Brazil News
| BRASILIA – Produced in the Amazon, often employing crude methods of refining and distribution, the crack trade in Brazil has consolidated an industry that moves U.S. $11.3 million worth of the drug daily. The Safety Committee of Congress heard testimony last week from the Federal Police indicating that Brazilians consume between 800 and 1,200 kilos of “rock” cocaine per day.
Federal Police inspect crack factory (photo: oglobo.com)
The drug is the scourge of dysfunctional families and the champion of death, killing more Brazilians than any other drug. The numbers are conservative and are based on an estimate of 1.2 million crack users in the nation. In some communities, the drug is more popular than alcohol.
Consolidating the data for the first, authorities took into account the estimated number of users (1.2 million), the average amount they use each day (four rocks), each rock worth U.S. $3 smoked in the “Cracklands” in cities spread across the country. However, the street experience and that of clinical recovery centers show that smoking crack only stops when the money runs out, which often occurs only after 20 rocks on average.
Bruno—a fictitious name—has trafficked crack cocaine and marijuana in Brasilia for 14 years to support his habit. Last Wednesday evening, he told the world that he had no idea how many rocks he smoked per day. Depending on the money in your pocket and how much he collects from his clients in the middle class neighborhoods where he plies his trade.
“With money, I can't stop smoking, man. This here is adulterated! I only stop when the money is gone. Sometimes, I smoke ten rocks, sometimes more,” he told O Globo as he crouched in a corner of an alley in a middle-class area of Brasilia.
The preliminary report produced by the Safety Committee of the House, with support of the Federal Police (PF) indicates that a kilo of cocaine base paste produces four kilos of crack. And a kilo of crack produces four thousand rocks, each weighing 240 milligrams on average.
The survey also does away with the false idea that crack is a cheap drug. One stone is cheap, however, multiply it by the addicts appetite for five, ten, or more stones per day and it adds up.
Read also: More Articles from Brazil Dispatch
Brazilian online news source: O Globo
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