Explainer: Why Have Cocaine Prices Gone Down?

Explainer: Why Have Cocaine Prices Gone Down? – In a recent column George Will noted that the price of cocaine has dropped between 80 and 90 percent over the last three decades. How did coke get so cheap? Economies of scale, mainly. Cocaine prices are much lower than they were in the early 1980s because of major changes to how cocaine is made and distributed. A dip in demand since the Reagan era is also a factor. Cocaine started as a small business, with coca leaves being processed in basements. Even legendary drug lords like Pablo Escobar and the Ochoa brothers started by smuggling cocaine in their own suitcases. The surge in demand starting in the late 1970s changed that, and kingpins built empires, modernizing processing, transport, and retail networks. Suitcases turned into small planes carrying coke by the metric ton. By the end of the 1980s, submarines and cargo ships were carrying the drug. Processing complexes employed hundreds of workers and churned out several tons each week. Producers worked together to mitigate risk, and even offered insurance to traffickers. All of these factors reduced the costs of bringing cocaine to market, driving the price down 60 percent within a decade. More recently, changes in technology—cell phones and the Internet—have helped dealers get off corners and go directly to consumers, increasing efficiency and reducing risk. By 2007, a pure gram of cocaine cost about 0—80 percent less than it did in1982. If only we could say the same thing for gas prices.

Chocolate Losing to Cocaine on Colombia Cocoa Slump
Filed under: cocaine prices
Cocaine is proving a more resilient commodity than chocolate in Colombia, the largest supplier of the narcotic to the U.S.. Prices of cocoa beans, used to make chocolate, have dropped 40 percent this year in Colombia, South America's third-largest … Read more on Bloomberg

'Griselda Blanco Dead' Stirs Outcry From Twitter Over The 'Cocaine Godmother's …
Filed under: cocaine prices
Griselda Blanco was one of the world's most famous female drug lords — but that title comes with a price. The "Cocaine Godmother" met her demise in Medellin, Colombia, Monday when she was gunned down by two motorcyclists, the Miami Herald reported. Read more on International Business Times

Nigeria: Cocaine-stuffed roasted chicken found
Filed under: cocaine prices
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities in Nigeria say they arrested a man at an international airport who was bringing in roasted chicken with unusual stuffing: $ 150,000 worth of cocaine. National Drug Law Enforcement Agency spokesman Mitchell Ofoyeju said … Read more on WPEC

[wprebay kw=”cocaine+prices” num=”0″ ebcat=”-1″]
[wprebay kw=”cocaine+prices” num=”1″ ebcat=”-1″]
[wprebay kw=”cocaine+prices” num=”2″ ebcat=”-1″]