Drugs & conflict

The Northern Triangle’s drugs-violence nexus

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 13:38:48 +0000

Mexico has occupied the limelight when it comes to media attention focusing on drug-related violence in Latin America. However, it is actually Central America's Northern Triangle – consisting of Guat ...

Coca Myths

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:37:33 +0000

The coca leaf has been used and misused for many ends, each of them suiting different interests and agendas. Even its very name has been appropriated by a soft drinks producer, which still has diffic ...

Losing Ground

Tue, 09 Jan 2018 13:50:13 +0000

The worsening armed conflict and the all-time record opium production in Afghanistan have caused a wave of panic. We are losing ground. Calls are being made for robust military action by NATO forces ...

'Paco' Under Scrutiny

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Based on two studies carried out in the cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, this report examines the origin, characteristics and impact of the explosive increase in cocaine base paste in urban are ...

Coca Yes, Cocaine No?

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:52:06 +0000

A decade-old demand to remove the coca leaf from strict international drugs controls has come to the fore again. Time has come to repair an historical error responsible for including the leaf amongst ...

Downward Spiral

Tue, 09 Jan 2018 13:22:41 +0000

Opium farmers in Afghanistan and Burma are coming under huge pressure as local authorities implement bans on the cultivation of poppy. Banning opium has an immediate and profound impact on the liveli ...

Coca or death?

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:17:44 +0000

Following Bolivia's 2002 parliamentary elections, the success of the political party headed by cocalero leader Evo Morales, rekindled debate regarding cocalero organisations in the Andes and their vi ...

Cross Purposes

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The anti-drug strategy in Colombia limits the establishment of the basic political conditions necessary to attain the socio-economic goals of alternative development in the midst of war. President Ál ...

Change of Course

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:14:00 +0000

By 1998, when the United Nations convened a special General Assembly on drugs, there was already overwhelming evidence that the current approach to global drugs control had failed miserably, given th ...

Breaking the Impasse

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:15:45 +0000

The past decade has seen an increasing polarisation between divergent trends in global drug policies. On the one hand, there has been an escalation in the US driven War on Drugs, which has created a ...

A Failed Balance

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:10:29 +0000

In the area of failed alternative development (AD) projects, the Andean region has its sorry share to contribute. The constant peasant uprisings n the Bolivian Chapare and the social tensions rife am ...