In the Colombian capital of Bogotá, the city government is beginning a controversial public health program in which 300 addicts of the drug bazuco will be supplied with marijuana, which researchers on the project hope will help the addicts kick their habit. Addicts will also receive preexisting drug abuse services, including counseling, job training, and emergency shelter.
Colombian law allows citizens to carry small amounts of cocaine and marijuana -- enough for a "personal dose" -- and individuals can grow as many as 20 marijuana plants for personal consumption, but it is illegal to smoke or sell both drugs.
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Researchers hope that the program can replicate the success of similar programs in Canada, Brazil and Jamaica. According to the Iowa College of Nursing, in 2002 a study of crack users in Jamaica indicated that of the 14 women who gave up the drug, 13 attributed it to smoking marijuana.
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Other experts disagree with the plan. Augusto Pérez, the director of Nuevos Rumbos, a Colombian think-tank on drugs and addiction, gave the problem "a zero chance of working," according to the Miami herald. He called it "absurd", adding, "It's as if they didn't know that everyone that smokes bazuco already smokes marijuana. By giving them marijuana, all they will be doing is saving the (addicts) money so they can buy more bazuco."
For those unfamiliar with the drug bazuco here are five facts:
1. AT ABOUT U.S. $.28 PER DOSE, IT'S THE CHEAPEST DRUG ON THE STREETS OF COLOMBIA.
Part of the drug's low price -- about U.S. $2.75 less than the amount of marijuana needed to fill a cigarette -- is attributable to the impurity of the drug. A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of bazuco can be made with only a gram of cocaine.
2. IT'S A SLURRY OF SYNTHETIC DRUGS.
Aside from cocaine, it's made with solvents, sulfuric acid, ground-up bricks and even gasoline, according to Infosurhoy.com. Variants can include rat poison and kerosene.
3. IT'S HORRIBLY ADDICTING.
Health effects include progressive degradation of the skin and muscles as well as debilitative effects on the heart. Addicts are known for the violence and desperation with which they seek out the drug.
The city of Bogotá has about 7,500 bazuco users among its homeless population of 9,000. Users typically have to take several doses to feel its effect; such repetitive use increases damage to the body. Infosurhoy quotes a Colombian social worker who says that bazuco addicts are often the most difficult to treat, in part because of their predisposition to relapses.
4. IT'S BECOME A HUGE PROBLEM IN ARGENTINA AS WELL.
There, it's known as "paco". Between 2001 and 2005, paco use increased 200 percent in that country, especially in shantytowns which were suffering the worst of the economic collapse.
5. IT HAS A PLETHORA OF NICKNAMES.
In Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile it's known as "paco" or "pasta base". In Colombia it's also sometimes called "susto", "zuco" or "pistolo".
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