The_Info_Web/60 - PLACES/CITIES/Lima.md

category	tags	summary
City	geography south-america contra-war	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 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 and Norwin 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.²

Footnotes

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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. ↩︎