Chocolate cocaine?

I don't do cocaine either, but if it were chocolate... This seems to be what Greg Morrison has inadvertently implied in his Oct. 29 column, "A sad tale of cocaine and Congress." Morrison confuses "cocoa," the seed of the cacao tree used to make chocolate with "coca," the leaves of which contain cocaine alkaloids. Although both are produced in Columbia, only one is associated with AK-47's and Marxists. This typo, repeated twice, makes me wonder what else is missing from Morrison's picture. For instance, there is no mention of paramilitary troops and their relationship to both the government and the Marxists in the war on drugs. Additionally, there is no assessment of the microeconomic impacts of the Columbia Free Trade Agreement. Costa Rican small farmers, for instance, rigorously oppose a similar agreement because it would favor large, American-owned farming corporations and would run local farms out of business. So before you write to your congressperson, as Morrison suggests, please, check your facts.

Chris McGuire

Trinity '09