Reply #8: Cocaine use 'destroys rainforest' (Santos' U.K. cocaine campaign) [View All]

Page last updated at 17:06 GMT, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 18:06 UK
Cocaine use 'destroys rainforest'

The British and Colombian governments have launched a joint drive to highlight the environmental damage caused by cocaine use.

Colombian vice-president Francisco Santos Calderon said taking it was seen as a "victimless crime" in Europe but it was devastating his country.

Some 2.2 million hectares of rainforest had been lost to cocaine production over the last 20 years, he added.

Home Office minister Vernon Coaker said this was the "real price" of the drug.

'Consequences'

The two politicians were joined at the launch of the Shared Responsibility campaign in London's Trafalgar Square by Alex James, the former bassist with the pop group Blur.

Mr Calderon said: "We need to show the consequences - the consequences to human beings and also the consequences to the environment."

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7413454.stm