What Coca Tea Can Teach Us About CBD
In almost every bodega on every corner in Cusco, there is a rack full of small bags of green candy. In La Plaza de Armas, the center of the city, men and women dressed in cultural garb will approach tourists and try to sell the same bags of green candy.
This candy is made of coca leaves, which are considered an herbal remedy for what locals call “sorroche,” or altitude sickness. Coca leaves are the raw material for cocaine and when unrefined and unprocessed, provide vitamins and minerals that boost metabolism and help “gringos,” or foreigners, adjust to the altitude of Cusco. While many chew the leaves, coca is often more palatable as a tea or candy. Hotels and restaurants will often offer coca tea, or “mate de coca,” and vendors will sell the small bags of coca candy.
At first, I was very surprised by how popular coca products were in Cusco. In the US, we don’t see racks of a single type of candy or cough drop and our hotels mostly just offer coffee or water. Herbal remedies especially, can often only be found in specialty stores or online. Or at least, that’s what I thought.
Before coming to Peru, I spent a few days with a friend by the Jersey Shore. In one of the boardwalk stores, there was a rack filled with small bottles and packets of one type of herbal remedy: CBD.
Apparently I missed the memo because CBD products, or cannabidiol products, have been gracing stores in the US for almost a year. Often sold as a powder or oil, CBD is an active ingredient in marijuana and is thought to improve symptoms of childhood epilepsy, chronic pain, insomnia, anxiety, etc.
Both coca and CBD are one of hundreds of ingredients of cocaine and marijuana respectively, but they themselves don’t cause anything remotely similar to a high. While coca has been valued as a medicine for almost 8,000 years by South American civilizations, CBD has recently been introduced as a mainstream herbal supplement. CBD, which can be found in bath bombs and ice cream, is also much more commercialized in the US compared to coca in South America, which comes as no surprise considering our commodity-obsessed corner of the world.
The popularity of both of these herbal products come from the fact that they address niche medical issues that are specific to a particular region.
Coca addresses the symptoms of altitude sickness in a city that is 4,000 meters above sea level.
CBD addresses anxiety in a region plagued by the rat race and all of its symptoms: imposter syndrome, FOMO, and stress.
The regulation of coca in Peru, however, is unique compared to the regulation of CBD in the United States. Possession of more than a certain amount of cocaine is punishable by law in Peru, and police officers often treat all who possess processed cocaine as possible traffickers. Unrefined coca, however, is legal and openly sold in the market. Cocaine is also illegal in the US, but so are coca leaves and all coca products.
In the US, the federal government considers marijuana as a Class 1 controlled substance: illegal. Despite that, almost half of the states in the US have approved using marijuana for medical purposes, as it can reduce symptoms associated with Parkinson’s, anxiety, cancer, and multiple sclerosis. Other Class 1 drugs include heroin and LSD, while Class 2 drugs are highly addictive but have medicinal purpose (think morphine). According to a study published by the Shafer Commission during the Nixon era, marijuana should be a Class 2 drug because of its medicinal value.
Being in Class 1, medical marijuana can’t be formally prescribed by physicians, even in states where it’s considered legal. It also can’t be held by doctors, who can really only suggest that patients seek it out on their own. Needless to say, that comes with its own risks.
Doctors in Peru, however, can provide patients coca leaves and coca tea.
Of course, coca is a lot farther from cocaine than medical marijuana is from marijuana: cocaine is refined coca but medical marijuana is just marijuana dispensed from a MMTC (medical marijuana treatment center) and used for medical purposes.
But weren’t we talking about CBD?
According to the federal government, CBD products, with the exception of a seizure medication called Epidiolex, are also considered Class 1 drugs: illegal. The fact that the FDA approved Epidiolex makes the situation even more complicated: the drug exclusion rule states that you can’t add any active ingredient in a pharmaceutical to a food. Yes, that includes CBD muffins and lollipops.
Frankly, the law has a point.
In Cusco, the uses of coca are well-known and trusted by the general public. I mean, it makes sense because people have been using it for thousands of years with no long term damage.
CBD products, on the other hand, are far from trustworthy. While there are some accredited studies to support some of its uses, there isn’t enough science to back up its safety. A number of institutions are doing more research on CBD, but until then, the FDA is turning a blind eye on stores and companies that sell CBD products.
Because no one’s really paying attention to the products on store shelves, CBD is being advertised as a panacea for almost anything and it’s getting harder and harder to determine fact from fiction. It’s also hitting the market in an era of social media that perpetuates misinformation and, well, hype. If it’s uses, as seen by the general public, aren’t scientifically backed, it’s hard to see the supplement as anything but snake oil. The danger of this is that potentially useful CBD products and medicines, like Epidiolex, could disappear under a cloud of misunderstanding and high expectations that CBD can’t live up to.
CBD is quickly becoming the American version of Peru’s coca, but it’s all happening a little too fast. In order for CBD’s medical potential to be realized, the media and market have to take it seriously: it could be much more than an opportunity to capitalize on millennials, vegans, and creatives who seem to be the target demographic for CBD products.
With less noise, science can make a valid case for the use of CBD products. Then, maybe we’ll have laws that actually make sense.
Sources:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/cannabidiol-cbd-what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-2018082414476
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/style/cbd-benefits.html
https://www.doctoroz.com/article/what-s-next-cbd-what-dr-sanjay-gupta-predicts-about-its-future
