NCJ Number
162702
Date Published
1996
Length
307 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the nature and limitations of Latin American countries' policies intended to control the production and export of cocaine takes issue with analysts who believe that source country control policies can lead to permanent control of the cocaine problem due to the potential high costs of implementing large-scale policies.
Abstract
The analysis notes that, contrary to popular perception, cocaine has had a long and prominent position in the history of drug abuse in the United States. As far back as the late 1800's, cocaine was commonly found in patent medicines, elixirs, and, surprisingly, in the earliest versions of Coca Cola. Eventually, the potency of cocaine was recognized. Its purveyors came under gradual regulation. Events in the early 1900's kept cocaine use down until World War II, but the extensive drug use of the 1960's once again prompted a national temperance movement. Created in 1989, the Office of National Drug Control Policy maintains responsibility for the Nation's drug control policies. Source country control policies have been a central strategy. However, a more effective strategy would be one that recognizes the severe limits that face interdiction, eradication, and other source country policies and that instead focuses on directing the resources of source countries where they will be most useful. Accomplishing this approach requires the definition of a regional strategy that elevates political stability and institution building and demotes traditional drug law enforcement objectives. Figures, chapter notes and reference lists, and index