The Sacred Coca Plant, an 8.000 Year History and The Fight to Liberate it

Transcript Abstract

In this pre-recorded video, done for the Wisdom of The Leaf Coca Summit, Dr. Andrew Weil, a pioneer in integrative medicine, discusses the often misunderstood coca plant and its profound significance. He shares his personal journey with coca, sparked by his mentor ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, and highlights why he believes coca is one of the world’s most important medicinal plants. Dr. Weil emphasizes coca’s rich historical, cultural, scientific, and botanical importance, lamenting its neglect and demonization by Western cultures due to a focus on only one of its elements – cocaine. Its a powerful call to re-evaluate our relationship with plant medicines and to appreciate the wisdom of traditional uses of coca.