Coca Museum, Coca museum in La Paz, Bolivia

The Coca Museum (Museo de la Coca) is a small private museum on Calle Linares in La Paz's historic centre, in the Churubamba neighbourhood. It presents the history of the coca plant (Erythroxylum coca) and cocaine, with exhibits on coca varieties, their chemical breakdown, Andean religious and healing uses, and a replica cocaine laboratory.

The museum was founded to document the thousands of years that Andean peoples have been growing and using coca. It traces how this relationship with the plant has remained central to life in the mountains throughout time.

The museum shows how local communities view coca leaves as part of their daily life and spiritual practices rather than as a drug. You can see how these traditions continue today in the way people use and respect the plant.

The museum is located in central La Paz and offers guided tours in multiple languages to help visitors understand the displays. There is a shop on-site where you can buy products and souvenirs related to the plant.

The museum holds a replica of a cocaine laboratory, and its founder, psychiatrist Jorge Hurtado Gumucio, set it up in 1996 together with Sdenka Silva. A travelling version of the collection is shown outside La Paz.