To look tough on drugs, and please the US, the UK is willing to trample on indigenous rights

Damon Barrett, Director of the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy
The Huffington Post (US web)
Sunday, January 6, 2013

coca2The UK says in its objection to Bolivia's reaccession to the 1961 UN Single Convention with a reservation that allows for the traditional chewing of coca, that it 'respects the cultural importance of the coca leaf in Bolivia'. It also recognises the status of traditional uses of coca under the Bolivian Constitution. These words reflect that change in views one would have expected since the 1960s. But in what way does the UK in fact 'respect' the cultural importance of coca when going on to try to see through the destruction of the manifestation of that culture? (See also: Objections to Bolivia's reservation to allow coca chewing in the UN conventions)