Colombia, Bolivia to ask UN to remove coca leaf from narcotics list

Colombia and Bolivia will jointly ask the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs to remove coca leaves from its list of prohibited substances and accept the plant's traditional uses, Colombia's government said on Wednesday.

The proposal, which the two countries will make at the commission's session in Vienna in mid-March, is a bid to de-stigmatize conversations about the problem of drugs, Colombia's vice-minister for multilateral affairs, Laura Gil, said in a statement.

"Bolivia and Colombia consider it is the moment to once again put this issue on the table," she said. "To remove the coca leaf - the leaf, not cocaine - from the prohibited substances list."

Coca leaves are widely used in different countries in Latin America, especially by indigenous groups, to treat stomach aches and altitude sickness, among other ceremonial uses.