Bolivia will produce toothpaste made from coca leaves

The government of Bolivia announced that a production plant will be established for toothpaste made from an alkaloid that prevents cavities obtained from coca leaves.

This statement was made earlier this year by the president of Bolivia during an event commemorating National Coca-Chewing Day (El dia Nacional del Acullicho).

At the event, held at the government headquarters in La Paz, Arce said that his administration is working to foster legal coca-growing by pushing initiatives to “produce toothpaste made from coca.”

“One asks why there were no dentists for thousands of years and our (ancestors) had no dental problems. What was happening? There’s an important alkaloid in the coca leaf that neutralizes cavities and so we’re going to establish this factory, this industry to produce toothpaste,” he said.

Arce acknowledged that the government will not be a pioneer in this industry, since some years back there was “a private enterprise” that was heading in that direction but found itself without raw material because of the “policies to reduce coca cultivation” implemented by past administrations.

The Bolivian leader said that the factory will be the first initiative in this direction “and later others will come,” given that coca leaf contains some 13 alkaloids “that are accepted in medicine, nutrition, people’s healthcare” and can be industrialized.

He also lamented certain attempts to “discredit coca leaf” and urged “reevaluating, appreciating, respecting and protecting the ancestral symbol … (with) firm actions that confront this defamation” of the plant, from which cocaine is also derived.

Bolivia celebrates National Coca Chewing Day every Jan. 11 to commemorate the fact that in 2013 the country once again joined the United Nations’ 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, albeit with an exemption that allowed the chewing of coca leaf within the national territory.

In addition, a 2016 law declared “coca chewing” an element of Bolivia’s Intangible Cultural Heritage for being a “traditional behavior” and allows people to “extract the nutritive content of the coca leaf.”

According to Arce, a huge ceremony was planned to commemorate this date, but restrictions due to the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic forced authorities to hold a “small, but significant” event instead.

“Today we pay tribute to our coca leaf, which over the years has become a symbol of integration, reciprocity, and culture,” President Arce emphasized.

TYT Newsroom