The right of indigenous people in South America’s Andean region to chew coca leaf was removed in 1964 when Bolivia was under a dictatorship and it signed up to the convention. But Bolivia was given 25 years to implement the ban. This arrangement came to an end in 1989 and since then the issue has been under dispute. In 2011, Bolivia formally told the UN that it did not want to be in the convention any more. It has now signed up to the convention again, but with an exemption so that its indigenous people can continue chewing coca leaves. The exemption is the first of its kind in the history of UN drug-control treaties and has led to concerns that other countries may apply for exemptions. Russia has argued that the exemption will lead to “an increase in illegal circulation of cocaine” and warned that “it also sets a dangerous precedent that could be used by other states in creating a more liberal drug-control regime.”
What happened in 2011?
Bolivia announced that it decided to leave the convention The UN announced that Bolivia is banned from the convention Bolivia announced that its dictatorship was over The UN announced that it has a new policy on the war on drugs