DRUG EXPORTS DROP BUT LOCAL CONSUMPTION RISES

LIMA, (Jul. 5) IPS - While the production and export of Peruvian cocaine
paste has fallen in volume in recent years, this gain has been offset by a
growth in its use in Peru itself.

The amount of land used for coca growing has fallen by 40 to 50 percent in
recent years, as planes flying the drug from secret jungle airstrips have
been intercepted en route to Colombia, where the coca is processed for
shipment to Europe and the United States.

The country's 14 main drug trafficking groups continue to export cocaine,
say the authorities, but have cut their buying price to meet the extra
costs of shipment by land or river, to Brazil and Colombia.

The result is a coca surplus on the ground in Peru that local traffickers
are now pushing onto the local market -- which they have generally ignored
in the past -- to make up their lost incomes.

The National Epidemiological Study on Drug Use, organized by Cedro, the
most important non-governmental organization working in drug use prevention
in Peru, found that illegal drug consumption involving marijuana, cocaine
and opium has risen. The study's "frequent use" index of drug taking has
risen from 7.7 percent in 1995 to 12.6 percent today.

Not only that, Cedro notes that drug use has become "democratized." The
cheapest drugs, such as marijuana and cocaine past, which has a frequent
use index of eight percent 4.7 percent respectively, are increasingly used
in both poor urban areas and rural districts.

The more expensive cocaine chlorohydrate, with a 3.2 percent frequent use
measure, remains a drug of the middle classes and dubbed "the drug of the
rich." It costs between five and eight dollars a gram. Cedro's study
includes a map of the areas in Lima where cocaine is processed.

Similarly, opium's low 0.01 percent usage rate reflects its fashionability
in the beachside night clubs south of Lima, where young people from the
richest families like to gather.

Maritza Rojas, of Cedro, recognizes the part played in the growth of
domestic drug use by the efficient suppression of international drug
trafficking and the unsold surpluses it has produced.

The surplus has sparked a drop in the local price of basic coca paste,
lowering the price of a fix in the cities and even generating a surge in
the consumption of the drug in the central jungle valleys where coca is
grown, she said.

The growth in consumption of basic cocaine paste among jungle farmers is
worrying experts. The consumption rate among them has risen from 2.5
percent in 1988 to 7.4 percent today.

In Lima, the use of this type of cheap drug -- they are called "ketes" and
sell for the local equivalent of between 10 and 13 U.S. cents -- has grown
from 3.6 percent in 1988 to 5.6 percent this year.

"Given the abundance of drugs at lower prices and quality," said Rojas,
"the small dealers who sell 'ketes' in poor neighborhoods are very
aggressively trying to expand their market, and are even trying to
penetrate the schools, in order to create new addicts among young people
and children.

"This situation is serious because basic paste is not only very addictive,
but it can cause severe damage to the nervous system...almost literally
burning the brain of users."

Cedro is doing a study now on the relation between a rise in drug use and
juvenile violence, including soccer riots and gang fighting in poor areas.

The glut has caused a drop in prices. But it is believed that when supplies
are reduced considerably, prices will rise again, taking advantage of the
local market that has been created.

"We are looking at a drop in production, which we should take advantage of
by increasing and speeding up programs that develop alternative crops, so
producers don't return to growing coca," said Rojas.

"We must also work on prevention and rehabilitation of addicts to reduce
the internal drug market's demand," she said.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski