Argentine laws about coca leaves

[Edmund Pickett]

I was just in Salta for a week and discovered that coca leaves are for sale everywhere there. I tried them and liked the effect. The high was moderate, about like a double espresso but what surprised me was that my appetite was reduced. Since I've been trying to lose weight, so far unsuccessfully, I would like to see if it would work over a longer term. My question is legality. There is no place locally that sells coca leaves. Is there a provincial or national law against coca leaves? Can they be shipped by bus?

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Not a direct answer to your question because I don't know but Yerba Mate is an appetite suppressant and often touted as a dietary aid in the USA and beyond. If you are not familiar with it (as if.....) it comes in lots of strengths and flavours and if you don't fancy using a bombilla and gourd, it also comes in teabags. Legend has it that the reason gauchos drank mate all day was because it would stave off the pangs of hunger until they settled in their evening encampments.

 

[Quilombo]

I was just in Salta for a week and discovered that coca leaves are for sale everywhere there. I tried them and liked the effect. The high was moderate, about like a double espresso but what surprised me was that my appetite was reduced. Since I've been trying to lose weight, so far unsuccessfully, I would like to see if it would work over a longer term. My question is legality. There is no place locally that sells coca leaves. Is there a provincial or national law against coca leaves? Can they be shipped by bus?

I like them too, and they're great as a tea with lemon in the morning, makes your gums tingle too. They're legal here in Argentina, Ley 23,737 (for possession for personal/familiar use as is such as chewing or as a tea, etc; processing in to cocaine is of course illegal)

Remember not to transfer them internationally as that's generally illegal even between countries in which they are legal. (They are illegal in the United States unless the leaves are "spent", i.e. the alkaloids have been stripped from the leaves defeating the purpose of using them).

If anyone knows where to get them here in CABA please let me know, looks like Mercadolibre no longer lets people list them.

 

[Redpossum]

I was just in Salta for a week and discovered that coca leaves are for sale everywhere there. I tried them and liked the effect. The high was moderate, about like a double espresso but what surprised me was that my appetite was reduced. Since I've been trying to lose weight, so far unsuccessfully, I would like to see if it would work over a longer term. My question is legality. There is no place locally that sells coca leaves. Is there a provincial or national law against coca leaves? Can they be shipped by bus?

If I may ask, how did you ingest them?
I have read that if chewed, some source of lime is needed.

 

[Rich One]

Long distance bus line drivers chew coca leaves normally to stay awake.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

If I may ask, how did you ingest them?
I have read that if chewed, some source of lime is needed.

Like buble gum with backing soda.
At Linierns Bolivian Market on Saturday you might find them or as tea.

 

[Redpossum]

Like buble gum with backing soda.
At Linierns Bolivian Market on Saturday you might find them or as tea.

Thank you, Bajo. Much appreciated!


Five year old article about the Bolivian Market at Liniers. It looks interesting but it's perilously close to the edge of the world; wander two blocks west and you might fall off...

 

[D.B. Cooper]

You can buy the Windsor brand Coca teabags on Mercado Libre. Made in Bolivia. Also you can buy the raw coca leaves at the Constitucion train station. There are two little Bolivian type women on the sidewalk by the Lima street side entrance. They sell herbs and spices. The coca leaves are not out in the open. You have to ask for them.

 

[sts7049]

do those tea bags actually give you the buzz too?

 

[Bajo_cero2]

do those tea bags actually give you the buzz too?

No at all. They are used to have a milder effect when you are over 2000 mts.