On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal published an article titled "America Loves Cocaine Again—Mexico's New Drug King Cashes In." It's a detailed account of the return of cocaine amid a recent drop in fentanyl use by Americans. "Cocaine sold in the U.S. is cheaper and as pure as ever for retail buyers," according to the article. The drug has seen a 154 percent increase in consumption since 2019.
For a variety of reasons, the U.S. is the most significant illicit drug market in the world, with the most drug users. Though 45 percent of Americans describe the problem of drugs in the U.S. as "extremely serious," drug use is a growing trend. About 25 percent of Americans reported past-year use of "illicit drugs" in 2024—an increase of three percentage points since 2021—according to the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Many Americans have gone from tolerance of psychoactive drug use to active participation at scale, and demand is edging up. However, public drug use and the rise in fentanyl overdoses in cities such as Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, and Baltimore have spurred public outcry. Given that the country's annual drug overdose death rate doubled between 2015 and 2023, it makes sense that 52 percent of Americans feel the U.S. is "losing ground on the illegal drug problem," according to a Gallup poll.
