Davo
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A new scourge sweeps through Argentine ghettos: 'paco' By Kelly Hearn, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
Wed Apr 5, 4:00 AM ET
BUENOS AIRES - To get it, Jerimias sold his shoes. Then he sold his clothes. Then he stole and sold his sister's clothes.
He did all this for paco, a smokable, highly addictive street drug sweeping through Argentine ghettos, hooking impoverished teenagers, and prompting law officials here to revamp drug laws to stop its insidious spread.
Paco's effects on users are quick and obvious.
The paco sold here is a chemical byproduct, a leftover when Andean coca leaves are turned into a paste, then formulated into cocaine bound for US and European markets. Paco was once discarded as laboratory trash, says Dr. Ricardo Nadra, an Argentine government psychiatrist who works with paco addicts. But Argentina's devastating financial collapse in 2001 left the poorest even poorer, creating an impoverished demand for "cocaine's garbage," he says.
Last April, La Nacion, a leading newspaper here, quoted Claudio Mate, a ranking health official from Buenos Aires' provincial government, as saying that intense paco consumption can cause "cerebral death" in as little as six months.
Pablo Rafael Kodrec, director of a small Buenos Aires drug clinic where half of the 24 patients are paco addicts, says the drug's silver lining is its quick destruction, which makes patients seek help faster.
"It was when I had nothing left to sell," he says. "That's when I asked for help."
Wed Apr 5, 4:00 AM ET
BUENOS AIRES - To get it, Jerimias sold his shoes. Then he sold his clothes. Then he stole and sold his sister's clothes.
He did all this for paco, a smokable, highly addictive street drug sweeping through Argentine ghettos, hooking impoverished teenagers, and prompting law officials here to revamp drug laws to stop its insidious spread.
Paco's effects on users are quick and obvious.
The paco sold here is a chemical byproduct, a leftover when Andean coca leaves are turned into a paste, then formulated into cocaine bound for US and European markets. Paco was once discarded as laboratory trash, says Dr. Ricardo Nadra, an Argentine government psychiatrist who works with paco addicts. But Argentina's devastating financial collapse in 2001 left the poorest even poorer, creating an impoverished demand for "cocaine's garbage," he says.
Last April, La Nacion, a leading newspaper here, quoted Claudio Mate, a ranking health official from Buenos Aires' provincial government, as saying that intense paco consumption can cause "cerebral death" in as little as six months.
Pablo Rafael Kodrec, director of a small Buenos Aires drug clinic where half of the 24 patients are paco addicts, says the drug's silver lining is its quick destruction, which makes patients seek help faster.
"It was when I had nothing left to sell," he says. "That's when I asked for help."
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