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Show 179 physiological condition of the man living at high altitudes leads to a very pronounced tendency toward coca. Dr. Bejarano was Minister of Health in Colombia, and one of the measures he took to combat the use of coca was to decree a monopoly for coca leaves. This measure was not always considered beneficial either by the financial interests that it affected or by independent scholars. ("Suppression of the sale of coca in Colombia," by Henry Lehmann, Boletin Indigenista, IX: 27^31. In this article, written especially for the United Nations, he gives the history of the use of coca in his country, shows its geographic distribution and argues strongly against leniency in treating the problem. He includes the decree promulgated during the time he was minister, mentioning the factors that made it fail, and after proposing cooperative action on the part of local Colombian and internationalagencies, ends with a series of concrete proposals to combat the vice. Monge Mo, Carlos (Peru). "La Necesidad de Estudiar el Problema de la Masticacion de las Hojas de Coca," America Indigena, XIII, No. 1 (January, 1953), pp. 47-54. English Summary: Last October we published an article by Dr. C. A. Ricketts, "El Cocaismo en el Peru" (The Coca Habit in Peru), America Indigena, XII: 309-341. Apart from several comments of a general nature, the author explains that there are two schools regarding the coca habit in Peru: one opposing it, to which Ricketts, Gutierrez Noriega, and others in Peru belong (as well as Dr. Jorge Bejarano in Colombia whose extensive study on the problem is published in this issue), and one defending it, to which Dr. Carlos Monge, considered the best authority on high altitude biology in Latin America, belongs. Dr. Ricketts imagines a sort of dialogue between Dr. Monge and Dr. Noriega, using quotations chosen from their respective writings. This article has brought a protest from Dr. Monge, who states that things he never said have been attributed to him and that from ignorance if not from malice, he is pictured as a firm supporter of what the Narcotics Commission of the United Nations considers to be a fairly harmful habit. We reproduce this letter and are also happy to publish a short article sent in by Dr. Monge in which he explains that the problem has not been solved at all, and that more research is needed to arrive at less hasty conclusions. Dr. Monge states that from the medical point of view there are two opinions: a) coca-chewing is a narcotic addiction, b) coca-chewing is not a narcotic addiction. |