Part 1: The War on the War on DrugsThis is part of a VICE Canada project investigating the impact of drug policy in Costa Rica.
Part 2: The Costa Rica Model: Why Decriminalization of Drug Use Sometimes Isn't Enough
Part 3: Inside a Drug Tourism EconomyMy first night in Costa Rica, I hung around some Canadian festival-goers buying coke: They easily scored 12 grams wrapped up in a thin piece of a plastic bag for a couple hundred American dollars. In Jacó, the threat of getting fentanyl in your coke (or other party drugs) is thousands of miles away. The biggest burn for this crew was that the price they got it for was "gringo" and that blow should go for about $10 per gram."As far as cocaine goes, it is much cheaper than we're used to in Canada, and it's much stronger, and that's a huge concern for us—people just going a bit hard," Zoë Tipney, Bamboo Bass Festival's volunteer coordinator, told me. "The heat catches on, so having a harm reduction crew here is so important."
Karmik members Cameron Schwartz, Alex Betsos, and Munroe Craig in Vancouver
Festival-goers at Bamboo Bass display some of the drugs they bought locally: cocaine and weed
A Bamboo Bass attendee from Ontario displays high-quality ketamine she bought in Costa Rica
Karmik members Cameron Schwartz and Munroe Craig (left), along with volunteers, secure an area in the jungle for their sanctuary space.
Drug info cards are displayed at Karmik's sanctuary space at Bamboo Bass
