Cocaine use in America has dropped by almost half since 2006. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that .5 percent of the population used cocaine in 2011, compared to 1 percent of the population in 2006.  This is largely due to the Colombian policy of targeting the labs and distributors, rather than the growers. The result has been about a 40 percent drop in cocaine production capacity in the Andes since 2001.

But in addition, the appetite for cocaine in the US has fallen, along with crack cocaine, owing to the public health focus on drug use, rather than simply clapping users in jail. Moreover the research really does not support people leaving cocaine and going to another drug.

An Epicurean approach to this is to wind up the expensive, ridiculous “war on drugs” (hurray, another war- what would we do with these interminable wars, with the only winners being people with a vested interest in them?). Legalize marijuana, stop imprisoning African Americans for drug possession, have a public education campaign similar to that of smoking, amd spend real money on treatment and rehab. You will never stop drug use, but you can mitigate it and treat it. Epicureans believe in living, letting live and helping our weaker fellow human beings.