a friend came into possession of coca tea. 100 bags of it, containing roughly a gram each, in fact. in my experience, two teabags mixed with some green ginger tea and sugar provides a very nice energy boost and mood elevation similar to but nowhere NEARLY as intense as cocaine. a very good alternative to coffee, this is far more stimulating than a normal cup of green tea, but still not so jittery like coffee can make many people, and with a bit more of a mood lift. he made a strong extract of coca leaf with vodka and two shots mixed in some coca cola provided a very strong stimulation and mood lift. we became very chatty and energetic. had very active conversation, both noted having a bit of trouble sleeping. quite a bit more pleasurable than the tea, and a bit more intense, but probably more prone to abuse. similarly have tried mixing pure crushed coca leaf from the teabags in bowls of cannabis. a hit will make you feel every bit as high as a hit of the cannabis by itself, and there is a mild but enjoyable stimulation present. i've decided i definitely believe smoking coca is pretty effective, even if in its isolated chemical form smoking cocaine hcl is generally considered pretty ineffective. this is verified by the fact that in coca's heyday of praise and admiration, smoking it in coca cigarettes or in a pipe was not uncommon, though it wasn't ever as popular as smoking tobacco or opium. the effect from smoking appears the quickest but doesn't last incredibly long. this is probably also prone to abuse, but not to the same extent as powder cocaine of course. probably more along the lines of marijuana. mixed with cannabis makes for an interesting high, and it doesnt taste too bad. i have tried a suggestion found on erowid wheren you remove the string from the teabag, sprinkle a little baking soda in (in place of of the lime the incas use) and fold it over. hold it in your cheek like a wad of tobacco until it's wet all the way through and you can occasionally give it a small bite and then back in the cheek. it doesnt taste bad at all, except a slightly wierd, kinda salty taste from the baking soda....the coca leaves are inoffensive tasting, though. they'll numb the cheek and gums they're in contact with after a few minutes, and after about 20 minutes or so you can notice the energy boost, which ends up becoming, again, surprisingly noticible. enjoyable and probably second only to drinking as a tea in terms of safety. it seems a bit stronger than the tea. i've tried cocaine several times (i think 7-12) and i can honestly say its never been a particular favorite of mine. it always wigged me out a little too much, and i would get really paranoid and act wierd. the first time i tried it was incredible, but every time i did a significant dose after that was unpleasant. i'd occasionally do a very small bump, though. but overall i really dont like insufflated cocaine, and i've never smoked crack. my friend always loved cocaine and has used quite a bit of it. i'm pretty sure he's smoked crack before, too. he doesn't use cocaine anymore, though he's had a few doses of coca recently. coca is much more subdued and easier to dose out. at such a dilute level its easy to control, but it does have a very real effect that is more noticible than you'd think for how little cocaine is involved. these are tiny doses of cocaine, but from what i understand there are also a few other related alkaloids found in coca leaf. i could see this becoming a habit for someone, but i could not see it becoming one on the same level as a cocaine addiction, or as destructive. in fact, as a tea coca is actually good for you, nutritious, it helps with digestion and nausea, helps with fatigue of course, and apparently it is just about the best cure for altitude sickness (which are all reasons why its important to andean culture...its medicine for people who get altitude sickness, for all sorts of medicinal uses, for energy, and as a very vital part of the diet. not many nutritionally rich foods are found at such high elevations as coca is)
Nice write up. I was actually reading an article about the fact that coca leaves are schedule II in the US, and if it weren't for the fact that you can derive cocain from it there's no reason for it's illicit status. I'd like to find some coca tea sometime because though coffee tastes great, caffine is a shitty "stim", and I really don't want to pop some kind of amphetamine every time I need a boost.
after using a lot of this stuff the past week or so, i've noticed a slight tolerance building up, but still no craving or burning urge to use it other than one more day without coffee. so far it has had no negative effects on my sleep when used in a reasonable fashion (none for at least 4 or 5 hours before i wish to go to sleep, but i could definitely push it a little closer than that if i wanted to) and my appetite is pretty much normal. i did smoke the coca leaves as my main form of ingesting them for a day, and smoked a couple hits every few hours. it has an effect, and at first it numbs your mouth and throat ever so slightly, but you'll feel the effects after a while. this stuff isn't as bad as cigarettes, but you'll still feel it a little later. coughed more than usual the next day.
Found a place that ships the stuff from Peru. I might give it a try if I convince myself that importanting a schedule II plant isn't as big a crime as it surely would be if it was prosecuted... Cafeine is just such a shitty stimulate.
i used to be nervous about this when i first heard, but found it wasn't so uncommon.... take a gander over at amazon.
