New Publication - Scientific distinctions between coca and cocaine support policy reform

HUH Research Fellow Dawson White is lead author on an article in Science urging WHO to distinguish coca from cocaine and support evidence-based reform rooted in science and culture. The authors argue that international drug laws wrongly treat the coca leaf, the source of cocaine, as if it's the same as the processed, addictive drug, despite major scientific and cultural differences. While purified cocaine poses serious health risks, coca has been safely used by Indigenous communities for thousands of years. The authors call for reforming global drug policy to reflect these facts, urging that coca be removed from the strictest legal category. Doing so would correct colonial-era injustices, support Indigenous rights, allow scientific research, and shift focus toward regulating actual drug harms rather than punishing cultural practices.

Dawson M. White et al., Scientific distinctions between coca and cocaine support policy reform. Science 0, eaeb2948, DOI: 10.1126/science.aeb2948