In his essay, “Maté de Coca: Never Say No,” Taras Grescoe talks about his experience in La Paz, Bolivia and his first encounter with coca leaves, also known as “maté de coca.” Initially, I found Grescoe’s story extremely thought provoking; he shows his audience how opinions and acceptance towards drugs varies from country to country and culture to culture. I thought it was interesting that buying coca leaves in Bolivia was just like going to Starbucks and buying a latte. I also liked how he discussed the varying attitudes and origins of human substance use later in his essay to show how even highly regarded philosophers and historical people like Socrates, Aristotle, and Dr. William Hasted, the founder of Johns Hopkins medical center and father