Oral and written statement submitted to 48th ECDD – Information Session – October 20th 2025
The ECDD’s Hands Tied: The Structurally Impossible Descheduling of the Coca Leaf from Schedule I
Distinguished Chair, dear members of the ECDD, all delegates here,
The forthcoming evaluation of the coca leaf by the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence offers a moment of historic importance. It invites the international community to reflect on the coherence and fairness of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961).
Yet it must be acknowledged that, under the current structure of the Convention, an effective descheduling of the coca leaf from Schedule I is legally impossible without a formal treaty amendment.
The coca leaf (Erythroxylon Lam.) holds profound cultural, medicinal, and nutritional significance for Indigenous and Andean communities. Nevertheless, since 1961 it has been treated as equivalent to cocaine. This is because coca, alongside opium and cannabis, constitutes one of the three botanical pillars upon which the Convention’s control system was built.
Under Articles 2(6), 26, and 27, the coca leaf is subject to all control measures applicable to Schedule I substances, irrespective of its formal inclusion in the Schedule. Therefore, even if the ECDD were to recommend, and the Commission were to approve, its removal, the same control obligations would remain in place.
Such descheduling would result only in a change of terminology, not of substance. It could even generate regressive effects:
- The coca leaf would remain fully controlled;
- It would lose access to Article 2(9), which permits exemptions for industrial or non-medical uses;
- The system would face a new inconsistency, applying narcotic drug controls to a substance no longer defined as one.
This would neither correct a historical error nor advance the decriminalisation of traditional and medicinal practices. Instead, it would perpetuate the rigidity of a system that has constrained Andean States and Indigenous peoples for over six decades.
If this process is to honour the principles of the United Nations — respect for cultural diversity, human rights, and scientific evidence — it must move beyond scheduling debates to address the structural limitations of the Convention itself.
We therefore urge Member States, the WHO, and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to:
- Recognise the legal and structural barriers inherent in the Convention;
- Acknowledge the distinct cultural and pharmacological nature of the coca leaf; and
- Initiate an inclusive dialogue toward a coherent and equitable reform of the international drug control system.
Only through such reflection can we move from symbolic revision to substantive reform, and honour the spirit of the United Nations Charter by upholding the dignity and rights of the peoples for whom the coca leaf remains a living heritage.
In memoriam Joep Oomen, Jorge Hurtado and so many friends of the coca leaf
Thank you, Chair.
Submissions form – Oral Statement ENCOD-FAAAT-CSF.docx
