THINK OF 'SACRED' COCA AS A POISON

Nick Thorpe's plea for coca(ine) on behalf of Bolivian farmers contains
dangerous half-truths (Caught in the eye of the leaf storm, October 5).
Coca leaf is "sacred" to what religion? Eight hundred years makes it a
tradition - Britons have been eating porridge for 1,000 years, but that
doesn't make it sacred. Coca leaves are "rich in vitamins and minerals".
True - just like cabbage or any other leaf, but much more dangerous. Coca
gives a "burst of energy" " Indeed, because the alkaloids (including
cocaine) release adrenalin and noradrenalin in the body. This is what
"converts carbohydrates into glucose, and stimulates the respiratory
system" (the fight-or-flight reaction) ... and eventually shortens life.
How many 80-year-old Bolivians did your reporter meet?

Thorpe wishes to preserve Bolivian peasants' income from growing coca. Then
they can continue using this addictive drug to mask the "hunger in their
flesh and darkness in their minds", and continue to poison the minds and
lives of about 3m young Americans and their families. This price is too high.

(Dr) A Carr, Medical Director, Alcohol and Drug Relapse Prevention Program,
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Thank you for the excellent feature regarding the US mission to destroy the
coca leaf production in Bolivia. I have travelled in Bolivia, and saw coca
leaves used for many things (tea, religious offerings to gods, medicines).
Coca leaves can also be used to make cocaine, a drug the citizens of the US
heavily abuse. What is a problem in the US has now all of a sudden become a
problem for Bolivia.

Grain is a common crop in the US. It is used to make bread and, among other
things, alcohol, a drug the citizens of the US also heavily abuse. Although
alcohol is legal in most of the US, it is illegal in some Muslim countries.
How would the US feel if those countries made it their goal to destroy the
grain crops of the US? Do you think the US would stand by and let that happen?

Norbert Dommel, Vancouver, Canada