WOLA: Advocacy for Human Rights in the Americas
9 Dec 2010 | Publication

Systems Overload: Drug Laws and Prisons in Latin America

Study reveals alarming pattern in imprisonment for drug crimes in Latin America

The weight of the law falls on the most vulnerable individuals, overcrowding the prisons, but allowing drug trafficking to flourish

An unprecedented one-year comparative study on the impact of the drug laws and prison systems in eight Latin American countries – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay – reveals that drug laws have contributed to the prison crises these countries are experiencing.