This piece was written by Rebeca Marques Rocha and presented during the UNODC World Drug Report 2023 Webinar for Civil Society organized by the Vienna NGO Committee on Drug Policy
Vienna, July 19th, 2023 – We commend UNODC for this year’s edition of the World Drug Report and their effort to include contemporary drug issues in the analysis. We will provide comments particularly on the chapter that focuses on the environmental impacts of drug trafficking in the Amazon Basin. This topic was explored in previous research conducted by civil society and NGOs – i.e. Transform Drugs, The Transnational Institute [a & b], OSF, and WOLA, to name a few. Seeing the debate gaining more prominence at the United Nations is encouraging.
Going forward, it is important to acknowledge and reflect on how the security policies used to respond to drug trafficking activities are also bringing side effects to local communities and the environment in which they live.
For instance, the report briefly mentions (p. 67) the impacts of forcingly eradicating illegal crops (through manual eradication and aerial spraying of chemical substances). It acknowledges the negative effects of the practice on the environment, on the health of local communities and on population displacement. It also mentions the inefficiency of such policies in reducing illegal crops. We encourage this topic to be further explored in future publications.
Indeed, a phenomenon that deserves to be explored is how current punitive drug policy approaches have fueled the so-called “Balloon Effect” – the process by which drug production is displaced across national borders in order to evade eradication efforts. For example, we have seen such a phenomenon happen in Colombia and Peru.
The criminal trend in the Amazon basin is partly the result of security responses to criminal networks. Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV) – the current leading drug trafficking groups in the region – have expanded their activities from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro to the Amazon basin after Brazilian authorities moved their leaderships to the federal prison system in Manaus. Such a move allowed for the establishment of alliances and fostered the expansion and innovation of transnational crime, bringing along increased levels of violence and bloodshed – as it is acknowledged in the WDR 2023 (p. 90).
The strengthening of gangs after zero-tolerance security policies is a phenomenon observed across all Latin America. The WDR 2023 shows how violence levels are consistently rising in the region, and this is fueled by both illegal drug trade and punitive responses.
Indeed, the report shows that cities in the Amazon basin have homicide rates per capita higher than national averages. A study published this year by the Institute of Applied Economic Research in Brazil estimated that each Brazilian has a 4.2-month reduction in their life expectancy due to the effects of the war on drugs. The sum of all lifetime lost amounts to 1.14 million years. The same study also calculated that the country loses at least 50 billion reais (210 million dollars) per year as a result of the prohibition of drug use and repression of trafficking.
We must think about the long-term impact that living in such a violent context casts on youth. A recent study followed adolescents in Rio de Janeiro that were frequently exposed to violent clashes between drug trafficking groups and the military police. The research found that 7.8% of these teenagers experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Such an investigation could be expanded in the next WDR.
Studies have shown that the current “War on Drugs” contributes to the “professionalization” of crime, the overpopulation of the prison system, and the spread of gang presence. It also leads to the escalation and banalization of violence while undermining peace possibilities.
Numerous reports from the region point to an alarming rate of youth and child involvement in drug-related activities. For instance, in Colombia, one of the most common ways in which children are involved in the drug trade is through farming illicit crops. In Mexico, children have frequently been employed as “sicaritos,” or child assassins, to carry out hits and torture for drug cartels.
Minors are frequently recruited because young people are valuable assets for criminal groups. They represent a cheaper source of manpower and are easier to manipulate, especially if they are plied with narcotics. This is a common tactic, as evidenced by the numerous accounts of young recruits acting under the influence of drugs.
Such practices are enabled via a complex interplay of factors that are almost always linked to the child’s survival. Research carried out by the NGO Observatório de Favelas in 2018 investigated the profile of children and adolescents who are cooptated by drug trafficking groups in Rio de Janeiro. With an average of 12 years old, most start with the intention of earning income to support the family.
Economic and social factors should be addressed, including basic infrastructure and market access. A number of alternative development programs relating to illicit crop production provide important lessons for policymakers. We encourage such lessons to be further explored in future publications of the WDR.
The war on drugs curbs the access of local communities to life-saving services, such as harm reduction. It also fosters the cooptation of minors by drug trafficking groups, which may lead to the early use of narcotics. Moreover, it pollutes ecosystems with harmful chemicals that can result in long-term health complications.
Ensuring the well-being of future generations in the Amazon basin means investing less in security weaponry and more in health, education, and employment opportunities for communities – particularly for young people.
This year’s report mentions how drug challenges are linked to human rights violations – briefly mentioned on p. 13. In the future, we encourage the inclusion of a chapter that further discusses the connection between drug challenges, control strategies and human rights.
We commend the report’s focus on the rights and security of indigenous communities, which are especially impacted. We appreciate the inclusion of new indicators and topics in this year’s analysis, as well as the development of new online tools for interacting with the wealth of evidence gathered. We encourage UNODC and government authorities to collaborate with existing civil society efforts for collecting further data that enables analyzing areas of knowledge that remain under-investigated – such as the needs of young people who use drugs.
Responses to tackle the challenges listed in this report should not solely rely on security-led approaches. With 2030 closer on the horizon, policies that keep the sustainable development goals in sight must involve all affected communities and center around promoting the well-being of all people in the long term.
Evidence-based drug policy starts with good evidence and ends with policy reform. This report is a first step to informing innovative policies that can shift the current punitive approach and contribute to shaping a positive future for the next generations.
The recording of the event will be available on the UNODC CSU website.