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Cocaine Production, Eradication, and the Environment: Policy, Impact, and Options: Proceedings of a Seminar Held by the Congressional Research Service, February 14, 1990

NCJ Number
166890
Date Published
1990
Length
202 pages
Annotation
A conference held in February 1990 focused on the economic, political, environmental, and health impacts of herbicidal spraying in the Andes on both cocaine trafficking and the infrastructure of the countries in the Andean region.
Abstract
Panelists included representatives from academia, government, and the Andean region. The first speaker noted that coca growers make extensive use of insecticides, pesticides, weed-control chemicals and use more pesticides and insecticides yearly than large-scale eradication would require. Another speaker reported coca growing is responsible for 10 percent of Peru's deforestation; the major environmental impact of coca is soil loss. A third speaker noted that coca cultivation is expanding, and coca growers choose remote areas to grow crops. Coco eradication programs aggravate the destruction of rain forest as growers seek new fields. Eradication programs also lead to the migration of farmers and the dispersal of coca plots. Eradication programs give a platform to the political terrorist organization of Sendero Luminoso; to reduce coco production, the Sendero Luminoso must be controlled. Additional speakers focused on herbicides that eradicate coca wiith minimal adverse environmental and health effects, whether widespread eradication is a realistic option, the need for United States resources, the effectiveness and costs of a law enforcement strategy to address drug problems, and the role of demand reduction. Tables, figures, and appended background reports