Coca

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Coca tree in Colombia

Coca may refer to any of the four cultivated plants which belong to the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. The plant is an important cash crop in Bolivia and Peru. It also plays a significant role in many traditional Andean cultures as well as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (see the Traditional uses). Coca is best known throughout the world for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. However, the alkaloid content of coca leaves is negligible: between .25% and .77%, and production of cocaine from coca requires complex chemical processes. This means that chewing the leaves or drinking coca tea does not produce the high (euphoria, megalomania) people experience with cocaine.