Native Bolivians have chewed coca leaves as a natural stimulant for generations, and the government of President Evo Morales -- a former coca grower -- is looking for possible legal markets for the plant, including as ingredients in tea, flour, and herbal medicines.

The Washington Post reported March 12 that the Morales government is spending $300,000 on developing legal markets for coca despite condemnation by the United Nations, which has called for the abolition of coca chewing.

The plan also calls for raising the legal limit on coca production in Bolivia, even as countries like the United States have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to eradicate coca crops in South America.

A recent report from the U.N.'s International Narcotics Control Board criticized Bolivia for failing to adhere to the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in regard to coca use.