Colombian Coca Leaf Output Rises to New Heights

Cultivation of the leaf used to make cocaine skyrocketed last year in Colombia, according to a new White House report that's likely to pressure the government to preserve a threatened U.S. aerial eradication program that's been at the heart of the drug war for over a decade.
After six straight years of declining or steady production, the amount of land under coca cultivation in Colombia jumped 39 percent in 2014.
Their release comes as Colombians are increasingly turning against the U.S.-led aerial program that is credited with spraying more than 4 million acres of coca crops over the past two decades.
Colombia's Health Ministry last month recommended suspending the fumigation program after the World Health Organization's research arm reclassified the herbicide glyphosate used to spray coca as a carcinogen.
President Juan Manuel Santos, who at times has criticized Washington's drug policy, has yet to make his views known.