The U.N.’s annual World Drug report is in and — good news! — it turns out that crocheted hackie sack isn’t the only local artisanal product those hippies on the quad are supporting. The world’s drug market is also hitting the locavore trend.
Here in the States, for instance, imported cocaine is on the decline and home grown (well, not necessarily grown so much as distilled from only the finest household cleaning products in a vintage trailer park bathtub) drugs are taking its place.
Joshua Keating at Slate has the story:
The report notes that in Europe, “cannabis herb produced locally or regionally now gaining ground over cannabis resin, largely sourced from Morocco, which previously was the dominant cannabis substance” on the continent.
When it comes to cocaine, use has fallen in North America likely due a lack of supply. Supply’s steady in Europe, but demand has fallen. The main area where cocaine is expanding in South America, where it is almost exclusively produced. Also, “users in some European countries are replacing heroin with synthetic opioids.” The production of methamphetamine in the U.S. and Mexico is also increasing.
According to the report, law enforcement and supply interruption are a major force in this trend, but in Colorado, for instance, laws legalizing marijuana also mandate that it be grown, sold, and used within the state. Whatever the reason, the trend toward greater localization is probably a good thing, seeing as drug cartels aren’t really known for minding the carbon emissions of their narco-submarines.
I guess if you’re gonna smoke ’em, keep ’em in the neighborhood and save the long-distance travel for your hallucinations.
