The one percent increase in coca cultivation reported by UNODC for 2009 contrasts sharply with the 2010 U.S. International Narcotics Control Strategy report, which cited a 9.38 percent increase from 32,000 to 35,000 hectares for 2009, which they inexplicably rounded up to ten percent.

This book entitled 'Illicit Drugs in Colombia' aims to contribute to the public debate about illicit drugs in Colombia by bringing together contributions from different fields to the study of drug policy in Colombia. The first part of the book is devoted to describing the dimension of cocaine production and trafficking and the extent and prevalence of drug consumption in Colombia.

This briefing paper from TNI explores how the drugs problem in Colombia is intertwined with structural factors at the social, economic, institutional and cultural levels that have contributed to its consolidation over the past three decades. In addition, the drug problem has taken on even more complex connotations because of its relationship to the armed conflict, particularly over the past 20 years.

Journey to the heart of coca country where United States tax dollars have financed the aerial fumigation of 2.6 million acres of land in Colombia – the world's second most biodiverse country.  See cropdusters target coca plants, the main ingredient of cocaine, with concentrated herbicide as part of the U.S. war on drugs.  Listen to people on the ground, hear about the impacts, and learn new ideas about how to solve this deadly problem.

The coca leaf has been used and misused for many ends, each of them suiting different interests and agendas. This issue of Drugs & Conflict intends to debunk and disentangle the most prominent myths surrounding the coca leaf. It aims to clear the air and help steer the debate towards a more evidence-based judgement of the issues. Discussion has been stuck for too long at the point where it is now, and - sometime in the near future - political decisions will need to be made on coca’s fate and legal status.

In May 2009, the Home Affairs Select Committee on the cocaine trade announced their intention to investigate the trends in cocaine use in the UK, and progress in tackling the cocaine trade, in terms of reducing both supply and demand in the UK.

Several IDPC members submitted memorandums to the Home Affairs Select Committee on this issue.

In May 2009, the Home Affairs Select Committee on the cocaine trade announced their intention to investigate the trends in cocaine use in the UK, and progress in tackling the cocaine trade, in terms of reducing both supply and demand in the UK.

Several IDPC members submitted memorandums to the Home Affairs Select Committee on this issue.

According to the Colombian government, cocaine consumers are unaware of the ecological disaster caused by production of the alkaloid. If they knew that cocaine is perpetrating ecocide in the country they would stop consuming it. Based on this premise, the government has organised an information campaign called Shared Responsibility, to tell people about the destruction caused by coca and cocaine production in the country. This briefing shows that although coca production has contributed to the ecological damage, the main culprit is the anti-drugs policy of the government itself.