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Coca leaves are indeed the source of cocaine. The leaves have been chewed, usually with a bit of chalk or ash to help release the effect, by indigenous peoples of the Andes for centuries as an aid to supplement energy for their daily tasks at high altitudes. Coca Tea is often offered to tourists visiting Peruvian cities at high altitudes, like Cuzco (11,000 ft.) . The effect of the tea is probably more psychological than otherwise, since the catalyst needed to dissolve the alkaloids is not present. Coca cola originally contained some Coca leaf extract for the same "pick me up" effect. Coca is no longer an ingredient. See: http://www.siu.edu/~ebl/leaflets/coca2.htm NKP. On Jul 28, 2005, at 9:48 AM, rayilynlee wrote: > Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't cocaine or some kind of narcotic > derivative > come from coca leaves or is it just poppies and morphine? > Ray > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Sue Lifschiz" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 8:33 PM > Subject: Re: coca leaves > > >> I too had a positive experience with coca leaf tea. I drank it daily >> while >> travelling in Peru and felt exceptionally good the whole time. I >> brought >> a >> bunch of it back to the US with me, but I haven't drunk it on a >> regular >> basis >> because I don't particularly like the taste of it. >> Suedee >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: >> mailto:[log in to unmask] >> In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn