Original publication: March 1979.
Mom, Apple Pie & Cocaine
An open letter to president Carter explains how Americans can get legal blow
By Richard Ashley
The next consideration is proper soil. In a natural environment coca does best in the limestone-free red clay common to the Andes; under artificial conditions a limestone-free mixture of leaf mold and sand affording good drainage is preferable (according to Angelo Mariani, inventor of Vin Mariani, the coca-based wine beloved by, among other notables, Thomas Edison, Jules Verne, William McKinley, Pope Leo XIII and the Grand Rabbi of France. Mariani was also the leading authority on growing coca in artificial environments).
Having established the proper environment in terms of soil, temperature and high humidity, young coca plants may be started either from seeds or cuttings. They should be planted in boxes allowing one square foot per plant. Though plants started from seeds will begin pushing through the earth in two weeks, the leaves aren’t ready for picking until the plant is 18 months to two years old. A long wait, Mr. President, but worth it. The optimum yield (and why settle for less?) from a modest 8-by-12 growing area would be in the neighborhood of 864 ounces, calculated on three harvests per year of 72 plants.
For those who may wish to convert their leaves to cocaine, the late W Golden Mortimer, author of the classic Peru, History of Coca, ‘‘The Divine Plant” of the Incas, cited the following simple home procedure:
“One hundred grammes of finely ground leaves are moistened with 100 cc of 7-percent solution of sodium carbonate, packed in a percolator and sufficient kerosene added to make 700 cc of percolate. This is transferred to a separator and 30 cc of 2-percent solution of hydrochloric acid added and shaken. After separation the watery solution is drawn off from …
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Author: High Times Vault / High Times
