For thousands of years, people in the Andes have chewed the leaves of the coca plant to stave off hunger, treat altitude sickness, and sustain energy. Yet under international law, this ancient crop is treated as harshly as cocaine and fentanyl. Now, scientists say it's time to end that contradiction.

A new international perspective published in Science argues that scientific evidence clearly supports the coca leaf as a benign, useful, and culturally paramount crop plant that should be removed from the list of Schedule I substances—where it currently appears alongside cocaine and fentanyl—under the 1961 "Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs."

"Coca's record of safe use and cultural importance stands in stark contrast to the harms of purified cocaine," said lead author Dawson M. White, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard.

"Recognizing this difference is essential for evidence-based policy and for aligning with the goals expressed by South American communities most affected by prohibition."

The analysis arrives at a pivotal moment, as the World Health Organization (WHO) is currently reviewing the legal status of coca. An expert report compiled by the WHO confirms both the lack of harm from the coca leaf and the tangible harms caused by its prohibition. The WHO's Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) will meet in Geneva from October 20–22, 2025, to formalize a recommendation to the United Nations (UN) Commission on Narcotic Drugs.