Drug users prepare pipes of crack under the Glicerio viaduct in the Liberdade neighborhood of Sao Paulo on February 3, 2012. Brazil's surging crack cocaine epidemic prompted officials of Latin America's biggest country to launch a $2.3 billion plan to curb the spread of drug abuse and trafficking by 2014. Crack users dispersed to several parts of Sao Paulo city after military police occupied the area known as "Cracolandia" (Crackland). Now city officials are scrambling to grapple with a growing drug addiction that's unlike any previous outbreak.
Photo: Nacho Doce/Reuters
Burning Man
A man burns cables to get copper for sale next to a viaduct in the Consolacao neighborhood of Sao Paulo. Emaciated addicts hoard every centavo to feed their addiction, relying on nighttime dumpster diving sessions to sustain their scant food cravings.
Photo: Nacho Doce/Reuters
Neighborhood Watch
A woman looks at a Metropolitan Civil Guard in the Luz neighborhood of Sao Paulo. Recent police dispersal of homeless addicts was criticized for inadequately dealing with the debilitating epidemic.
Photo: Nacho DoceReuters
Shelter Shuttle
A woman walks toward a van of the Metropolitan Civil Guards after she was invited to check into the Boracea shelter in the Luz neighborhood of Sao Paulo. Crack's insatiably addictive power and low cost have given rise to "cracklands" throughout Brazil.
Photo: Nacho Doce/Reuters
Under the Covers of an Epidemic
A man covers himself with blankets next to the Glicerio viaduct in the Liberdade neighborhood of Sao Paulo. In response to the increased difficulty of trafficking drugs to the U.S., lucrative trades in cocaine and crack dealing have popped up throughout South America's largest country.
Photo: Nacho Doce/Reuters
Recovery and Recouping Losses
Women exercise during therapy at the clinic of Comprehensive Care Services to Dependents of Crack in the Sao Caetano neighborhood of Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo's treatment centers are at max capacity and battling to close their gates on crack dealers who peddle freely to their struggling addict residents.
Photo: Nacho Doce/Reuters
Lifting the Weight off Addiction
Roseli Cruz, 54, lifts weights during therapy at the clinic of Comprehensive Care Services to Dependents of Crack in the Sao Caetano neighborhood of Sao Paulo. Grim statistics point to drastically high rates of relapse among crack abusers. The recovery process is believed to be among the most tumultuous and tedious of any drug addiction. For Brazil to stand a fighting chance against this ominous crisis, it needs to increase treatment options and focus law enforcement against the trade.
