I was looking through the search terms that brought people to my site earlier and I noticed an interesting trend that made me chuckle. For some reason, some of the most popular searches were about buying cocaine in Colombia. Even though I have never even talked about cocaine on my blog ever, I can’t deny the people what they want. I am a travel blogger of the people, after all.
So by popular demand, how easy is it to get coke in Colombia?
The answer is pretty f*cking easy. If you’re a tourist, you don’t even have to make an effort because it will literally come to you. People will be selling “cigarettes” or “beer” outside your hostels and hotels and outside the nightclubs and bar areas. It is practically effortless, and this goes for most of the large cities in Colombia. Medellin and Cartagena are big party cities with a sizable tourist population so it goes without saying that the dealers know that those places are where to go.
Cocaine is actually legal (to an extent) in Colombia, but the buying and selling of it is illegal. The trick for the dealers is to give it as a “gift” with another purchase. For example, 30,000 Colombian pesos is pretty steep for a single can of beer, but you’ll get a complimentary gift for that. That “gift” is worth a couple hundred per gram in big cities like New York City or London, so it’s no surprise why Colombia gets a lot of tourism solely for cocaine.
The reign of Pablo Escobar and the legacy that followed have given Colombia a reputation that has been hard to shake, despite the fact that the Colombia of today has all but erased the demons of a Colombia past.
I do not advocate the use of cocaine, but if you are reading this, you’ve probably already made up your mind so I might as well do what I can to make sure you are smart about it. Obviously, buying drugs from strangers can always be sketchy, so undergo the necessary processes to test whether or not what you have purchased is safe. I don’t exactly know those processes, but I’m pretty sure you can probably find out on Google. I heard some people talking about solvency and stuff so I could be clueless but I’m assuming there’s more to it than holding drug dealers to the honor system.
Related: The 5 Best Party Cities in Colombia
If you’ve never done it before, please be with other people who can potentially keep an eye out on you if you react badly to it. Colombia is a pretty safe country and I have never had a problem roaming the streets late night after the bars, but I can’t speak for everyone else’s experiences.
Also, while cocaine is technically legal, a lot of places will absolutely not tolerate it. Most likely, your hostel or hotel will not even second-guess kicking you out if you are caught using it or even just having it.
Lastly, you should remember the extremely bloody history that the drug cartels have had in Colombia. I spoke to a man once whose words I really took to heart. A lot of us have probably seen Narcos, but watching it on Netflix gives it a sense of fantasy. It actually happened, and the atrocities circling the cocaine trade was even worse than what Narcos could ever show. The man I spoke to talked about how furious he got whenever people trivialized the bloodshed and lives lost every single time they took cocaine.
Colombia has progressed incredibly as a nation since the death of Pablo Escobar and the gradual downfall of the cartels, but there is still a large portion of the population that were directly affected or at least remember the terrors of that era. It may seem long ago, but remember, pretty much everyone over the age of 30 has been witness or victim to the cartels’ reign of terror. To do cocaine for a few hours of “fun” would be an insult to the atrocities they witnessed and experienced.
Be smart.
Related: The Backpacker’s Travel Guide to Medellin, Colombia
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View all posts on Colombia
The Backpacker’s Guide to Bogota
The Backpacker’s Guide to Cartagena
I was in Bogota for a month. No interest in harder drugs (mostly a bit of pineal gland expanding substances was my jam) however, when in roam you do as romans do. So I went downtown kinda near the gold museum and found one of the sketchier kinds of people and asked and she said how much. I wanted a gram…. She said $15,000 pesos…. Like $6-$7 Canadian. It was so close to pure I lost my mind. What a great time! But Colombia itself was a better time. What an amazing country filled with amazing people!
I planning to travel to colombia and what I actually heard from people and my friends strongly match with what you said in this post.
Yes, that is true as a tourist they will come straight to you.
What a brilliant article. Indeed, many young travellers visiting Colombia will be tempted to try drugs and why not ?! Sensible sane advice concerning drugs is always welcome ! Nice website too.
So easy to posses Cocaine in Columbia.
The article has wonderful.
Thank you so much for all your time to pen it down
Paul
http://www.tourismobserver.com
First, my country name is Colombia, not Columbia…
Gracias por este excelente artÃculo, lograste captar la esencia detrás del consumo de drogas en mi paÃs. Realmente es una contradicción absoluta porque como dices, técnicamente es legal consumirla, pero no venderla, ni comprarla.
Realmente el problema en los alojamientos es que si bien es legal el uso debes hacerlo en tu casa, en los establecimientos comerciales es ilegal permitir el consumo dentro de los mismos y no sólo da multas sino además cierre de tu negocio.
En efecto, el gran reto sigue siendo el contraste cultural, pues socialmente en Colombia no es aceptado el uso de drogas, precisamente porque la historia ha sido muy diferente y aun en la actualidad, detrás de un solo cigarrillo de marihuana (por más droga blanca y natural que sea) sigue el microtráfico que trae violencia; prácticamente consumir droga en el paÃs es como comprar diamantes de sangre.
¡Nuevamente, gracias por ilustrar el tema!
L M A O but also truuuu
(even to the bloodshed part)
My friend was in medellion last month n.he.said he got.a good amount for $20 us,including the cab. He said he asked a cab driver,the driver did the talking. He said it was amazing,he had to stop after 5 lines.
if I had to guess your age I would guess 7
I had no idea cocaine was so easy to obtain in Colombia. It’s not my scene, but I bet this post provides a valuable public service to many travellers…?
Great article, man. Super interesting. Also, for the powder-heads, you’re providing an invaluable service. Now to get a dude going around and figuring how you get weed in these spots…
What an interesting read and I had no idea that it was to a certain degree a legal commodity. How is that even a plausible and how is it even good for a normal economy to even thrive? Its fascinating though. Such a different world to what I know and quite a bit frightening!
I am Brazilian and I would love to visit Columbia, but maybe not for the cocaine!
Killer photography. Fascinating facts. I love this!!
Thanks for liking my post on winter camping in the Colorado Rockies. You look like you get around!
It’s sad that people can’t think beyond cocaine when it comes to Colombia.
It’s such a stunning country, I hope the bright blue skies, the happy people, the caribbean, and a lot of other things that Colombia has to offer takes precedence over Cocaine someday.
Must be the way I look. I was only ever offered emeralds in Columbia but I wasn’t tempted because I knew that often the ‘stoes’ were mere green glass chippings.
Planning to go to Colombia, being mother tongue in peninsular Spanish and having visited over 60 countries of course I will be looking way past the girls and the powder. As a sporty guy in the mid age of course i’ll be sniffing large parts of the day just short under the threshold where people will percieve my highness. Always pay respect to the feelings of local people, they suffered enough to make our day a little brighter. Every country has its attractions, enjoy them. Think the woman will be even more interesting than powder.