Coca - is it a drug, is it not?

I had heard about Coca-tea from the doctor who I went to for my shots before the trip started as she had lived in Peru for about four years. As soon as we arrived in Cuzco at the hotel, the first thing they did was hand us coca-tea in the lobby. We had a basket of coca tea leaves with every meal for you to make tea. Every morning, our guide, Boris, would bring us a cup to coca tea to our tent in the morning. They sell bags of coca leaves in stores, they even make candy out of the coca tea leaves. I even saw some of the porters shoving the leaves in their mouths as they were running up the Inca Trail with 50 lbs of gear on their backs. What is it about this stuff?

The Peruvians believe that the coca tea leaves are an altitude sickness preventative. So they make tea out of it. It is also said that if you tear off the stems, break up the leaves, and keep it in your mouth between your gums & cheek, it will prevent altitude sickness. I tried this on Day 2 of the hike and was faithfully drinking the tea every chance I got. Who knows if it worked or not, but none of us got altitude sickness, so maybe its true. Boris told us not to try to bring it home because the US won't allow it in the country, these are coca leaves and are the basis for cocaine. My doctor here in the US even asked me if I would need to undergo any sort of drug tests when I got home because I would probably test positive for cocaine for a few weeks while it was still in my system. I don't know if it worked or not, but all I know is I never got sick from the altitude, no headaches after that first day. Looking back, it probably explains why I was unable to sleep very well as it contains caffeine.

Sharon bought a t-shirt in one of the markets for her son with a picture of a coca leaf on it. I can't remember the phrase in Spanish, but in english it basically translated to, "Coca is not a drug". Funny.

Boris pointed out to us what the leaves looked like when they were growing:

I swore I smelled the leaves on some parts of the Inka trail while we were out hiking. The only way I knew was because the leaves kinda smell like marijuana and that's what I was smelling while we were hiking.