Coca

Coca leaves and grown and produced here in Bolivia and also in Peru. Theyre used to make cocaine but also have more legal qualities:

Pretty much all of the native people here chew coca leaves. They put a big handfull into one side of their mouths and chew it, releasing its medicinal properties. They also use "catalysts" such as bicarbonate of soda or this weird spongey mass made from the ash of burnt cactus and potatoe (?!). The result is like a tiny tiny bit of cocaine, it numbs your mouth and throat and gives you energy. It is also used to cure altitude sickness and to help digestion.

The first time I tried it I just chewed it like normal food, and it was horrible, I was picking leaves out of my teeth for hours. Once Id learnt the technique I experienced the real effects of the leaves, my mouth went numb, it woke me up a bit, but the taste is really horrible. I like the numb mouth feeling but the problem is that you get bits of leaves everywhere but you cant tell because its all numb.

Its basically a way of live here, people walk around looking like hamsters because their cheeks are so full of coca, but I dont think i'll be doing it again.