A term that refers to plants containing mild stimulants, often having been used in indigenous cultural settings, such as coca, khat, ephedra and kratom. The term is used to point to the distinction between mild, naturally occurring stimulants such as coca, used traditionally across the Andean region, and powerful alkaloid extracts and pharmaceutically produced substances (cocaine, crack, amphetamine and methamphetamine), the uses of which have much greater associated harms.
