Brazil’s Crack Epidemic

“Cracklands” are spreading across the country.

Brazil’s Crack Epidemic - Brazil is battling a crack cocaine epidemic that has seized entire communities and threatens to tarnish the country’s image ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. BET.com takes a look at Brazil’s crack problem and how the country is coping.  — Naeesa Aziz (Photo: REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes)

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Brazil’s Crack Epidemic - Brazil is battling a crack cocaine epidemic that has seized entire communities and threatens to tarnish the country’s image ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. BET.com takes a look at Brazil’s crack problem and how the country is coping.  — Naeesa Aziz (Photo: REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes)

Forced Rehab - Instead of taking a criminal approach to the crack epidemic (as the U.S. did in the 1980s), officials in São Paulo, Brazil's most populous state and one of the hardest hit by the epidemic, say they will start forcing adult crack addicts into rehab centers. Those who resist can be committed against their will by an anti-drug commission of judges, prosecutors and lawyers. (Photo: REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes)

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Forced Rehab - Instead of taking a criminal approach to the crack epidemic (as the U.S. did in the 1980s), officials in São Paulo, Brazil's most populous state and one of the hardest hit by the epidemic, say they will start forcing adult crack addicts into rehab centers. Those who resist can be committed against their will by an anti-drug commission of judges, prosecutors and lawyers. (Photo: REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes)

Resurgence - Although crack is not new to Brazilians, its use has exploded in the past six years as drugs poured in through Brazil’s porous borders with the world's biggest cocaine-producing countries. (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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Resurgence - Although crack is not new to Brazilians, its use has exploded in the past six years as drugs poured in through Brazil’s porous borders with the world's biggest cocaine-producing countries. (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Crackland - While crack remains more subdued in the day, nightfall in cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro brings brazen open-air crack markets and usage. The activity is so pervasive that many cities have been dubbed “Cracolândias” or Cracklands. (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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Crackland - While crack remains more subdued in the day, nightfall in cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro brings brazen open-air crack markets and usage. The activity is so pervasive that many cities have been dubbed “Cracolândias” or Cracklands. (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Record Usage - A study by the Federal University of São Paulo found that Brazil is the world's largest consumer of crack and ranks second in overall cocaine use. About 6 million adults have tried cocaine in some form. (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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Record Usage - A study by the Federal University of São Paulo found that Brazil is the world's largest consumer of crack and ranks second in overall cocaine use. About 6 million adults have tried cocaine in some form. (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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Policy Vacuum - While some blame the aggressive drug trade spilling over from neighboring nations, others take issue with the government’s inaction, which allowed the problem to flourish. "There is a lack of management and focus on the problem," said Ana Cecilia Roselli Marques, a psychiatrist and board member of the Brazilian Association for the Study of Alcohol and Other Drugs. "There is no real drug policy at all in Brazil." (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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Policy Vacuum - While some blame the aggressive drug trade spilling over from neighboring nations, others take issue with the government’s inaction, which allowed the problem to flourish. "There is a lack of management and focus on the problem," said Ana Cecilia Roselli Marques, a psychiatrist and board member of the Brazilian Association for the Study of Alcohol and Other Drugs. "There is no real drug policy at all in Brazil." (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil - Brazilian and U.S. relations were strong until NSA and Brazilian spying rumors made headlines in 2013. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff blasted the U.S. for “violating human rights and international law” and called off an October 2013 visit to the United States. Perhaps a State Dinner could help to repair the severed relationship.(Photo: Graham Crouch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Presidential Plea - In December 2011, President Dilma Rousseff announced a 4 billion-real ($2.19 billion) plan to help crack addicts, including education and prevention programs, and more than 13,000 new beds in hospitals and treatment centers by 2014. (Photo: Graham Crouch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Deja Vu? - Although Brazil’s approach to cleaning up its crack epidemic may not look exactly like the U.S. war on drugs, the demographics of those affected by the drug’s scourge are fairly similar."What we are really witnessing is a genocide of poor, mostly black, youths," Frei David Santos, a Franciscan friar who heads the Educafro lobby group that upholds the rights of blacks and indigenous people, told AFP about the police action. (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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Deja Vu? - Although Brazil’s approach to cleaning up its crack epidemic may not look exactly like the U.S. war on drugs, the demographics of those affected by the drug’s scourge are fairly similar."What we are really witnessing is a genocide of poor, mostly black, youths," Frei David Santos, a Franciscan friar who heads the Educafro lobby group that upholds the rights of blacks and indigenous people, told AFP about the police action. (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Dealers Take a Stand - In the Mandela favela of Rio de Janeiro, a group of drug dealers expressed their disgust with crack, noting that the drug destabilizes their communities, thus making the government-abandoned areas harder to control."Crack has been nothing but a disgrace for Rio. It's time to stop," a drug boss told AP. "How can I tell someone he can't steal, when I know I sold him the drugs that made him this way?" (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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Dealers Take a Stand - In the Mandela favela of Rio de Janeiro, a group of drug dealers expressed their disgust with crack, noting that the drug destabilizes their communities, thus making the government-abandoned areas harder to control."Crack has been nothing but a disgrace for Rio. It's time to stop," a drug boss told AP. "How can I tell someone he can't steal, when I know I sold him the drugs that made him this way?" (Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Brazil Police Take Control of Rio’s Favelas - Police in Rio de Janeiro burst into the city’s favelas Sunday morning in an ongoing bid to take back portions of the city controlled by drug gangs ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.(Photo: REUTERS/Sergio Moraes)

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Reform for Show? - Despite the billions dedicated to cleaning up Brazil’s crack-infested neighborhoods and reforming its addicts, there is still criticism that the push for reform comes amid a hurried plan to ready the hardest hit cities, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, for the 2012 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. (Photo: REUTERS/Sergio Moraes)