Pope Francis drinks tea made of coca — the main ingredient in cocaine — to beat altitude sickness

Coca may be the main ingredient in cocaine, but it can also help with altitude sickness, and that's exactly why Pope Francis drank a tea made of coca leaves, anise seeds, and camomile before he arrived in La Paz, Bolivia, on Wednesday.

There was a lot of speculation over whether the pontiff would drink the tea, The Guardian reports; a Bolivian minister shared before the visit that Francis told government officials he'd like to chew some leaves during his time in the country, and a Vatican spokesman said he would decide on his own during the trip if he wanted any. The airport near La Paz is the highest international airport in the world, and the pope, as well as journalists aboard his flight from Ecuador, drank the tea before landing.

Spectators said the pope walked off the plane without difficulty, apparently unaffected by the altitude. Because he had part of one lung removed due to disease as a younger man, he was only planning on staying in the area for a few hours before moving on to Santa Cruz, the largest city in Bolivia at a much lower altitude.

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