The Cocaine Capitol of the World: Peru

According to ViceNews, the small South American country of Peru is facing a great threat to society. This threat is nothing new and it comes in the form of a green leaf that is turned into a white powder everyone knows as cocaine. Many of the poor farmers grow the coca plant to supply money to support their families and raise money to send their children to school. Their actions, however "heartwarming" and "sweet," are still illegal and therefore the government provides police action against the farmers and cultivators. The police force destroys entire coca fields and maceration pits in as short a time as 15 minutes. The Peruvian Police are not some terrible and evil force, as they do explain of legal alternatives to coca plants, such as cacao or coffee plants. Most of the time, the farmers are cooperative and accept their wrong-doings, allowing for the eradication of the fields, but there are times when the farmers will become hostile. In these instances, the police will use force to defend themselves, including teargas and any other means to make sure that they leave alive. However, there is one location where the government has not attempted to eradicate the coca plantations. This extremely hostile location is known as the VRAEM. The VRAEM is a location in Peru that has survived entirely on the cultivation of coca. Due to the great fear of starting a massive conflict, the government of Peru has decided to hold off on eradicating the coca plants of the VRAEM. However, the government has stated that, should the current crop substitution program fail in the VRAEM, troop would be sent to the area to eradicate the illegal plant from the soil. Many of Peru's cocaine farmers have begun turning to a new form of illegal activity: gold-mining. This illegal gold-mining operation has no regulations and often leads to great harm to the individual, due to the concentrations of mercury and other harmful substances. The war against drugs around the world will forever continue, but every little bit that is done to combat such harmful substances is a step in the right direction.