Reading Blog 10
Quote from “We the Indians:”
“Drug addiction will not be wiped out with repression but with the transformation of the culture of deadly competition into the culture of solidarity” (pg. 120)
In this chapter Blanco discusses the coca leaf’s spiritual and healing uses in Peru, making a case for how it has been an important part of Peruvian medicine and culture. However, the global perception of cocaine is its use as an illicit stimulant, with the US as Peru’s largest market. In regards to cocaine use, he says this quote. He argues that we live in an age with a lot of pressures that make life difficult, and thus people turn to substances like cocaine to deal with having to exist. Basically he’s telling us to not do drugs as a coping mechanism. The deadly competition he references is capitalism that causes everyone to be cutthroat and be in constant competition with each other. Similar to the rest of the book, he argues for a more collectivist society by saying we should have more of a “culture of solidarity.”
He draws an interesting parallel between capitalism and substance use. Blanco correlates excessive cocaine use issues and capitalism in America. It seems almost like a cautionary tale for Peru that continuing to partake in capitalism will create a world that is so difficult to cope with that people will turn to stimulants to keep up and drown out their difficulties. At another part in the book he references how coca is how Peruvians are taken advantage of by being forced to work super long hours in the mines without food or drink. Perhaps his anti-capitalist sentiments derive from the unnaturalness of the work conditions he’s observed in Peru. However, I am somewhat struggling to differentiate using coca for work in the fields vs work in the minds. Both have been exploitative to the workers under capitalism and feudalism.
In another sense, the global drug trade extending from Peru to America speaks to the interconnectedness of global capitalism. The coca leaf is so natural in Peru but so chemical in the US. Throughout the drug trade the drug composition changes drastically and acquires whole new social and cultural meanings. We’ve had multiple interactions with coca leaf during our time here as a mild stimulant, almost equivalent to caffeine. The spaces of consumption have been in casual settings like the hotel or at the community. The reputation of cocaine in North America however is associated with very high stimulus environments like nightclubs or Wall Street. Even though both drugs are both derivative of coca, and are consumed for greater productivity, they are consumed very differently. Besides mode of consumption, what are other ways substances acquire social meanings?
Hi Ana!
Loved you blog, as per usual. One thing you said particularly stood out to me
"The coca leaf is so natural in Peru but so chemical in the US. Throughout the drug trade the drug composition changes drastically and acquires whole new social and cultural meanings." The new cultural and social meanings is so interesting to me; when we first arrived in Peru, I was very anxious about how coca would effect me, as a person with ADHD who is impacted by stimulants differently than others. I actually read something really interesting recently, it said that there is a noticeably lower percent of people with ADHD in the Andes, it's like this whole phenomenon. Maybe the reason there are 'less' is because their symptoms are masked by coca leaf stimulants ... I don't really mean that seriously, but it is interesting to think about.
Thinking about this quote along with Blanco's hope for a more collectivist society, I am brought to think about the toxic drug crisis in Vancouver. His statement you use: “drug addiction will not be wiped out with repression but with the transformation of the culture of deadly competition into the culture of solidarity,” makes me think about the community based approaches to managing and reducing the toxic drug supply crisis, versus the city's attempts to suppress those efforts. The only way to reduce the crisis is to fall back on a community-focused approach, where substances are tested and used at safe spaces such as safe injection sites. Anyways, that's my little tangent.
Hi Ana:)
I enjoyed reading your blog! I absolutely agree that as pressure increases, we must find outlets to 'cope' with it. I think its important to move away from the narrative that more (work/money/status) is always better so that we can balance our go go go western society with focus on health. Somewhere during this course I read that Incas who held more status were able to use narcotic forms of coca. I think there has always been stigma attached to those who use substances when they hold lower social status. Ultimately I believe that reducing stigma surrounding substance use and dedicating resources to the development of many alternative coping mechanism is a better use of resources than the criminalization of substance use.