Pope drinks tea mix including coca leaf on flight to Bolivia


  • World
  • Thursday, 09 Jul 2015

LA PAZ, Bolivia, July 8 (Reuters) - Pope Francis drank a tea of coca leaves, chamomile flower and anise seeds on the plane to Bolivia from Ecuador to ward off altitude sickness upon arrival at the highest international airport in the world.

Coca is the main ingredient for cocaine but people in the Andean region have chewed coca leaves or drank coca tea for centuries for its medicinal properties.

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