Enaco is the national, state-owned company and regulator of legal coca production in Peru. Coca leaf extra is exported to the United States and brought to the Stephan company. There it is decocainized and the decocainized coca extract is processed and used to flavor Coca-Cola. The Stephan company then sells medical cocaine, which is used in hospitals as a pain killer for certain types of surgeries. In other nations such as Germany, medical cocaine is available for prescription. Enaco also oversees the sales of coca leaves, traditionally used to make tea or chewed with an alkaline substance such as baking soda. The importance of studying Enaco is not only for expanding the legalization of coca worldwide, but it’s also how the United States might create a national cannabis regulator to overseas cannabis once it is fully legal federally.
Enaco also processes medical cocaine that is exported to Europe to be used for eye surgery. It buys the coca leaves from farmers, processes them, and makes the medical-grade cocaine into a form that is used for optical surgery.
It should be noted that the biggest worldwide use of coca leaf extract is for Coca-Cola, a beverage that is legal around the world. The does not contain cocaine, but it is still a beverage derived from coca. It’s one of the major soft drinks in the world. If Coca-Cola can be made into a mainstream drink, what other drinks with various products from the coca leaves could be potentially made? Enaco oversees this type of research and the development of various edible markets in Peru. Similar agencies do the same in Bolivia and Colombia. Bolivia has a soda called Coca Colla that still has cocaine in it. There’s no reason why the US government itself cannot set up something similar for cannabis with legalization spreading (and perhaps one-day coca itself). Cannabis edibles are becoming a much bigger part of both recreational and medical marijuana. What new soft drinks could be made from cannabis? How could they be flavored?
Drinks made from coca leaves are not limited to teas (mate de coca) or soft drinks. There are coca infused alcoholic beverages. Just as Americans have red bull and vodka, Peruvians have coca liquors such as Reserva del Inca. Similarly, we already have cannabis tinctures in America. It would be nice if the research to make cannabis tinctures could be coordinated nationally. Peru’s Enaco has a model that other nations should adopt. This research has been made possible by Candid Chronicle.
