"Coca got us here and now it's our weakness:" Fusarium oxysporum and the political ecology of a drug war policy alternative in Bolivia.

BACKGROUND: A strain of Fusarium oxysporum fungus is killing coca plants in the Chapare coca growing region of Bolivia. Coca farmers are already constrained in the amount of coca they can grow under the government's community-based coca control approach, "social control." Coca leaf is the main ingredient in cocaine, but it is also a traditional medicine and food, is economically vital to household incomes, and is a political symbol of the current government administration. Bolivia's approach to coca control, now administered without any United States military intervention, is an innovative example of experimentation with drug policy reform. METHODS: This paper is based on ethnographic research including semi-structured interviews and observation. RESULTS: Coca growers are worried about the dire economic, social, and political consequences of the fungus' appearance and spread since summer 2013. They have two explanations for its origins: First, that it was sent by the United States government, which in the past was developing a strain of F. oxysporum for use in the drug war; Second, and the explanation of scientists, is that the outbreak is caused by the overuse of agrochemicals and other intensive agricultural practices. CONCLUSION: More than a matter of agroecology, the practices identified in the second explanation must be understood in terms of the persistence of the international drug prohibition regime. Bolivia's social control approach is a successful alternative to violent eradication measures, however the country is constrained to uphold the fundamental principles of supply-side control in order to be a respected partner in global drug control. The supply-side logics restricting social control make intensive agriculture practices attractive, but may have contributed to the fungus' proliferation and its continued spread. The fungus draws attention to the challenges of policy reform, new collateral damages of drug control, and role environmental factors can play in drug control politics.

New answers to an old problem: Social investment and coca crops in Colombia.

BACKGROUND: For more than 30 years, the main strategy to control illicit coca crops has been forced eradication. Despite the importance of social investment and persistent poverty in areas where illicit crops are grown, there is no empirical evidence of the effect of social expenditures on preventing and reducing the expansion of illicit crops. METHODS: This paper analyses how social investment in conjunction with eradication affects new coca crops. The model is tested using a dataset consisting of annual data for 440 contiguous municipalities that had coca in any year between 2001 and 2010. The analysis includes the two main techniques used to control illicit crops, manual eradication and aerial spraying. RESULTS: Aerial spraying is effective in deterring farmers from increasing the size of their new coca fields, but this effect is small. Social investment, in addition to generating social welfare, has a significant negative relationship with new coca crops, 0.09-hectare reduction in new coca crops per additional 50-cent spent in social investment (human capital and infrastructure) per inhabitant. CONCLUSION: Social investment emerges as a complementary and effective strategy to control illicit crops.

Geographically Sourcing Cocaine's Origin - Delineation of the Nineteen Major Coca Growing Regions in South America.

Previously, geo-sourcing to five major coca growing regions within South America was accomplished. However, the expansion of coca cultivation throughout South America made sub-regional origin determinations increasingly difficult. The former methodology was recently enhanced with additional stable isotope analyses ((2)H and (18)O) to fully characterize cocaine due to the varying environmental conditions in which the coca was grown. An improved data analysis method was implemented with the combination of machine learning and multivariate statistical analysis methods to provide further partitioning between growing regions. Here, we show how the combination of trace cocaine alkaloids, stable isotopes, and multivariate statistical analyses can be used to classify illicit cocaine as originating from one of 19 growing regions within South America. The data obtained through this approach can be used to describe current coca cultivation and production trends, highlight trafficking routes, as well as identify new coca growing regions.

Heterogeneous motivations for coca growing: the case of an indigenous Aymara community in Peru.

Coca is a native bush from the Amazon rainforest from which cocaine is extracted. Growing coca is a profitable activity; however, not all farmers located in the coca-supply areas do so. Little is known about farmers' motivations for the decision to grow coca and if so, how much to grow. This article evaluates the influence of monetary and non-monetary factors on these decisions. The study is based on a survey of 496 households in an indigenous Aymara community in Peru. The results suggest, for example, that farmers are more likely to cultivate coca when their plots are characterized by flatter agricultural slopes and when in debt. In relation to the scale of coca cultivation, farmers can be classified into two groups. The larger group (73 percent) grows a high number of coca bushes when facing economic hardship; farmers in the second group (27 percent) seem to be more motivated by the potential profits from coca production relative to coffee, the alternative crop in the area. Therefore, the results support the common notion that farmers cultivate coca in accordance with economic need. Nonetheless, non-economic factors also influence the number of coca bushes cultivated and offer an additional opportunity to reduce coca cultivation if explicitly considered in drug-control policies. This research also discusses potential farmers' responses to different coca-growing reduction strategies. Common drug-control policies such as organic coffee certification, road construction, and education have mixed effects on coca cultivation, depending on the type of coca grower. As such, farmers' motivations are heterogeneous and the design of effective drug-control policies needs to reflect this.

Supply-side harm reduction strategies: Bolivia's experiment with social control.

Harm reduction approaches to drug control have almost exclusively focussed on consumers in northern countries. This article supports recent analysis that indicates that such policies also hold relevance for producer countries by drawing on recent policy innovations in Bolivia. When Evo Morales, the president of the national coca grower confederation, was elected the country's first indigenous president in 2005, he promised to fundamentally change 25 years of the U.S.-funded "drug war" that had generated repeated human rights violations. The new policy, which implicitly incorporates harm reduction principles combined with respect for human rights, recognizes coca leaf's traditional use and cultural importance and relies on vigorous local organizations to implement a community-based programme called social control. Results to date indicate that Bolivia's social control experience has reduced violence in coca growing communities, ensured small farmers a subsistence income from coca and increased sovereignty, while making a modest contribution to containing expansion of coca cultivation. The programme has registered 50,000 farmers who are allowed to cultivate limited quantities of coca to supply traditional users and helped them gain secure title to their land. This registration is combined with satellite surveillance to guarantee that farmers do not exceed limits established by law. To date, the programme's reach is incomplete and coca is still diverted to the drug trade. Nonetheless, the approach may offer lessons for other drug producer countries, particularly where strong socio-political organizations are found in combination with closeknit communities holding shared cultural values.

Illegal drugs, anti-drug policy failure, and the need for institutional reforms in Colombia.

This paper is inspired by two anomalies encountered in the study of the illegal drugs industry. First, despite the very high profits of coca/cocaine and poppy/opium/heroin production, most countries that can produce do not. Why, for example, does Colombia face much greater competition in the international coffee, banana, and other legal product markets than in cocaine? And second, though illegal drugs are clearly associated with violence, why is it that illegal drug trafficking organizations have been so much more violent in Colombia and Mexico than in the rest of the world? The answers to these questions cannot be found in factors external to Colombia (and Mexico). They require identifying the societal weaknesses of each country. To do so, the history of the illegal drugs industry is surveyed, a simple model of human behavior that stresses the conflict between formal (legal) and informal (socially accepted) norms as a source of the weaknesses that make societies vulnerable is formulated. The reasons why there is a wide gap between formal and informal norms in Colombia are explored and the effectiveness of anti-drug policies is considered to explain why they fail to achieve their posited goals. The essay ends with reflections and conclusion on the need for institutional change.

The first step in the biosynthesis of cocaine in Erythroxylum coca: the characterization of arginine and ornithine decarboxylases.

Despite the long history of cocaine use among humans and its social and economic significance today, little information is available about the biochemical and molecular aspects of cocaine biosynthesis in coca (Erythroxylum coca) in comparison to what is known about the formation of other pharmacologically-important tropane alkaloids in species of the Solanaceae. In this work, we investigated the site of cocaine biosynthesis in E. coca and the nature of the first step. The two principal tropane alkaloids of E. coca, cocaine and cinnamoyl cocaine, were present in highest concentrations in buds and rolled leaves. These are also the organs in which the rate of alkaloid biosynthesis was the highest based on the incorporation of ¹³CO2. In contrast, tropane alkaloids in the Solanaceae are biosynthesized in the roots and translocated to the leaves. A collection of EST sequences from a cDNA library made from young E. coca leaves was employed to search for genes encoding the first step in tropane alkaloid biosynthesis. Full-length cDNA clones were identified encoding two candidate enzymes, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and arginine decarboxylase (ADC), and the enzymatic activities of the corresponding proteins confirmed by heterologous expression in E. coli and complementation of a yeast mutant. The transcript levels of both ODC and ADC genes were highest in buds and rolled leaves and lower in other organs. The levels of both ornithine and arginine themselves showed a similar pattern, so it was not possible to assign a preferential role in cocaine biosynthesis to one of these proteins.

Organochlorine pesticide exposure among agricultural workers in Colombian regions with illegal crops: an exploration in a hidden and dangerous world.

A previous study suggested that banned organochlorine pesticides were being used to protect illegal crops from pests. The study herein explored the exposure of individuals living in a region with such crops. Samples from 99 individuals were collected during 2005 and 2006 and organochlorine pesticides were quantified using chromatography in serum samples. We detected heptachlor (72.73%), 4,4-DDE (19.19%), aldrin (15.15%), γ-chlordane (12.12%), dieldrin (11.11%), α-chlordane (10,10%), α-endosulfan (8.08%), endosulfan (6.06%), ß-endosulfan (5.05%), oxychlordane (3.03%), 4,4-DDT (3.03%), and 2,4-DDT (2.02%). Heptachlor had a skewed and negative distribution (median: 8.69 ng/l and maximum: 43.8 ng/l). A two-dimensional biplot suggested that mixtures present were endosulfan/4,4-DDT, aldrin/γ-chlordane, and oxychlordane/ß-endosulfan/dieldrin. We did not identify variables associated with exposure levels. These data suggest that banned organochlorine pesticides are used. This is an example of research in a war context, where the problems related with pesticides are complex, and their implications go beyond a toxicological or epidemiological viewpoint.

Coca (Erythroxylum coca) Control is Affected by Glyphosate Formulations and Adjuvants.

The aerial spray program for the eradication of coca in Colombia uses Glyphos, a local formulation of glyphosate tank-mixed with an adjuvant product, Cosmo-Flux. There are some potential risks to amphibians from direct overspraying of shallow waters. In order to evaluate potential alternative mixtures, a field experiment was conducted at the Center of National Training of Police Operations in Tolima province, Colombia. Plants of coca were established with irrigation and grown to 75 cm tall. A randomized split-plot design experiment was laid out and sprayed with a range of glyphosate formulations and different adjuvants using an experimental ground sprayer. Assessments were made of plant vigor, height, and above-ground standing crop (fresh weight) 3 wk after application. Resprouting of plants was assessed at 9 wk after treatment. Unformulated glyphosate applied as the product Rodeo gave poorer control of coca than two formulated products, Roundup Biactive (from Europe) and Colombian Glyphos. In general, these products performed well without added adjuvants, giving control similar to that of the eradication mixture with Cosmo-Flux. There was some evidence that addition of the adjuvant Silwet L-77 and to a lesser extent Mixture B (from the United Kingdom) gave more rapid herbicide symptoms. There were also indications that glyphosate rates of less than 3.69 kg acid equivalents (a.e.)/ha could give control in the range of 95%. Depending on the environmental risk requirements, the experiment indicates that, should other spray mixtures be required, there are potential alternatives. These would require extensive field testing to cover different environmental conditions, different coca varieties, and particularly aerial application, prior to a recommendation. Should the glyphosate product require changing, Roundup Biactive may be considered. Should the adjuvant require changing, then on the basis of this research, Silwet L-77 and Mixture B would be good candidates for further evaluation.

Comparison of the hazards posed to amphibians by the glyphosate spray control program versus the chemical and physical activities of coca production in Colombia.

This study evaluates the cumulative multifactorial physical and chemical impacts resulting from coca production on amphibian populations in comparison with the potential impacts produced by the herbicide glyphosate (Glyphos), which, mixed with the surfactant Cosmo-Flux, is used in the spray control program for illicit crops in Colombia. Using similar worst-case assumptions for exposure, several other pesticides used for coca production, including mancozeb, lambda cyhalothrin, endosulfan, diazinon, malathion, and chlorpyrifos, were up to 10- to 100-fold more toxic to frogs than the Glyphos-Cosmo-Flux mixture. Comparing hazard quotients based on application rates, several of these compounds demonstrated hazards 3-383 times that of formulated glyphosate. Secondary effects, particularly of insecticides, are also a concern, as these agents selectively target the primary food source of amphibians, which may indirectly impact growth and development. Although the potential chemical impacts by other pesticides are considerable, physical activities associated with coca production, particularly deforestation of primary forests for new coca plots, portend the greatest hazard to amphibian populations. The entire production cycle of cocaine has been linked to ecosystem degradation. The clearing of pristine forests for coca propagation in Colombia is well documented, and some of these regions coincide with those that contain exceptional amphibian biodiversity. This is particularly problematic as coca production encroaches more deeply into more remote areas of tropical rain forest. Transportation of disease, including the chitrid fungus, to these remote regions via human intrusion may also adversely affect amphibian populations. Therefore, the cumulative impacts of coca production, through habitat destruction, application of agrochemicals, and potential transmission of disease, are judged to pose greater risks to amphibian populations in coca-growing regions than the glyphosate spray control program.

Historical trends in the production and consumption of illicit drugs in Mexico: implications for the prevention of blood borne infections.

Mexico has cultivated opium poppy since before the 1900's and has been an important transit route for South American cocaine for decades. However, only recently has drug use, particularly injection drug use, been documented as an important problem. Heroin is the most common drug used by Mexican injection drug users (IDUs). Increased cultivation of opium poppy in some Mexican states, lower prices for black tar heroin and increased security at U.S.-Mexican border crossings may be contributing factors to heroin use, especially in border cities. Risky practices among IDUs, including needle sharing and shooting gallery attendance are common, whereas perceived risk for acquiring blood borne infections is low. Although reported AIDS cases attributed to IDU in Mexico have been low, data from sentinel populations, such as pregnant women in the Mexican-U.S. border city of Tijuana, suggest an increase in HIV prevalence associated with drug use. Given widespread risk behaviors and rising numbers of blood borne infections among IDUs in Mexican-U.S. border cities, there is an urgent need for increased disease surveillance and culturally appropriate interventions to prevent potential epidemics of blood borne infections. We review available literature on the history of opium production in Mexico, recent trends in drug use and its implications, and the Mexican response, with special emphasis on the border cities of Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana.

Cocaine problems in the coca-growing countries of South America.

The problems of cocaine present a rather particular profile in the Central Andes region from which this drug originates. On the one hand there is a relatively harmless pattern of use (coca leaf chewing) in the countries concerned which minimizes the drug's most hazardous properties. On the other hand the region suffers from some of the most severe cocaine-related problems to be observed anywhere: (a) easy access to the newer, highly toxic preparations of the drug (such as coca paste) and a rapid growth in the number of new users; (b) the abandonment of certain traditional and essential agricultural activities in favour of the more profitable coca leaf production; (c) the severe ecological damage being caused in the coca growing areas; and (d) the establishment of a powerful coca trade economy which is subverting the very fabric of society and is creating corruption, lawless violence and political anarchy.

Coca-leaf production in the countries of the Andean subregion.

The estimated areas under coca-bush cultivation in 1988 are expected to total 44,300 hectares in Bolivia, 25,000 hectares in Colombia, 400 hectares in Ecuador and 114,400 hectares in Peru. The estimated projections for 1989 indicate that coca-leaf production may amount to 68,200 tonnes in Bolivia, 20,000 tonnes in Colombia, 300 tonnes in Ecuador and 120,100 tonnes in Peru. Of all the Andean countries, Venezuela is the only one that has no coca-leaf production problem. According to estimates for the period from 1985 to 1989, coca-leaf production will increase by 43.3 per cent in Bolivia, by 13.6 per cent in Colombia and by 26.2 per cent in Peru. Coca-leaf production in Ecuador has consistently followed a downward trend. According to estimates, since 1985 coca-leaf production in Peru has accounted for more than one half of the total amount produced in the Andean subregion, while production in Colombia, though it has increased in the same period, has accounted for a relatively small share. In 1987, estimated coca-leaf production in Bolivia amounted to 30.2 per cent of the total amount produced in the subregion.