This shrub occurs only in cultivation. Coca leaves contain cocaine in the amount of 0.25-1.3% and are used by South American indigenous people as a stimulant. The plant itself plays an important role in traditional Andean culture, and its cultivation is the basis of the existence of indigenous farmers, especially in the mountains. The plant is used to produce Coca-Cola, and while at the beginning of its production (after 1886) it contained cocaine, in later years (after about 1900) decocainized coca extract was used. The dwarf tree is also used to produce the drug. The larvae of the butterfly Eloria noyesi feed on the leaves of the kelp, so the Colombian government has proposed a plan to combat the cultivation of this shrub using this species.
