Timeline of Events in Coca History
Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid (as are atropine and scopolamine). A timeline of tropane alkaloids.
Timetable of Events in Coca History
| Date | Event | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 5000 BCE | Chewing of activated coca in Peru | Antiquity, Winter 2010 |
| 3000 BCE | Coca chewing throughout South America | |
| 1500 | Incan coca plantations in Peru | |
| 1505 | Reports of coca reach Europe | |
| 1539 | Catholic bishop of Cuzco tithes coca, takes 1/10 of crop in taxes | |
| 1550s | Pizarro destroys Incan empire - disrupts coca usage patterns | |
| 1560 | First attempt to eradicate coca leaf, by Spanish Viceroy of Peru - Francisco de Toledo | |
| 1574 | Monardes' text on coca translated from Spanish into Italian and English | Bauman Rare Books |
| 1575 | Spaniards use coca to make native slaves more productive while mining | CocaSpain |
| 1580 | Monardes brings coca leaves to Europe | |
| 1662 | Abraham Cowley's poem, "Legend of Coca", first mention of coca in English literature | LegendCoca |
| 1708 | Coca first mentioned in medical literature, Institutiones Medicae, written by Dutch physician/botanist Herman Boerhaave | |
| 1787 | "De la celebrada planta llamada Hayo, por otro nombre Coca" | Don Antonio Julian, padre |
| 1794 | Peruvian doctor José Hipólito Unánue publishes "Disertación sobre la coca", a popular reference work for decades | |
| 1835 | Sir William Hooker, of Kew Gardens (London), publishes first accurate drawing of coca plant in popular press | KewCoca |
| 1838-1878 | Britain forces China to import addictive opium from British India, with British merchants using the profits to buy healthy Chinese tea | Opium Wars |
| 1850 | Coca tinctures used in throat surgery | |
| 1855 | German chemist Friedrich Gaedcke extracts coca alkaloid (non-addictive) from coca leaves | Gaedcke |
| 1859 | Albert Niemann, of the University of Göttingen, synthesizes cocaine hydrochloride (addictive) | |
| 1863 | Angelo Mariani patents Vin Mariani, a combination of coca extract and wine | |
| 1865-1905 | Many patent medicines in the United States contain cocaine | UBuf2001 |
| 1869 | Seeds from the commercial variety of coca arrive at Kew Gardens | |
| 1870s | Coca cultivation introduced into SouthEast Asia, in particular, island of Java | CocaJava |
| 1876 | Tomas Moreno y Maiz, a Peruvian military surgeon, publishes "Sobre el Erythroxylon Coca del Perú y sobre la 'cocaína'" in Lima's El Nacional newspaper | |
| 1884 | Cocaine's use as a local anesthetic in eye surgery is popularized | |
| 1884 | Sigmund Freud publishes "On Coca" in which he recommends the use of cocaine to treat various medical conditions | Portuguese version |
| 1884-1887 | Pharmacist Alfredo Bignon leads effort to establish a Peruvian cocaine science and technology (obtains patent in 1885) | Goot2007 |
| 1886 | John Pemberton introduces Coca Cola, containing cocaine, cola syrup, sugar and caffeine | (old photos) |
| 1888 | Ulloa "Coca Commission" in Peru strongly urges export of coca products | |
| 1890 | German chemist Eduard Ritsert synthesizes benzocaine, a white powder drug with an anesthetic effect similar to cocaine, that is now available over-the-counter | GB190308095 |
| 1890 | 26 Stat. 620 - United States starts taxing opium imports, at $12/pound; U.S. ends opium imports in 1909 | 26Stat620 |
| 1900 | Farbwerke (Hoechst) waives rights to its superior 1894 patent for making cocaine, Verhafen zur Darstellung von Ecgoninalkylester | DE76433 |
| 1903 | Coca Cola, for racist reasons, eliminates cocaine from its Coca Cola sodas | The Atlantic, Jan. 2013 |
| 1905 | Tobacco is dropped from the list of medical drugs in U.S. Pharmacopoeia, so it can't be regulated in 1906 by a new food and drug law | Harvey Wiley |
| 1906 | Pure Food and Drug Act is passed in the U.S., which regulates labelling of (but does not prohibit) products containing cocaine and other drugs that appear in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia | PureDrug |
| 1910 | U.S. Department of Agriculture advocates against cocaine (then being used to help people quit smoking cigarettes that are more addictive and destructive) to protect the tobacco industry | USDA-v-AMA-re-coca |
| 1914 | U.S. passes Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, regulating and taxing the sales of cocaine and other drugs | HaNaTax |
| 1910-1930 | Netherlands: cocaine is a legal drug, main company is Dutch Cocaine Factory | DE-2006 |
| 1910-1930 | History of the Nederlandsche Cocaine Fabriek (Dutch Cocaine Factory) | NCFHist |
| 1935-1950 | Peruvian doctor Carlos Gutierrez Noriega publishes false scientific data on coca chewing and harmful effects on diet - debunked by Burchard in 1992 | CGN1992 |
| 1930-1950 | In the U.S, Harry Anslinger uses racial hatred of African and Mexican Americans to have marijuana falsely equated with cocaine as a regulated drug | RACIST |
| 1948-1949(?) | Howard Fonda, a VP at a drug company, travels to Peru to "assess" coca, but not speaking Spanish nor native languages, writes a biased and racist report. In 1949, the U.N. erroneously adopts his findings about coca | |
| 1949 | U.N. Commission of Enquiry on the Coca Leaf - a scientifically flawed, racist U.N. study on coca, used to justify banning coca leaf use in 1961 treaty | UNComEngCoc |
| 1961 | U.N. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is passed - coca and cocaine regulated under Schedule III | UNSCND61 |
| 1968 | U.K. Wootton Report agrees with 1894 India Hemp Drugs Commission, 1929 U.S. Army Panama Canal Report, and 1944 New York Mayor's Committee on Marijuana, that long term use of marijuana in moderate doses has no harmful effects | Wootton |
| 1979 | U.S. v. Stieren - appeals court rules that while cocaine is medically not a narcotic, it can be politically referred to as a narcotic | 608 F.2d 1135 |
| 1987 | World Council of Indigenous Peoples: Lima declaration in support of traditional coca use | Lima1987 |
| 1988 | Bolivia Law 1008 of July 1998: Regime applicable to coca and controlled substances | BolCocaLaw |
| 1989 | In Argentina, Article 15 of Law 23737 of 1989 is passed, permitting chewing of coca or drinking of coca tea | Article 15 of Law 23737 |
| 1992 | Roderick Burchard discredits Gutierrez Noriega's racist claims that coca chewing was harmful to Andean diets | Burchard |
| 1995 | UN WHO report states use of coca leaves has no negative health effects - report is suppressed | WHO 1995 |
| 2006 | Evo Morales, long-time head of coca growers' union of Bolivia, and political activist, is elected President of Bolivia | EvoMorales |
| 2008 | United States suspends Bolivia from the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act for not eradicating enough coca leaf | ATPDEA |
| 2013 | United Nations recognizes rights of Bolivians to chew coca | ABC News, 12 Jan 2013 |
| 2013 | European Union announces willingness to allow the import of coca products backed by scientific evidence of utility | La Razon, 31 August 2013 |
| 2013 | UK parliamentary group issues report urging legalization of coca use | The Independent, 09 October 2013 |
| 2014 | CELAC: special declaration about coca leaf approved by Celac | Celac, 29 January 2014 |
| 2014 | World Health Organization calls for decriminalization of drug use | WHO, July 2014 |
| 2015 | Mandato nacional de los cultivadores de coca de Colombia | Constituyente Nacional de Cultivadores de Coca de Colombia, July 2015 |
See also: interesting timetable of coca eradication in Colombia from 1978 to 2013.
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