More people around the world are using illicit drugs than ever, with over 316 million users reported in 2023. Marijuana remains the most commonly used drug, followed by opioids and amphetamines. However, the cocaine market continues to set records, with global production reaching new heights to meet increasing demand, leading to a rise in cocaine-related deaths in various countries, according to a United Nations report released on Thursday.
An estimated 25 million people used cocaine worldwide in 2023, a significant increase from 17 million a decade ago. Production surged by 34 percent from 2022.
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime’s annual World Drug Report, which includes data through 2023, is one of the few comprehensive sources on the global illegal drug trade.
The coca plant, the primary source of cocaine, is mainly cultivated in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. Colombia has driven the recent increase in illegal cocaine production due to expanded coca cultivation areas and improved yields. In contrast, coca cultivation in Bolivia remained stable, while Peru experienced a slight decline in 2023.
In Colombia, farmers manually strip coca leaves and mix them with gasoline and other chemicals to create coca paste, which traffickers then purchase for processing into cocaine in labs across Latin America.
North America, South America, and Europe remain the primary markets for cocaine, but record-high production has allowed traffickers to expand into new regions, including Africa and Asia. Recent data indicates that Western and Central Europe have surpassed North America in reported cocaine seizures, suggesting they have become the drug's main destination.
The U.N. report highlights that violence associated with traffickers competing for control of the cocaine trade, a long-standing issue in Latin America and the Caribbean, is now spreading to Western Europe, influenced by crime groups from the Western Balkans. In regions like Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, illicit cocaine revenues rival national agricultural exports, undermining investment and community well-being, while also contributing to deforestation and biodiversity loss.
Although cocaine has caused fewer deaths and has less severe health effects than opioids, the report indicates that the harms are still significant. Cocaine use is linked to heart disease, aggressive driving behavior, and developmental issues in babies when used during pregnancy. Cocaine-related deaths increased from 2022 to 2023 in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, while Europe saw a rise in crack cocaine-use disorders. South and Central America and the Caribbean have the highest treatment rates for cocaine use, with increasing admissions for cocaine use disorders also reported in Africa.
Addressing the criminal networks behind the cocaine trade presents challenges. Law enforcement often targets low-level actors, such as couriers, whose arrests do not significantly impact larger operations. The report suggests focusing on specialized roles like chemists and money launderers. It also warns that removing criminal leaders can lead to fragmentation and increased violence, as seen with the Sinaloa cartel after the capture of two top leaders.
Targeting the product itself has limitations, as cocaine seizures have risen by 13 percent since 2022 and 68 percent since 2019, but these seizures often merely displace trafficking routes without reducing overall supply. The report calls for a deeper understanding of criminal networks, improved technology, stronger maritime law enforcement, anti-corruption efforts, and better socioeconomic alternatives for low-level actors like farmers facing poverty.
In light of law enforcement's struggles to curb the cocaine trade, some officials and analysts advocate for the legalization and regulation of the drug. Colombian President Gustavo Petro suggested that global legalization could dismantle the drug trade, allowing it to be “sold like wine.” However, legalization lacks broad support in major consumer countries such as the United States.