The Deceptive Gains of the War on Drugs

World Policy: Robert Valencia.
Recently, the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske, shared what he considered great news: According to numbers from the White House, potential cocaine production in Colombia had dropped by 72 percent since 2001. This ranks the country third in production of the substance, behind neighbors Peru and Bolivia. During a conference in Washington DC on July 30, 2012, Kerlikowske explained that potential production of pure cocaine in Colombia was “down to 195 metric tons (in 2011) from 700 metrics tons in 2001,” the lowest production level since 1994. He underscored that since 1995, Colombia has been producing “less cocaine” than Peru and Bolivia. Read more.