Smokeable cocaine and crack in Brazil

A quick scan of the market
October 2006

In Brazil, the first large crack consumption market appeared at the end of the 1980s in São Paulo and expanded during the 1990s reaching its peak halfway the decade. Crack use spread to other regions in Brazil during the 1990s, in particular to youngsters from low-income population in
urban areas. A 2002 survey among young street dwellers in all the state capitals revealed that crack had spread to 22 states.

Researcher, Drugs and Democracy Programme

Tom Blickman (1957) is an independant researcher and journalist, based in Amsterdam. Before coming to TNI he was active in the squatters and solidarity movements in Amsterdam. He worked for Bureau Jansen & Janssen, a research institute on intelligence and police matters. Now he specialises in International Drug Control Policy and Organised Crime as a researcher at TNI's Drugs & Democracy Programme.