Samantha Pearson – Financial Times, 09/11/2012
Curbing imports has been high on the Brazilian government’s priority list recently but it seems the authorities should be spending less time fretting about cheap Chinese cars and electronics and more time worrying about cocaine.
Brazil is the world’s biggest market for crack and the second biggest for overall cocaine use, according to new figures published by the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP). About 3 per cent of Brazil’s adult population (almost 6m people) has tried cocaine or some form of the drug.
They’re shocking stats in themselves, but even more so when you consider that Brazil doesn’t even have any significant coca plantations. A huge chunk of the white stuff comes from Peru and Bolívia.
