The chewing of coca leaves in Peru.

The chewing of coca leaves was practiced in Peru in remote times, possibly before the Incas. Nevertheless, in the opinion of chroniclers of the conquest of Peru by the Spaniards, the cultivation and use of coca was very restricted at that time, so that chewing was a privilege of the Inca aristocracy, who consumed coca during official and religious ceremonies. According to the chronicler Santillin and also the Viceroy Francisco de Toledo, after the Spanish conquest limitations on coca use and cultivation were removed, and coca became a lucrative business. An idea of the extent of coca use following the conquest can be gotten from the fact that in the mines of Potosi alone 100,000 baskets of leaves were consumed in 1583. The spread of coca addiction during the first year of the conquest was not unnoticed by the Spaniards, and some of them tried to control it. Thus, the Marques de Cafiata issued ordinances to restrict its cultivation and during the Council of Lima (1567-1569) the use of coca for religious purposes was disapproved. Santillin and Falc6n regretted its propagation, especially Falc6n who proposed measures to eradicate the habit, etc. On the other hand, several ordinances from the Viceroys (1570, 1571, 1574) authorized coca cultivation. The widespread use of coca can be attributed to several factors: (1) 287 Copyright @ 1970 by Marcel Dekker, Znc. Su bs t U se M is us e D ow nl oa de d fr om in fo rm ah ea lth ca re .c om b y St at sb ib lio te ke t T id ss kr if ta fd el in g on 0 3/ 20 /1 3