Abstract
This chapter surveys the levels of drug use and the type of drugs available in the markets, and it analyzes the trends over the last decades. I use data from surveys to show that drug is increasingly becoming a domestic problem for most countries in the region.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Over the last few years, some countries have legalized cannabis (as have a few US states). For analytical purposes, I include cannabis as one of the illegal substances addressed in this book, although the changes in its legal status in some countries are noted.
- 2.
In 2016 opioid overdoses took more lives than homicide in the USA, with more than 50,000 deaths attributed to the epidemic. See The New York Times Sept 2, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/02/upshot/fentanyl-drug-overdose-deaths.html.
- 3.
As occurs with heroin, a great amount of poppy plants are needed to produce heroin, and as a result, these plantations are also large. Afghanistan, for example, has suffered extreme violence for decades, partially due to the struggle among warlords to control the area of opium cultivation.
- 4.
José Miguel Insulza, former Secretary General of the OAS, said in an interview that the price differential is increasing due to an overemphasis on criminal justice. According to Insulza, it costs $650 to produce one kilogram of cocaine, and its retail sales price in certain locations can reach $330,000 (see the interview on the Inter-American Dialogue website: http://thedialogue.org/page.cfm?pageID=32&pubID=3662).
- 5.
To measure purity, samples of purchased or seized products must be processed in official labs. In many cases, it is not clear whether these measurements are actually done or how reliable the data is.
- 6.
In 2016, cheap and very toxic sales of synthetic drugs led to dozens of overdoses and even deaths at raves and concerts in Buenos Aires and Mexico City.
- 7.
Based on conversations of the author with public officials entrusted with carrying out these surveys in several countries of the region, most surveys rely on considerable sample sizes.
- 8.
This information can be consulted online in Spanish on the SENDA website: http://www.senda.gob.cl/observatorio/estadisticas/.
- 9.
The prevalence data for school-age youth can be found in the CICAD document Report on Drug Use in the Americas 2011 at http://www.cicad.oas.org/oid/pubs/DrugUse_in_Americas_2011_en.pdf.
References
Astorga L (2012) El siglo de las drogas. Editorial Grijalbo, Mexico DF
Caulkins J, Hawken A, Kilmer B, Kleiman M (2012) Marijuana legalization: what everyone needs to know. Oxford University Press, Oxford
ENA (2011) Encuesta Nacional de Adicciones 2011. Ver http://encuestas.insp.mx/ena/ena2011/ENA2011_drogas_con_anexo.pdf, p45
Gootenberg P (2012) El “efecto no deseado” de la cocaína en el norte: una pre-historia de la cadena productiva de la crisis de drogas en México. Regulando la Guerra Contra las Drogas. En http://www.lse.ac.uk/IDEAS/publications/reports/SR014_Spanish.aspx
Kilmer B (2013) Seven questions on marijuana legalization. In http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/04/25/marijuana-legalization-column/2104229/
Light MK, Orens A, Lewandowski B, Pickton T (2014) Market size and demand for marijuana in Colorado. Prepared for the Colorado Department of Revenue. En https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/Market%20Size%20and%20Demand%20Study,%20July%209,%202014%5B1%5D.pdf
Reuter P (1985) The organization of illegal markets: an economic analysis. National Institute of Justice, Washington, DC
The Economist (2012) All cut up. Aug 11G
WDR (2014) World drugs report. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna
WDR (2017) World Drug Report. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bergman, M. (2018). The Use of Illegal Drugs in Latin America: A Brief Introduction. In: Illegal Drugs, Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73153-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73153-7_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73152-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73153-7
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)