A shortage of cocaine - where?

[douglas9]

Source: Houston Chronicle

America's top two drug fighters said anti-narcotics programs in Latin America are causing a cocaine shortage in Houston and 36 other U.S. cities — but police said it doesn't jibe with what they're seeing in the streets.

With White House drug czar John Walters and Drug Enforcement Administration chief Karen Tandy both in Bogota, Colombia, the administration put out a unified message Thursday: It is tougher to get cocaine in many American cities, and the prices are going up.

Armed with the results of a sample involving thousands of purchases made by undercover DEA agents and their informants during the first seven months of the year, Walters said the price of a pure gram of cocaine now stands at about $137 — up 44 percent since January.

He portrayed the spike in cost as progress, because a key drug-war goal is to squeeze supply and drive up prices to discourage people from using cocaine.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5287517.html