Claim: Coca is grown as a cash plant.

Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae , native to western South America .   The plant is grown as a cash crop in Argentina , Bolivia , Colombia , Ecuador , and Peru , even in areas where its cultivation is unlawful .  There are some reports that the plant is being cultivated in the south of Mexico as a cash crop and an alternative to smuggling its recreational product cocaine .  It also plays a role in many traditional Andean cultures as well as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta -LRB- see Traditional uses -RRB- . Coca is known throughout the world for its psychoactive alkaloid , cocaine . The alkaloid content of coca leaves is relatively low , between 0.25 % and 0.77 % . The native people use it for a stimulant , like coffee , an energy source . Coca leaf extract had been used in Coca-Cola products since 1885 , with cocaine being completely eliminated from the products in or around 1929 . Extraction of cocaine from coca requires several solvents and a chemical process known as an acid / base extraction , which can fairly easily extract the alkaloids from the plant .