Explained | Why cocaine is the fastest-growing illegal drug worldwide?

Bogota, Colombia: More people around the world are using illicit drugs than ever - more than 316 million in 2023.

Marijuana is the most used drug, followed by opioids and amphetamines. But it is the cocaine market that continues to break records year after year.

Global production reached a new high in 2023, racing to meet record demand and fueling new highs in cocaine-related deaths in many countries in recent years, according to a United Nations report released Thursday.

An estimated 25 million people used cocaine worldwide in 2023 -- up from 17 million a decade earlier. Production jumped by 34 per cent from 2022.

Tracking the production and consumption of illicit drugs, including cocaine, is complex and time-consuming. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime's annual World Drug Report, which this year includes data through 2023, is one of the few sources of global data on the illegal drug trade.

Here's what it shows about the worldwide cocaine market.

Where does cocaine come from?

The coca plant, the main ingredient for cocaine, is primarily cultivated in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. Colombia drove the recent increase in illegal cocaine production because of an expansion of coca cultivation areas and better yields from each acre.

In contrast, coca cultivation in Bolivia remained stable in 2023, while Peru saw a slight decline.

In Colombia, farmers strip coca leaves by hand and mix them with gasoline and other chemicals to produce bricks of coca paste. Traffickers purchase the paste, which is then processed into cocaine in labs across Latin America.

Where is it being used?

While North America, South America and Europe remain the main markets, record-high cocaine production has allowed traffickers to expand into new regions, including Africa and Asia.

In recent years, Western and Central Europe have surpassed North America in reported cocaine seizures, signaling that they have become the drug's primary destination.

Wastewater analysis confirms these regions -- along with South America -- as the largest global cocaine markets.

What harm does the cocaine market cause?

Brutal violence fueled by traffickers vying for control of the lucrative cocaine trade -- long a scourge in Latin America and the Caribbean -- is now spreading to Western Europe, driven by the growing influence of Western Balkans crime groups, the UN report says.

In parts of Latin America, like Colombia, Mexico and Peru, billions of dollars in illicit cocaine revenues rival the value of total national agricultural exports, undermining investment and community well-being, according to the report. Its production also contributes to deforestation and biodiversity loss.

While the report shows cocaine has caused far fewer deaths and has less severe health effects than opioids, drug officials say that the harms are still significant. Cocaine use has been linked to heart disease, aggressive driving behavior and long-term developmental issues in babies when used during pregnancy.

Cocaine-related deaths rose from 2022 to 2023 in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. In Europe, the report noted an increase in cases of crack cocaine-use disorders. South and Central America and the Caribbean have the highest rates of treatment for cocaine use. Admissions for cocaine use disorders are also increasing in Africa.

What can be done?

Tackling the criminal networks behind the cocaine trade is tricky. Most law enforcement targets low-level actors like couriers and drivers, who are easily replaced and whose arrests have little impact on the larger operations. The report recommends focusing on specialized, less replaceable roles like chemists and money launderers.

It also warns that removing criminal leaders can backfire, causing groups to fragment and multiply, as happened with the Sinaloa cartel after two top leaders were captured and a violent war broke out between rival factions. The increased competition can lead to more violence, increase supply and drive down prices.

And targeting the product itself also has limitations. Seizures of cocaine rose 13 per cent since 2022 and 68 per cent since 2019, the report said, but it added that seizures often just displace trafficking routes without curbing overall supply.

The report called for a deeper understanding of criminal networks, improved technology, stronger maritime law enforcement and anti-corruption efforts, and better socioeconomic alternatives for low-level actors like farmers facing poverty and insecurity.

Amid the failures of law enforcement to stem the cocaine trade, some officials and analysts have called for the legalization and regulation of the drug. President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, in a televised meeting earlier this year, said global legalization would dismantle the drug trade, allowing it to be "sold like wine."

Legalisation lacks broad support in top consumer countries like the United States.