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60 - PLACES/CITIES/Lima.md

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+---
+category: "City"
+tags:
+  - geography
+  - south-america
+  - contra-war
+summary: Lima, the capital of Peru, was where the first documented epidemic of cocaine paste smoking occurred in the 1970s, foreshadowing the crack epidemic that would hit the United States.
+---
+Lima, the capital of [[Peru]], was where the first documented epidemic of cocaine paste smoking occurred in the 1970s, foreshadowing the [[Crack Cocaine|crack]] epidemic that would later hit the [[United States]]. A Peruvian police psychiatrist documented a cocaine "epidemic" that swept through Lima's fashionable neighborhoods in 1974, demonstrating the addictive potential of smokable cocaine forms.[^1]
+
+### The Andean Connection
+
+The [[cocaine]] that flowed through Contra-connected trafficking networks originated in the Andean production zone that included Peru, [[Bolivia]], and [[Colombia]]. The early epidemic in Lima served as a warning that went unheeded when cheap cocaine began flooding into American inner cities through networks like the one run by [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] and [[Norwin Meneses|Meneses]]. The Peruvian experience with coca paste smoking in Lima demonstrated the destructive potential of smokable cocaine years before crack devastated [[South Central Los Angeles|South Central L.A.]].[^2]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 3.
+[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 3.