God save the Pope from dope

02 July 2015 - 02:16 By Reuters

Pope Francis will decide for himself if he chews coca leaves to ward off altitude sickness when he lands next week at La Paz, Bolivia, the highest international airport in the world, the Vatican said. A Bolivian minister said that Francis had told government officials that he would like to chew coca leaves - the major ingredient of cocaine - when he visits.But spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, responding at a briefing on the trip where several questions revolved around the Argentine pope and the Andean coca leaf, said he did not know if any such request had been made."I am not aware of that," he said. "The pope will do what he thinks is most opportune." At just over 4000m above sea level, La Paz airport is appropriately called "El Alto". ..

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