Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThere is no shortage of people willing to plant and harvest coca; and there is no shortage of cocaine. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime , global production hit a record 1,982 tonnes in 2020. That number is up by 11% on the year before, and nearly double the amount produced in 2014 . When Richard Nixon, then America’s president, launched his “war on drugs” in 1971, the flow of cocaine into America was a trickle.
Huge profits give gangs both the incentive and the resources to adapt to whatever law enforcement can throw at them. In Colombia, decades of eradication attempts beginning in the early years of this century led, at first, to a fall in production. But it has since roared back, as plantations have moved into more remote and lawless places. At the same time, gangs have been boosting the productivity of their crops.
Innocent bystanders are often terrorised. In Flor de Ucayali, in Peru, 76 indigenous families live around a clearing of forest near the edge of the Utuquinia river. For years their land has been encroached upon by illegal coca plantations. Last year the police inspected some of the coca fields and destroyed a few maceration ponds, in which harvested coca leaves are soaked with water, lime and kerosene as part of the cocaine-production process.
Peru has therefore long permitted the growing of 22,000 hectares of coca by around 34,000 farmers who are registered with the government. They sell their crop to the only authorised buyer, Enaco, a state-owned firm. It is a similar story in Bolivia. In 2012 the country’s government, then headed by Evo Morales, withdrew from the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, a treaty from 1961 which aims to harmonise its signatories’ drug policies.
It is a similar tale in Peru, where the area under cultivation rose by 30% in 2021 to just under 81,000 hectares. Once again, that is far in excess of the government-mandated limit. And the state-sponsored system is leaky. The official registry of farms has not been significantly updated since it was first created in 1979, making it hard to keep track of what is being grown where. Enaco also tends to offer low prices. The amount of coca leaf it has managed to buy has halved in the past 20 years.
It was never a War it was a collaborative enterprise of deceit
sadly... It has wtf _
So just think of the profits for your clients if we legalise. Hospital share values should boom also to be fair. And funeral parlours.
no war on it when top politicians are funded by it right trump putin
We never really started...🙄
priver15 Ya think🤨 did the war on drugs even ever slow it down in 50 years?
I would like to congratulate drugs for winning the war.
There's a war on drugs? Well, let's roll one and celebrate!
somebody at the Economist is in big with big cocaine
It’s what happens. The “war” is a war for wasting money and time, and it’s a war against the disenfranchised, especially those not blessed with a lot of lucre.
This is news?
Who is the doper at your publication calling for dangerous substances to be legal? Stupid to throw in the towel because criminals are ignoring the law. Jail them and take their cash.
Coke isn’t a shite - they put all sorts of crap in it
at the time legalise and tax it. capitalist owners priority is profit.
The Economist sharing insights that 16 yr Olds in the mid 80s had already nailed.
when production is released this will be reversed
Breaking news?
Like we knew it failed decades ago, but that was never really the point was it?
Suggère que la corruption a augmenté...
Destined to fail when the police cba to properly investigate the usage of class As in parliament..
JoeBiden will legalize this too.
Well duh
'Duuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. We don't think it worked.'
Nice
Then legalize it….tax it
Decriminalizing cocaine will poison the youth in America. This is going to be the downfall of our society and we’re just letting it happen right in front of us.
TheNewImpostor ‘SUGGESTS’?
Oh wow, surprise, another product of the Reagan-legacy failed. Shocked. /s
Lol the one Reagan started?
A fair point is a fair point.
JCOviedo6 Its not illegal in the nations of Midtown Manhattan and The City of London.
Illegal drug consumption is not a victimless crime. Every dollar spent on it is blood money. Legalize production.
It failed decades ago
Omg if only we have known this for 40 years, you’re just now telling me
I’d like to congratulate drugs for winning the war on drugs.
Just legalize drug use Ffs! Cut the dangerous criminal entities out of the process altogether. Go to the source, buy the coca leaves &poppies from the ppl in impoverished areas for a better price than the drug gangs &cartels& make production safer
I thought that was obvious!? The world wants drugs...everyone is using drugs in some way or drugs is using them some way. Confusion is everywhere drugs are..that's an easy way to track them.
We knew this 40 years ago
THAT'S BECAUSE CASH STILL EXISTS.... AND POLITICIANS.... JUDGES....POLICE ARE ON THE PAY ROLE.
Why are we still using the strategy of war to stop something that has proven to be powerful and a part of human society? What happens to journalists at war? Do they not get killed? Makes no sense to try to stop something when poverty keeps increasing. Some ppl kill to protect $.
Police should investigate drugs. Journalists should report on their findings.
The first thing that came to mind when I looked at this picture: Zelinsky's patrons put him in a pile with cocaine and gave him a weapon in his hands.
War on drugs, terror, virus etc. Partly megalomania, partly stealing money.
Éso se traduce como: El Mundo está ven recesión y empobrecido, hay un hambre de dinero.. de dónde obtener ése Dinero?
Surely Western trade over the centuries has killed more natives. Dutch journalists know that!
Why? Murdered with Cocaine?
The war in drugs didn’t work!! Whhhhaaaat? The room is spinning
really
What’s so bad about a tree leaf that numbs you out? Still waiting for an answer
The lawyer who got killed did not investigate the drugs mafia
Witch Dutch journalist got killed investigating the Dutch Coke Mafia ?. Yes it’s a big national problem , Peter r de vries got killed for a other reason
From the beginning this is not a war on drugs
Economist right on time, some 40 years late in the discussion. gg
Yeah you put the ATF, FBI and CIA in charge. What the fuck did you think would happen, they probably sell half the drugs.
New around here?
All Brits are drug addicts
legalize all drugs
Of course it has failed since the DEAHQ FBI CIA are the biggest cartel BBCWorld dwnews coe Europol EU_Commission
Love cocaine
No shit
Impossible to win a war on drugs when we have a country full of addicts..
It failed 40 years ago
Has the cocaine price dropped due to fentynal?
Drugs won the war🙃
Was it ever going to succeed?
So are we acknowledging that 'The war on drugs don't work' is grammatically incorrect? Since it's The Economist I've been trying to make the print title work in my head.
Biggest mistake Nixon made was putting Marijuana in the same space as hard drugs. If not for that mistake the policy may have worked. Soft and hard drugs are worlds apart.
Youre just now figuring this out?
That’s what happens when you elect unhinged Libs.
Drug is the cheapest vote
Remind me why I pay for the subscription?
...On purpose...$$$ was the purpose.
It was a very profitable operation. Maybe not as profitable as the war on poverty but likely more profitable than the war on terrorism (based on duration). Isn't crony capitalism great? VOTE AGAINST INCUMBENTS!!!
Simple economics, reduce demand through internal drug programs. Less demand and supply goes down.
We are a country of junkies , just legalize it all and tax it
follow me
That’s because the CIA was running drug dealers like Noriega and Escobar.
Can you Imagine Anything like that happening?
took you all 50 years to realise this. wake up! no more war on drugs.
I think maybe we're past mere suggestion.
Singapore doesn’t have a cocaine problem because they kill the dealers
And the last horse finally finishes the race... endthewarondrugs
The only way to cure the drug use problem is by opening 'free drug clinics along with an addiction clinic to get free treatments! Stop the crimes, the OD's, and offer a hope of cure! Drug lords exist because of the high profit margins! Make drug use nonprofits!
Nah…it was just people chilling at home during lockdown…you know…idle hands and the devil…
Stop sinning
Jr been hitting it hard
How much went to Zelensky?
If the UN has such accurate production figures, why on earth isn't the civilized world capable of totally destroying this abhorrent trade which destroys millions of innocent lives. Or is it that cocaine is the favorite drug of the rich and influential?
The monopoly is run by the gubbermint
Where does one buy cocaine? This is two billion grams of cocaine, and I am guessing 200 mg is probably a stellar night. There are the equivalent of ten billion wild nights floating around in the ether, and I don't have access to a single one.
I think the world should legalize everything and humans are responsible for their decisions and the consequences- each human does a cost benefit analysis for themselves and makes their own choices
'Suggests'? The war is lost for decades! Instead of spending millions in weapons, get millions from taxing and invest in treatment for addiction and awareness.
Clients ecstatic. Mega bucks. Lots of deaths but they wouldn't count. Just dope heads.
yey ,
Prohibition gives a monopoly to criminals and drives up their profits.
A year where a pandemic happened ALSO saw an increase in drugs It's almost like mental/emotional security and stability is linked to drug usage. If only there were tons of research that could confirm and demonstrate this...
Keeping trump Jr’s habit satiated is no easy task, but the market step up and increases production to keep up.
Corrupt politicians in Colombia and México.
Of course it failed. You can't solve a demand issue by restricting supply. You have to give people better things to do than drugs to decrease demand.
Really? So they didn’t close during the pandemic?
Where can we sign a Surrender Document for the War on Drugs? Clearly Drugs KICKED OUR ASS.... can we start treating it as medical issue?
Free market capitalism? At least some industries are doing well
Gotta offset the adderall shortage somehow
Pandemic meant people had some privacy at least 😉
hell yeah
CIA was busy it seems
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