sugary foods did not lead to tooth decay in children
  - Science, 10 March 2015

• How Kellogg and its cereals lost the battle for the breakfast table, because Kellogg is too addicted to sugar and carbohydrates
  - Business Week, 26 February 2015

• The search for the perfect sugar substitute - allulose?
  - Newsweek, 22 February 2015

• Drinking Coca Cola or Pepsi, once a day, could raise risk of cancer due to caramel coloring
  - Medical News Today, 21 February 2015

• Soda industry to fight new dietary guidelines from the U.S. government that recommends consuming less sugar
  - The Verge, 20 February 2015

• Why does giving up sugar make us feel so depressed, similar to the withdrawal symptoms of an addictive drug?
  - The Daily Mail, 20 February 2015

• Sugar addiction is as hard to break as a drug addiction
  - Inquistir, 19 February 2015

• Tax on sugary foods is proposed by a U.S. committee to fight obesity
  - Bloomberg, 19 February 2015

• Nutrition committee in the U.S. recommends less sugar in diets, while allowing more fats and cholesterol
  - New York Times, 19 February 2015

• Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee
  - U.S. Department of Health, 19 February 2015

• Is sugar worse than salt for increasing blood pressure?
  - Houston Chronicle, 19 February 2015

• The Lancet: six-part series on the continuing problems of global obesity
  - The Lancet, 18 February 2015

• Research confirms the strangehold that the sugar cartel has on science and public policy
  - Union of Concerned Scientists, 18 February 2015

• Research confirms the sugar cartel's strangehold on science and public policy
  - Think Progress, 18 February 2015

• Why do sugar levels keep rising in our breakfast foods?
  - The Guardian, 17 February 2015

• Nicaraguans demand action over illness that is killing thousands of sugar cane workers
  - The Guardian, 16 February 2015

• Michele Ferrero, richest drug trafficker of sugar in the world, due to products such as Nutella, dies at the age of 89
  - Time, 15 February 2015

• Warren Buffett - one of the biggest profiteers in the sugar cartel
  - Financial Times, 06 February 2015

• Fructose that is added to drinks and foods is identified as a major cause of the epidemic of type 2 diabetes
  - Medical News Today, 02 February 2015

• Are sugary drinks with added vitamins - a bad idea?
  - New York Times, 30 January 2015

• Dirty water in California is linked to obesity, as low-income families drink sugar-sweetened beverages as an alternative
  - Water Online, 29 January 2015

• Sugary drinks linked to earlier onset of menstrual periods
  - EurekAlert, 27 January 2015

• Fructose from corn syrup is more toxic than refined sugar
  - Epoch Times, 25 January 2015

• Coca growers in Peru demand management changes at the national government's coca business, ENACO
  - Diario Correo, 24 January 2015

• "Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism", and its dangers to the world
  - Berkeleyside, 22 January 2015

• Coca-Cola produced with stevia, even with 24 grams of sugar, just doesn't have a good taste
  - InForum, 21 January 2015

• A perfect sugar substitute would save lives and make billions. Why can't we produce one?
  - Forbes, 16 January 2015

• How Coca-Cola and Pepsi convinced us to pay more money ... for less of their sugary soda
  - Time, 15 January 2015

• Clara Alvarez, sociologist of coca in Colombia
  - RFI Espanol, 15 January 2015

• Is the pharmacuetical industry fighting reforms on blood sugar levels because it wants to sell too many diabetes drugs?
  - New York Times, 13 January 2015

• Artificial sweeteners have no proven nutritional value, according to government researchers in France
  - ANSES (France), 13 January 2015

• Is sugar more addictive than cocaine?
  - WBUR News, 07 January 2015

• Sugar is more addictive than cocaine and a serious epidemic
  - Examiner, 07 January 2015

• Sugar cartel bribes the U.S. Congress, and earns billions in extra profits
  - Reason, 06 January 2015

• Fructose from corn syrup more toxic than table sugar in female mice
  - Fox News, 06 January 2015

• Why a high sugar diet hurts your body
  - One Green Planet, 06 January 2015

• A specific sugar, Neu5Gc, found in red meat may be why eating meat can cause cancer
  - Daily Mail, 30 December 3014

• Nestle increases research funding to produce healthier foods that use less sugar
  - Financial Times, 26 December 2014

• End of year and holidays of sugar: it is everywhere, and it is addictive
  - New York Times, 23 December 2014

• Does food that is rich in fructose cause people to be hungry?
  - TechTimes, 12 December 2014

• Food addictions to sugar similar to cocaine and heroin in brain response
  - National Monitor, 12 December 2014

• Ten bad things that sugar is doing to your body
  - Yahoo News, 11 December 2014

• Sugar is worse than salt for pushing up blood pressure, according to new research
  - Telegraph (UK), 10 December 2014

• Fathers who have a diet high in sugar are more likely to have obese children
  - University Herald, 04 December 2014

• Hershey may stop using high fructose corn syrup in its chocolates, and instead use natural sugar
  - Chicago Tribue, 03 December 2014

• Coca Cola, a huge profiteer from sales of sugary drinks, to enter the high-end milk market in 2015, selling Fairlife milk, a milk that is higher in protein and lower in sugar
  - Business Week, 01 December 2014

• 500,000 new cases of cancer each year linked to obesity, which is caused in part by excess sugar consumption
  - CBC News, 26 November 2014

• Diets, that are low in fat and high in sugar, are dangerous
  - Wall Street OTC, 22 November 2014

• Eating lots of dietary fat does not lead to higher heart disease, unless a lot of sugar also is eaten
  - PLOS ONE, 21 November 2014

• Sugar doesn't just make you fat - it can also trigger depression, anxiety and stress
  - Daily Mail, 20 November 2014

• How badly is the United States addicted to sugar?
  - Telegraph, 17 November 2014

• People in Malaysia must reduce their intake of sugar by 80 percent
  - Astrowani, 15 November 2014

• Sugar isn't just making you fat - it's also making you sick
  - TakePart, 14 November 2014

• 350 million people suffer from diabetes, much due to sugar consumption
  - United Nations, 14 November 2014

• On World Diabetes Day, beating diabetes requires more than just reducing your sugar intake
  - Independent, 14 November 2014

• Medical school at the Univ. of California, San Francisco, launches web site on dangers of sugar
  - New York Times, 12 November 2014

• Can sugar give you stress?
  - Huffington Post, 11 November 2014

• Confessions of a doctor addicted to sugar
  - WBUR News, 10 November 2014

• Sweet poison: 10 ways that sugar is attacking your body
  - Arabian Business, 06 November 2014

• How early taste for sugar ruins the teeth of children
  - Independent, 31 October 2014

• Experts sound the alarm, as the number of cases of tuberculosis accelerate due to diabetes, which is much caused by sugar consumption
  - Fox News, 29 October 2014

• Is your child addicted to sugar?
  - Telegraph (UK), 24 October 2014

• Sugary soft drinks can age the body as much as smoking
  - Daily Mail, 20 October 2014

• Foods with lots of (added) sugar that don't even taste sweet
  - Huffingon Post, 17 October 2014

• Sugary soft drinks may be linked to accelerated aging of DNA
  - The Guardian, 16 October 2014

• Sales of energy drinks, with lots of sugar and caffeine, should be restricted as they pose a danger to children
  - Daily Mail, 14 October 2014

• Fructose promotes obesity and diabetes, such as fructose added to sodas, according to a report from the Harvard Medical School
  - New York Times, 13 October 2014

• Sugar consumption in adolescence linked with memory problems
  - Epoch Times, 11 October 2014

• Sugar and fat in fast foods cause addiction similar to cocaine and heroin
  - WCPO Cincinnati, 10 October 2014

• Pepsi and Coke have lost 3% of their sales in Mexico, after Mexico started levying taxes on sugary drinks
  - RT News, 09 October 2014

• Soda drinkers in the U.S. are buying fewer SodaStream soda machines, as they continue to flee sugary drinks, even ones that they make at home
  - Wall Street Journal, 07 October 2014

• Soda makers (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper) have pledged to reduce the number of sugar calories being consumed by 20% within ten years
  - New York Times, 24 September 2014

• Studies show that sugar is more addicting than drugs such as cocaine and heroin
  - Raw Food World, 19 September 2014

• We must have taxes on sugar before Britain eats itself to death
  - Daily Mail, 18 September 2014

• Sugar cartel in Florida wants to turn 67 square miles into real estate projects, destroying efforts to restore the Everglades
  - Flagler Live, 17 September 2014

• Sugar cartel in Jamaica scams government out of $1 billion in taxes
  - Jamaica Observer, 17 September 2014

• Sugar is the only cause of tooth decay
  - Time, 16 September 2014

• Just HALF a can of Coke exceeds the new daily sugar guidelines backed by scientists
  - Daily Mail, 16 September 2014

• Sugar, not salt, causes high blood pressure
  - Express (UK), 14 September 2014

• Raw sugar is no better for you than refined sugar
  - Mother Jones, 08 September 2014

• Methylglyoxal, a metabolite of sugar, may disrupt benefits of 'good' HDL cholesterol
  - Food Navigator, 02 September 2014

• Sugar addiction is key contributor to heart disease, obesity and increased risk of cancer
  - Indian Express, 30 August 2014

• Dr. Robert Lustig, the man who believes that sugar is poison
  - The Guardian (UK), 24 August 2014

• Company in U.S. state of Washington to start selling soda infused with marijuana
  - WWLP News, 22 August 2014

• Next speaker of the Florida House of Representatives receives large amounts of money from sugar cartel, and now, secret hunting trips
  - Tampa Bay News, 17 August 2014

• Coca-Cola adopts venture-capital strategy, and with thirst for profits, buys 17% of Monster Beverge and its sugary fruit and energy drinks
  - The Street, 15 August 2014

• U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect U.S. sugar cartel in trade negotiations
  - AgWeek News, 11 August 2014

• How slavery and corporate profits turned sugar into a poison
  - Globe and Mail, 08 August 2014

• The biological argument against excessive consumption of sugar
  - Chemical & Engineering News, 04 August 2014

• Sickly sweet - fighting out addiction to sugar
  - Union Concerned Scientists, 01 August 2014

• Sugar cartel in Florida buys loyalty of Florida Governor Rick Scott for $534,000
  - Miami Herald, 31 July 2014

• More evidence that sugar may be bad for the brain
  - Forbes, 30 July 2014

• Sugary drinks may damage children's brains so badly that it affects their memories
  - Medical Daily, 29 July 2014

• Eggs don't cause heart attacks - sugar causes heart attacks
  - Huffington Post, 11 April 2014

• How the sugar cartel is using tactics of the tobacco cartel to lie about the dangers of sugar
  - Take Part, 20 July 2014

• Sugar cartel fights US FDA attempts to add "added sugar" labels to food products
  - Daily Beast, 19 July 2014

• Are you drinking dangerous amounts of sugar in your beverages?
  - Daily Meal, 18 July 2014

• How the sugar cartel conspires with politicians to steal tax dollars in the forms of unneeded subsidies
  - Heritage, 17 July 2014

• Panama spends $100 million per year treating health problems due to diabetes and people being overweight
  - Prensa, 12 July 2014

• School Nutrition Association in the U.S. lobbies against healthier school meals, with less sugar, after receiving millions of dollar in bribes from processed food companies
  - New York Times, 02 July 2014

• U.S. sugar cartel threatens health organizations, and buries science on unhealthy effects of sugar consumption
  - Mother Jones, 27 2014

• U.S. sugar cartel threatens health organizations, and buries science on unhealthy effects of sugar consumption
  - Newsweek, 27 2014

• U.S. sugar cartel threatens health organizations, and buries science on unhealthy effects of sugar consumption
  - Pacific Standard, 27 2014

• Experts say that a tax on foods with added sugar is needed to reduce childhood obesity
  - The Guardian, 22 2014

• Lawsuit alleges that Greek yogurt companies are trying to hide the amount of sugar in their products
  - NY Post, 19 2014

• Food industry's solution to obesity - more toxic, sugary food products to kill their customers
  - New York Times, 19 2014

• Public health threat grows due to fatty liver disease tied to obesity caused by sugar, especially fructose
  - New York Times, 14 2014

• Sugar alcohols are not much more healthier than sugar
  - Washington Post, 08 July 2014

• Is sugar responsible for rising number of cases of dementia, as high levels of glucose can cause memory loss?
  - Daily Mail, 07 July 2014

• The popular media are full of claims that sugar is toxic. How true?
  - The Atlantic, 05 2014

• A safe sugar alcohol, erythritol, is also a potent insectide
  - Discovery News, 04 2014

• The case for treating sugar like an addictive drug
  - Vox, 02 2014

• Many low-fat foods have lots of sugar that add back the calories
  - Australian, 31 May 2014

• How the FDA bans a natural sweetener, miraculin, to protect the sugar cartel
  - The Atlantic, 29 May 2014

• Sugar can send your blood pressure soaring in two ways
  - Time, 29 May 2014

• Vast majority (about two thirds) of American adults are overweight or obese, with 80 million Americans being obese
  - Institute for Health Metrics, 29 May 2014

• Economic slowdown tied to rise in obesity in rich nations, as people eat more unhealthy sugary foods
  - Reuters, 27 May 2014

• U.S. Congress should restrict sugar in the food supply
  - The Hill, 23 May 2014

• In the United States, 27.7% of adults are obese
  - Gallup, 22 May 2014

• Is sugar as harmful and addictive as heroin?
  - WHNT News, 21 May 2014

• Sorry, but there is no such thing as a 'healthy' sugar
  - Huffington Post, 19 May 2014

• Some "healthy" yogurts have more sugar than chocolate bars
  - Independent (IE), 18 May 2014

• How Nutella has used sugar and fat to addict the world to its products for 50 years
  - BBC, 18 May 2014

• In last 10 years, 20,000 sugarcane workers in Central America have died from a mysterious disease that affects kidneys (20% of deaths due to drug trafficking)
  - Star Tribune, 17 May 2014

• Some children's cereals are 50% addictive sugar by weight
  - Shape, 16 May 2014

• Sugar is the culprit behind heart diseases
  - Times of India, 16 May 2014

• Addiction to sugar increases as people consume more sugar
  - Fox News, 15 May 2014

• How much sugar is hiding in everything that you love to eat - an infographic
  - FoodBeast, 15 May 2014

• Breakfast cereals loaded with too much sugar for children, causing obesity and other health problems
  - Reuters, 15 May 2014

• California's leading nutrition association sells its ethics to the sugar and fast food industry
  - Mother Jones, 12 May 2014

• U.S. Supreme Court suggests that Coca-Cola is lying about how it labels its sugary fruit drinks
  - New York Times, 22 April 2014

• PET scans show that too much sugar use, much like cocaine use, have same effect on brain
  - PolicyMic, 21 April 2014

• Sugar addiction is exactly like cocaine addiction - except that sugar is a legal drug
  - PolicyMic, 20 April 2014

• Rats prefer sweet water to cocaine or heroin
  - Addiction Biolion, 07 March 2014

• Doctor says sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine
  - New York Daily news, 10 February 2014

• Rats prefer low concentrations of sweet water to cocaine
  - PLOS one, 28 July 2010

• World Bank approves a loan of $15 million to Nicaraguan sugar cartel despite concerns about kidney disease killing thousands of sugar workers around the world
  - ICIJ News, 28 August 2013

• Is sugar and color additives in your favorite breakfast food giving you cancer?
  - Refinery29, 08 April 2014

• Pepsi plans 'Made with real sugar' Pepsi-Colas sweetened with real sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup
  - USA Today, 08 April 2014

• Why diets fail - because you are addicted to sugar
  - KTLA News, 08 April 2014

• Low-fat foods contain an average of 20% more sugar than full fat equivalents, and can increase risk of weight gain and diabetes
  - Daily Mail (UK), 06 April 2014

• Americans lose their taste for sugary cereals and sodas
  - Wall Street Journal, 04 April 2014

• Coca-Cola has allocated $24 billion of income (much from selling sugary beverages) toward stock-based rewards for its senior people
  - New York Times, 25 March 2014

• Caribbean countries urged to ban sale of high salt foods, high sugar beverages, to children
  - Caribbean 360, 21 March 2014

• Cambridge University study reports that saturated fats pose little risk to heart disease, and that the problem still is sugary diets
  - New York Times, 17 March 2014

• Industry expected to fight WHO proposal for adults to cut their sugar consumption in half
  - Nature, 11 March 2014

• World Health Organization cuts in half the recommended total daily intake of sugar, to 6 teaspoons or 25 grams (about half a can of Coca Cola)
  - Reuters, 05 March 2014

• Why are we fatter and sicker than ever? Blame sugar, fruit juice and margarine
  - Daily Mail (UK), 28 February 2014

• Using artificial sweeteners increases the desire of real sugar at a later time period
  - Los Tiempos, 22 February 2014

• Politicians in California want health warnings (obesity, diabetes) on drinks that are sweetened with sugar
  - WGAN News, 14 February 2014

• New Zealand scientists start campaign to rid the country of sugar-flavored soft drinks by 2025
  - New Zeland Herald, 08 February 2014

• A pint of ale has nine teaspoons of sugar, far more than recommended daily allowance
  - Daily Mail, 05 February 2014

• Excess sugar consumption from soda, desserts leads to higher rates of cardiovascular death
  - Fox News, 04 February 2014

• Sugar not only makes you fat, it may make you sick
  - CNN, 03 February 2014

• United Kingdom could save $80 billion per year by reducing sugar consumption
  - The Guardian, 03 February 2014

• Added sugar in diet can more than double the risk of death from heart disease
  - Web MD, 03 February 2014

• Added sugar intake and cardiovascular diseases mortality among U.S. adults
  - JAMA Internal Medicine, 03 February 2014

• Too many (sugary) sodas contain potential carcinogen: 4-methylimidazole, on labels as "caramel coloring"
  - CNN, 23 January 2014

• Sugar cartel fighting corn cartel in the courts: is fructose corn sryup a "natural ... corn sugar" "nutritionally the same as sugar", even though, for example, it can leads to fatty liver disease
  - NBC News, 23 January 2014

• Health experts say sugary energy drinks do as much harms as drugs to students, and want them banned from U.K. schools
  - Daily Mail (UK), 20 January 2014

• The unbelievable amount of sugar in 'healthy' juice
  - Huffington Post, 17 January 2014

• How consuming sugar ruins your skin
  - DNA India, 12 January 2014

• Why are health experts calling sugar 'the new tobacco'
  - CTV News, 12 January 2014

• Why is there so much sugar in low-fat yogurts - can't both be reduced?
  - The Telegraph (UK), 11 January 2014

• The killer politics of the sugar cartel, bribing the U.S. Congress
  - Counterpunch, 10 January 2014

• One trillion dollars, 30-40 percent of U.S. health care spending, is tied to excess sugar consumption
  - AlterNet, 10 January 2014

• Is sugar the new tobacco, another dangerous addictive drug?
  - Care2, 10 January 2014

• Stock price of Intercept Pharmaceutical rises from $72 to $275, a $4 billion gain, on news that its experimental drug, obeticholic acid (modified bile acid), in clinical trials, is an effective treatment for fatty liver disease (caused by obesity, for example, through excess consumption of sugar, especially fructose)
  - New York Times, 09 January 2014

• However, the next day, the NIH says patients on Intercept's drug had more 'bad' cholesterol
  - Wall Street Journal, 10 January 2014

• Sugar is as dangerous as alcohol and tobacco, warn health experts
  - The Telegraph (UK), 09 January 2014

• Is it so hard to make an all-natural soda that has no calories and actually tastes good? YES!
  - New York Times, 05 January 2014

• The neverending quest for a natural sugar substitute
  - New York Times, 01 January 2014

• Sugar: how sweet it is ... and how bad it is for your health
  - Brisbane Times, 01 January 2014

• Scientists studying sugar while being paid by sugar industry don't report negative effects of sugar on weight gain and obesity
  - PLOS Medicine, 31 December 2013

• World Health Organization wants to cut in half the amount of sugar that people consume
  - Sunday Times (UK), 29 December 2013

• Bolivia exported 48,000 tons of sugar in 2013
  - Pagina Siete, 27 December 2013

• Sugary, high fat ák foods under attack by Latin America governments fighting obesity and diabetes
  - Wall Street Journal, 27 December 2013

• Diabetes drug sales to reach $61 billion by 2018, with AstraZeneca taking the investment lead
  - Wall Street Journal, 19 December 2013

• Guarani Indians in Brazil demand Coca-Cola stop buying sugar from U.S. food giant Bunge, which buys sugar cane from land stolen from the Guarani, land further poisoned with pesticides
  - Survival International, 16 December 2013

• Nutella's global supply chain for selling its flavored sugar around the world
  - Vice Media, 16 December 2013

• Are frying foods with "good" seed/grain oils as bad for health as the now-banned trans fats?
  - New York Times, 16 December 2013

• Sugar is much more addictive than fat, and in large quantities, triggers the brain similar to opiates
  - New York Times, 13 December 2013

• Sugar is much more addicive than fat in its recruiting of the brain's reward and gustatory regions
  - Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, 13 December 2013

• 592 million people will have diabetes by 2035, but diabetes drugs have their own health dangers
  - Nature, 12 December 2013

• Dutch study reports diabetes causes higher risk of breast and colon cancer
  - Newsroom Panama, 12 December 2013

• Nutrition scientists at UK university recommend cutting added sugar consumption to 5 teaspoons a day to have healthy teeth
  - The Telegraph (UK), 10 December 2013

• The U.S. sugar cartel: major businessmen and politicians, led by the Cuban Fanjul brothers
  - Washington Post, 07 December 2013

• U.S. Congress once again bribed to provide billions of dollars of protection to sugar industry
  - Washington Post, 07 December 2013

• Coca-Cola distances itself from illegally-seized 'blood sugar' farms
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 06 December 2013

• Sugar: is it poison or for pleasure?
  - Business Day Live (ZA), 05 December 2013

• Contrary to 2012 study, overweight/obese people with normal metabolism are still unhealthy, with adverse long-term outcomes
  - Annals of Internal Medicine, 03 December 2013

• Sugar: a huge player in America's growing diabetes epidemic
  - Billings Gazette, 03 December 2013

• Six 'healthy' sugars that can kill you
  - Authority Nutrition, 02 December 2013

• Sugary drinks linked to increased risk of endometrial cancer
  - Fox News, 22 November 2013

• Americans spend $4 billion each year using food stamps to buy sugary sodas
  - Barrons, 22 November 2013

• FAO report shows Latin American drinking about half of the milk amounts that people in developed countries drink, prefering instead sugary juices and sodas
  - Panama America, 21 November 2013

• The great sugar battle: are more taxes on sugary beverages on the way in cities and countries?
  - Guardian (UK), 18 November 2013

• After U.S. sugar cartel defaulted on $171 million on government loans in 2013, government forced to loan even more money next year to same defaulters, in addition to spending hundreds of million to prop up prices
  - Wall Street Journal, 18 November 2013

• The insanity of agricultural and food policies in the U.S.
  - New York Times, 17 November 2013

• The bitter truth behind sugar and diabetes
  - ABC Fresno, 15 November 2013

• U.S. fast food chains removing sugar, fat and salt from their products
  - Business Week, 14 November 2013

• Ten percent of Bolivians suffer from diabetes, 90% having adult-onset diabetes, due to sugary/fatty fast foods
  - La Razon, 14 November 2013

• Adult-onset diabetes affecting Bolivians as early as 25 years of age
  - Pagina Siete, 14 November 2013

• Two sugary sodas a day increases risk of kidney disease
  - WebMD, 09 November 2013

• Soft drinks and dietary sugar may have negative effects on the kidney
  - Eurekalert, 09 November 2013

• USA's government sugar subsidies is Soviet central planning to benefit U.S. sugar cartel
  - Cato Institute, 07 November 2013

• Citing health risks, U.S. FDA acts to ban trans fat from processed foods
  - Los Angeles Times, 07 November 2013

• Puberty increasingly occuring in young girls (6 to 8 years) caused by obesity due to excess consumption of sugar and fat
  - Pediatrics, 04 November 2013

• U.S. candy makers, extorted by U.S. sugar cartel, manufactures abroad
  - New York Times, 31 October 2013

• A 20% sales tax on sugar would reduce number of obese people in the United Kingdom by 180,000
  - British Medical Journal, 31 October 2013

• How sugar/fat food product sellers such as McDonald's shift billions of dollars of (low-paid) workers' costs to U.S. taxpayers
  - CNN, 29 October 2013

• Halloween contributes to America's addiction and overconsumption of sugar
  - Wall Street Journal, 29 October 2013

• Mexico's new tax on sugary soda and ák foods is opposed by billionaire beverage and food barons
  - Forbes, 28 October 2013

• $1 trillion is spent on heathcare in United States due to excess consumption of sugar
  - Forbes, 27 October 2013

• US food corporations fueling obesity epidemic with addictive ingredients
  - RT News, 26 October 2013

• U.S. sugar cartel has massive defaults on U.S. government loans - taxpayers to subsidize sugar cartel with $325 million in 2013
  - Wall Street Journal, 24 October 2013

• High blood sugar linked to memory loss
  - USA Today, 23 October 2013

• Is sugar destroying the entire world?
  - Los Angeles Times, 22 October 2013

• Is excess consumption of sugar souring the global economy?
  - Credit Suisse, 22 October 2013

• Caribbean nations seek reparations from Europe for damages of slavery, mostly due to historical sugar plantations
  - New York Times, 21 October 2013

• Subsidized high prices of sugar in U.S., due to U.S. sugar cartel, forces U.S. candy makers to manufacture outside the U.S.
  - Wall Street Journal, 21 October 2013

• World's biggest food/drink companies preparing a major battle against Mexico's new 5% excise tax on high-calorie, sugary foods and beverages
  - Wall Street Journal, 19 October 2013

• Sugar futures spike 6% and then closing 2.5% higher after fire destroys four sugar warehouses in Port of Santos, Brazil
  - Reuters, 18 October 2013

• Mexico's lower house of Congress approves new law to impose 5% tax on foods and beverages with high amounts of sugar and salt
  - Wall Street Journal, 18 October 2013

• Half of women of a fertile age in Bolivia are obese, due to fat and sugar in their foods
  - La Razon, 17 October 2013

• Chewing coca leaf can help reduce obesity
  - Pagina Siete, 16 October 2013

• Mexico's president proposes a national tax on all sugary drinks to help fight country's severe obesity problem
  - New York Times, 16 October 2013

• Is the sugar industry facing legal liabilities for health problems as did tobacco industry?
  - CNBC, 15 October 2013

• Sugary/fatty Oreo cookies are as addictive as cocaine in lab rats
  - Connecticut College News, 15 October 2013

• Tom Hanks reveals he has type 2 diabetes, having battled high blood sugar since he was 35
  - USA Today, 08 October 2013

• 26 million adults and children in U.S. have diabetes - 79 million have pre-diabetes, with treatment costs rising 43% from 2007 to 2012, now costing over $240 billion/year
  - USA Today, 08 October 2013

• Youth are overly exposed to professional athletes endorsing sugar-rich drinks that are nutritionally poor
  - Pediatrics, 07 October 2013

• How toxic is sugar?
  - CBC News, 03 October 2013

• Coca-Cola and Pepsi's huge demand for sugar forcing poor farmers off their lands in Cambodia and Brazil
  - Metro (UK), 02 October 2013

• Oxfam report: how the large companies comprising the sugar cartels of the world are at the focus of land conflicts that are destroying small-scale food producers and their famililes
  - Oxfam, 02 October 2013

• Sugar production leads to extensive damage of the environment
  - Mercury Food, 01 October 2013

• Disturbing graphics on the excessive amount of sugar Americans consume each year
  - Food Beast, 01 October 2013

• Duty-free European imports of Cambodian sugar are destroying livelihoods of small farmers while politically-connected businessmen get rich
  - New York Times, 01 October 2013

• Bitter lives of sugar workers in the Dominican Republic
  - Cincinnati News, 01 October 2013

• Moderate to high levels of sugar creates biological link between diabetes and irregular heartbeats
  - Science 2.0, 30 September 2013

• Bolivia is not prepared to provide care for the 25% of the elderly who have diabetes
  - La Razon, 30 September 2013

• Health concerns a precursor to restrictions on sugar use, as WHO prepares to deliver strict recommendations on sugar intake
  - Business Standard, 30 September 2013

• Director of Amsterdam's (the Netherlands) health service, Paul van der Velpen, argues that sugar is a dangerous, addictive drug that should be tightly regulated like tobacco
  - ABC News, 18 September 2013

• New Zealand medical researcher proposes that sugary beverages should be regulated like tobacco
  - New Zealand Herald, 18 September 2013

• Autopsy of Chicken Nuggets: mostly fat, with skin, bone, and nerve tissue
  - American Journal of Medicine, 13 September 2013

• Sugar: consumption at a crossroads - will health concerns lead to taxation and regulation?
  - Credit Suisse Bank, 11 September 2013

• Mexico proposes tax on sugary beverages
  - Wall Street Journal, 10 September 2013

• Florida would rather destroy vital estuaries with excess Lake Okeechobee waters, rather than letting flow naturally south and flood sugar plantations
  - New York Times, 9 September 2013

• How America is exporting its obesity epidemic through its exports of sugar and fat food products - in 2013, the U.S. exported 1.47 million tons of fructose sugar
  - SunSentinel, 9 September 2013

• U.S. sugar processors default on loans
  - Wall Street Journal, 6 September 2013

• Kansas is running out of water growing too much corn to only feed too many cattle and make sugar
  - Mother Jones, 3 September 2013

• Is obesity an addiction? Why sugars and fats are driving more people to become obese
  - Scientific American, 03 September 2013

• Sugar - a not so sweet story of a toxic drug
  - National Geographic, 31 August 2013

• U.S. acts to lift sugar prices by buying domestic sugar and selling to ethanol producer in effort to avoid defaults on federal loans
  - Wall Street Journal, 31 August 2013

• Drinking sugary fruit juices increases risk of diabetes, while eating fruits (especially blueberries) lowers risk of diabetes
  - British Medical Journal, 29 August 2013

• Health battle over sugary sodas breaks out in Mexico
  - Wall Street Journal, 29 August 2013

• Ice cream sales drop 20% in Finland after new tax on sugar equal to 60 cents per pound of ice cream
  - Wall Street Journal, 29 August 2013

• Expansion of the diabetes market, as by 2030, there could be more than 550 million people with diabetes
  - Wall Street Journal, 26 August 2013

• 18% of premature deaths in the United States could be due to obesity
  - Los Angeles Times, 17 August 2013

• Soft drink consumption is associated with behavior problems in five-year olds
  - Columbia University, August 2013

• Risk of dementia boosted by high blood-sugar levels
  - Bloomberg, 07 August 2013

• Obesity in Latin America - the growing fight against ák food
  - Economist, 27 July 2013

• The reason that we are saying 'No Thanks' to diet soda
  - Huffington Post, 24 July 2013

• EU Commission Regulation No. 536/2013 sells permission to sugar industry tartgeting food for children that consumption of foods with fructose leads to a lower blood glucose level (meaningless) while not mentioning affects on kidney disease
  - Official Journal of the European Union, 11 2013

• Coca Cola to curb ads of sugary drinks to children, and push diet drinks
  - Wall Street Journal, 08 May 2013

• Sugary beverages linked to 180,000 deaths a year worldwide
  - Time, 20 March 2013

• New medical study links increased consumption of sugar with diabetes
  - New York Times, 27 February 2013

• Sugar and the heart: [Yudkin's] old ideas [of danger and risk] proving true?
  - Geoff Watts, British Medical Journal, 15 January 2013

• Are sugar and saccharin more addictive than intravenous cocaine?
  - True Activist, 11 January 2013

• Obesity rates tripled in developing countries, with over 900 million obese people
  - RT News, 03 January 2013

• How the sugar industry keeps scientists from asking: does sugar kill?
  - Gary Taubes, MotherJones, December 2012

• Secret documents from inside the sugar industry on how to mislead its deadly nature
  - Maya Dusenbery, MotherJones, 31 October 2012

• A timeline of the sugar industry's campaigns to downplay dangers of sugar
  - Maya Dusenbery, MotherJones, 31 October 2012

• Impact of transnational "Big Food" companies on the South: a view from Brazil
  - PLOS Medicine, 03 July 2012

• Toxic sugar - more addictive than cocaine
  - Examiner, 29 February 2012

• Fat substitutes promote weight gain in rats consuming high-fat diets
  - Behavioral Neuroscience, August 2011

• Is sugar toxic?
  - Gary Taubes, New York Times, 13 April 2011

• Coca-Cola: [sugary] pollution in a bottle?
  - Arch 1 Design, July 2012

• Mechanisms of sugar addiction: or, why you are addicted to bread
  - Gnolls.org, 20 December 2010

• American Heart Association Scientific Statement - Dietary Sugar Intake and Cardiovascular Health (added sugar should be cut by 60%)
  - Circulation, 29 August 2009

• VIDEO: Prof. Robert Lustig's "Sugar - the bitter truth"
  - Univ. California San Francisco, July 2009

• Palm oil not a healthy substitute for trans fats, according to USDA
  - Science Daily, 11 May 2009

• Evidence for sugar addiction: behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake
  - Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, v32 n1, 20-39, January 2008

• Intense sweetness is more addictive to rats than intravenous cocaine
  - PLOS One, 01 August 2007

• CRS: Background on U.S. government sugar policy issues
  - Congressional Research Service, July 2007

• Dietary fructose reduces circulating insulin and leptin, attenuates postprandial suppression of ghrelin, and increases triglycerides in women, contributing to weight gain and obesity
  - J. Clin. Endocrinol Metab, 2004

• Death by chocolate - how consumed sugar raises blood sugar levels which increases risk of heart attacks and strokes
  - New Scientist, 05 January 2001

• Naloxene, which blocks opiates, reduces the consumption of sweet high-fat foods in obese and lean female bing eaters
  - American J. Clinical Nutrition, 1995

• F.D.A. report splits on harmful health effects of sugar
  - New York Times, 02 October 1986

• FTC staff report on television advertising [of sugared products] to children
  - U.S. Federal Trade Commission, January 1978

• Is it cereal - or candy?
  - Deseret News, 27 January 1977

---

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NEWS ABOUT ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS

While artificial sweeteners were originally put forth as a way to reduce the health dangers of sugar, increasingly artificial sweeteners are being recognized as just as dangerous as sugary.

• The mounting medical evidence against diet sodas
  - Consumer Reports, 24 May 2017

• Diet sodas may be tied to stroke and an increased risk of dementia
  - CNN, 20 April 2017

• Low-calorie sweetener use by children rises 200%
  - CNN, 10 January 2017

• For weight loss, water beats diet soda
  - New York Times, 20 October 2016

• Two glasses of calorie-free drinks a day, such as Diet Coke, 'doubles the risk' of diabetes
  - DailyMail, 20 October 2016

• Artificial sweeteners can makes us eat more
  - El Deber, 01 August 2016

• Pepsi switches back to aspartame, which tastes better than sucralose, but still sickens rats
  - Chicago Tribune, 28 2016

• The U.S. FDA warns that xylitol, an artificial sweetener, can kill or poison dogs
  - Fox News, 13 May 2016

• Women who consume artificial sweeteners during pregnancy may have heavier infants
  - UPI, 09 May 2016

• Study using mice links Splenda (sucralose) to a higher risk of leukemia
  - UPI, 11 March 2016

• Beat your addiction to diet soda in one week
  - Dayton Daily News, 15 December 2015

• Xylitol, a popular substitute for sugar, is 100 times more harmful to dogs than chocolate
  - Wall Street Journal, 02 November 2015

• The new Diet Pepsi, using sucralose, is selling less than the old Diet Pepsi that used aspartame, as consumers do not like the new taste
  - Wall Street Journal, 08 October 2015

• People who drink diet beverages cancel the benefits by eating ák foods with lots of calories
  - UPI, 11 September 2015

• Is the soda industry doomed because of its use of sweeteners?
  - Benzinga, 04 September 2015

• Are artificial sweeteners making you fatter when you drink them?
  - The Healthier Life, 25 August 2015

• How artificial sweeteners pollute the environment
  - Decoded Science, 13 August 2015

• Pepsi starts manufacturing Diet Pepsi sodas without using aspartame
  - Wall Street Journal, 08 August 2015

• Global stevia market could be worth $565 million by 2020
  - PR.com, 23 July 2015

• Shocking - our lakes and rivers are load with artificial sweeteners
  - City Watch LA, 21 July 2015

• Diet sodas are linked to cardiovascular disease in women
  - Liberty Voice, 09 July 2015

• Group calls on FDA to order Coca-Cola to stop claiming diet soda is a treatment for obesity
  - Corporate Crime Reporter, 01 July 2015

• The failure of artificial sweeteners - why your body isn't fooled by these non-caloric sweeteners
  - Nature World News, 27 2015

• The brain may know the difference between consuming sugar and consuming artificial sweeteners, with the brain counting the missing calories
  - Biotechin Asia, 20 July 2015

• Artificial sweeteners may cause type 2 diabetes
  - USA Today, 18 September 2014

• Two or more diet drinks per day associated with increased risk of heart disease for older women
  - Iowa Now, 31 March 2014

• PepsiCo will stop using aspartame in Diet Pepsi, after of consumer fears that it may cause cancer
  - Bloomberg, 24 April 2015

• Artificial sweeteners can pose real dangers to health
  - The Columbian, 30 March 2015

• Coca-Cola and Pepsi using variants of stevia to halt the drop in the sales of their popular drinks
  - Business Week, 19 March 2015

• Diet soda is linked to bulging stomachs in adults
  - CTV News, 18 March 2015

• Coca-Cola produced with stevia, even with 24 grams of sugar, just doesn't have a good taste
  - InForum, 21 January 2015

• Artificial sweeteners have no proven nutritional value, according to government researchers in France
  - Food Navigator, 13 January 2015

• Artificial sweeteners have no proven nutritional value, according to government researchers in France
  - ANSES (France), 13 January 2015

• What turned sugar-free candies into super-laxatives?
  - io9, 09 January 2015

• There is no such thing as a 'healthy sweetener'
  - Big Think, 24 December 2014

• Why Big Soda is still struggling with stevia
  - Quartz, 19 December 2014

• Truvia: truly natural or truly awful?
  - One Green Planet, 23 December 2014

• Artificial sweeteners may have despicable impacts on gut microbes
  - Scientific American, 26 November 2014

• Coca-Cola spreads tells lies about aspartame and it lies about the dangers of artificial sweeteners
  - Medical Daily, 18 November 2014

• Coca-Cola spreads lies about aspartame and dangers of artificial sweeteners
  - Medical Daily, 18 November 2014

• Artificial sweeteners from urine are are polluting streams, rivers and lakes
  - Society for Science, 18 November 2014

• Beware of Spendla: the backlash against artificial sweeteners
  - The Week, 29 October 2014

• Did America get fat by drinking diet soda?
  - Slate, 19 September 2014

• Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota
  - Nature, 17 September 2014

• Artificial sweeteners linked to obesity epidemic, by hurting healthy bacteria in the stomach
  - Los Angeles Times, 17 September 2014

• Artificial sweeteners disrupt the body's control of blood sugar
  - New York Times, 17 September 2014

• Artificial sweeteners linked to higher blood glucose, a risk factor for diabetes
  - Wall Street Journal, 17 September 2014

• Artificial sweeteners may be a hidden trigger for inflammatory bowel disease
  - Pharmacy Times, 14 September 2014

• Why sugar is worse than fat
  - CNN, 10 September 2014

• How drinks using artificial sweeteners can lead to weight gain
  - Pacific Standard, 05 September 2014

• Diet soda: increases desire for sugar, decreases satisfaction for sweet foods
  - Huffington Post, 21 August 2014

• Even hummingbirds don't like artificial sweeteners
  - Los Angeles Times, 21 August 2014

• Diet drinks, especially with aspartame, linked to hair loss
  - Care2.com, 15 August 2014

• Dr. Oz: dangers of artificial sugar in diet soda
  - Nerdles, 13 August 2014

• Obesity is clearly linked to artificial sweeteners
  - Wall Street Pit, 13 2014

• Vitaminwater replaces some of the sugar for stevia, upsetting customers who say its products now taste gross
  - Huffington Post, 11 2014

• Five artificial sweeteners with unhealthy side effects
  - Epoch Times, 16 May 2014

• The many dangers of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame
  - The Epoch Times, 17 April 2014

• Five steps to end your addiction to artificial sweeteners
  - Time, 14 April 2014

• Dangerous aspartame side effects in children
  - Mother Earth News, 07 April 2014

• Diet soft drinks may increase cardiovascular risk
  - American Blog, 07 April 2014

• Can artifical sweeteners damage the immune system?
  - Digital Journal, 06 April 2014

• Regular consumption of diet drinks linked to heart problems in older women
  - Huffington Post, 29 March 2014

• Does even Diet Coke make you FAT? Sugar-free fizzy drinks make people eat more food
  - Daily Mail(UK), 17 January 2014

• Is it so hard to make an all-natural soda that has no calories and actually tastes good? YES!
  - New York Times, 05 January 2014

• The neverending quest for a natural sugar substitute
  - New York Times, 01 January 2014

• Sales of diet soft drinks down 7% in U.S. due to health fears of artificial sweeteners
  - Wall Street Journal, 09 December 2013

• Ten reasons to give up artificially-sweetened diet sodas
  - ABC News, 26 October 2013

• Diet Coke sales drop 3% as customers avoid artificial sweeteners
  - Examiner, 16 October 2013

• Artifical sweetener production leads to extensive damage of the environment
  - Mercury Food, 01 October 2013

• The reason that your brain isn't fooled by artificial sweeteners
  - TIME, 24 September 2013

• The reason that artificial sweeteners may increase your sugar craving by not triggering as much dopamine
  - Daily Mail (UK), 22 September 2013

• Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements
  - Susan Swithers, Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 10 July 2013

• The fake sweetener, Splenda, fills our oceans, scientists find
  - Natural News, 19 February 2013

• Diet drinks linked with higher depression risk
  - RT News, 10 January 2013

• How G.D Searle got aspartame approved by (indirectly) hiring all of the government lawyers investigating Searle for lying to the government
  - Janet Hull Nutrition blog, April 2012

• How sucralose's covalent C-Cl bond makes it an organochloride pesticide
  - People's Chemist, January 2007

---

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NEWS ABOUT LEGAL MARIJUANA

As the world increasingly legalizes marijuana production, sales and use with marijuana being an addictive drug, it becomes increasingly harder to prohibit use of non-addictive coca leaf extracts. And as Wall Street shows more interest in investing in marijuana businesses, with a good product, Wall Street should be interested in investing in coca leaf product with good market potential.

• I love CBD, but the trend has gone too far, and here is why that is a problem
  - Popsugar, 20 2019

• Cannabis drinks confront a serious buzz kill - they taste terrible
  - Wall Street Journal, 10 March 2019

• Marijuana access is associated with decreased use of alcohol, tobacco and other prescription drugs
  - The Hill, 05 February 2019

• From today, medicinal marijuana is legal in Portugal
  - El Espectador, 01 February 2019

• U.K. to allow prescriptions for medicinal cannabis FNR
  - New York Times, 12 October 2018

• Eyes of the global marijuana industry are on Canada as it legalizes recreationial use
  - CNBC, 24 September 2018

• Investing in cannabis companies is 'a great hedge' for alcohol and drug companies, says marijuana company Tilray's CEO, Brendan Kennedy
  - CNBC, 18 September 2018

• Medical cannabis effective in treating a wide range of health conditions, providing immediate relief across dozens of health symptoms with relatively minimal negative side effects
  - Science Daily, 10 September 2018

• How Arizona financially terrorizes those caught with small amounts of marijuana
  - New York Times, 25 August 2018

• What Corona beer owner's $4 billion investment into a marijuana farm says about marijuana's future
  - New York Times, 17 August 2018

• In 2017, 86% of the more than 17,000 people arrested on marijuana possession charges in New York City ... were people of color
  - New York Times, 15 August 2018

• Corona beer maker Constellation Brands ups bet on cannabis with $4 billion investment in Canopy Growth for a 9.9 percent stake
  - CNBC, 15 August 2018

• Costa Rican federal court rules that Costa Ricans can legally grow marijuana, but solely for personal consumption - not for resale
  - Costa Rica News, 11 August 2018

• New Jersey Attorney General orders prosecutors to stop any marijuana-related prosecutions while state considers legalizing marijuana
  - New York Times, 24 July 2018

• As cannabidiol (CBD) oil sales approach $1 billion by 2020, questions mount about its benefits due to lack of evidence, and despite being non-addictive it is still a Schedule I drug
  - WebMD, 05 2018

• On marijuana and opioids - the DEA has no clue what it is talking about
  - The Hill, 14 May 2018

• The surest way to face marijuana charges in New York is to be black or hispanic
  - New York Times, 14 May 2018

• Officials in Michigan will regulate CBD oil as marijuana, but officials in Texas are considering making it illegal
  - Inquisitr, 13 May 2018

• ex-Representative John Boehner now benefiting from his embrace of marijuana, while black men are still in prison, one for life for selling a $5 bag
  - New York Times, 20 April 2018

• FDA panel recommends approval of cannabis-based drug for epilepsy
  - New York Times, 20 April 2018

• What we know about marijuana's health benefits and risk this 4/20
  - Fortune, 20 April 2018

• Police probe of medical marijuana researcher in Brazil sparks protests
  - Nature, 15 March 2018

• The U.S. is ceding the $30 billion medical marijuana industry [by 2021] to other countries because the DEA is complicated research efforts by U.S. scientists
  - Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 07 March 2018

• Federal judge rules that if you want to get marijuana legalized, you have to convince the DEA first
  - New York Times, 27 February 2018

• Legal uncertainty may force banks in Massachusetts to pass on financing the marijuana industry
  - Boston Globe, 24 February 2018

• Colombia: the next country to see the benefits of medical marijuana
  - El Tiempo, 17 February 2018

• Marijuana goes industrial in California, with large legal marijuana farms
  - New York Times, 16 April 2017

• The wine industry finds a business partner in a competitor: marijuana
  - New York Times, 14 April 2017

• Medical marijuana, a debate among seven countries in the Americas
  - La Republica, 11 April 2017

• Drug addiction specialists ponder a potential new cure: marijuana
  - New York Times, 27 March 2017

• As rebels move out of Colombia drug trade, corporations look to invest in medical marijuana
  - New York Times, 09 March 2017

• Colombia's medical marijuana industry could become bigger than coffee and flower business
  - iNews, 12 February 2017

• Israel plans to decriminalize use of small amounts of marijuana
  - NBC News, 26 January 2017

• As marijuana becomes more legal, is it becoming more boring?
  - Boston Globe, 15 January 2017

• The health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids: the current state of evidence and recommendations for research
  - National Academy of Sciences, 12 January 2017

• This DEA tweet about cigarettes and marijuana reveals one of the big arguments for the legalization of marijuana
  - VOX, 10 January 2017

• A powerful new form of medical marijuana, high in CBDs while low in THC
  - Washington Post, 31 December 2016

• Mexico moves closer to the legalization of marijuana, as legalization spreads across the United States
  - Wall Street Journal, 28 December 2016

• Mexican attitudes towards marijuana are becoming more liberal as the United States becomes more liberal with regards to marijuana
  - Economist, 24 December 2016

• Legalization of marijuana in California is setting free the many scores of those arrested for marijuana possession
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 17 December 2016

• Israel, a medical marijuana pioneer, is eager to capitalize
  - New York Times, 17 December 2016

• The DEA's attempt to reschedule non-psychoactive cannabidiols as Schedule I drugs may be illegal
  - Leafly, 16 December 2016

• A law firm in Denver is considering a lawsuit over a new attempt by the DEA to reschedule cannabidiols
  - Westworld, 16 December 2016

• Los Angeles will be the next marijuana capital of the world
  - CNBC, 16 December 2016

• The Mexican Senate votes to legalize medical marijuana
  - The Independent, 15 December 2016

• Legalizing marijuana has reduced opioid overdoses by 25%
  - TeenVogue, 15 December 2016

• A medical marijuana business in Atlanta (Georgia) raises $12 million
  - Atlanta Business Chronicle, 11 December 2016

• Recreational marijuana? Yes, but tightly regulated, according to a Canadian panel
  - New York Times, 14 December 2016

• Colorado had over $1 billion in sales in 2016 of legal marijuana
  - Fortune, 13 December 2016

• Is marijuana chewing gum the next big thing?
  - Fox News, 13 December 2016

• Marijuana mega-fair expected to draw 30,000 to wine country in Santa Rosa (www.emeraldcup.com)
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 07 December 2016

• Growing marijuana at home could become as easy as plugging in a machine and walking away
  - The Verge, 07 December 2016

• 7 reasons why President Trump is unlikely to fight legal marijuana
  - TIME, 07 December 2016

• Banks and credit unions form new working group to support marijuana businesses
  - American Banker, 05 December 2016

• Jeff Sessions' coming war on legal marijuana
  - Politico, 05 December 2016

• Trump's White House and market concentration and Big Tobacco could hurt marijuana entrepreneurs
  - Fortune, 02 December 2016

• Irelands moves toward to legalizing marijuana for medicinal use
  - Fox News, 01 December 2016

• Where marijuana is the doctor's orders, will insurers pay?
  - New York Times, 23 November 2016

• The United Kingdom should legalize marijuana and make $1.3 billion a year in tax revenue
  - TIME, 21 November 2016

• In a first for Latin America, Uruguay rolls out program that legalizes marijuana
  - Los Angeles Times, 10 November 2016

• In Colombia, domestic sales of cocaine and marijuana are worth $2 billion annually, about 0.75% of GDP, with over 1.5 million users
  - New York Times, 09 November 2016

• Marijuana company, Dixie Brands, readies to cross state lines, as legally as possible
  - New York Times, 09 November 2016

• Catholic Archdiocese of Boston gives $850,000 to help fight legalization of marijuana in Massachusetts
  - Boston Globe, 29 October 2016

• Medical marijuana delivery service in San Francisco gets $13 million investment
  - Mashable, 24 October 2016

• Investment in marijuana businesses greatly increases in Canada
  - US News & World Report, 24 October 2016

• Why is the alcohol industry in Massachusetts giving money to efforts to fight the legalization of marijuana?
  - Boston Globe, 19 October 2016

• New documents reveal how the DEA used information from the FDA to maintain its position that marijuana isn't medicine
  - VICE News, 19 October 2016

• Arrests for possessing small amounts of marijuana outnumber those for violent crimes
  - New York Times, 12 October 2016

• U.S. Attorney General finally admits that marijuana isn't a gateway drug - but prescriptions pills are
  - Zero Hedge, 02 October 2016

• Jamaica, long opposed to marijuana, now wants to casn in on it
  - New York Times, 02 September 2016

• Science is unclear if marijuana is a gateway drug
  - Boston Globe, 29 September 2016

• How Big Alcohol is about to get rich from legal marijuana in California
  - Politico, 29 August 2016

• Maine's 'clean' medical marijuana, since 'organic' cannot be used under federal guidelines, because marijuana is still illegal at the federal level
  - ew York Times, 28 September 2016

• Marijuana may alleviate America's opioid crisis, according to a new study
  - Huffington Post, 17 September 2016

• Canada will ask the US to rethink a 'ludicrous' marijuana policy
  - usiness Insider, 10 September 2016

• U.S. federal appeals court stops Dept. of Justice from prosecuting people with medical marijuana businesses
  - Fortune, 17 August 2016

• Editorial: stop treating marijuana like heroin
  - New York Times, 12 August 2016

• Police in Colorado complain that politicians are passing too many laws regulating marijuana, more than the police can handle properly
  - The Gazette, 12 August 2016

• l DEA keeps marijuana on list of dangerous drugs, frustrating advocates
  - New York Times, 12 August 2016

• DEA decides not to remove marijuana from Schedule I, saying the scientific evidence is lacking on a proven medical benefit
  - USA Today, 11 August 2016

• Obama administration to remove barriers to medical marijuana research
  - New York Times, 11 August 2016

• More than 33 million American adults currently use marijuana
  - Washington Post, 08 August 2016

• Colombia's new, legal drug barons focus on medical marijuana
  - New York Times, 05 August 2016

• Men obtain slightly more pain relief from marijuana then women
  - Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 01 August 2016

• Your child is way more likely to be poisoned by crayons than by marijuana
  - Washington Post, 28 July 2016

• A minute of secondhand marijuana smoke may damage blood vessels
  - Science Daily, 27 July 2016

• DEA delays its announcement on a possible rescheduling of marijuana
  - Westword, 19 July 2016

• Silicon Valley investors are finally getting marijuana religion
  - Bloomberg, 07 July 2016

• Is marijuana losing its popularity in Colorado, despite becoming a $1 billion legal business
  - Fortune, 01 July 2016

• Marijuana use rises in Iran, with little interference from the government
  - New York Times, 27 2016

• U.S. Congress slowly and gradually changing the laws to support the legalization of marijuana
  - Politico, 26 2016

• Growing medical marijuana could mean big business in the state of Maryland
  - Washington Post, 25 2016

• Microsoft is the first big company to offer services to the legal marijuana industry
  - New York Times, 17 2016

• What is worse than marijuana staying illegal under DEA regulation? Legal marijuana under FDA regulation
  - INC, 17 2016

• Long term use of marijuana increases risk for gum disease, but causes few other health problems
  - Washington Post, 02 2016

• Medical marijuana could ease opioid crisis
  - CommonWealth, 16 May 2016

• Hooked: one family's ordeal with fentanyl, the deadly synthetic painkiller
  - Wall Street Journal, 14 May 2016

• Consuming a yellow, waxy extract of marijuana to obtain a more powerful stimulation
  - New York Times, 12 May 2016

• Fatal road crashes involving marijuana doubled after the state of Washington legalized the drug
  - Science Daily, 10 May 2016

• The rabbis are here to inspect the kosker marijuana
  - New York Times, 07 May 2016

• Germany to allow medical marijuana for some illnesses in 2017
  - Reuters, 04 May 2016

• The United States facing two opioid epidemics, due to prescription opioids and also due to heroin
  - Boston Globe, 02 May 2016

• The State of California to spend over $20 million per year regulating the production and sales of medical marijuana
  - OC Register, 02 May 2016

• High Times magazine and advertising agency unit to rebrand marijuana
  - New York Times, 01 May 2016

• The DEA gives its approval to a study in Colorado to test the use of marijuana to treat PTSD
  - Denver Post, 22 April 2016

• President of Mexico, Pena Nieto, proposes to relax the marijuana laws
  - Huffington Post, 22 April 2016

• Start-up plans 3-D visualization of strains of marijuana
  - New York Times, 20 April 2016

• More marijuana growers - and marijuana users - want marijuana that is organic
  - Slate, 20 April 2016

• The (false) science behind the DEA's long war on marijuana
  - Scientific American, 19 April 2016

• Enough with cannabis leaves - marijuana branding needs a makeover
  - Slate, 18 April 2016

• The new director of the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation, in Califorinia, predicts licensed marijuana sales will surpass the sales of alcohol
  - OC Register, 19 April 2016

• Business leaders in Boston mostly not supporting nor opposing efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational uses in the state of Massachusetts
  - Boston Globe, 16 April 2016

• In California, marijuana is smelling more like big business
  - New York Times, 11 April 2016

• Legal marijuana sales forecast to reach $1 billion in 4 years
  - Boston Globe, 27 March 2016

• The FDA assaults CBD extracts, attempts to regulate out of existence but industry pushes back
  - Natural News, 20 March 2016

• Legal marijuana sales forecast to reach $23 billion in 4 years
  - USA Today, 20 March 2016

• Marijuana use in Costa Rica grows 400% in a decade, with 4% of Costa Ricans using marijuana
  - Costa Rica Star, 18 March 2016

• How black people are being shut out of America's marijuana boom
  - BuzzFeed, 16 March 2016

• A chemical derived extracted from marijuana, cannabidiol, is shown to reduce seizures in people with a rare form of epilepsy, Dravet syndrome
  - New York Times, 14 March 2016

• Legalizing marijuana has accomplished what 1 trillion dollars and a 40 year drug war have failed to do - force drug traffickers out of business
  - Zero Hedge, 05 March 2016

• Court in Canada rules that patients using medical marijuana can grow their own marijuana
  - Reuters, 24 February 2016

• Successes and challenges in Colorado after two years of marijuana legalization
  - Boston Globe, 21 February 2016

• How economists would fight the illegal drug business - make the business models of drug cartels to be unprofitable
  - Wall Street Journal, 19 February 2016

• As marijuana sales grow, start-ups step in for wary banks
  - New York Times, 17 February 2016

• States legalizing marijuana are realizing that too much red tape just encourages illegal marijuana trafficking to continue
  - Reason, 16 February 2016

• Editorial: the argument for the legalization of marijuana has been won - now, how to regulate and tax production and sales
  - Economist, 13 February 2016

• Article: the argument for the legalization of marijuana has been won - now, how to regulate and tax production and sales
  - Economist, 13 February 2016

• Fourteen presidential candidates en Peru oppose legalizing marijuana
  - La Repuublica, 10 February 2016

• Long term steady use of marijuana is less dangerous to the brain than long term steady alcohol use
  - Washington Post, 01 February 2016

• Edible marijuana may be half of the $5.4 billion market for marijuana products
  - Business Week, 04 February 2016

• Chile opens the largest farm for medical marijuana in Latin America
  - NBC News, 20 January 2016

• Is legal marijuanaa in the United States forcing Mexican drug farmers out of business
  - CNBC, 11 January 2016

• The legalization of marijuana in the United States has caused the price of illegal marijuana in Mexico to drop from $100 per ton to $30 per ton, hurting the incomes of Mexican farmers and drug cartels
  - Fox News, 30 December 2015

• The economic challenges and opportunities for Canada of expanding from medical marijuana to recreational marijuana
  - Economist, 19 December 2015

• Marijuana no longer is a Schedule I dangerous drug in Chile, after President Bachelet signs a decree
  - Playground Mag, 15 December 2015

• Philip Morris launches first marijuana cigarette in Colorado and Washington
  - Merca20, 14 December 2015

• A huge bank, the Merrill Lynch division of Bank of America, showing more interest in providing services to the marijuana industry
  - ATTN, 12 December 2015

• Republican presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, now supports decriminalization of marijuana
  - Marijuana, 11 December 2015

• In Colombia, the Senate approves a proposed law to allow and regulate medical marijuana
  - El Heraldo, 10 December 2015

• Prime Minister Trudeau will propose legislation in 2016 to legalize marijuana in Canada - the first G7 country to do so
  - Yahoo News, 08 December 2015

• Medical marijuana linked with lower obesity rates, as people drink less high-calorie alcohol
  - San Diego Union Tribune, 08 December 2015

• Government in Chile removes marijuana from the Schedule I list of dangerous drugs
  - Publimetro, 05 December 2015

• U.S. Postal Service says it is illegal for newspapers, that it delivers, to contain advertisement for Schedule I marijuana products
  - Fox News, 04 December 2015

• Are marijuana farms using too much power, over $6 billion a year in electricity in the United States?
  - Quartz, 03 December 2015

• Largest-ever marijuana crop in Latin America is legally planted in Chile
  - TruthOut BuzzFlash, 03 December 2015

• An Israeli business wants to produce medicinal marijuana in Uruguay
  - El Pais, 01 December 2015

• Will the cost of using medical marijuana ever be covered by Medicare?
  - Motley Fool, 29 November 2015

• The DEA has failed to eradicate marijuana - and some members of Congress what it to stop wasting money doing so
  - Washington Post, 27 November 2015

• Nerve fibers in the brain may be damaged when smoking high-strength marijuana
  - The Guardian, 26 November 2015

• U.S. banks, chartered by the federal government, struggle to provide financial services to the marijuana industry
  - US News and World Report, 25 November 2015

• Marijuana is the most profitable crop in the world, followed by rice, maize, wheat and soybeans
  - WealthDaily, 19 November 2015

• U.S. Congressman calls for the chief of the DEA to be fired, after he calls medical marijuana a 'joke'
  - Huffington Post, 18 November 2015

• Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico, predicts his country will legalize marijuana, cocaine and heroin in the next ten years
  - Business Insider, 18 November 2015

• Colombia is expected to legalize medical marijuana
  - Global Post, 16 November 2015

• Is the smoking of marijuana a human right? At least the Supreme Court in Mexico says "yes"
  - The Atlantic, 09 November 2015

• Survey of 1000 U.S. law enforcement agencies reports that marijuana and cocaine are the least worries of the police forces across the country
  - Washington Post, 05 November 2015

• The Supreme Court of Mexico partially legalizes the personal right to grow and use marijuana
  - New York Times, 04 November 2015

• Marijuana legalization could come a major blow to organized crime in Canada
  - SunTimes, 26 October 2015

• The U.S. Federal Reserve prohibits the opening of a bank to serve the marijuana industry in Colorado
  - Reason, 25 October 2015

• A raid by the DEA on the marijuana crop of a Native American tribe infuriates and confuses reformers
  - US News & World Report, 26 October 2015

• Native American tribes considering to enter the marijuana business, and they can do it tax-free
  - Forbes 01 October 2015

• The state of Colorado is now collecting more taxes from sales of marijuana than from sales of alcohol
  - Daily Caller, 15 September 2015

• Marijuana use by teenagers in the United States has dropped in 15 years, despite its greater availabilility through legal channels
  - EurekAlert!, 15 September 2015

• Scientists have been able to genetically engineer some yeast to produce THC, the main psychoactive compound of marijuana
  - New York Times, 15 September 2015

• Use of marijuana may increase the risk of having pre-diabetes
  - Indian Express, 14 September 2015

• Use of marijuana may increase the risk of having pre-diabetes
  - Diabetologia, 14 September 2015

• Here are ten facts you should know before you invest in companies that sell medical marijuana
  - Motley Fool, 11 September 2015

• Book review: "Stoned: a doctor's case for medical marijuana"
  - New York Times, 07 September 2015

• The state of Colorado has earned $150 million in taxes from sales of marijuana since it legalized sales in 2014
  - Christian Science Monitor, 05 September 2015

• Government of Chile wants to work with the legislature to develop a new law to allow medical marijuana
  - La Tercera, 05 September 2015

• University of Valparaiso (Chile) to start a study of the phytochemical properties of marijuana
  - Publimetro, 04 September 2015

• Poor communities in Paraguay switching from tobacco and yerba mate to gorwing marijuana, a crop profitable enough for them to buy meat and other basic foods
  - Color ABC, 04 September 2015

• Indian tribes of North America begin to invest in the business of marijuana
  - Time, 04 September 2015

• Legal marijuana could be the first billion-dollar industry that is led by women
  - The Weed Blog, 03 September 2015

• Judge in Mexico approves use of medical marijuana for first time, to treat the seizures of an eight-year old girl
  - Fox News, 02 September 2015

• College students are quitting their use of the more addictive nicotine (usually from smoking cigarettes) - down from 15% to 5%, while smoking marijuana becomes more popular
  - Wall Street Journal, 02 September 2015

• Smoking marijuana can lower sperm counts
  - CBS News, 01 September 2015

• Is Africa the next big global marijuana market?
  - Marijuana Politics, 07 September 2015

• The next 11 states in the United States to legalize marijuana
  - USA TOday, 22 August 2015

• Flakka, the new deadly synthetic marijuana, is a product of the idiotic war on drug
  - New York Times, 22 August 2015

• As marijuana use becomes more acceptable, researchers are rushing to answer key questions about the drug
  - Nature, 19 August 2015

• Local police departments in the United States are asking the military to donate armored trucks so that they can fight the war on marijuana
  - Washington Post, 11 August 2015

• New director of the DEA admits that "heroin is clearly more dangerous than marijuana"
  - Huffington Post, 05 August 2015

• Federal Reserve rejects application for a credit union in Colorado to serve the marijuana industry
  - New York Times, 31 July 2015

• Companies that perform drug testing, afraid of losing business, are fighting the legalization of marijuana
  - Toledo Blade, 19 July 2015

• Italy takes the first steps towards the legalization of marijuana
  - Daily Chronic, 16 July 2015

• A medical marijuana company in Oregon obtains $1.8 million to expand its operations
  - The Weed Blog, 16 July 2015

• Researchers find that non-psychotropic compounds in marijuana can help heal bone fissures
  - Tel Aviv University, 16 July 2015

• The legalization of marijuana is creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs
  - Seattle Times, 16 July 2015

• Marijuana could be a $35 billion market in the United States by 2020
  - MarketWatch, 15 July 2015

• Elizabeth Warren, a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, urges the U.S. government to support research on the medical benefits of marijuana
  - Huffington Post, 14 July 2015

• Capitalizing on marijuana - the companies and individuals who are investing in the marijuana business
  - Salon, 14 July 2015

• Marijuana will be a huge business in California when it is legalized
  - Times of San Diego, 14 July 2015

• Is the juicing of raw marijuana the next green drink?
  - Fox News, 13 July 2015

• Marijuana farmers in Colombia fear chaos when guerrillas disband
  - BusinessWeek, 13 July 2015

• Scientists separate medical benefits of marijuana from 'unwanted' side effects on the mind
  - Science Daily, 09 July 2015

• U.S. congressman who has opposed legalizing marijuana, now wants the government to fund medical research into using marijuana
  - US News & World Report, 09 July 2015

• Republican representatives in the U.S. House stop proposed law to allow the U.S. government to study the medical benefits of marijuana
  - Washington Post, 09 July 2015

• Lawmakers in Chile approve a proposed law to decriminalize marijuana
  - BBC News, 08 July 2015

• Lawmakers in Chile approve a proposed law to decriminalize marijuana
  - El Pais, 07 July 2015

• Success of legal marijuana in Colorado is causing high demand for electricity in Denver, due to indoor cultivation
  - CityLab, 06 July 2015

• Farmers in Colombia are switching from marijuana to avocados
  - El Comercio, 14 July 2015

• Farmers in Mexico are switching from marijuana to opium, as marijuana is legalized and prescription opioids drive up demand for heroin
  - Yucatan Times, 03 July 2015

• Marijuana is now legal to grow and possess in Oregon
  - Cashinbis, 01 July 2015

• Real estate investment firm in New York, that specializes in marijuana investments, buys abandoned factory in Oregon to retrofit for growing marijuana
  - Register Guard, 30 2015

• How to become a lobbyist for companies in the business of marijuana?
  - The Cannabist, 26 2015

• Lloyd's of London has stopped insuring marijuana companies, due to conflicts between federal and state laws in the United States
  - Insurance Journal, 24 2015

• How medical marijuana is becoming more widely available in Colombia
  - OZY, 24 2015

• 65% of the people in Latin America approve of medical marijuana
  - Los Tiempos, 23 2015

• Rapid growth in the number of illegal greenhouses in Spain for growing marijuana, due to easy profits in a troubled economy
  - EuroWeekly News, 22 2015

• In states where medical marijuana is legal, such use does not increase use of marijuana by teenagers
  - New York Times, 16 2015

• U.S Senate votes in agreement with U.S. House to prohibit DEA from interfering with state laws government medical marijuana
  - The Weed Blog, 14 2015

• Legal, high quality, marijuana is changing the drug war, forcing Mexican drug cartels to rely on other illegal drugs for income, mostly heroin
  - BusinessWeek, 03 2015

• The government of Costa Rica releases technical requirements to use medical marijuana and hemp
  - Costa Rica News, 06 2015

• U.S. Senate committee approves law that would allow military doctors to recommend medical marijuana to their patients
  - Drug Policy, 21 May 2015

• This video by a Columbia University neuroscientist, Dr. Carl Hart, might be the best case against the drug war ever made
  - Washington Post, 20 May 2015

• Costa Rica's leading newspaper, El Nacion, publicly endorses the legalization of medical marijuana
  - La Nacion, 20 May 2015

• After the city of Philadelphia decriminalizes the possession of marijuana, it saved $1 million in the first three months of 2015 due to less police and court time wasted
  - Daily Caller, 19 May 2015

• New director of the DEA, Chuck Rosenberg, says that he will focus less agency resources on marijuana
  - The Weed Blog, 19 May 2015

• Marijuana-infused coffee pods hit store shelves in Washington and Colorado
  - Fox News, 18 May 2015

• The prohibition of marijuana is a moral scandal built on a mountain of scientific lies
  - Reason, 18 May 2015

• Science seeks to unlock the medical secrets of marijuana
  - National Geographic, 15 May 2015

• The ambitious experiment of the legalization of marijuana in the United States
  - Time, 14 May 2015

• As Americans legalize marijuana, Colombians mourn drug war victims
  - WorldCrunch, 13 May 2015

• A report from the marijuana investor summit
  - The New Yorker, 12 May 2015

• 100 U.S. organizations call for UN to respect countries that legalize marijuana or other drugs
  - StopTheDrugWar.org, 05 May 2015

• The Italian army is growing medical marijuana to sell to citizens suffering from pain
  - Fox News, 01 May 2015

• Marijuana is not a gateway drug
  - The Mirror, 23 April 2015

• Marijuana is not a gateway drug
  - FactCheck.org, 23 April 2015

• Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN News: "It is time for a revolution to legalize medical marijuana"
  - CNN, 17 April 2015

• In San Francisco, a federal judge declines to reclassify marijuana from its current status as a Schedule I drug with no medical benefits
  - New York Times, 16 April 2015

• Ten diseases where medical marijuana could provide benefits
  - CNN, 16 April 2015

• President Obama reiterates his enthusiastic support for medical marijuana
  - Daily Caller, 15 April 2015

• A delivery service for marijuana, Eaze, raises $10 million in funding
  - Forbes, 14 April 2015

• Texas would save $250 million over five years if it removed any mention of marijuana from state laws
  - Tenth Amendment Center, 13 April 2015

• The marijuana industry is worried that the tobacco cartel will use its influence to take over the marijuana business
  - USA Today, 11 April 2015

• A major hypocrisy as a U.S. government agency admits that marijuana can kill cancer cells
  - Inquisit, 10 April 2015

• A major hypocrisy as a U.S. government agency admits that marijuana can kill cancer cells
  - RT News, 10 April 2015

• Legalization of marijuana in the United States is significantly hurting the business of marijuana smuggling by drug cartels in Mexico
  - Time, 08 April 2015

• A municipality in Chile harvests marijuana for medical use as part of a government-approved project
  - Fox News, 07 April 2015

• American voters in some swing states (Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania) could influence the 2016 elections, since a majority of them support legalization of marijuana
  - Christian Science Monitor, 06 April 2015

• Did the U.S. government just admit that marijuana can shrink some serious brain tumors?
  - Daily Caller, 02 April 2015

• All nine former chiefs of the U.S. DEA, in a court filing, argue that the federal government has no right to ignore the illegality of sales of marijuana allowed in some U.S. states
  - National Law Journal, 31 March 2015

• The investment firm, CanopyBoulder, obtains $1.2 million to invest in new marijuana companies in Colorado
  - WeedBlog, 28 March 2015

• Some investment opportunities in the marijuana business
  - Forbes, 27 March 2015

• A federal judge in the U.S. hears final arguments in a lawsuit that seeks to declare that the Schedule I status of marijuana is unconstitutional (with legal briefs)
  - Mint Press News, 26 March 2015

• When Governor Chris Christie calls taxes on marijuana to be "blood money", he is not just wrong, he is also being dangerous
  - News.Mic, 26 March 2015

• Police in Colorado are arresting 95% less people due to criminal charges related to marijuana, since the state has legalized marijuana
  - Huffington Post, 25 March 2015

• A proposed law to legalize marijuana for medical uses is introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives
  - CBS News, 24 March 2015

• Costa Rica is considering the legalization of marijuana for medical and food purposes
  - Tico Times, 21 March 2015

• U.S. government to provide researchers with more powerful varieties of marijuana for medical research
  - Nature, 17 March 2015

• A pediatrician in the U.S. prefers that his children use marijuana instead of the more dangerous alcohol
  - New York Times, 16 March 2015

• A law is proposed in the U.S. Congress to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug, and prevent federal prosecution in states where medical marijuana is legal
  - New York Times, 11 March 2015

• The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. warns companies selling health products to not falsely advertise the levels of cannabidiol
  - US News and World Report, 11 March 2015

• President Obama wants to regulate marijuana like tobacco, but not legalize marijuana. Wait, what?
  - Vox, 27 February 2015

• Nearly five million food products were sold in Colorado in 2014, that included some marijuana
  - Time, 26 February 2015

• Jamaica passes law that decriminalizes small amounts of marijuana, and prepares to legalize medical marijuana
  - US News & World Report, 24 February 2015

• Marijuana is safer to consume than alcohol or tobacco, 100 times less deadly than the non-scheduled drug of alcohol
  - The Verge, 23 February 2015

• The legal market for marijuana grew by 80 percent last year
  - Reason, 22 February 2015

• U.S. Congressman calls on the U.S. Attorney General to reschedule marijuana
  - The Weed Blog, 21 February 2015

• The future of Big Tobacco, as Big Marijuana
  - The News Tribune, 20 February 2015

• Two proposed laws introduced into the U.S. Congress to end the federal prohibition against marijuana
  - Huffington Post, 20 February 2015

• Clinical trials are high on the list of projects for the medical marijuana community
  - Chemistry World, 17 February 2015

• Did George Washington use medical marijuana?
  - The Daily Beast, 16 February 2015

• Illegal production of marijuana in Mexico is decreasing due to the legalization of marijuana in the United States
  - Breitbart, 15 February 2015

• How banks are transforming the marijuana business in Canada
  - NPR, 11 February 2015

• Uruguay prepares permits for industrial farming of marijuana
  - Business Week, 11 February 2015

• How Bill Bennett lies about marijuana being a gateway drug
  - Forbes, 10 February 2015

• The First Bank of Marijuana: marijuana industry in Colorado waits for the approval of the Federal Reserve
  - New York Times, 05 February 2015

• Real estate industry in the United States takes notice that the marijuana industry has doubled in size to $2.4 billion
  - National Real Estate Investor, 06 February 2015

• Marijuana may be a promising treatment for depression
  - Huffington Post, 06 February 2015

• Is the state of Colorado earning too much money from taxes on the sales of marijuana?
  - Christian Science Monitor, 05 February 2015

• Uruguay establishes guidelines for research on medical marijuana
  - Panam Post, 05 February 2015

• The daily use of marijuana doesn't really change the brains of adults or teenagers
  - Phoenix New Times, 02 February 2015

• The daily use of marijuana doesn't really change the brains of adults or teenagers
  - Daily Chronic, 02 February 2015

• Colorado may have to share with its citizens some of the taxes that the state earns from sales of marijuana
  - Huffington Post, 02 February 2015

• Legalization of marijuana in Uruguay is echoed in Latin America
  - Los Tiempos, 31 January 2015

• Alcohol and cigarettes are bigger health risks to a population than use of cocaine, amphetamine or marijuana
  - Scientific Reports, 30 January 2015

• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ignores federal laws, and permits a marijuana business to sell stock shares in its company
  - Judicial Watch, 30 January 2015

• Legal marijuana is the fastest-growing industry in the U.S.
  - Huffington Post, 26 January 2015

• Can medical marijuana reduce the size of the heroin epidemic?
  - The Conversation, 13 January 2015

• Are electronic cigarettes using marijuana oil causing more teenagers to smoke cigarettes and marijuana?
  - New York Times, 13 January 2015

• Ethical questions for corporate and foundation investments in marijuana
  - New York Times, 12 January 2015

• As drug cartels in Mexico lose business to legal marijuana in the United States, they rely more on sales of heroin and methamphetamine
  - Washington Post, 11 January 2015

• The medical marijuana queen of Beverly Hills
  - New York Times, 09 January 2015

• One of the founders of PayPal, and an investor in Facebook, Peter Thiel, invests tens of millions of dollars in Marley Natural, a marijuana company
  - Fortune, 08 January 2015

• New funding for Marley Natural highlights the massive market for marijuana in the United States
  - Techcrunch, 07 January 2015

• U.S. Department of Justice lies in court filing that marijuana has no medical value
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 06 January 2015

• Pharmacists in Iowa recommend that marijuana oil be reclassified off of Schedule I, to help treat epilspsy
  - Des Moines Register, 05 January 2015

• More states and Native American tribes are copying the marijuana laws of Colorado
  - PBS, 03 January 2015

• Is U.S. government fighting medical marijuana, while cutting a deal with a pharmaceutical company to allow them to sell medical marijuana?
  - High Times, 31 December 2014

• A former U.S. Senator, Mike Gravel, to be CEO of a marijuana company in Alaska
  - Huffington Post, 30 December 2014

• Food chefs start to experiment with marijuana as an ingredient
  - New York Times, 29 December 2014

• Uruguay publishes decree that regulates the cultivation of marijuana for industrial use
  - La Estrella, 20 December 2014

• Brazil to study the legalization of medical marijuana
  - New York Times, 19 December 2014

• Nebraska and Oklahoma sue Colorado over marijuana laws
  - New York Times, 18 December 2014

• How legalizing marijuana on Indian reservations in the U.S. could lead to the end of the prohibition on marijuana
  - Los Angeles Times, 12 December 2014

• Massachusetts Medical Society officially supports the removal of marijuana from Schedule One
  - New England Public Radio, 11 December 2014

• One year after marijuana was legalized in Uruguay, the country is handling the transition well
  - World.Mic, 10 December 2014

• Who is really fighting legal marijuana? Big Tobacco, Big Pharma and Big Alcohol companies only interested in protecting their profits
  - US News & World Report, 08 December 2014

• Legal marijuana in the United States is decreasing profits for illegal marijuana smuggling from Mexico
  - NPR, 01 December 2014

• Conservatives in Canada lieing about the dangers of marijuana, in order to get re-elected
  - Panam Post, 01 December 2014

• Desperation causes mothers in Chile to illegally grow marijuana to help their children to fight seizures due to epilepsy
  - Fox News, 24 November 2014

• Why the U.S. Congress should legalize marijuana
  - CNN, 20 November 2014

• Marijuana drastically shrinks an aggressive form of brain cancer
  - Huffington Post, 18 November 2014

• Guatemala may legalize marijuana in 2015
  - TeleSur TV, 15 November 2014

• How the war on drugs perpetuates violence in Latin America
  - VOX, 14 November 2014

• The leading environmentalist of Zambia, and presidential candidate, wants to legalize marijuana to profit from legalization trends around the world
  - Forbes, 14 November 2014

• Meet the eight marijuana companies whose stock prices have risen the most
  - Forbes, 14 November 2014

• Federal proposals for the taxation of the sales of marijuana: an economic analysis
  - Congressional Research Service, 14 November 2014

• A committee of the Senate in Colombia approves a proposed law to legalize the use of medical marijuana
  - Colombia Reports, 13 November 2014

• Will Altria, a giant of the tobaco cartel, enter the marijuana market?
  - The Street, 13 November 2014

• New York City will stop destroying people's careers, by no longer arresting them for simple possession of small amounts of marijuana
  - New York Times, 13 November 2014

• U.N. says legalization of marijuana in the U.S. is a violation of international law
  - Newsweek, 11 November 2014

• Job boom in the (legal) marijuana industry
  - Standard Examiner, 08 November 2014

• What company will become the Marlboro (cigarettes) of marijuana?
  - Economist, 08 November 2014

• Medical marijuana company is developing drug to protect the brains of football players in the NFL
  - FOX News, 07 November 2014

• Mexico is ready to discuss legalization of marijuana
  - El Financiero, 05 November 2014

• The debate about the legalization of marijuana is necessary in Colombia
  - El Heraldo, 05 November 2014

• Paraguay begins to debate the legalization of marijuana
  - El Nuevo Herald, 04 November 2014

• How the IRS and Congress are crippling the legal marijuana industry with very high taxes
  - Washington Post, 05 November 2014

• The U.S. states of Oregon and Alaska, and District of Columbia, vote to legalize marijuana
  - Christian Science Monitor, 05 November 2014

• A federal judge in the U.S. to decide if classifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug is unconstitutional
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 04 November 2014

• Rushing to make big profits selling legal marijuana in New York
  - New York Times, 02 November 2014

• The first medical marijuana is planted in Santiago, Chile, as the country plans to legalize medical marijuana
  - ABC News, 01 November 2014

• Trial of a drug based on marijuana offers hope to children with epilepsy
  - Houston Chronicle, 30 October 2014

• Chile commences the cultivation of medical marijuana
  - La Razon, 30 October 2014

• The marijuana industry could be bigger (at $35 billion a year) than the NFL by 2020
  - Washington Post, 24 October 2014

• Advocates of legalization of marijuana are comparing the safety of marijuana to the dangers of alcohol
  - Oregon Live, 23 October 2014

• Advocates of legalization of marijuana are comparing the safety of marijuana to the dangers of alcohol
  - IB Times, 23 October 2014

• Could ayahuasca be the next "medical marijuana"?
  - CNN, 22 October 2014

• Doctors testify in Federal court that classifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug is unconstitutional
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 21 October 2014

• Is it time to legalize marijuana in South Africa?
  - IOL News (ZA), 19 October 2014

• The legalization of marijuana could reduce addiction to alcohol
  - IO9, 10 October 2014

• Is legalized marijuana a financial threat to beer sales?
  - CNBC, 10 October 2014

• U.S. DEA is wasting time investigating U.S. investors who invest monies in Canadian companies with marijuana products
  - Reuters, 10 October 2014

• Seven industries that will benefit from legalization of marijuana
  - Wall Street Cheat Street, 09 October 2014

• No, marijuana is not actually "as addictive as heroin"
  - Washington Post, 09 October 2014

• Manufacturer of e-cigarettes that burn marijuana oil enters fifth U.S. state for sales
  - Phoenix Business Journal, 08 October 2014

• New business in Seattle sells soda infused with marijuana
  - Seattle Times, 08 October 2014

• Marijuana businesses and profits are growing steadily in Colorado
  - Zero Hedge, 06 October 2014

• 92% of patients say that medical marijuana improves their health
  - Washington Post, 01 October 2014

• Argentine government is considering the decriminalization of some uses of drugs
  - Fox News, 30 September 2014

• Efforts begin to fully legalize marijuana in the state of California (on its own, California would be the ninth largest country in the world)
  - ABC News, 24 September 2014

• U.S. states, together, could earn $3 billion per year in taxes due to sales of marijuana
  - Huffington Post, 24 September 2014

• Latin America considers the legalization of marijuana
  - Politico, 19 September 2014

• Legal marijuana in Uruguay: inspiration for innovation
  - World Policy Blog, 19 September 2014

• Military laboratory in Italy to grow marijuana for medical uses
  - Reuters, 18 September 2014

• Marijuana is rated the most effective alternative treatment for pain
  - American News Report, 18 September 2014

• Nearly 10% of Americans go to work while high on marijuana
  - CNBC, 18 September 2014

• The NFL finally accepts use of marijuana, well, almost
  - The Atlantic, 17 September 2014

• Is Warren Buffett getting into the marijuana industry?
  - The Weed Blog, 15 September 2014

• Prominent academics against marijuana prostitute themselves to companies that sell painkiller narcotics, who fear loss of sales
  - VICE News, 07 September 2014

• Fewer deaths due to prescription painkillers in U.S. states where medical marijuana is legal
  - New York Times, 29 August 2014

• 20 companies in Uruguay bidding for licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana
  - The Cannabist, 28 August 2014

• 20 companies in Uruguay bidding for licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana
  - Los Tiempos, 28 August 2014

• Fewer deaths due to prescription painkillers in U.S. states where medical marijuana is legal
  - Huffington Post, 26 August 2014

• Selling hemp oil medicines nationwide in the United States faces federal prosecution, even if free of THC
  - New York Times, 24 August 2014

• Company in U.S. state of Washington to start selling soda infused with marijuana
  - WWLP News, 22 August 2014

• Controversy in Chila as mayor (of La Florida) planted marijuana on municipal lands, to be used for therapuetic uses
  - La Razon, 18 August 2014

• Marijuana decriminalization plans of Caribbean countries
  - Chronicle, 15 August 2014

• Angel investors are high on investment opportunities with legal marijuana
  - San Francisco Business Times, 15 August 2014

• Over 100 financial institutions in United States are working with legal marijuana businesses
  - Daily Chronic, 14 August 2014

• President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, supports the legalization of medical marijuana in Colombia
  - BBC, 14 August 2014

• Liberal Party of Colombia will support new law to legalize the use of medical marijuana in Colombia
  - Colombia Reports, 14 August 2014

• Eight reasons that marijuana has gone mainstream - the end of its prohibition
  - CNN, 11 August 2014

• Research into medical uses of marijuana is prevented by irrational U.S. health policies
  - New York Times, 10 August 2014

• Marijuana industry will be more like the alcohol industry than the tobacco industry
  - Washington Post, 08 August 2014

• Corruption of the anti-marijuana movement, funded by private prisons, prison guards, as well as alcohol, beer and pharmaceutical companies - all fighting the legalization of marijuana to protect profits, not protect the public
  - AllGov, 07 August 2014

• Status of marijuana legalization efforts in Costa Rica
  - Costa Rica News, 07 August 2014

• Start-ups seize marijuana opportunities as big companies remain cautious
  - New York Times, 06 August 2014

• The incredibly poor misleading argument of the U.S. Government for marijuana prohibition
  - Washington Post, 30 July 2014

• The most powerful argument of opponents of medical marijuana conflicts with a mountain of research
  - Washington Post, 30 July 3014

• Federal prohibition of marijuana is based on hatred of blacks and Mexicans
  - New York Times, 30 July 2014

• The injustice of marijuana arrests in the U.S.: black people are arrested four times more than white people
  - New York Times, 29 July 2014

• Editorial Board of New York Times calls for the repeal of federal laws against marijuana
  - New York Times, 27 July 2014

• Editorial Board of New York Times: let the U.S. states decide on the legalization of marijuana
  - New York Times, 27 July 2014

• Majority of the U.S. public supports the legalization of marijuana
  - New York Times, 27 July 2014

• Is marijuana becoming a legitimate business in the United States?
  - Motley Fool Investing, 26 July 2014

• United States, Canada, Nigeria and Australia have the highest rates of marijuana smoking, over 10 percent of their populations
  - Business Insider, 26 July 2014

• The NFL thinks that smoking marijuana, which hurts no one, is much worse than beating a woman into unconsciousness
  - The Weed Blog, 25 July 2014

• Senators in Chile want to legalize marijuana
  - The Weed Blog, 25 July 2014

• State of California could have a $30 billion a year business in sales of legal marijuana
  - Policy Mic, 30 2014

• Next gold rush: legal marijuana feeds entrepreneurs' dreams
  - New York Times, 19 July 2014

• Majority of young Americans, from 18 to 29 years of age, oppose federal prohibition of marijuana
  - Daily Chronic, 19 July 2014

• Small penalties, $25 for less than one ounce of marijuana, go into effect in Washington, D.C.
  - New York Times, 18 July 2014

• U.S. House of Representatives votes 236-183 to allow banks to accept money for legal marijuana business
  - Fox News, 17 July 2014

• Former DEA agent, Gary Hale: legalization of marijuana is no longer a trend, but a policy
  - Chronicle, 16 July 2014

• New research shows how a chemical in marijuana can reduce tumor growth in cancer patients
  - Huffington Post, 16 July 2014

• Over 100,000 people selling marijuana in the United States
  - FiveThirtyEight, 16 July 2014

• Legal businesses selling marijuana are looking for experienced managers
  - Wall Street Journal, 15 July 2014

• Is legal marijuana sales in Colorado causing more sales of alcohol?
  - Vice, 14 July 2014

• Is the U.S. DEA losing the war on marijuana politics, as it ignores science?
  - Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2014

• Private marijuana clubs, legal in Spain, becoming more popular in Barcelona, and becoming a magnet for marijuana tourism
  - New York Times, 11 July 2014

• New York State legalizes medical marijuana, as Governor Cuomo signs new law
  - CNN, 08 July 2014

• Sales of marijuana start in Washington state on Monday
  - Wall Street OTC, 06 July 2014

• Six months after the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, crime rates are decreased and tax revenues increased
  - Polic Mic, 01 July 2014

• This video makes it abundantly clear how much sugar, salt and fat are in your fast foods
  - BuzzFeed, 01 July 2014

• Former governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, becomes CEO of a marijuana products company
  - Albuquerque Biz Journal, 01 July 2014

• Former president Bill Clinton supports U.S. states that decide to make medical marijuana into a legal product
  - Huffington Post, 29 2014

• Editorial: decriminalizing drugs only profits drug traffickers - instead, fully legalize the drugs such as marijuana
  - Economist, 28 2014

• While politicians are allowing medical marijuana for many ailments, doctors are prevented by the U.S. DEA from researching what ailments are so appropriate
  - New York Times, 27 2014

• Farmers market for medical marijuana will open in Los Angeles
  - Hollywood Reporter, 26 2014

• U.S. FDA will evaluate marijuana for potential reclassification as a less dangerous drug
  - Huffington Post, 24 2014

• How to obtain from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the approval of your medical experiments that test marijuana
  - IB Times, 20 2014

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering the downgrading of marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug
  - Bloomberg, 20 2014

• New York to become 23rd U.S. state that will allow medical marijuana
  - CNN, 20 2014

• Expert says: marijuana is a 'gateway drug to the White House'
  - The Hill, 20 2014

• The magazine for marijuana, "High Times", is trying to raise $300 million for an investment fund for marijuana companies
  - Business Week, 19 2014

• Friend or foe? Marijuana stocks and the tobacco industry
  - Investor Place, 18 2014

• Forget Colorado - marijuana use may soon be permitted in Jamaica
  - Washington Post, 17 2014

• In recent years as states legalize marijuana, teenagers are not using more marijuana
  - PolicyMic, 17 2014

• Gangs in Albania produce about 900 tons, or $6 billion worth, of marijuana each year, about half of Albania's GDP
  - Daily Mail, 16 2014

• A growing industry for recreational marijuana generates innovation and investment
  - PBS, 16 2014

• Jamaica will partially decriminalize small amounts of marijuana
  - ABC News, 13 2014

• Can Uruguay kill drug cartels by legalizing marijuana?
  - Vox, 13 2014

• Why multitasking is worse than marijuana for your IQ
  - Forbes, 11 2014

• New report harshly criticizes the DEA for spending four decades in the obstruction of marijuana science
  - Huffington Post, 11 2014

• A company in Washington state will introduce marijuana coffee
  - USA Today, 05 2014

• In 1970s, Big Tobacco companies planned to join the marijuana business when marijuana became legal
  - Los Angeles Times, 02 2014

• Venture capitalists in Silicon Valley are too afraid, too scared, to invest in marijuana start-ups
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 30 May 2014

• U.S. House of Representatives votes for law that prohibits DEA from enforcing drug laws against medical marijuana operations where legal under state law
  - Huffington Post, 30 May 2014

• Corporate cannabis? Legal marijuana goes legit
  - Forbes, 27 May 2014

• How Big Agriculture and federal water managers are conspiring against legal farmers of marijuana
  - Salon, 27 May 2014

• Corporate farming and manufacturing of marijuana products
  - New York Times, 25 May 2014

• California moves one step closer to ending medical marijuana 'chaos'
  - Huffington Post, 24 May 2014

• Uruguay has big hopes for its marijuana industry, and is now seeking investors
  - Wall Street Journal, 24 May 2014

• Vapor pens of marijuana - the crack cocaine of marijuana
  - NPR, 24 May 2014

• The gradual decriminalization of marijuana in the Caribbean
  - NACLA, 23 May 2014

• Could marijuana be used as an epilepsy treatment?
  - Medical News Today, 22 May 2014

• FBI may change rules to hire people who smoke marijuana, popular with programmers and hackers the FBI needs to fight cybercrimes
  - Wall Street Journal, 20 May 2014

• Uruguay will exempt sales of marijuana from taxes, in order to undermine the business of drug traffickers
  - Reuters, 19 May 2014

• State of Kentucky sues DEA for seizing shipment of hemp seeds
  - Think Progress, 16 May 2014

• More Americans prefer marijuana legalization (52%) than they prefer online gambling (20%)
  - WeedBlog, 15 May 2014

• Famous television star, Dr. Oz, now supports medical marijuana for being "hugely beneficial"
  - Huffington Post, 14 May 2014

• Four months after legalizing marijuana, Denver has not been destroyed by crime
  - Huffington Post, 13 May 2014

• Report written for the Government of Bermuda endorses medical marijuana and decriminalizing personal use
  - ABC News, 12 May 2014

• Eight lies that we have to stop telling ourselves about marijuana use in America (same eight lies also said about use of coca leaf)
  - PolicyMic, 12 May 2014

• Mexican drug cartels are exiting the marijuana business, due to much lower profits now that marijuana is legalized in much of the U.S., and switching to heroin which is still popular thanks to prescription painkillers acting as gateway drugs
  - PolicyMic, 12 May 2014

• Guatemala considers the creation of taxes for marijuana, and legalizing marijuana farming for exports
  - Newsweek, 10 May 2014

• Guatemala considers the creation of taxes for marijuana, and legalizing marijuana farming for exports
  - Latin Post, 10 May 2014

• Could marijuana become a legal export of countries such as Guatemala?
  - Newsroom Panama, 10 May 2014

• Uruguay issues regulations for the world's first national legal market for marijuana
  - Huffington Post, 06 May 2014

• President of Uruguay says medical marijuana laws in Colorado are a "fiction" of regulation
  - Denver Post, 02 May 2014

• U.S DEA to greatly increase supply of legal marijuana for use by government medical researchers, from 21 kilos to 650 kilos
  - The Hill, 02 May 2014

• U.S. DEA officials lie about dangers of marijuana in testimony before U.S. Senate
  - Daily Chronic, 01 May 2014

• Majority of voters in Colorado say that the legalization of marijuana has been good for the state
  - Reuters, 29 April 2014

• John Paul Stevens, a retired U.S. Supreme Court judge, argues that marijuana should be legal
  - NPR, 24 April 2014

• Juan Manuel Santos, president of Colombia, says it is time to legalize marijuana
  - Wall Street Journal, 22 April 2014

• Marijuana is rated significantly more effective in treating fibromyalgia, than do drugs approved by the U.S. FDA
  - MarketWatch, 21 April 2014

• U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico considers the legalization of marijuana and prostitution, to help boost the economy
  - RT News, 20 April 2014

• 23 health benefits of marijuana
  - Business Insider, 20 April 2014

• 13 financial statistics that show the benefits for governments and businesses after the legalization of marijuana
  - Huffington Post, 19 April 2014

• Is marijuana a natural Viagra?
  - New York Magazine, 17 April 2014

• Investors jump in after Canada changes national marijuana laws to allow production for medical uses
  - Wall Street Journal, 18 April 2014

• Casual marijuana use may damage developing brains for those under 25
  - CNN, 16 April 2014

• Sales of legal marijuana in the U.S. to reach $8 billion a year by 2018
  - Huffington Post, 11 April 2014

• In U.S., state of Colorado expects to receive $98 million in taxes from sales of legalized marijuana in 2014
  - Reuters, 11 April 2014

• How legal marijuana in the U.S. hurts the illegal marijuana industry in Mexico
  - Huffington Post, 08 April 2014

• The reason that Big Pharma may not be cashing in on medical marijuana - NIH has patent on cannabinoids
  - Wall Street Cheat Sheet, 08 April 2014

• State of Maryland decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana
  - Baltimore Sun, 08 April 2014

• Despite fears, legal marijuana doesn't increase crime
  - Complex City Guide, 07 April 2014

• Marijuana tour operator goes public via a reverse merger
  - The Street, 07 April 2014

• Uruguay government studies the use of marijuana in medicals treatments
  - Buenos Aires Herald, 06 April 2014

• President of Guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, proposes not only legalizing marijuana and opium for medical use, but also creating a new agricultural industry growing poppies and marijuana
  - Newsroom Panama, 05 April 2014

• Uruguay proposes giving marijuana to cocaine addicts in prison
  - Huffington Post, 04 April 2014

• Billionaire George Soros behind major push for marijuana legalization
  - RT News, 03 April 2014

• U.S. Congressman predicts marijuana will be legal across the U.S. within five years
  - Huffington Post, 02 April 2014

• Americans finally understand that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol
  - Washington Post, 02 April 2014

• Caribbean countries are considering the loosening of marijuana laws
  - Miami Herald, 29 March 2014

• U.S. government red tape frustrates medical marijuana research
  - Nature, 25 March 2014

• In U.S. from 2002 to 2010, cocaine use drops in half while marijuana use rises, suggesting marijuana is not a gateway drug
  - MarketWatch, 31 March 2014

• Three state regulators of marijuana in Colorado quit their jobs, and switch to work for marijuana companies
  - Denver Post, 21 March 2014

• Uruguay's military will grow marijuana on military farms to regulate legal production and sales
  - Sin Mordaza (AR), 20 March 2014

• ACLU releases new tool for calculating the racial disparities in marijuana arrests by State in the United States
  - BET, 20 March 2014

• Chile will eliminate marijuana from list of hard drugs
  - Pagina Siete, 19 March 2014

• In Chile, national drug control agency, SENDA, proposes the legalization of medical marijuana
  - La Tercera, 18 March 2014

• Medical marijuana can ease MS symptoms, but U.S. government blocks most research into medical uses of marijuana
  - Bustle, 17 March 2014

• In Massachusetts, doctors open offices to prescribe marijuana
  - CNN, 16 March 2014

• How "Weedmaps.com" wants to become the Philip Morris of marijuana
  - Wall Street Journal, 15 March 2014

• CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta - are there many beneficial chemicals in the marijuana leaf?
  - CNN, 11 March 2014

• CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta - classifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug with "no currently accepted medical use" is a lie
  - CNN, 05 March 2014

• U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency tells U.S. Congress to ignore the will of the public regarding legalizing marijuana
  - Daily Chronic, 05 March 2014

• UN's International Narcotics Control Board attacks Uruguay, Colorado and Washington state for legalizing marijuana, but attacks with hypocrisy and faulty data
  - The Guardian (UK), 04 March 2014

• Is the UN's International Narcotics Control Board becoming irrelevant?
  - Cannabis Culture, 04 March 2014

• U.S. Army General complains that marijuana legalization in the U.S. makes Latin American officials less eager to join the war of drugs
  - Forbes, 28 February 2014

• Marijuana is 'Best investment theme for next 10 years', according to financial news editor
  - MoneyNews, 28 February 2014

• Pivotal point is seen as more U.S. states consider legalizing marijuana
  - New York Times, 26 February 2014

• Jamaica to decriminalize marijuana by yearend
  - Caribbean 360, 24 February 2014

• The vaporizer that marijuana users will spend $600 on
  - Quartz, 21 February 2014

• Chicago investment fund invests $27 million in medical marijuana biotech company
  - Chicago Tribune, 20 February 2014

• U.S. state of Colorado could earn $100 million per year in taxes due to sales of legal marijuana
  - New York Times, 20 February 2014

• 10 countries where marijuana could soon be legal
  - The Richest, 19 February 2014

• U.S. Justice and Treasury Departments release joint statement approving banks to work with legal marijuana businesses
  - USA Today, 18 February 2014

• Children with brain seizures using marijuana mixed with olive oil to stop seizures
  - ABC News, 18 February 2014

• Carnaval in Brazil, and this year's World Cup games, increasing demand for marijuana, 80% of which comes from Uruguay
  - Pagina Siete, 18 February 2014

• Marijuana legalization in U.S. and Uruguay prompts other nations to consider legalizing marijuana
  - Christian Science Monitor, 15 February 2014

• U.S. Justice Department to allow banks to provide services to marijuana businesses in Colorado and Washington
  - Wall Street Journal, 15 February 2014

• U.S. Justice and Treasury Departments announce new guidelines allowing banks to work with marijuana businesses
  - Drug Policy Alliance, 14 February 2014

• Italy's Constitutional Court nullifies 2006 law that treated marijuana as equal to cocaine and heroine under the criminal laws
  - Independent (UK), 13 February 2014

• The irrationality of allowing medical marijuana in the U.S., but not allowing medical research into marijuana
  - New York Times, 13 February 2014

• THC obtained when consuming marijuana makes foods taste and smell better, leading to the "munchies"
  - Nature Neuroscience, 09 February 2014

• The THC in marijuana may stop spread of HIV by protecting stomach
  - AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, 07 February 2014

• Mayors of 35 cities in the Netherlands (where marijuana can be sold) urge government to allow marijuana to be legally grown for resale, as it is in the U.S. states of Washington and Colorado
  - Business Week, 03 February 2014

• Legal farming of hemp gets boost from pending U.S. farm bill
  - Wall Street Journal, 03 February 2014

• End the ban on research on psychoactive drugs such as marijuana
  - Editors - Scientific American, 01 February 2014

• Former U.S. state District Attorney heads nonprofit licensed to dispense marijuana in Massachusetts
  - Patriot Ledger, 31 January 2014

• President Obama says easing marijuana's Schedule I restrictions are a job for U.S. Congress
  - Time, 31 January 2014

• Healthy hemp seed oil - high in omega-3 fatty acids and gamma-linolenic acid
  - Discovery News, 31 January 2014

• How marijuana municipal bonds could repair the finances of state budgets
  - CNN Money, 30 January 2014

• 55% of Americans support legalizing marijuana, while 25% do not approve of such laws but wouldn't oppose
  - News One, 29 January 2014

• Tweed Inc., a marijuana company in Toronto, seeks listing on Toronto stock exchange
  - Bloomberg News, 28 January 2014

• DEA chief criticizes Obama for telling the truth about marijuana
  - Forbes, 27 January 2014

• Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos supports global approach to legalizing marijuana
  - Huffington Post, 24 January 2014

• Legal marijuana businesses should have access to banking system, according to U.S. Attorney General Holder
  - New York Times, 24 January 2014

• 65% of people in Florida support the use of legal medical marijuana
  - Think Progress, 22 January 2014

• Making marijuana products tasty is a cook's challenge
  - Pueblo Chieftain, 22 January 2014

• 14 stocks of marijuana companies to watch in 2014
  - Benzinga, 21 January 2014

• Corporate investors getting into the marijuana business
  - Capital New York, 21 January 2014

• Bill Gates backs marijuana legalization in his home state of Washington
  - BuzzFeed, 21 January 2014

• Former DEA agent Patrick Moen now working for Privateer Holdings, a private equity firm investing in legal marijuana business
  - Fox News, 21 January 2014

• President Obama: marijuana is not more dangerous than alcohol
  - Washington Post, 19 January 2014

• Canadian man claims marijuana oil is beating his prostate cancer
  - BDN Maine, 18 January 2014

• Marijuana-infused food and beverage products becoming popular in Colorado
  - ABC News, 17 January 2014

• Legal weed lures investor to marijuana industry
  - Business Week, 16 January 2014

• Anti-marijuana laws were based on racism, not science
  - io9, 13 January 2014

• Police sad as money they earn from seizing assets of marijuana growers decreases as marijuana is legalized, with $1 billion seized in U.S. from 2002 to 2012
  - Wall Street Journal, 10 January 2014

• France approves first marijuana-based medicine, a mouth spray to treat multiple sclerosis
  - RT, 09 January 2014

• The complex economics of legalized marijuana
  - Business Week, 09 January 2014

• Managing business risk in the marijuana business
  - Wall Street Journal, 09 January 2014

• Medicinal marijuana companies want to open laboratories in Uruguay to study potential health benefits of marijuana
  - ABC News, 06 January 2014

• Denver City Council wants marijuana businesses in Colorado to have access to U.S. federal banking institutions
  - Seattle PI, 06 January 2014

• Former head of Peru's drug agency says Peru should consider the legalization of marijuana
  - RT News, 05 January 2014

• In major shift, New York state will allow medical marijuana for some illnesses
  - New York Times, 05 January 2014

• Marijuana in the U.S.: state of Washington using it to build businesses (and collecting a 25% sales tax), while state of Mississippi using it to fill jails with black men
  - Rolling Stone, 03 January 2014

• As Colorado legalizes marijuana, legalization hopes soar in other U.S. states
  - USA Today, 31 December 2013

• California's Attorney General says California would save hundreds of millions of dollars a year if marijuana was legalized
  - Think Progress, 29 December 2013

• Marijuana businessman becomes first mayor of a U.S. city in California, Sebastopol
  - New York Times, 26 December 2013

• Uruguay's neighbors, starting with Argentina, are now considering legalization of marijuana
  - Global Post, 24 December 2013

• In Uruguay, president Mujica signs law legalizing production and sales of marijuana
  - La Razon, 24 December 2013

• Colorado state (U.S.) issues first 348 retail marijuana licenses to businesses
  - Denver Channel, 23 December 2013

• Rapid increase in growth of marijuana plants expected in Uruguay, now that country has legalized sales
  - Pagina Siete, 22 December 2013

• Rapidly dropping opposition to legal marijuana in United States, from 55% opposed in 2010 to 29% opposed in 2013
  - Forbes, 20 December 2013

• DEA agents finding greener jobs in lucrative legal marijuana industry
  - The Oregonian, 20 December 2013

• Drug legalization in Latin America: is the war over, led by Uruguay's legalization of marijuana?
  - PanAm Post, 18 December 2013

• Guatemala restarts discussions about legalizing and regulating the growth of opium for commercial medical purposes
  - La Razon, 18 December 2013

• Could Uruguay export marijuana to Canada, which allows growth and sales only by private companies (which could do the imports)?
  - Yahoo News, 16 December 2013

• In two U.S. states (Colorado, Washington), neighborhood stores will soon be selling marijuana next to the beers
  - New York Times, 14 December 2013

• Marijuana legalization in Uruguay divides the world
  - La Razon, 12 December 2013

• U.S. Treasury Department and banks hold secret meeting on how to allow bank accounts for legal marijuana businesses in United States
  - Philadelphia Inquirer, 12 December 2013

• Uruguay's president tells UN official to stop lying about marijuana, that more people live in Colorado and Washington (which legalized marijuana with no UN rebuke) than in Uruguay
  - Huffington Post, 12 December 2013

• Why Uruguay should ignore UN threats about its new marijuana law
  - Think Progress, 11 December 2013

• Hypocrites at UN drug agency reminds Uruguay that legalizing marijuana violates international treaties
  - La Estrella, 11 December 2013

• Uruguay's Senate approves (16-13) first national market for legal marijuana
  - Wall Street Journal, 11 December 2013

• Uruguay's Senate approves (16-13) first national market for legal marijuana
  - La Razon, 10 December 2013

• Uruguay's Senate approves (16-13) first national market for legal marijuana
  - Washington Post, 10 December 2013

• Former DEA agent joins private-equity firm investing in legal marijuana
  - Wall Street Journal, 10 December 2013

• Morocco considers legalization of marijuana
  - The Voice of Russia, 08 December 2013

• Scientist in country of Jamaica launching a medical marijuana company
  - ABC News, 07 December 2013

• 1326 licenses applied for in the State of Washington to grow and sell marijuana products
  - Seattle PI, 03 December 2013

• Medical marijuana rises 30% in Israel in 2013; government accusses pharmaceutical companies of fighting this use ... because it cuts into their profits
  - Times of Israel, 28 November 2013

• Uruguay's Senate Health Commission has passed bill allowing for legalization of marijuana
  - Euronews, 28 November 2013

• Four members of U.S. Congress write letter to U.S. federal prosecutor Melinda Haag, asking her to stop be so hostile in her prosecutions of marijuana dispensaries
  - Think Progress, 27 November 2013

• Ignoring will of the people, U.S. DEA proposes new drug code for marijuana extracts
  - Weed Blog, 27 November 2013

• The marijuana movement's political tactics for 2014, as its successes grow
  - The Atlantic, 26 November 2013

• Third U.S. Department of Justice white paper on medical marijuanaagrees that state-regulated medical marijuana operations are in compliance with DoJ guidelines
  - Huffington Post, 25 November 2013

• UN drug bureaucrats (UN's INCB) worry about Uruguay's marijuana legislation
  - The Weed Blog, 21 November 2013

• With legal marijuana comes hemp beer in Washington state
  - Time, 21 November 2013

• Marijuana together with ibuprofen can reduce inflammation (such as with Alzheimer's) while not hurting brain cells
  - Cell, 21 November 2013

• Marijuana together with ibuprofen can reduce inflammation (such as with Alzheimer's) while not hurting brain cells
  - Los Angeles Times, 21 November 2013

• Denver Post newspaper to appoint an editor for marijuana
  - Newsmax, 21 November 2013

• Americal Medical Association remains oppose to legalizing marijuana, but states that war on drugs is a complete failure
  - Seattle PI, 20 November 2013

• Editors at Jamaica's biggest newspaper call for country to follow Colorado and legalize marijuana
  - Denver Westword, 18 November 2013

• New study shows marijuana can treat autoimmune disorders like arthritis and diabetes
  - Times of India, 15 November 2013

• Czech Republic legalizes marijuana this year, but struggles with making the law benefit everyone
  - ABC News, 15 November 2013

• Uruguay is getting closer to the legalization of marijuana
  - La Razon, 14 November 2013

• Two-thirds of Americans say you should not be fired for using marijuana or alcohol outside the workplace
  - Huffington Post, 13 November 2013

• State of Michigan considering allowing pharmacies to sell medical marijuana, opening door to big pharmacuetical companies entering marijuana business
  - MintPress News, 12 November 2013

• U.S. Senate holdings hearing on how to aid U.S. states to help legitimate marijuana businesses
  - USA Today, 10 September 2013

• First map to prove valuable legalizing marijuana would be to American economy, a new market as big as beer's $100 billion market size
  - PolicyMic, 9 November 2013

• Voters in state of Colorado approve 25% tax on sales of recreational marijuana
  - Denver Post, 05 November 2013

• Medical marijuana could mean big business for residents of the state of Illinois
  - CBS Chicago, 05 November 2013

• Legal marijuana market expected to grow faster than smartphones
  - Huffington Post, 04 November 2013

• Testing marijuana for many potential medical uses is blocked by America's Schedule I classification of marijuana (in the same class as heroin)
  - New York Times, 04 November 2013

• District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) on fast trick to decriminalize marijuana possession
  - ABC News, 02 November 2013

• Economists predict that legalization of marijuana will produce public-health benefits
  - Forbes, 01 November 2013

• Cannabinoids in marijuana can kill leukemia cells
  - Anticancer Research, October 2013

• $300 billion/year narcotics industry slowly moving from prohibition to regulation
  - Economist, 31 October 2013

• 17 years of legal medical marijuana in California doesn't seem to be creating any problems
  - New York Times, 27 October 2013

• Caution when investing in stocks in the $40 billion marijuana industry
  - CNBC, 23 October 2013

• Majority of Americans, 58%, support legal marijuana
  - Christian Science Monitor, 23 October 2013

• Legalization of recreational marijuana is associated with reductions in heavy drinking of alcohol
  - Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 22 October 2013

• Elevated norepinephrine may be a unifying common factor in abuse of alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, heroin, cocaine and caffeine
  - Substance Abuse, 13 October 2013

• Wall Street showing more interest in investing in marijuana businesses
  - Economist, 28 September 2013

• 15% of the people in La Paz (Bolivia) have used marijuana at least once a year
  - La Razon, 26 September 2013

• Obama admnistration orders more steps to curb stiff drug sentences
  - New York Times, 20 September 2013

• Growing number of Caribbean countries considering the legislation of marijuana
  - Panama America, 15 September 2013

• U.S. state of Kentucky to start issuing permits for industrial hemp farming
  - Louisville News, 12 September 2013

• Marijuana use rises a bit to 7.3% of Americans in 2012, followed by 2.6% using prescription narcotics
  - US News and World Report, 4 September 2013

• Sanity on marijuana, and stop-and-frisk
  - New Yorker, 3 September 2013

• A saner approach on [marijuana] drug laws
  - New York Times, 1 September 2013

• These U.S. states are most likely to totally legalize marijuana next
  - Huffington Post, 31 August 2013

• Obama administration memo to not oppose U.S. state marijuana laws could affect other countries
  - Los Angeles Times, 30 August 2013

• Obama administration says it won't sue to undo state laws legalizing marijuana
  - New York Times, 30 August 2013

• U.S. Federal prosecutors instructed to not enforce federal marijuana laws in states where marijuana has been legalized
  - U.S. Department of Justice, 29 August 2013

• Lancet study shows that while marijuana is most widely used illegal drug globally, most deaths caused by painkillers
  - CTV News, 28 August 2013

• 181 groups apply to operate nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries in the state of Massachusetts
  - Boston Globe, 24 August 2013

• Uruguay: the first cannabis country - will the experiment work?
  - New York times, 21 August 2013

• Chilean psychiatrist leads crusade to legalize marijuana
  - CNN, 8 August 2013

• Organization of American States report pushes for regional coca leaf market, and legalizing marijuana
  - Economist, 25 May 2013

• Investors and entrepreneurs are pioneering the new marijuana industry
  - Fortune, 21 March 2013

• Legalizing marijuana: Washington is as confused as Europe
  - Forbes, 12 July 2012

• U.S. government repressed research showing that the THC in marijuana destroys tumors in lab rats
  - Project Censored, 31 May 2000

• Americans experience a greater dependence on tobacco and alcohol than they do on marijuana
  - Experimental and Clinial Pharmacology, January 1994

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NEWS ABOUT NICOTINE/E-CIGARETTES

There is no drug more addictive and destructive to human health than nicotine, especially in the form of cigarettes. Yet, while nicotine is exempt from all of the 1961 UN treaty on narcotic drugs (hypocrisy, in that the costs/deaths due to nicotine pretty much total all of the costs/deaths due to the less dangerous drugs regulated by the treaty), coca leaf products, which are non-addictive, which don't impose health costs, and which don't cause deaths, such coca leaf products are highly regulated, while the latest abuse, legal, of nicotine is electronic cigarettes to create electronic drug addicts. Also, why tobacco and alcohol are more evil than coca tea.

• A study published in BMC Public Health shows that drinking one bottle of wine per week is equivalent to smoking five cigarettes for men and 10 cigarettes for women in the same period -- at least as far as cancer risk is concerned
  - Huffington Post, 01 April 2019

• A study published in BMC Public Health shows that drinking one bottle of wine per week is equivalent to smoking five cigarettes for men and 10 cigarettes for women in the same period -- at least as far as cancer risk is concerned
  - BMC Public Health, 28 March 2019

• Tobacco and e-cigarette lobbyists circle - Juul and Big Tobacco have lobbied for months to protect themselves from aspects of the FDA's crackdown - s Scott Gottlieb leaves, they see an opening.
  - New York Times, 16 March 2019

• One in five U.S. teens vaped in 2018, and the FDA is not happy about it
  - Gizmodo, 11 February 2019

• FDA is failing to protect children from e-cigarettes, according to the American Lung Association
  - CNN, 30 January 2019

• Juul's evil campaign to pretend to want to help adult smokers quit, as a smokescreen to get young people addicted to nicotine
  - New York Times, 13 January 2019

• The US FDA accuses drug traffickers Juul and Altria of backing off plan to keep e-cigaretes from children
  - New York TImes, 04 January 2019

• About 500 pharmacies in New York City are now banned from selling cigarettes and other tobacco products, which kill about 12,000 New Yorkers a year
  - Wall Street Journal, 31 December 2018

• Thanks to nicotine vaping, decades of anti-smoking progress in teens has been wiped out, with rates of vaping/smoking among teens in 2018 back up to levels seen 25 years ago, thanks in part to drug traffickers such as Juul
  - Boing Boing, 23 December 2018

• Tobacco giant Altria to invest $13 billion for a 35% stake in nicotine e-delivery company Juul
  - CNBC, 20 December 2018

• Addicted to vaped nicotine, teenagers and their developing brains have no clear path to quitting
  - New York Times, 18 December 2018

• Teen vaping has created addicts with few treatment options - concentrated doses of nicotine prompt higher rates of addiction than cigarettes
  - Wall Street Journal, 18 December 2018

• E-cigarette usage nearly doubles in US high-schools, with the percentage of high school seniors who used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days nearly doubling to 20.9 percent from last year
  - CNBC, 17 December 2018

• The allure to teenagers of e-cigarettes such as Juul can swiftly induce an addiction to one of the most addictive drugs - nicotine
  - New York Times, 16 November 2018

• FDA seeking a nationwide ban of menthol cigarettes
  - Zero Hedge, 15 November 2018

• F.D.A. plans to seek a ban on menthol cigarettes - Canada already bans them and the European Union will ban starting in 2020
  - New York Times, 10 November 2018

• US FDA to ban most flavored e-cigatette sales in stores, to reduce nicotine vaping among young people
  - New York Times, 08 November 2018

• E-cigarette use is an 'epidemic', FDA chief says - FDA is considering a ban on all flavored e-cigarettes
  - NBC News, 12 September 2018

• FDA puts e-cig makers on notice - fix 'epidemic' teen use or products may be pulled from market - FDA demands plans within 60 days
  - CNBC, 12 September 2018

• E-cigarettes may double the risk for heart attack - New York Times, 03 September 2018

• How Juul lured teenagers with its e-cigarettes to get "customers for life", now being investigated by the FDA
  - New York Times, 27 August 2018

• Big Tobacco's global reach on social media - legions of beautiful young people in smoking, vaping and partying posts with the same hashtag
  - New York Times, 24 August 2018

• Companies selling juice-box style, nicotine-filled liquids quit selling the products for which the containers' imagery could appeal to children, after the FDA issues a warning in May
  - New York Times, 24 August 2018

• How bad are the effects of nicotine on the human body
  - The Verge, 10 August 2018

• Vape king Juul is holding back dozens of flavors and prepping monitoring features as it tries to calm U.S. regulators
  - Business Week, 01 August 2018

• Vaping doesn't often help smokers quit smoking cigarettes, according to new study
  - Wall Street Journal, 10 July 2018

• Nicotine vaping products that look like juice boxes and candy are target of a FDA and FTC crackdown
  - New York Times, 01 May 2018

• Cigarette stocks have gotten burned this week - could it get worse for big tobacco?
  - Fortune, 20 April 2018

• Cool-looking and sweet, the flash-drive-like vaping device, Juul, is a vice that teens can't resist
  - New York Times, 16 February 2018

• Most people who try one cigarette become daily smokers
  - BBC News, 10 January 2018

• What proportion of people who try one cigarette become daily smokers?
  - Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 04 November 2017

• Nicotine in electronic cigarettes is not only addictive, it might also increase your risk of heart disease
  - The Verge, 20 September 2017

• FDA announces plan to reduce the amount of addictive nicotine in cigarettes
  - Zero Hedge, 28 July 2017

• Tobacco stock prices drop 2% to 10%, as FDA announces plan to reduce the amount of addictive nicotine in cigarettes
  - Zero Hedge, 28 July 2017

• Against all odds, the U.S. tobacco industry is rolling in the money
  - Wall Street Journal, 24 April 2017

• This DEA tweet about cigarettes and marijuana reveals one of the big arguments for the legalization of marijuana
  - VOX, 10 January 2017

• Why getting farmers to switch from tobacco crops is a struggle
  - CNBC, 10 January 2017

• E-cigarette use can alter hundreds of genes involved in airway immune defense
  - Science Daily, 20 2016

• Teenagers who use electronic cigarettes are six times more likely to try tobacco cigarettes
  - Reuters, 13 2016

• The cigar industry in Cuba is not ready for the opening of the U.S. market
  - Wall Street Journal, 21 May 2016

• A black market will thrive for nicotine and electronic cigarettes if the FDA regulates the industry too hard
  - U.S. News & World Report, 05 May 2016

• Antismoking coalition gives Big Tobacco a fight in Indonesia
  - New York Times, 30 April 2016

• In NFL, suppressing data on head injuries to football players, while maintaining ties to tobacco industry lobbyists which suppressed data on lung cancer
  - New York Times, 24 March 2016

• CVS to spend $50 million to prevent your people from smoking
  - Fortune, 10 March 2016

• Can nicotine, delivered without smoking, be good for your mind?
  - New York Times, 05 March 2016

• Exposure to thirdhand smoke causes insulin resistance in mice, a pre-cursor to type 2 diabetes
  - ScienceDaily, 02 March 2016

• Exposure to thirdhand smoke causes insulin resistance in mice, a pre-cursor to type 2 diabetes
  - PLoS One, 02 March 2016

• Why electronic cigarettes are exploding in the faces and pockets of peopel
  - Marketwatch, 29 February 2016

• To reduce addictions, the U.S. state of Hawaii to raise the legal age of smoking to 21
  - CBS News, 31 December 2015

• Electronic cigarettes can cause cancer even when they are free of nicotine, at least in cell cultures
  - The Mirror, 29 December 2015

• Stop all child labor on tobacco farms in the United States
  - CNN News, 22 December 2015

• The Netherlands to ban electronic cigarettes and water pipes for people under 18 years of age, since devices are damaging to health
  - Reuters, 11 December 2015

• Nicotine is one of the most difficult drugs to stop being addicted to
  - Las Vegas Review Journal, 11 December 2015

• Electronic cigarettes and the exploding nicotine-dependent population
  - National Law Review, 10 December 2015

• Chemical flavorings found in e-cigarettes are linked to lung disease
  - Harvard Gazette, 08 December 2015

• New clues as to why nicotine is the most addictive drug
  - MedicalNewsToday, 06 December 2015

• Potentially dangerous molecules detected in e-cigarettes
  - Science Daily, 02 December 2015

• Why you smoke cigarettes when you drink alcohol
  - Independent, 08 November 2015

• Nicotine increases the speed that codeine is converted into morphine in the brain, increasing the risk of addiction
  - EurekAlert, 16 October 2015

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is an important lobbyist for the tobacco cartel around the world
  - New York Times, 09 October 2015

• The approval by the FDA to allow children to be addicted to the legalized form of heroin, OxyContin, continues to be the target of much criticism
  - New York Times, 08 October 2015

• The inhalation of secondhand smoke can increase risk of type 2 diabetes, though less than directly smoking
  - Science World Report, 18 September 2015

• Teenagers are using electronic cigarettes for smoking marijuana
  - Washington Post, 08 September 2015

• The poison in your electronic cigarettes
  - The Daily Beast, 05 September 2015

• College students are quitting their use of the more addictive nicotine (usually from smoking cigarettes) - down from 15% to 5%, while smoking marijuana becomes more popular
  - Wall Street Journal, 02 September 2015

• Nicotine isn't the only hazard to be found in electronic cigarettes
  - Daily Republic, 01 September 2015

• Using nicotine products while smoking marijuana results in more damage to the brain
  - EurekAlert, 18 September 2015

• Are the popularity of e-cigarettes causing more teens to smoke?
  - Forbes, 27 July 2015

• The tobacco cartel is being aggressive with government regulators to prevent limitations on how they market electronic cigarettes
  - Pioneer News, 20 July 2015

• The former Attorney General of Utah, Mark Shurtleff, is helping to start a business that sells nicotine mist - a spray of addiction
  - KSL.com News, 16 July 2015

• Nicotine interferes with how the brain responds to pleasure and reward, increasing the chances of psychosis
  - Daily Mail, 10 July 2015

• New analysis finds causal link between smoking and schizophrenia
  - Reuters, 10 July 2015

• CVS Health Corporation quits the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for its lobbying for cigarette companies
  - New York Times, 07 July 2015

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce sells itself to the Big Tobacco Cartel, which thrives on addicting children to become future customers
  - Desmog, 02 July 2015

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce threatens governments around the world on behalf of the tobacco cartel
  - New York Times, 01 July 2015

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce fights smoking laws around the world, while hospitals and insurers sit on its board of directors
  - New York Times, 01 July 2015

• The U.S. FDA issues advanced notice of proposed rules for the regulation of products that contain liquid nicotine
  - rs Technica, 01 July 2015

• The U.S. FDA issues advanced notice of proposed rules for the regulation of products that contain liquid nicotine
  - DSupra, 01 July 2015

• Teenagers becoming addicted to electronic cigarettes and increasing exposure to toxic chemicals
  - Science News, 01 July 2015

• Why is nicotine very addictive? Summary of research from around the Internet
  - The Guardian, 24 2015

• Use of nicotine may increase consumption of alcohol
  - University Herald, 11 2015

• Pyrazine additives in cigarettes make nicotine more addictive
  - Medical Daily, 10 2015

• A nicotine mega-factory in Liverpool, addicting and poisoning the world in volume production
  - The Guardian, 01 April 2015

• Half-lives of nicotine, alcohol, marijuana and cocaine addiction are 26, 14, 6 and 5 years after onset of dependence
  - Addiction, 01 March 2011

• World Health Organization blocks Interpol from meetings on the illegal trade of tobacco products
  - Daily Caller, 29 May 2015

• E-cigarettes that do not have nicotine damage the lungs
  - Gazette-Review, 26 May 2015

• Large tobacco cartel members sue Britain over rules on plain packaging of cigarettes with graphic warnings of health dangers
  - New York Times, 23 May 2015

• Electronic cigarettes flavored with buttercrunch - solely to addict teenagers to nicotine
  - USA Today, 06 May 2015

• Experiments conducted by Philip Morris with rats showed that adding sugar to cigarettes makes the nicotine more addictive
  - AIM Digital (Ar), 30 April 2015

• Editorial: it is time to regulate electronic cigarettes
  - New York Times, 23 April 2015

• Wild bees are becoming addicted to nicotine-like pesticide that is damaging their populations
  - The Guardian, 22 April 2015

• More teenagers in the United States are becoming addicted to nicotine by smoking electronic cigarettes
  - New York Times, 16 April 2015

• Students drinking liquid nicotine with soda to get high
  - KIRO News, 16 April 2015

• More teenagers in the United States are becoming addicted to electronic cigarettes
  - Reuters, 16 April 2015

• Scientists determine that use of nicotine increases the compulsive consumption of alcohol
  - MedicalExpress, 14 April 2015

• The marijuana industry is worried that the tobacco cartel will use its influence to take over the marijuana business
  - USA Today, 11 April 2015

• Scientists in the U.K. issue a call for urgent controls on the sales of e-cigarettes to children
  - The Guardian, 30 March 2015

• Are electronic cigarettes helping smokers quit, or instead are they fueling a new addiction to toxic nicotine?
  - CNN, 23 March 2015

• The tobacco industry earns $7000 from each of the 6 million people who die each year from smoking tobacco
  - Reuters, 19 March 2015

• New global fund to help countries defend smoking laws from attacks by the tobacco drug cartel
  - BBC, 18 March 2015

• New global fund to help countries defend smoking laws from attacks by the tobacco drug cartel
  - New York Times, 18 March 2015

• A legal battle heats up in Canada over regulating electronic cigarettes the same as for tobacco
  - Digital Journal, 14 March 2015

• President Obama wants to regulate marijuana like tobacco, but not legalize marijuana. Wait, what?
  - Vox, 27 February 2015

• U.S. tobacco companies will pay $100 million to 400 families in Florida, due to deaths related to smoking cigarettes
  - CNBC, 25 February 2015

• Menthol worsens smoking addiction by increasing the exposure to nicotine
  - International Business Times, 20 February 2015

• Nicotine is a poison, no matter how it is delivered
  - The Guardian, 19 February 2015

• UPS illegally shipped 136 million contraband cigarettes in New York
  - Huffington Post, 18 February 2015

• A new study reports that smoking is worse than previously thought for your health, causing 60,000 more deaths per year
  - New York Times, 15 February 2015

• Some schools in the United States are punishing students harshly, for using e-cigarettes on campus
  - Fox News, 15 February 2015

• A new study reports that smoking is worse than previously thought for your health, causing 60,000 more deaths per year
  - New York Times, 12 February 2015

• Tourist dies in Peru after drinking nicotine tea to prepare for a psychedilic shaman ritual
  - RawStory, 05 February 2015

• E-cigarettes can increase risk of flu and pneumonia by comprising immune system
  - International Business Times, 05 February 2015

• E-cigarette cause health scare: nicotine vapour contains the same cancer chemicals as tobacco smoke
  - The Mirror, 04 February 2015

• Thanks to cigarettes, lung cancer is a top killer of women in developed countries
  - CBS News, 04 February 2015

• Alcohol and cigarettes are bigger health risks to a population than use of cocaine, amphetamine or marijuana
  - Scientific Reports, 30 January 2015

• State of California declares that smoking electronic cigarettes, "vaping", is a public health risk
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 29 January 2015

• California declares that electronic cigarettes are a health threat
  - Yahoo News, 28 January 2015

• State of California declares that smoking electronic cigarettes, "vaping", is a public health risk
  - NBC News, 28 January 2015

• People who smoke daily are more likely to make poor decisions
  - Pacific Standard, 09 January 2015

• American Red Cross is pressured to stop accepting donations from the tobacco cartel
  - Reuters, 07 January 2015

• A law is needed to prevent children from working on tobacco farms, most of whom are being poisoned by exposure to nicotine while the tobacco cartel earns huge profits
  - New York Times, 29 December 2014

• Tobacco companies racing to deliver the addictive and toxic nicotine without having to smoke tobacco
  - New York Times, 25 December 2014

• More teenagers smoking e-cigarettes than cigarettes, while overall smoking is declining
  - New York Times, 17 December 2014

• Liquid nicotine that is used in e-cigarettes can kill children
  - AAP News, 17 December 2014

• New study reports that e-cigarettes are a gateway drug to smoking tobacco
  - Los Angeles Times, 15 December 2014

• E-cigarrettes are making teenagers become addicted to nicotine, teenagers who otherwise would not smoke cigarettes
  - Time, 15 December 2014

• 90% of the world's electronic cigarettes are made in China, yet lack of quality control exposes users to toxic metals and carcinogens
  - New York Times, 13 December 2014

• More than 16 million children, in the United States, can legally buy e-cigarettes and become addicted to toxic nicotine
  - Washington Post, 12 December 2014

• The Chinese government is getting rich by selling cigarettes
  - Business Week, 11 December 2014

• Who is really fighting legal marijuana? Big Tobacco, Big Pharma and Big Alcohol companies only interested in protecting their profits
  - US News & World Report, 08 December 2014

• E-cigarettes can contain 10 times the carcinogens of regular tobacco
  - Japan Times, 28 November 2014

• Many reasons why electronic cigarettes should not be sold in pharmacies
  - Pharmaceutical Journal, 14 November 2014

• More teenagers in the United States are smoking electronic cigarettes
  - Fox News, 14 November 2014

• Will Altria, a giant of the tobaco cartel, enter the marijuana market?
  - The Street, 13 November 2014

• Nicotine with candy flavors is a poisoning danger to children
  - Bring Me The News, 24 October 2014

• World Health Organization admits to global fight against the tobaco cartel
  - MercoPress, 20 October 2014

• E-cigarettes - the slow way to poison yourself?
  - News24, 13 October 2014

• 14 million in United States have serious illnesses due to smoking cigarettes sold by the tobacco cartel
  - Reuters, 13 October 2014

• Smokers have a higher risk of human papillomavirus (HPV)
  - Reuters, 08 October 2014

• How U.S. states have become the stupid members of the tobacco cartel, wasting over $200 billion in cancer "settlements"
  - New York Times, 07 October 2014

• E-cigarettes: the dangerous side effects that nobody talks about
  - Opposing Views, 05 October 2014

• Tobacco cartel pushes e-cigarettes as "medicine"
  - ABC News, 01 October 2014

• "Big Tobacco" cartel is now warning that nicotine is very addictive and very toxic, and causes multiple diseases. More nefarious tactics?
  - New York Times, 29 September 2014

• E-cigarettes: the dangerous side effects that nobody talks about
  - Daily Beast, 25 September 2014

• Have the health risks of electronic cigarettes been underestimated?
  - Design & Trend, 13 September 2014

• 80% of the 1.5 million deaths each year due to lung cancer are caused by cigarettes
  - Nature, 11 September 2014

• Tobacco cartel members in North Carolina profit from child labor, while children are poisoned due to nicotine exposure
  - New York Times, 06 September 2014

• How e-cigarettes could be a gateway drug to cocaine use
  - Mirror (UK), 04 September 2014

• How e-cigarettes could be a gateway drug to cocaine use
  - Telegraph, 03 September 2014

• World Health Organization urges stronger regulation of electronic cigarettes
  - New York Times, 27 August 2014

• World Health Organization wants to prohibit the indoor use of e-cigarettes
  - BBC, 26 August 2014

• Tobacco cartel triples the number of children who have tried e-cigarettes, but had never smoked cigarettes
  - WebMD, 25 August 2014

• American Heart Association: e-cigarettes are a gateway to traditional tobacco and nicotine addiction
  - Washington Post, 25 August 2014

• The tobacco cartel bribes the U.S. Congress to force the U.S. military to sell cigarettes to soldiers, hurting readiness and causing $1.6 billion in health care costs
  - Business Week, 21 August 2014

• Outdoor smokers may still sicken children with thirdhand smoke
  - News92 Houston, 14 August 2014

• Deadly explosions linked to list of dangers of e-cigarettes
  - Live Science, 12 August 2014

• Rates of suicides decrease when cigarette taxes increase
  - Futurity, 22 July 2014

• Insecticides similar to nicotine are widespread in the MidWest of the United States
  - Red Orbit, 28 July 2014

• The U.S. government earns the largest profits from trafficking of the nicotine drug cartel, even more than the cartel members
  - Wall Street Journal, 16 July 2014

• 40 millions Americans still addicted to the world's deadliest drug product, cigarettes
  - Wall Street Journal, 16 July 2014

• Reynolds American to spend $25 billion to buy Lorillard to create the world's largest trafficking business for nicotine drug products
  - Wall Street Journal, 16 July 2014

• In Florida, a jury awards $23 billion in punitive damages against RJ Reynolds for causing lung cancer in a chain smoker
  - Reuters, 19 July 2014

• E-cigarette makers are in an arms race for exotic flavors of vapors in order to get more people addicted
  - New York Times, 16 July 2014

• Proposed merger of Reynolds and Lorillard, 2nd and 3rd biggest cigarette companies, would create the world's largest drug trafficking business, with a value of $56 billion
  - New York Times, 12 July 2014

• Secondhand smoke from cigarettes causes cancer in dogs and cats
  - CBS News, 10 July 2014

• Cigarette filters should be banned - 750,000 tons of them discarded each year are leaching thousands of tons of poisons into the environment
  - New Scientist, 30 2014

• Large tobacco companies ignore law in Indonesia that requires graphic warning labels on cigarettes
  - ABC News, 25 2014

• Large companies of the tobacco cartel entering e-cigarette market with lots of investment money to keep profiting from addiction and deaths
  - New York Times, 17 2014

• University studies report that nicotine in e-cigarettes can cause cancer
  - Medical News Today, 16 2014

• The smoking epidemic in Asia has caused over two million deaths in recent years
  - Epoch Times, 13 2014

• In 1970s, Big Tobacco companies planned to join the marijuana business when marijuana became legal
  - Los Angeles Times, 02 2014

• The tobacco cartel confronting more teenagers with television advertisements to get them addicted to e-cigarettes
  - Los Angeles Times, 02 2014

• Panama spends $100 million a year in the treatment of the health problems of smokers
  - El Siglo, 31 May 2014

• Philip Morris invests hundreds of millions of dollars on new cigarette products to kill fewer people while keeping them addicted to nicotine
  - Forbes, 28 May 2014

• If cigarettes kill millions, why does tobacco cartel still wield so much power against governments, suing governments that fight the cartel?
  - The Guardian, 28 May 2014

• Philip Morris is suing Uruguay for $25 million, fighting efforts in Uruguay to put graphic health warnings on deadly cigarette packets
  - Financial Times, 09 May 2014

• Can the tobacco cartel hide its toxic reputation by pushing e-cigarettes?
  - BBC News, 28 May 2014

• Researchers report that e-cigarettes are not a healthy alternative to smoking
  - Medical News Day, 27 May 2014

• Is the U.S. Navy afraid of the tobacco cartel, despite U.S. Department of Defense spending over $1.5 billion per year to treat health problems due to nictotine addiction?
  - Mother Jones, 22 May 2014

• E-cigarettes may boost resistance of "superbugs", drug-resistant and deadly bacteria such as MRSA
  - EurekAlert, 18 May 2014

• Smoking using a hookah exposes you to nicotine and carcinogens
  - HealthLine News, 16 May 2014

• Child workers are being poisoned by nicotine on US tobacco farms
  - Vice, 14 May 2014

• E-cigarettes are turning non-smokers into nicotine addicts
  - DNA INdia, 05 May 2014

• New report criticizes use of child labor on tobacco farms in the U.S., with children exposed to toxic pesticides and nicotine
  - BBC, 14 May 2014

• 84 medical studies show that e-cigarettes don't help people to quit smoking
  - CBS News, 13 May 2014

• Two insecticides similar to toxic nicotine are destroying global bee colonies, which pollinate one third of all crops around the world
  - Harvard University News, 07 May 2014

• Some e-cigarettes deliver a puff of carcinogens
  - New York Times, 04 May 2014

• Altria to appeal a court ruling that it must pay $10 billion for lying about its "low tar" cigarettes
  - Wall Street Journal, 01 May 2014

• Researchers say that coffee addiction may be a psychological disorder
  - CBS News, 30 April 2014

• Why the legal opiate, Zohydro, could spark another addiction epidemic
  - Fox News, 28 April 2014

• U.S. FDA proposes rules restricting use of e-cigarettes, including a ban on sales to minors
  - New York Times, 24 April 2014

• Fumes from electronic cigarettes alter genes in cells similar to tobacco smoke
  - Gizmodo, 09 April 2014

• Use of alcohol and/or cigarettes is more harmful to fetal growth than cocaine
  - Substance Abuse, 03 March 2014

• Are e-cigarettes a gateway drug for children?
  - MarketWatch, 16 April 2014

• Most nicotine refills for e-cigarettes are violating laws for labelling poisons
  - Dutch News, 15 April 2014

• Electronic cigarette companies are using candy-flavored products and social media to try to addict young people
  - Washington Times, 14 April 2014

• Electonic cigarettes can be dangerous, even if your don't smoke them
  - Los Angeles Times, 03 April 2014

• $34 billion of counterfeit/smuggled cigarettes (1 in 10) are sold each year
  - Wall Street Journal, 25 March 2014

• Researchers call for restrictions on e-cigarettes
  - Los Angeles Times, 24 March 2014

• Electronic cigarettes may not help people stop smoking
  - Reuters, 24 March 2014

• Selling a poison by the barrel: liquid nicotine for e-cigarettes
  - New York Times, 23 March 2014

• Vaporizers, e-cigarettes of the pot world, are reshaping marijuana use
  - USA Today, 17 March 2014

• Attorney generals of more than two dozen U.S. states send letters to retail giants with pharmacies, asking them to stop selling tobacco
  - New York Times, 16 March 2014

• E-cigarettes don't discourage teenagers from smoking cigarettes
  - Time, 06 March 2014

• E-cigarettes, by other names, addict young and worry experts
  - New York Times, 04 March 2014

• Childrens' arteries are damaged, aging three years, due to second hand smoke from their parents
  - BBC, 04 March 2014

• Los Angeles approves sweeping e-cigarette restrictions
  - Los Angeles Times, 04 March 2014

• European Parliament approves graphic danger labels on front and back of cigarette packets
  - BBC, 26 February 2014

• European Parliament approves tough rules on electronic cigarettes
  - New York Times, 26 February 2014

• E-cigarettes: a $1.5 billion prepares for FDA regulation, in part due to nicotine narrowing blood vessels and increasing blood pressure
  - Business Week, 06 February 2014

• CVS pharmacies in the United States will stop selling cigarettes, giving up $1.5 billion in sales, to better focus on health
  - Washington Post, 05 February 2014

• Finally, FDA launches national public education campaign to prevent and reduce children's addiction to tobacco
  - FDA, 04 February 2014

• China bans cigarette smoking in schools
  - Utah Post, 29 January 2014

• It's time to treat smoking as an addiction to nicotine
  - Global and Mail, 26 January 2014

• Rural jails in the United States making big profits selling e-cigarettes to inmates
  - New York Times, 24 January 2014

• Editorial: regulators must fight efforts by tobacco cartel to make cigarettes more and more addictive
  - New York Times, 24 January 2014

• Are e-cigarettes the new addiction for Oklahomans?
  - News on 6, 23 January 2014

• U.S. Surgeon General report links smoking tobacco to more diseases other than lung cancer and heart disease: liver and colorectal cancer, diabetes, arthritis and erectile dysfunction
  - Washington Post, 16 January 2014

• Smoking tobacco causes more diseases other than lung cancer and heart disease: liver and colorectal cancer, diabetes, arthritis and erectile dysfunction
  - U.S. Surgeon General, 16 January 2014

• Why do over 40 million Americans still smoke? In recent year, tobacco cartels spent over $8 billion (just in 2011) on ads and promotions for highly-addictive cigarettes in the United States
  - CNN, 11 January 2014

• Tobacco cartel now has over 1 billion addicted people around the world
  - Time, 08 January 2014

• Tripling the tax on tabacco could prevent 200 million early deaths
  - Reuters, 01 January 2014

• E-cigarette cartel trying to advertise on television before FDA proposes curbs similar to those on traditional cigarettes
  - Wall Street Journal, 27 December 2013

• Nicotine drug cartel members Altria (Marlboro - U.S.) and Philip Morris (Marlboro - non U.S.) to sell e-cigarettes to keep their consumer addicts
  - Wall Street Journal, 21 December 2013

• Nicotine itself may damage arteries, making e-cigarettes a cause of atherosclerosis
  - Medical Daily, 19 December 2013

• E-cigarettes encounter rising opposition from U.S. cities and states
  - Wall Street Journal, 19 December 2013

• European Union governments want restrictive e-cigarette rules, while European Parliament is pushing for few rules and allow cartridges to make it easier to maintain nicotine addiction
  - Reuters, 16 December 2013

• Nicotine in e-cigarettes and tobacco linked to heart disease
  - CNN, 16 December 2013

• Letters to the Editor: why e-cigarettes are serve little purpose beyond new ways to deliver nicotine that is highly addictive
  - New York Times, 14 December 2013

• Tobacco cartel using threats of lawsuits to force poorer nations to not block sales of cancer causing cigarettes
  - New York Times, 13 December 2013

• The case for tolerating e-cigarettes, despite nicotine's highly addictive nature
  - New York Times, 08 December 2013

• Los Angeles City Council votes to regulate sales and use of e-cigarettes
  - Los Angeles Times, 04 December 2013

• Dutch government sounds alarm about possible dangers of e-cigarettes
  - Reuters, 28 November 2013

• Tobacco cartel companies pushing e-cigarettes on children using Facebook and Twitter promotions
  - Mirror (UK), 27 November 2013

• Tobacco giant Philip Morris to enter e-cigarette market in 2014
  - Wall Street Journal, 21 November 2013

• E-cigarettes usage is growing rapidly amongst middle-school and high-school students in the U.S.
  - NBC News, 14 November 2013

• Ten things e-cigarette cartel won't tell you about why they are little different from cigarette cartel
  - CNBC, 13 November 2013

• Aided by army of lobbyists, e-cigarette industry convinces European parliament that highly addictive nicotine shouldn't be regulated as a medical drug
  - New York Times, 10 November 2013

• Are e-cigarettes proving to be just a new way to get people addicted to nicotine?
  - New York Times, 27 October 2013

• U.S. CDC study shows children increasingly use flavored cigars, now that cigarette companies can't sell flavored cigarettes
  - Examiner, 22 October 2013

• European Union bans small packets of 10 cigarettes, favored by youth, and bans menthol cigarettes, but won't regulate e-cigarettes as drug delivery devices
  - Telegraph (UK), 08 October 2013

• Regulate e-cigarettes as drug-delivery devices
  - Canadian Medical Association, 07 October 2013

• European Parliament to vote on regulating e-cigarettes as medical products
  - Economist, 28 September 2013

• Regulation stacks up for e-cigarettes - healthy smoking, or menace?
  - Nature, 26 September 2013

• More U.S. federal and state officials pushing for strong regulation of electronic cigarettes
  - US News & World Report, 25 September 2013

• U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal urges ban on flavored electronic cigarettes, and online sales of e-cigarettes
  - US News & World Report, 20 September 2013

• Are e-cigarettes a boon or a health menace?
  - National Geographic, 15 September 2013

• E-cigarettes: healthy tool or gateway device?
  - CNN, 13 September 2013

• Electronic cigarettes growing in popularity with teens, with their use doubling in teens since 2011
  - Los Angeles Times, 6 September 2013

• Rise is seen in U.S. students for use e-cigarettes
  - New York Times, 6 September 2013

• Malaysia blocks U.S. efforts to weaken the ability of countries to impose stiff rules on tobacco sales
  - New York Times, 01 September 2013

• E-cigarette makers' ads are borrowing from tobacco's heyday - TV ads, celebrity endorsements, and sports sponsorships
  - New York Times, 30 August 2013

• The real reason Big Tobacco loves e-cigarettes
  - Business Week, 26 August 2013

• President Obama surrenders to tobacco cartels, and agrees to give more power to tobacco cartels to fight governments trying to restrict tobacco use
  - New York Times, 22 August 2013

• Tobacco cartels switch to selling flavored cigars/cigarillos after flavored cigarettes were banned
  - New York Times, 18 August 2013

• Death warnings on cigarette boxes in Chile will include pictures of both diseased organs, and women suffering from cancer
  - La Tercera, 17 August 2013

• Smoke from burning incense as unhealthy as smoke from cigarettes
  - Nature World News, 03 August 2013

• No evidence that electronic cigarettes are an effective method for quitting tobacco smking
  - U.N. World Health Organization, 09 July 2013

• New tobacco atlas estimates $35 billion in profits for tobacco cartels, causing 6 million annual deaths
  - America Cancer Society, 21 March 2012

• Nicotine as a gateway drug to cocaine
  - Sci. Transl. Medicine, 02 November 2011

• Americans experience a greater dependence on tobacco and alcohol than they do on marijuana
  - Experimental and Clinial Pharmacology, January 1994

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NEWS ABOUT ABUSE OF LEGAL DRUGS

A variety of legally prescribed (Opioids) and commercially available drugs are causing more deaths (Tobacco and Alcohol being most deadly) and health costs than chewing coca leaf or drinking coca tea, which cause neither. Millions of children are prescribed Adderall, two pills of which (by weight) equal one pill of methamphetamine.

• WHO removes two opioid prescription guidelines after report claims drug-industry influence, guidelines influenced by individuals and organizations with financial ties to drugmakers such as Purdue Pharma, which manufactures OxyContin
  - Wall Street Journal, 21 2019

• Information (such as all things cellphone) acts on the brain’s dopamine-producing reward system in the same way as money or food EPN
  - PNAS, 11 2019

• Infamous OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma used front organizations and sponsored research to deceive the World Health Organization and corrupt global public health policies with the goal of boosting international opioid sales and profits
  - Ars Technica, 23 May 2019

• Denver, Colorado, is preparing to vote on the decriminilization of hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms
  - Salon, 06 May 2019

• A study published in BMC Public Health shows that drinking one bottle of wine per week is equivalent to smoking five cigarettes for men and 10 cigarettes for women in the same period -- at least as far as cancer risk is concerned
  - Huffington Post, 01 April 2019

• A study published in BMC Public Health shows that drinking one bottle of wine per week is equivalent to smoking five cigarettes for men and 10 cigarettes for women in the same period -- at least as far as cancer risk is concerned
  - BMC Public Health, 28 March 2019

• McKinsey advised Purdue Pharma on how to "turbocharge" opioid sales, according to filings in lawsuits, and on how to counter efforts by the DEA to reduce opioid use
  - New York Times, 01 February 2019

• Richard Sackler, a son of a founder of Purdue Pharma and its onetime president, used emails to tell company officials in 2008 to "measure our performance by Rx's by strength, giving higher measures to higher strengths" - to put a premium on selling high dosages of its addicting painkillers
  - New York Times, 31 January 2019

• Opioid lawsuits are headed to trial - here is why the stakes are getting uglier as the cases become more bloated, more contentious and difficult to resolve
  - New York Times, 30 January 2019

• Court papers show that the Sackler family made over $4 billion as drugtraffickers of OxyContin
  - Wall Street Journal, 31 January 2019

• Study links gifts/bribes for doctors from opioid drug makers to more overdose deaths
  - New York Times, 18 January 2019

• Drug overdoses leaves 700,000 Americans dead from 1999 to 2017, with the epidemic worsening, lead by (synthetic) opioids causing about 70% of the deaths
  - Zero Hedge, 29 December 2018

• Alcohol still kills more people each year than drug overdoses through cancer, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis and suicide, among other ways
  - NBC News, 17 November 2018

• Prescriptions for millions of opioid pills lead to charges against 5 doctors
  - New York Times, 12 October 2018

• John Hopkins researchers say 'magic' mushrooms should be decriminalized
  - Antimedia, 01 October 2018

• Investing in cannabis companies is 'a great hedge' for alcohol and drug companies, says marijuana company Tilray's CEO, Brendan Kennedy
  - CNBC, 18 September 2018

• The Drug Enforcement Agency: the federal agency that has proved itself incompetent for decades despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars
  - New York Times, 17 September 2018

• Nearly 30% of all opioid prescribed in US clinics or doctors' offices lack medical explanation to justify the prescriptions
  - CNN, 10 September 2018

• Billionaire Sackler family, blamed for opioid addition epidemic thru their Purdue Pharma, secretly owned a second, generic, opioid company - Rhodes Pharma
  - Newsweek, 09 September 2018

• Richard Sackler, who made billions of dollars from OxyContin is pushing a drug to wean addicts off opioids while his Purdue Pharma is being sued by U.S. states for effectively drug trafficking
  - Washington Post, 08 September 2018

• No healthy level of alcohol consumption, says major study from the University of Washington (Seattle)
  - The Guardian, 23 August 2018

• Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 - we found that the risk of all-cause mortality, and of cancers specifically, rises with increasing levels of consumption of alcohol, and the level of alcohol consumption that minimises health loss is zero.
  - The Lancet, 23 August 2018

• U.S. state governments rush to rein in prescription costs, and drug companies fight back
  - New York Times, 19 August 2018

• Vitamin D, the sunshine supplement, has shadowy money behind it, as the doctor most responsible for creating the billion-dollar demand has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the vitamin D industry
  - New York Times, 19 August 2018

• Trump asks Justice Department to sue opioid companies
  - Wall Street Journal, 17 August 2018

• FDA did not intervene to stop drug companies from shipping excessive numbers of fentanyl prescriptions
  - New York Times, 02 August 2018

• Hold McKesson accountable for exacerbating the opioid crisis, for example, by shipping 5 million doses of opioids to a town in West Virginia with a population of 400
  - San Francisco Chronicle, 24 July 2018

• Legal opioids are big factor in causing 20% of deaths of millenials between 24 and 35
  - J. American Medical Association, 06 2018

• Origins of an epidemic: Purdue Pharma knew its opioids were widely abused, easy to crush and snort for a more intense high, but continued to promote Oxycontin as less addictive
  - New York Times, 29 May 2018

• Antibiotics in meat could be damaging our guts - are farmers stilling using too many antibiotics on farm animals, including human antibiotics?
  - New York Times, 27 May 2018

• On marijuana and opioids - the DEA has no clue what it is talking about
  - The Hill, 14 May 2018

• Recent studies are finding that non-addictive drugs such as LSD and psilocybin can help to alleviate depression, anxiety and addiction - and may have profound things to teach us about how the mind works
  - Wall Street Journal, 05 May 2018

• A drug from the dance floor, Ectasy/MDMA, may soon help ease veteran's PTSD
  - New York Times, 02 May 2018

• Amid a national crackdown on prescription opioids, drug trafficker Insys Therapeutics made a Fortune on one dangerously powerful painkiller - its marketing secret: pay millions of dollars to America's top prescribers/pushers
  - New York Times, 02 May 2018

• Common pain relievers beat opioids for dental pain relief
  - New York Times, 01 May 2018

• Alcohol companies are funding NIH research to make you want to drink more
  - Huffington Post, 14 April 2018

• National Institute of Health officials sought $100 million from the alcoholic beverages industry to do a study to gather medical evidence that a daily alcoholic drink is alright as part of a healthy lifestyle
  - New York Times, 18 March 2018

• Big Pharma's war on our children: 1 million kids under age 6 on psychiatric drugs
  - Zero Hedge, 22 February 2018

• The United States uses 30-times more opioids than is needed for a population of its size
  - New York Magazine, 20 February 2018

• The FDA releases death data due to kratom use, but undermines its own negative claims about drug's deadly harms with faulty data analysis
  - Huffington Post, 07 February 2018

• Science of, and hidden dangers of, 15 nootropics - cognitive enhancing compounds - brain boosters - based on "safe" chemicals such as caffeine, L-theanine, ginseng, etc.
  - Quartz, 25 2017

• For the underemployed youth of Ethiopa, life can center around a psyschotropic leaf - khat
  - New York Times, 22 July 2017

• McKesson: making huge profits from drug trafficking of opioids
  - New York Times, 21 July 2017

• Is alcohol good for you? An $100 million industry-backed clinical trial seeks answers - conducted by the NIH
  - New York Times, 04 July 2017

• The hidden dangers of nootropics - cognitive enhancing compounds - brain boosters - based on "safe" chemicals such as caffeine, L-theanine, ginseng, etc.
  - The Fix, 25 2017

• Inside a killer drug epidemic: a look at America's opioid crisis
  - New York Times, 06 January 2017

• How Purdue Pharma paid pharmacy benefits managers to prevent prescriptions of Oxycontin, fueling the opioid epidemic
  - STAT, 26 October 2016

• John Oliver lambasts Big Pharma for inflaming and worsening the opioid crisis in the United States
  - NewsMic, 24 October 2016

• The DEA slowed enforcement while the opioid epidemic grew out of control, after industry used lobbyists (former DEA/DOJ officials) to pressure the DEA
  - Washington Post, 22 October 2016

• Did Abbott sales representatives help fuel the opioid epidemic with aggressive marketing tactics?
  - &T Community, 22 September 2016

• An even deadlier opioid than fentanyl, carfentanil, is hitting the streets
  - NPR, 02 September 2016

• Drugmakers are hooked on annual sales of $10 billion a year of legal opioids, profiting while overdose deaths have quadrupled
  - Financial Times, 10 August 2016

• Naloxene saves lives, but is no cure in the heroin epidemic
  - New York Times, 31 July 2016

• Desire to drink alcohol is enhanced with high caffeine energy drink mixers
  - Alcoholism, 15 July 2016

• U.S. Senate must release report on promotion of opioid abuse by drug companies
  - Boston Globe, 04 July 2016

• A vast chemical network beginning in China feeds fenthanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, to North America, exploiting demand caused by legal opioids
  - Wall Street Journal, 23 2016

• Secret acquisition deal drives up prices of pharmaceuticals distributed to pharmacies across Mexico
  - Wall Street Journal, 20 2016

• Liberal drug policies have spread across Europe, but most liberal in Southern Europe
  - Economist, 18 2016

• Deadly? Yes. But can opioids be the next anti-depressant?
  - New York Times, 04 2016

• Americans are increasingly addicted to opioids, while people in poor countries die in agony without them
  - Economist, 28 May 2016

• Kentucky judge orders release of secret testimony of Oxycontin marketing materials, including depositions of executives of Purdue Pharma
  - STAT, 11 May 2016

• David Kessler: the opioid epidemic that we failed to foresee
  - New York Times, 07 May 2016

• CDC warns that Americans are overmedicating the youngest children with addictive drugs to treat ADHD - 75% of the 2 million children under 5 with ADHD are receiving drugs
  - Washington Post, 03 May 2016

• Expensive new medications (many of which are minor modifications of older drugs) might not work any better than an older and cheaper medicine
  - New York Times, 24 April 2016

• Legalization of marijuana in New England is stalled by the crisis caused by prescription opioids
  - New York Times, 19 April 2016

• Antibiotics in animal feed contribute to drug-resistant bacteria
  - US News & World Report, 14 April 2016

• Big increase in crime in St. Louis is traced to cheap heroin and Mexican cartels
  - New York Times, 03 April 2016

• Legalize it all - how to win the war on drugs (nice lengthy article)
  - Harper's Magazine, 02 April 2016

• Epidemic chain from prescription opioids to heroin to fentanyl
  - New York Times, 26 March 2016

• City of Ithaca (New York) considers opening a facility to allow people to legally inject heroin (which would be the first in the U.S.), to reduce the number of deaths
  - New York Times, 23 March 2016

• Non-aspirin, NSAID painkillers are more dangerous than we think
  - Science Daily, 17 March 2016

• STAT publishers go to court to unseal records of opioid drug trafficker, Purdue Pharma, controlled by the Sackler family
  - Boston Globe, 14 March 2016

• State governments in the United States taking steps to limit the abuses of doctors giving out too many prescriptions for highly-addictive opioid painkillers
  - New York Times, 12 March 2016

• Many people prefer to endure pain, rather than become addiction to opioids too easily prescribed by doctors and pharmaceutical companies
  - Boston Globe, 12 March 2016

• Drug industry don't understand why they are criticized so much - maybe it is high profits from vital and/or addictive drugs?
  - Boston Glone, 10 March 2016

• How legal opioid overprescriptions are leading to more illegal heroin users overdosing in public
  - New York Times, 07 March 2016

• Pharmaceutical companies are stealing $3 billion a year from consumers by selling oversized doses of cancer drugs
  - British Medical Journal, 01 March 2016

• Anti-anxiety drugs, benzodiazepines such as Valium and Xanax, caused 6,973 overdose deaths in 2013
  - New York Times, 25 February 2016

• Pharmaceutical industry spends $5 billion each year to "addict" people to high priced prescription drugs that they really don't need
  - New York Times, 28 February 2016

• Common antibiotics may cause hallucinations, seizures and involuntary movements
  - US News & World Health, 17 February 2016

• Adderall abuse skyrockets among yound adult, with more emergency room visits
  - UPI, 17 February 2016

• Popular heartburn drugs linked to risk of dementia
  - CBS News, 15 February 2016

• When addiction has a white face
  - New York Times, 09 February 2016

• Drug overdoses due to prescription opioids (and then heroin) is raising death rates of young white people in the United States
  - New York Times, 16 January 2016

• 91% of patients who survive an overdose of prescription opioids are prescribed more opioids leading to more overdoses
  - Ars Technica, 30 December 2015

• Ritalin and other ADHD drugs may increase risk of psychotic side effects in some children
  - Health Day, 30 December 2015

• How big pharma and their "legalized" heroins killed 500,000 people in the last 15 years - mostly white American men
  - Newsweek, 23 December 2015

• America's addiction to painkillers has gotten so bad that people are now robbing pharmacy vans
  - Quartz, 23 December 2015

• Prescription opioid addictions causing an increase in thefts of such drugs from pharmacy delivery vans
  - STAT, 22 December 2015

• Unlikely outlaws: indigenous coca farmers as indigenous advocates in Bolivia
  - Devex, 25 November 2015

• The spiral of addiction: from prescription drugs to heroin
  - Washington Post, 08 October 2015

• The pricing strategy of Valeant for its drugs, raising prices of old drugs instead of developing new drugs, it could kill people and is upsetting politicians
  - New York Times, 04 October 2015

• Acetaminophen reduces, not only the feeling of pain, but also reduces strong feelings in general, such as happiness and unpleasant emotions
  - Wall Street Journal 26 September 2015

• Opinion: the FDA should not have approved OxyContin for children as young as 11 years old
  - New York Times, 21 September 2015

• Midwest region of the United States suffering from increased use of heroin due to doctors prescribing too many prescription opioids
  - Economist, 19 September 2015

• How "Johnson & Johnson" earned $30 billion with the illegal drug trafficking of an antipsychotic medicine, risperdal, and only will have to pay between $2 billion and $6 billion in penalties for its crimes
  - Huffington Post, 15 September 2015

• How "Johnson & Johnson" earned $30 billion with the illegal drug trafficking of an antipsychotic medicine, risperdal, and only will have to pay between $2 billion and $6 billion in penalties for its crimes
  - New York Times, 15 September 2015

• Twenty leading restaurant chains in the United States buy too much meat that was produced with excessive amounts of antibiotics
  - CBS News, 15 September 2015

• People who have multiple prescriptions to antibiotics have a higher risk of developing Type-2 diabetes
  - New York Times, 15 September 2015

• People who have multiple prescriptions to antibiotics have a higher risk of developing Type-2 diabetes
  - J. Clin. Endocrinol Metan, 15 September 2015

• More children are getting drunk by drinking hand sanitizers with high amounts of alcohol
  - Fox News, 14 September 2014

• U.S. Department of Agriculture allows meat producers to label their products to indicate that the meat is produced without using a drug, ractopamine
  - New York Times, 05 September 2015

• Doctors are worsening heroin epidemic, as 25% of their patients who are prescribed opioid painkillers become addicted
  - Huffington Post, 04 September 2015

• FDA defends allowing children as young as 11 to become addicted to opioids such as OxyContin
  - Washington Post, 04 September 2015

• U.S. Senator Joe Manchin blasts FDA for approving a highly addictive opioid, OxyContin, for 11 year old children
  - WVVA News, 04 September 2015

• R-ketamine: a rapid-onset and sustained antidepressant without psychotomimetic side effects
  - Nature - Translational Psychiatry, 01 September 2015

• The FDA is under more pressure to regulate homeopathic drugs
  - BusinessWeek, 26 August 2015

• Adderall - the little orange amphetamine that delivers false levels of mental focusing
  - Huffington Post, 20 August 2015

• Is ketamine the best hope for curing major depression?
  - Business Week, 19 August 2015

• FDA sends warning letters to five producers of powdered caffeine that their products are "potentially dangerous", sometimes deadly
  - New York Times, 01 September 2015

• New, more expensive, alternatives to statins, which work pretty well, are causing a dilemma for doctors who treat people with high cholesterol
  - New York Times, 30 August 2015

• Mexium opium production rises to meet demand for heroin in the United States, generated by addicts to prescription opioids seeking cheaper highs
  - New York Times, 29 August 2015

• Mexican opium production rises to meet demand for heroin in the United States, requiring much illegal child labor for the harvests
  - New York Times, 29 August 2015

• Microbeads, the tiny plastics threatening our water and fish
  - New York Times, 22 August 2015

• One or two drinks of alcohol per day might increase risk of cancer
  - U.S. News & World Report, 19 August 2015

• Prescriptions of opioid drugs are skyrocketing in Canada
  - Globe and Mail, 19 August 2015

• FDA will now allow children to become addicted to heroin (oxycodone), where the children are not addicted to amphetamines (adderall)
  - Reuters, 14 August 2015

• Trans-fats linked to heart disease, according to a huge review
  - LiveScience, 11 August 2015

• Massachusetts and Kentucky both suffering from a heroin epidemic fueled by aggressive pharmaceutical companies selling legal opioids
  - Boston Globe, 10 August 2015

• Perdue sharply cuts the use of antibiotics in raising chickens
  - New York Times, 01 August 2015

• More people are consuming microdoses of psychedelic drug
  - NBC News, 12 July 2015

• Two chemical used in consumer products, DINP and DIDP, are linked to increased blood pressure and insulin resistance in children
  - Benchmark Reporter, 10 July 2015

• FDA upgrades warnings on painkillers such as ibuprofen (Advil) and naproxen (Aleve), from "may cause increased risk" of heart attack or stroke to "cause increased risk"
  - Time, 10 July 2015

• Unemployment of white males due to free trade agreements is driving up the use of heroin in the United States
  - Zero Hedge, 09 July 2015

• CDC reports that heroin use is surging in the U.S. as those addicted to legal painkillers switch to cheaper illegal heroin
  - BBC, 08 July 2015

• CDC reports that heroin use is surging in the U.S. as those addicted to legal painkillers switch to cheaper illegal heroin
  - Los Angeles Times, 08 July 2015

• CDC reports that heroin use is surging in the U.S. as those addicted to legal painkillers switch to cheaper illegal heroin
  - NBC News, 08 July 2015

• The Sackler family of Connecticut - the latest drug traffickers to be listed on Forbes's list of richest U.S. families, at $14 billion
  - Forbes, 01 July 2015

• How pharmaceutical companies, with their legal "heroin" such as OxyContin, greatly worsened the misery of heroin addiction
  - New York Times, 07 2015

• The fraud and lies behind "abuse-deterrent" forms of legal "heroin" such as OxyContin
  - New York Times, 07 2015

• When alcohol takes over your life -- and steals your memories
  - Huffington Post, 01 July 2015

• Fewer people dying from legal opioids in states where medical marijuana is available
  - JAMA Internal Medicine, 01 October 2014

• How doctors in the United States are creating more heroin addicts than drug dealers
  - MintPress News, 27 May 2015

• Autistic adults could take pure MDMA (the Ectasy drug) to 'reduce social anxiety'
  - The Independent, 26 May 2015

• U.S. doctors are among dozens who are arrested for the illegal sales of prescription painkillers such as oxycodone (heroin-lite)
  - New York Times, 21 May 2015

• Scientists are close to the manufacturing of morphine from yeast that eat sugar
  - New York Times, 18 May 2015

• Where is the moral outage at the massive use of legal amphetamines such as Adderall in the United States?
  - Time, 29 May 2015

• Shire Pharmaceutical creates fake psychiatric disorders to find new ways to satiate the love affair of the United States with legal amphetamines such as Adderall
  - USA Today, 12 May 2015

• Human rights activists in Norway fighting to rehabilitate the use of LSD
  - New York Times, 05 May 2015

• Is LSD about to return to polite society in the United Kingdom?
  - The Guardian, 26 April 2015

• A crowdfunded study about LSD raises funds that are double the goal ($80,000)
  - TechTimes, 20 April 2015

• Excessive drinking of alcohol in the United States has risen 17% since 2005
  - NBC News, 23 April 2015

• As naloxone becomes very useful for treating drug overdoses, government officials investigate why the price of the drug has risen rapidly
  - Boston Globes, 20 April 2015

• The legal methamphetamine, Adderall, invading the workplace as workers need more stimulants to be productive
  - New York Times, 19 April 2015

• Tramadol, an opioid similar in effect to morphine, is becoming the favorite recreational drug of Egypt
  - Economist, 18 April 2015

• Twice as many people are dying from prescription opioids, as from heroin, with less expensive heroin now being ordered by cellphone when a prescription can't be had
  - New York Times, 17 April 2015

• Sales of alcohol in powdered form are being prohibited by laws at the state and national level in the United States
  - New York Times, 03 April 2015

• A new synthetic drug, flakka, made from the cathinone chemical found in khat, is a new dangerous drug trend in Florida
  - CBS News, 02 April 2015

• A health study shows that acetaminophen (Tylenol) provides little relief for lower back pain and arthritis
  - US News & World Report, 01 April 2015

• Adderall and Ritalin to be labelled with suicide warnings in Canada
  - Inquisitr, 31 March 2015

• The CDC classification is confusing as to whether or not opioids are stronger, weaker or equivalent to morphine
  - MedPage Today, 30 March 2015

• About 20% of the college students in the United States are abusing stimulant drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall
  - Mad in America, 26 March 2015

• Frequent use of antibiotics is linked to an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes
  - WedMD, 25 March 2015

• Excessive use of antibiotics in meat is creating deadly bacteria
  - The Atlantic, 25 March 2015

• The consumption of three drinks of alcohol per day may cause liver cancer
  - The Guardian, 24 March 2015

• 40% of patients receiving Medicaid that have prescriptions to opiates (such as Vicodin and Oxycontin) they may be addicted to the drugs
  - ABC News, 21 March 2015

• Heroin is being mixed with a prescription opioid, fentanyl, becoming more deadly as fentanyl can be fifty times more potent than heroin héroïne
  - Wall Street Journal, 18 March 2015

• U.S. GAO reports that the DEA is to blame for many drug shortages because of delays in approving quotas for controlled substances
  - MedScape News, 17 March 2015

• U.S. House of Representatives passes a proposed law to quicken the time used by the DEA to approve drugs that comprise controlled substances
  - Regulatory Affairs News, 17 March 2015

• U.S. GAO reports that the DEA is to blame for many drug shortages because of delays in approving quotas for controlled substances
  - Wall Street Journal, 17 March 2015

• U.S. GAO reports that the DEA is to blame for many drug shortages because of delays in approving quotas for controlled substances
  - U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), 17 March 2015

• The U.S. Alcohol Bureau approves the sales of Palcohol, a powdered alcohol
  - Wall Street Journal, 12 March 2015

• Everything that you want to know about Palcohol, the powdered alcohol that was approved by the U.S. government
  - ABC News, 12 March 2015

• Prisons are making the drug problem of the United States worse, unable to deal with people addicted to heroin who first were addicted to prescription opioids
  - Politico, 11 March 2015

• Governments should find a replacement to one of the worst addictive, but legal, drugs - alcohol
  - The Week, 04 March 2015

• Deaths due to heroin overdoses, in the United States, have tripled since 2010, but there are still twice as many deaths due to prescription opioids
  - Bloomberg, 04 March 2015

• McDonalds to limit the use of antibiotics in chicken feed, to help prevent the creation of more bacteria resistant to antibiotics
  - New York Times, 03 March 2015

• American woman arrested in Japan for the smuggling of methamphetamine when her mother sends her a prescription of Adderall
  - Washington Times, 02 March 2015

• How scientists rank drugs from most dangerous (alcohol) to least dangerous - and why the rankings are flawed
  - Vox, 01 March 2015

• Psychedelics are not linked to mental health problems or suicidal behavior
  - Psychopharm, 28 February 2015

• Some chemical emulsifiers in food are disrupting bacteria in the stomach and making us overweight - polysorbate 80 and carboxymethylcellulose, both GRAS
  - Nature, 26 February 2015

• Some chemical emulsifiers in food are disrupting bacteria in the stomach and making us overweight - polysorbate 80 and carboxymethylcellulose, both GRAS
  - Forbes, 26 February 2015

• Shire Pharmaceuticals markets a disorder, binge eating, to find a new way to legally sell a drug, Vyvanse, that the body converts into addictive amphetamine
  - New York Times, 25 February 2015

• How a drug trafficker, Purdue Pharma, created the opiate epidemic in the United States, earning billions while destroying lives and communities
  - Pacific Standard, 23 February 2015

• Students that used to take drugs to get high - now, they take drugs like Adderall to get higher grades
  - The Guardian, 15 February 2015

• Research into psychedelics such as LSD, prohibited for decades, is now yielding exciting results
  - The New Yorker, 09 February 2015

• The FDA hides evidence of fraud in medical trials - are your medications safe?
  - Slate, 09 February 2015

• The FDA hides evidence of fraud in medical trials - are your medications safe?
  - Liberty Blitzkrieg, 17 April 2013

• Alcohol and cigarettes are bigger health risks to a population than use of cocaine, amphetamine or marijuana
  - Scientific Reports, 30 January 2015

• Dartmouth College bans beverages that use hard alcohol, to prevent violent behavior that is excessive
  - Inside Higher Education, 30 January 2015

• Suboxone, a promising treatment that actually works for curing an addiction to heroin, so why aren't we using it?
  - Huffington Post, 28 January 2015

• High rates of opioid prescriptions among women raise fears of more birth defects
  - New York Times, 23 January 2015

• The likely cause of addiction has been discovered, and it is not drugs such as cocaine, but rather has a social cause ... loneliness
  - Huffington Post, 20 January 2015

• How the United States is making addiction to painkillers even worse
  - Business Insider, 13 January 2015

• Little evidence that prescription opiods provide long-term safety and efficacy
  - MedPageToday, 12 January 2015

• In the United States, alcohol poisoning kills 6 Americans every day
  - New York Times, 07 January 2015

• A doctor in New York is arrested for selling 13,000 prescriptions to oxycodone, a legal opiod, drugs resold on the streets
  - New York Times, 03 January 2015

• Oxycodone may be more addictive than morphine
  - NYU Science Line, 23 December 2014

• FDA warns that caffeine powder can kill, one teaspoon equal to 25 cups of coffee
  - Wall Street Journal, 17 December 2014

• Doctors who prescribe the most amounts of potent painkillers often have multiple medical and criminal complaints
  - USA Today, 16 December 2014

• The United States has 5% of the world's population, but consumes 80% of the world's opiod drugs
  - AllGov, 15 December 2014

• The benefits of Adderall are not worth the damage to the body
  - Medical Daily, 11 December 2014

• The hallucinogenic drug, ketamine, maybe a new treatment for depression
  - New York Times, 10 December 2014

• People in the U.S. consume 80% of the world's supply of prescription drugs related to heroin
  - Express Scripts, 09 December 2014

• People in the U.S. who use prescription narcotics are becoming addicted, addicted to these narcotics for many years
  - New York Times, 09 December 2014

• Who is really fighting legal marijuana? Big Tobacco, Big Pharma and Big Alcohol companies only interested in protecting their profits
  - US News & World Report, 08 December 2014

• Why half-methamphetamine (Adderall) is the drug of choice among athletes
  - WBAL News, 05 December 2014

• Humans enjoy alcohol because early primates needed to eat fallen fruit without getting drunk
  - Science, 01 December 2014

• How synthetic drugs are killing teenagers, a side-effect of irrational drug laws
  - CNN, 01 December 2014

• How pharmaceutical companies bribe some doctors to addict more people to prescription narcotic drugs
  - New York Times, 28 November 2014

• Legalized heroin (oxycontin, hydrocodone, etc.) is causing more people to become addicted to heroin then heroin itself
  - Economist, 22 November 2014

• FDA approves an opioid painkiller, Hysingla - pure hydrocodone, equal to a hit or two of heroin
  - New York Times, 20 November 2014

• Trans fatty acids in packaged food products are linked to memory problems
  - Medscape, 19 November 2014

• Large pharmaceutical companies hide negative data about their products from the public and government
  - Newsweek, 13 November 2014

• Methamphetamine (double Adderall) from Mexico is cheaper and purer than American-made meth
  - Associated Press, 08 November 2014

• Shire Pharmaceuticals fined $56 million for falsely marketing its baby amphetamine product, Adderall
  - Lawyers and Settlements, 19 October 2014

• First baseball fans complain about players using steroids, but with low hitting games, do fans want players using steroids?
  - New York Times, 10 October 2014

• While prescription opiod deaths quadrupled from 1999 to 2010, the rate dropped from 6.0 per 100,000 in 2010 to 5.6 per 100,000 in 2012
  - U.S. Center for Disease Control, 02 September 2014

• American neurologists report that prescription opiod narcotics are prescribed too easily, causing more addiction and death than cure
  - Medical News Today, 30 September 2014

• U.S. Justice Department imposes fines on Shire Plc of $56 million for wrongly marketing its methamphetamine product, Adderall
  - Reuters, 24 September 2014

• Caffeine is actually slowing you down, not making you more alert
  - Quartz, 24 September 2014

• Statins can increase weight and blood sugar and raise diabetes risk
  - Telegraph, 23 September 2014

• Caffeine: the most popular drug in the world - doing more harm than good?
  - Univ. Nottingham News, 22 September 2014

• Why alcohol is more socially destructive than heroin or cocaine
  - The Journal (IE), 20 September 2014

• Caffeine calculator determines how much caffeine will kill you
  - Medical Daily, 18 September 2014

• Stopping the hidden crisis of overdose deaths due to prescription narcotics in the United States
  - Time, 16 September 2014

• White people in America are dying in larger numbers (7000 in 2011) due to prescription narcotics
  - Business Week, 16 September 2014

• Adderall - the legal methamphetamine: the new narcotic of choice for many U.S. baseball players
  - CBS News, 12 September 2014

• Investors (bondholders) obtain nearly half of the tobacco settlement cash being paid to state and local governments from the tobacco cartel
  - ProPublica, 11 September 2014

• Doctors in many hospitals prescribe too many antibiotics, breeding dangerous bacteria that are killing more people
  - Fox News, 10 September 2014

• Prescription painkillers as a gateway drug to heroin
  - Pacific Standard, 09 September 2014

• Caffeine poisoning - the FDA issues a warning
  - Harland Daily, 03 September 2014

• Prescription opioid drugs causing more deaths due to heroin overdoses
  - New York Times, 28 August 2014

• City of Chicago sues drug industry for their aggressive marketing of prescription narcotic drugs that kill over 15,000 people per year
  - New York Times, 25 August 2014

• The U.S. DEA reclassifies the opioid drug, Hydrocodone, as a Schedule II drug
  - American Pharacists Association, 22 August 2014

• U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to tighten access to painkillers containing hydrocodone, making them Schedule II drugs instead of Schedule III drugs, which could push more people into using heroin
  - New York Times, 21 August 2014

• Alcohol is still the deadliest drug in the United States, and it is not even close, worse than cocaine and heroin
  - Washington Post, 19 August 2014

• Witness to corruption: the merchants of speed (amphetamines) posing as the modern-day ADHD medicine show
  - Huffington Post, 07 August 2014

• The U.S. DEA reclassifies the opioid drug, Tramadol, as a Schedule IV drug
  - MedPageToday, 20 July 2014

• Alleradd: a natural, nootropic, nutritional supplement designed to act like Adderall
  - Motherboard, 17 July 2014

• Synthetic narcotics are now common in Chinese cities, and they are now becoming an export market
  - Economist, 26 July 2014

• Use of narcotic drugs becomes part of the culture of work in Silicon Valley
  - San Jose Mercury News, 25 July 2014

• Legal ritalin as a stepping stone to heroin for children
  - Democrat Chronicle, 24 July 2014

• The speed of hypocrisy: how America got addicted to legal methamphetamine - Adderall
  - Vice, 30 2014

• Around the world, alcohol kills one person every 10 seconds
  - Womens Health, 13 May 2014

• Drug companies battle for control of legal opium production in Tasmania
  - New York Times, 20 July 2014

• The insatiable appetite for illegal drugs in the U.S. is the cause of violence in Central America that forces their children to illegally migrate to the U.S.
  - Wall Street Journal, 20 July 2014

• State of Missouri refuses to implement prescription drug database, which facilitates the illegal sales of powerful narcotic drugs
  - New York Times, 20 July 2014

• Teenager in U.S. dies from consuming too much caffeine powder
  - CTV News, 19 July 2014

• Federal Express is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled drugs, and faces fines of at least $1.6 billion
  - Wall Street Journal, 18 July 2014

• United State's drug addictions, legal or not, is fueling the fires of terror in Central America, forcing children to flee for their lives to become illegal immigrants in ... the United States
  - New York Times, 13 July 2014

• A new study reveals that even moderate drinking of alcohol is unhealthy
  - Medical News Today, 10 July 2014

• A new study reveals that even moderate drinking of alcohol is unhealthy
  - British Medical Journal, 10 July 2014

• Addictions to smartphones worsens other addictions, including to drugs
  - MarketWatch, 09 July 2014

• How legal opiod painkillers are fueling a heroin epidemic in the U.S.
  - ABC News, 02 July 2014

• Deaths due to overdoses of prescription drugs plunge after authorities make it harder for doctors to allow their patients to become addicted
  - New York Times, 02 July 2014

• 259 million prescriptions for opiod painkillers were written in the United States in 2012
  - USA Today, 01 July 2014

• Did U.S. FDA rely on false data to approve use of the highly addictive opiod, Zohydro?
  - Wall Street Journal, 30 2014

• Global drug war a failure, as opium production is highest ever in history, fueled by demand for heroin due in part to prescription drugs, "legal" heroins, such as Oxycontin and Hydrocodone
  - New York Times, 27 2014

• In 2006, $224 billion was lost in the U.S. economy due to excessive drinking of alcohol
  - Benefits Pro, 27 2014

• One in ten, 10%, of all deaths among adults in the United States are due to alcohol
  - WebMD, 26 2014

• The U.S. states, where the most Americans drink themselves to death
  - Huffington Post, 26 2014

• After decades of study, researchers still can't agree on whether vitamins and nutritional supplements actually improve health
  - Nature, 26 2014

• How to sell the super-hydrocodone, Zohyrdo, the legal painkiller that politicians fear because it is such an addictive improvement on heroin
  - Business Week, 24 2014

• Prescription painkillers cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined
  - Parade, 20 2014

• Adderall and Ritalin - are the smartness pills or kiddie cocaine?
  - ABC News, 17 2014

• Ayahuasca, a psychedelic drug that is legal for religious uses in the United States, is becoming more popular with tourists to the Amazon
  - New York Times, 15 2014

• Over 10,000 children between 2 and 3 years of age are given amphetamine-like medicines such as Adderall
  - Lawyers and Settlements, 08 2014

• 750 former players in the NFL sue the league for illegally dispensing powerful narcotics to keep the players on the field without regard to their health
  - ESPN, 05 2015

• City of Chicago sues five major pharmaceutical companies for hiding the risks of the heroin-like opiate painkillers that they sell, such as OxyContin and Hydrocodone
  - CNBC, 03 2013

• Increasingly in the U.S., majority of heroin users are white suburbanites who choose heroin for being cheaper and more available than highly addictive prescription drugs
  - JAMA Psychiatry, 28 May 2014

• Xanax becoming another legal dangerous drug, with ver 100,000 people a year in the U.S. going to emergency rooms for abuse problems
  - Daily Digest News, 25 May 2014

• As traditional illegal drugs lose their allure, new synthetic (and often legal) drugs take their place in the market
  - Economist, 24 May 2014

• Over 500 former football players sue the NFL for being forced to use power painkillers (such as Vicodin/hydrocodone) to play football while injured
  - ABC News, 20 May 2014

• Three deadliest drugs in America, killing 500,000 people a year, are all totally legal - tobacco, alcohol and prescription painkillers
  - VOX, 19 May 2014

• New law in New York State that stops abuse of prescription painkillers leads some of those addicts to cheaper heroin
  - Poughkeepsie Journal, 17 May 2014

• Over 10,000 children in the U.S., between 2 and 3 years old, are medicated with methamphetamine-like drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin
  - New York Times, 17 May 2014

• Lithuania bans the sales of high caffeine drinks to children, such as "Red Bull" with 150 millgrams of caffeine
  - Medical Daily, 16 May 2014

• More than 3.3 million died in 2012 due to drinking alcohol products [while zero died from using coca leaf products]
  - Daily Mail (UK), 12 May 2014

• In Costa Rica, 3 kilograms of pesticides are consumed by a Costa Rican citizen per year
  - El Pais, 03 January 2013

• Acetaminophen, active ingredient in Tylenol, kills 500 Americans per year
  - Medical Daily, 23 September 2014

• Toxicity of recreational drugs: alcohol is more lethal than cocaine, LSD and marijuana
  - American Scientist, 01 2006

• U.S. Congress bans use of amyl nitrate for recreational purposes (it is an aphrodisiac), but allows it to be sold if you sell it for "commercial" purposes, such as cleaning
  - U.S. law 15 USC 2057b, 29 November 1990

• Doctors and manufacturer trafficking fentanyl, a legal opiate, into the next drug addiction problem
  - New York Times, 14 May 2014

• 3.3 million people in the world died in 2012 due to legal use of alcohol
  - Reuters, 12 May 2014

• U.S. FDA says daily small doses of aspirin only useful for people who have had a heart attack or stroke; for others, increases risk of internal bleeding
  - VOX, 06 May 2014

• More students in the U.S. are using Ritalin, the cocaine-like ADHD drug, to cheat on their tests
  - Detroit Free Press, 03 May 2014

• Drug-resistant bacteria a global threat, caused by overuse and misuse of legal antibiotics
  - World Health Organization, 30 April 2014

• Drug-resistant bacteria a global threat, caused by overuse and misuse of legal antibiotics
  - NBC News, 30 April 2014

• While crack cocaine is king in Brazil, with one million crack users, legal alcohol is still more destructive
  - Globe and Mail, 26 April 2014

• National health service in the UK distributes an advertisement with a tumor in a glass of beer, to warn public that alcohol is a carcinogen as is tobacco and asbestos
  - Beverage Daily, 23 April 2014

• In the U.S., half of drug overdose deaths are due to legal narcotics such as hydrocodone and oxycodone, killing 19,000 people a year. A new form of hydrocodone, Zohydro, considered a potentially lethal narcotic blessed by the U.S. FDA
  - New York Times, 22 April 2014

• Synthetic drugs that remain legal - most complicated drug problem in the world
  - Time, 21 April 2014

• Salt intoxication - the public health crisis hiding in our food
  - New York Times, 20 April 2014

• Surge in narcotic prescriptions for pregnant women, 20% of pregnant women
  - New York Times, 15 April 2014

• Wearing a bra 24/7 increases your risk of breast cancer by 100; sleep in your bra and have a 75% chance of getting breast cancer
  - Inquistr, 06 April 2014

• Kratom, an opiate plant from Thailand, becoming a natural replacement for Oxycontin and Adderall
  - Vice Motherboard, 03 April 2014

• Explosion of prescription opiates (OxyContin, Hydrocodone) is fueling a heroin epidemic across United States
  - Rolling Stone, 03 April 2014

• Anti-microbial silver nanoparticles may harm humans and wildlife
  - Discovery, 02 April 2014

• Common sleep aid, Ambien, replacing roofies as the date rape drug
  - USA Today, 26 March 2014

• Are we overdosing our children with Ritalin, aka pediatric cocaine?
  - Communities Digital News, 16 March 2014

• Synthetic narcotic drugs, different enough to be legal, make drug laws meaningless in the UK
  - Independent (UK), 14 March 2014

• Sales of cocaine-light ADHD medicines (Adderall, Ritalin) to reach $14 billion by 2016
  - New York Times, 11 March 2014

• Sales of cocaine-like ADHD medicines (Adderall, Ritalin) to reach $14 billion by 2016
  - Wall Street Journal, 11 March 2014

• How will New Zealand's experiment work, that allows new synthetic narcotic drugs?
  - New Scientist, 10 March 2014

• Are antibiotics feed to chickens and cattle to make the animals more obese, also making humans more obese when they eat the meat?
  - New York Times, 08 March 2014

• Adderall is a university student's legal form of cocaine
  - Iowa State Daily, 07 March 2014

• U.S. Center for Disease Control: antibiotic overuse can be lethal
  - Wall Street Journal, 05 March 2014

• Low meat protein intake (as opposed to plant protein) is associated with a major reduction in IGF-1, cancer and overall mortality in the 65 and youger, but not in older populations
  - Cell Metabolism, 04 March 2014

• In Europe, LSD being reconsidered for use in pyschological therapies
  - New York Times, 03 March 2014

• From 2000 to 2010, Americans spent $1 trillion on illegal drugs
  - U.S. White House, February 2014

• Zohydro: FDA approves prescription drug to become an opium addict, a drug ten times more powerful than Vicodin, two doses can kill an adult - a faster gateway to heroin addiction
  - Huffington Post, 26 February 2014

• How a big drug company, Purdue Pharma, got Americans hooked on heroin due to sales of Oxycontin
  - Huffington Post, 24 February 2014

• Adderall: cocaine for the poor man
  - The Lanthorn (MI), 23 February 2014

• Prescription painkiller heroin-like opioids still killing more people than heroin in Kentucky, 1031 painkiller deaths in 2012 versus 129 heroin deaths
  - UPI, 22 February 2014

• The 'evil' methamphetamine isn't that bad for you, because it is little different from D-amphetamine, the main ingredient of the popular (and multi-million child proscribed) Adderall
  - Politix, 21 February 2014

• The 'evil' methamphetamine isn't that bad for you, because it is little different from D-amphetamine, the main ingredient of the popular (and multi-million child proscribed) Adderall
  - Dept. of Psychology, Columbia University, 21 February 2014

• Pharmaceutical companies resisting calls to make prescription pain pills tougher to abuse - interferes with profits
  - Boston Globe, 19 February 2014

• Until doctors reduce prescriptons of opiates such as Oxycontin, heroin will continue its deadly swath
  - Boston Globe, 19 February 2014

• Cheaper, more accessible prescription pain pills are gateway to heroin addiction
  - WGBH News, 19 February 2014

• Prescription prescription opiate narcotics (Vicodin, OxyContin, oxycodone) as a gateway to cheaper heroin
  - New York Times, 11 February 2014

• Why do Americans spend the most money in the world on prescription drugs?
  - PBS, 07 February 2014

• How epidemic of prescription opiate narcotics in Maine is gateway to cheaper heroin
  - CNN, 06 February 2014

• Subway chain will stop putting a chemical, azodicarbonamide, in its bread, since its by-products can be cancer-causing
  - Business Week, 06 February 2014

• Doctors at New York City clinic help drug traffickers by writing 31,000 unnecessary prescriptions for the narcotic Oxycodone, worth about $550 million
  - New York Times, 06 February 2014

• Heroin as a cheaper substitute for those addicted to prescription opiate narcotics such as Oxycontin and Oxycodone
  - CNN, 02 February 2014

• 25% of Russian men die before the age of 55, most due to alcohol abuse
  - Forbes, 31 January 2014

• Designing narcotics online isn't just easy - it can be legal, and then manufactured in China
  - Medium, 30 January 2014

• 18 antibiotics in animal feed tied to high risk of human infection
  - New York Times, 27 January 2014

• Drinking more than two beers a day speeds up memory loss in middle age men
  - Daily Mail (UK), 15 January 2014

• Men who drink large amounts of alcohol lose their memories faster with age
  - Neurology, 15 January 2014

• 7 ways to keep alcohol from wrecking your diet
  - CNN Health, 09 January 2014

• 38 million U.S. adults drink too much alcohol, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control
  - CDC, 07 January 2014

• 23,000 people die each year due to antibiotic-resistant infections, many caused by excessive use of legal antibiotics to fatten, not cure, farm-raised pigs and cattle
  - BusinessWeek, 02 January 2014

• Top 17 abused prescription drugs of 2013, led by the opiate Oxycontin
  - KBTX News, 30 December 2013

• Doctors behind original 1993 study advocating narcotics such as Ritalin for ADHD now question their original recommendations, now that 3.5 million children in the U.S. now taking such narcotics
  - New York Times, 30 December 2013

• Agricultural use of antibiotics must be reduced to prevent super-bugs, one way being to charge farmers a tax to use antibiotics for cattle growth
  - New England Journal of Medicine, 26 December 2013

• Cocaine as an after-dinner "condiment" for London's professional class
  - Daily Mail (UK), 23 December 2013

• Illegal mining is Latin America's "new cocaine" in terms of illegal trading and damaging rainforests
  - Mining.com, 23 December 2013

• Alcohol in United Kingdom: cause of 50% of all violent crime, 73% of domestic violence, 25% of child abuse, at a cost of $18 billion a year
  - New York Times, 23 December 2013

• Increase in liver disease due to prescription drugs, dietary supplements and steroids for bodybuilding
  - New York Times, 22 December 2013

• Majority of Americans oppose jail time for first-time convictions for possessing cocaine or heroin for personal use
  - Think Progress, 18 December 2013

• The alarming rise of sales of cocaine-like Adderall in two charts
  - Quartz, 17 December 2013

• The manufactured ADHD epidemic to greatly expand sales of cocaine-like Ritalin and Adderall
  - Salt Lake Tribune, 17 December 2013

• Does approval of American Psychiatric Association provide a pretext for selling amphetamines (Ritalin, Adderall) to treat arbitrarily defined ADHD?
  - Forbes, 17 December 2013

• Oral high-dose multivitamins and minerals don't prevent secondary heart attacks
  - Annals of Internal Medicine, 17 December 2013

• Long-term use of multivitamins in older persons has no effect on cognitive function
  - Annals of Internal Medicine, 17 December 2013

• Three new studies show multivitamin pills, with $23 billion of sales each year, are little different from sugar placebo pills
  - WebMD, 16 December 2013

• New prescription medicines emerge, but few blockbusters as doctors and patients don't believe new drugs are worth premium prices
  - Wall Street Journal, 16 December 2013

• Selling of ADHD - addicting 3.5 million children in the U.S. to ampthetamine drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin, $9 billion annually in this cartel's sales
  - New York Times, 14 December 2013

• U.S. politicians' drugs of choice, in order of acceptability: alcohol, marijuana, cocaine
  - Forbes, 13 December 2013

• New U.S. FDA rules aim to cut antibiotic use as growth enhancers in farm animals, to help prevent emergence of "superbugs"
  - Reuters, 11 December 2013

• The horrific animal and drug abuses of America's meat farm factories
  - Rolling Stone, 10 December 2013

• Prescription narcotic drugs - easy to get, nearly impossible to escape their addiction
  - Sun Advocate (UT), 10 December 2013

• Israeli scientists find that in yeast, that caffeine shortens and beer lengthens telomeres at the ends of DNA (shortening is associated with aging and cancer)
  - Science Daily, 05 December 2013

• Synthetic marijuana and other designer drugs are entering the United States - legally
  - CBS News, 04 December 2013

• CDC: 6% of U.S. teenagers take prescription psychotropic drugs
  - CNN, 04 December 2013

• 1 in 10 children in the U.S. now diagnosed with ADHD, to be treated with drugs such as cocaine-like Ritalin
  - U.S. News and World Report, 22 November 2013

• Are increased mass shootings in American schools linked to increased prescribing of psychiatric drugs to students?
  - Global Research (CA), 21 November 2013

• Imagine a world with no anti-biotics (no transplant surgery, no meat, regular infections kill) - because of widespread misuse and excessive use of anti-biotics by doctors and farmers for conditions that don't need anti-biotics
  - Maryn McKenna, Medium, 20 November 2013

• Does use of ADHD drugs promote future cocaine use - will one in five (of the millions of) children taking Ritalin develop cocaine habits?
  - BU News, 19 November 2013

• About 300,000 people in Costa Rica (about 7% of population) between 13 and 35 use synthetic drugs
  - Inside CostaRica, 18 November 2013

• Poulty, fish, and eggs share the same dangers of red meat in leading to stomach production of toxic TMAO
  - Newsroom Panama, 17 November 2013

• Buprenorphine (suboxone), a somewhat legal replacement for methadone, becoming a billion-dollar-a-year street drug
  - New York Times, 17 November 2013

• How the crackdown on oxycodone is forcing those addicted to prescription opiates to switch to heroin
  - Slate, 14 November 2013

• Don't give more patients statins - they mostly don't provide benefits
  - New York Times, 14 November 2013

• More Americans die from prescription opiate (oxycodone, hydrocodone) overdoses than from motor vehicle accidents
  - Medscape, 12 November 2013

• UK scientist developing psychoactive drugs that create the affects of drinking alcohol without addiction or hangovers
  - Independent (UK), 11 November 2013

• Johnson & Johnson pays $2.2 billion to settle civil and criminal charges for selling three prescription drugs for off-label uses
  - Washington Post, 04 November 2013

• Gabapentin treatment for addiction to alcohol and drugs
  - JAMA Internal Medicine, 04 November 2013

• A pill (gabapentin) to cure addiction to alcohol and drugs?
  - Wall Street Journal, 24 December 2013

• Adderall: America's favorite legal amphetamine for children, speed for the masses, thanks to drug companies and Congress
  - Huffington Post, 29 October 2013

• U.S. FDA approves more powerful, pure hydrocodone drug - despite FDA scientists voting 11-2 against this widely-abused addictive narcotic (with 131 million prescriptions for hydrocodone written in the U.S. in 2011)
  - ABC News, 25 October 2013

• U.S. FDA reclassifies hydrocodone painkillers to the more restrictive Schedule II category for their high potential for abuse
  - New York Times, 25 October 2013

• More people dead in the U.S. from use of prescriptions opiates than total of all deaths due to heroin and cocaine
  - Phily Inquirer, 10 October 2013

• Salmonella outbreak in California involves multiple strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
  - USA Today, 08 October 2013

• CDC report finds 23,000 deaths of Americans per year from antibiotic-resistant infections, many attributable excessive, useless use of antibiotics in animal farming
  - New York Times, 17 September 2013

• How Big Pharma profits from your anxieties about "health problems" to sell you drugs you don't need
  - Saludify, 12 September 2013

• FDA announces new labeling rules for opioid painkillers, including oxycodone
  - Washington Post, 10 September 2013

• How mega-group purchasing organizations keep generic drugs scarce and costly in the United States
  - New York Times, 3 September 2013

• How big Pharma keeps meth labs in business by blocking efforts to regulate pseudoephedrine as a prescription drug
  - Mother Jones, August 2013

• Japan's drugmaker Eisai sues DEA, seeking clearance for epilepsy medicine which DEA views as controlled substance
  - Wall Street Journal, 20 August 2013

• 23,000 young adults ended up in emergency rooms in 2011 due to problems from prescription stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin
  - New York Times, 9 August 2013

• Ephedra - a beneficial and controversial herb (its ephredrine can be converted to methamphetamine)
  - Fox News, 07 August 2013

• 18 American women die every day from prescription painkiller drugs [note: zero Bolivian women die every day from chewing coca leaf]
  - RT News, 03 July 2013

• CDC: prescription painkillers are more lethal than cocaine and heroin
  - HealthLine, 02 July 2013

• How the country of Georgia stopped a flood of the narcotic Subutex from France
  - New Republic, 7 May 2013

• Hiropon (methamphetamine) 'panic' in Japan: [a political meth crisis used to arrest and deport Koreans and Taiwanese in the 1950s]
  - Int. J. Drug Policy, May 2013

• Opioid epidemic in the U.S.: prescription opioids (the -codones) cause more deaths than suicide and motor vehicle crashes, or more deaths than from use of cocaine and heroin combined
  - Pain Physician, July 2012

• Failure of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
  - The Lancet, 7 January 2012

• How illegal drugs kill far fewer people each year than legal drugs (including tobacco and alcohol) - with nice graphics
  - Neurobonkers, 22 December 2011

• Ritalin (ADHD) and Prozac (depression) given to children at the same time (which could be 40% of children in U.S.) may cause lifelong behavioral and chemical abnormalities
  - Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2011

• Caffeinated energy drinks - a growing problem, especially with alcohol, and a possible gateway to other forms of drug dependence
  - Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 01 January 2009

• Pay attention: ritalin (taken by 6 million children) acts much like cocaine
  - Journal American Medical Association, 22 August 2001

• Americans experience a greater dependence on tobacco and alcohol than they do on marijuana
  - Experimental and Clinial Pharmacology, January 1994

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