SCHOLAR TO TALK ABOUT IMPACT OF COCAINE TRADE

An American scholar will be bringing his knowledge of Latin American
history and the cocaine trade to Kelowna.

Paul Gootenberg is a professor at the State University of New York in
Stony Brook. This year saw the release of his book, called Andean Cocaine.

Gootenberg will be speaking at UBC Okanagan on Oct. 23. He said he
began researching the subject as a graduate student while specializing
in the history of Andean export commodities.

Gootenberg said little study had been done on the history of cocaine,
and he became drawn by the range of fields the trade affected, from
medical history to economic botany.

"It's dramatic because cocaine, in a relatively short time,
illustrates the phases that virtually all illicit drugs have passed
through."

Gootenberg said cocaine was first embraced as a miracle drug and a
trade commodity, then shunned by medical opinion and transformed by
prohibition into an item of illicit trade.

He noted that the production of the drug is mainly a South American
phenomenon, entwined with the region's history and commerce.

Jessica Stites-Mor is assistant professor of Latin American history at
UBC Okanagan.

She met Gootenberg several years ago at Yale University, when he was
getting ready to write the book. Stites-Mor said she knew Gootenberg
would be an interesting speaker to bring to town. "He's the foremost
academic scholar on the history of cocaine and politics."

Stites-Mor said Gootenberg is a wealth of information, with an
extensive range of contacts from researchers to drug lords.

He will be speaking on Oct. 23 at 3 p.m., in Unit 6 of the Irving K.
Barber School of Arts and Sciences on the UBC Okanagan campus.

Gootenberg's talk coincides with the launch of the Latin American
Studies program at the university. Stites-Mor said the new
interdisciplinary program has a strong focus on the history and
political science of the region.