Coca tea
Coca tea, also called mate de coca,or Inka tea,bottom line it is coca tea.It is a tisane (herbal tea) made using the leaves of the coca plant; typically the raw leaves of the plant. It is made either by submerging the coca leaf or dipping a tea bag in hot water. The tea originates from the Andes mountain range, particularly Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.
The leaves of the coca plant contain several organic molecules.Once a chemical extraction process is preformed,these now chemically altered said molecules have been given several names pending there chemical equivalents with the table of elements,ie, alkaloids, [1] A large amount of chemically extracted coca alkaloid comprise the sources for now ,cocaine base, chemical production, the amount of coca alkaloid in the leaves is so small, around 0.4%,[1][2] that in order to make a gram of chemically altered coca alkaloid, 250 grams of coca leaves would be needed.[3][4] A cup of coca tea prepared from one gram of coca leaves contains approximately 4.21 mg of organic coca alkaloid,organic because no chemical extraction has occured.[5]
Owing to the presence of the stimulant alkaloids, the coca tea provides a stimulation similar to coffee. The tea is often sold commercially in filtering bags,[ie end product inventory], each of which usually contains approximately one gram of the leaf. 'De-cocainated" coca tea will contain a minute quantity of organic coca alkaloids. When the coca is not made into cocaine, through chemical synthesis,[ie solvent free'] the amount of coca is small enough for the product to legally sell in the USA according to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.Furthermore as defined by Generally recgonized as Safe Standards,or GRAS COMMITTEE consultant to our F.D.A, decocainized means solvent free.Also legally as defined by the F.D.A.. code of federal regulation title 21,section 182.20.decocainized is further defined legaly as solvent free,within the meaning of section 409 of the department of health and human service as recgonized as safe.Further proof of its legality is defined in the code of federal regulation Office of Divertion 1304.32.This regulation states that if coca is in its final product form,ie tea boxes,or any other final product of coca,it cannot not be conscidered a precursur to anything.Also the alkaliod content percentage is also a determinate factor.When companies import tea for manufacturing sales,it is no different then Merke or Coke Cola importing it for medicinal purposes.The coca content that remains needs to be enough for the flavoring of the tea.Since all teas are flavored by there leaves.The only person or government office that has the authority to change U.S.A.. said regulation is the president of the United States.Not any judge,sheriff department,or lawyers.Some prohibitionist will claim there is a similier chemical formula to street cocaine,however this too is a myth.The coca leaf in whole form has no chemical formula anywhere in any book.There are extraction of the coca leaf with chemical formula's,however all those extraction require the use of a acid/alcohol extraction process to obtain said coca,thus no longer deeming the product de-cocainiezed.It is no longer solvent free upon the use of any solvent use the extract any molecule out of coca.As stated earlier all extraction methods be it for drug testing or scientific testing all use alcohol /acid base extraction chemicals.The purpose of the acid is to create the heat needed to convert once harmless coca into a synthetic base for illicit cocaine hcl or to prove the presence of benzoylecgonine.The acid heats the coca for chemical conversion .This is why anyone can take a liquid base testing dip stick or cup test,or gas spectrometer test ,so called drug testing device,so-called because none of them actualy test for any actual drugs,put that dip stick in hot or cold cup of tea thats has been allowed to sit for a half hour,.A half hour because the tea needs to flavore itself,hot or cold and it will popp positive everytime for benzoylecgonine.Without ever consuming a drop of tea.. In the 1980s the tea was used to wean cocaine addicts off the drug,and it worked wonderfully..[2] Consumers in the U.S.A. need to be aware of current drug testing methodologies. Contrary to popular belief, drug tests in the U.S.A. do not test for white powder cocaine (cocaine HCI) in urine drug tests; instead the drug test tests for benzoylecgonine. Due to similarity of chemicals in current drug testing reagants and gas spectrometers extraction methods of obtaining coca for testing, anyone who consumes any coca products will test positive for benzoylecgonine if a urinalysis is done within 48 hrs. of ingestion.Furthermore the unit of measure,ie nanogram, used in these test is not visual to any human eye.A microscope capable of seeing the moon from earth is the type of microscope needed to see a nanogram.Again contrary to U.S.A. lawyers/judges/employers comments like 3 times the legal limit for any positive,which implies its sooo much,is a outright lie and myth.A nanogram is soooo small it cannot be seen w/our eyes or any other microscope if it not maginified over 1,000,000,000 times.Drug testing reagants will cause a positive for benzoylecgonine everytime someone is tested if anyone has consumed any coca products.Cuscohygrine will show in a urine test also if tea is the cause of a false positive for benzoylecgonine.False because cocaine was not the cause of the positive,nor is anyone ever tested for actual cocaine.Further more any information that is obtained about the topic of coca/or coca tea or coca products can and will be very unclear at times.Sometimes the use of the word cocaine is mistakenly used when referring to a alkaliod,but that part will be found in fine print.Sometimes they will never state,, as recently discovered, how this ,testing was done and what chemicals are use to obtain coca for testing.Only recently has this information become available to the public.Any comsumer of coca's teas needs to ,beware,beware ,bewaretheir are many many propaganda materials documented on this product against it legality and it actual content.The fact still remains the coca leaf/coca tea's left in its traditional whole form has no ,chemical formula what so-ever.
The coca plant comprises four main species and varieties of Erythroxylum coca (often spelled koka in Quechua and Aymara), a plant in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to northwestern South America.
Though also known as mate, mate de coca has very little in common with the yerba mate drink in Uruguay and Argentina. Mate de coca is always drunk as a tea, rather than through a straw.
Classification and nomenclature
Coca tea comes from the coca plant, which has the biological name Erythroxylum coca and is from the family Erythroxylaceae. It is often called "la Hoja de Coca" (the leaf of coca).
Characteristics
Coca Tea is a natural product. The tea preserves all of the physical-organic properties of the coca leaf. The product fulfills the Technical Bolivian and Peruvian Standards and can be sold nationally, although such use is being discouraged in part by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
The tea is greenish yellow in color and has a mild bitter flavor similar to green tea with a more organic sweetness.
In South American Culture
Medicinal Use
Coca tea consumption is common in many South American countries. Many indigenous people of the Andes mountain range also use the tea for medicinal and religious purposes.[3][6]
Tourism
On the "Inca Trail" to Machu Picchu, guides usually serve coca tea with every meal because it is widely believed to alleviate the symptoms of altitude sickness.[7][8]
Most domestic flights to mountainous regions, such as Cusco, offer Coca tea during the flight to help the traveller adapt to the altitude. Coca tea is often recommended for people arriving to high altitude regions.
Traditionally, official governmental persons traveling to La Paz in Bolivia, located at almost 4,000 meters above mean sea level, are greeted with a mate de coca. News reports noted that Princess Anne and the late Pope John Paul II were served the beverage during their visits to the country. [citation needed]
See further
- Coca eradication
- Coca-Cola, an international soft drink which now contains no cocaine
- Coca Colla, a similar Bolivian drink but which still contains Coca
- Huallaga Valley
- Mate (beverage)
References
- ^ a b Coca leaves not hallucinogenic – Comunidad Boliviana in Argentina Template:Es icon
- ^ a b Erythroxylum Cataractarum – cocaine.org.
- ^ a b Cocaina Template:Es icon.
- ^ How To Make Cocaine HCl.
- ^ Jenkins AJ, Llosa T, Montoya I, Cone EJ (1996). "Identification and quantitation of alkaloids in coca tea". Forensic Sci Int. 77 (3): 179–89. PMC 2705900. PMID 8819993.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Substances that produce addiction – University of Buenos Aires Template:Es icon.
- ^ What's the best way to prevent altitude sickness?
- ^ Altitude Sickness – Soroche, Cusco by Virtual Tourist
External links
- The Coca Museum (A private museum in La Paz, Bolivia)
- Coca – Cocaine website of the Transnational Institute (TNI)
- Coca leaf news page – Alcohol and Drugs History Society