Mate de Coca

Mate de Coca is a tea that many locals claim help with altitude sickness (but it hasn't really been proven) and it is used pretty often to do just that. What makes this drink interesting is that the leaves that are used to make the tea can also be used to make cocaine. Now, this drink is not the same as cocaine. Cocaine has about 20 and 30 miligrams of the alkaloid that is found in these leaves whereas the tea has about 4 miligrams. So it's not going to get you high but it can be a stimulant (like caffeine found in soda). However it is illegal in the United States unless it is decocainized (just like you can decaffinate a soda!).