Late last month, the United Nations published its annual World Drug Report, chronicling the latest developments in the global war on drugs. Not only are the drugs winning that war, but there are greater quantities and more varieties of recreational chemicals available than ever before.
In June, Colombia elected a hard-line new president who vowed to wage "all-out war, without truce or negotiation" on the narcos and guerrillas, while Bolivia's embattled government has declared a state of emergency against "narco-terrorism." It will be an uphill battle: According to the U.N. report, an estimated 4,100 tons of cocaine were produced in South America in 2024—more than at any point in history. Even after decades of government-run initiatives and even military campaigns involving ripping up coca fields and spraying them with herbicide, farmers in the Andes have adopted innovative cultivation techniques making their humble patches more productive than ever before.
