Well done.

Not only have you wasted a bunch of money, talked utter nonsense to some poor soul you trapped in the corner, and spent half your night flitting in and out of the toilet, but you’ve also ruined your nasal cavity and the environment.

I hope you’re happy now.

All jokes aside, the cocaine trade is causing mass deforestation, which in turn is driving climate change.

Here’s The Verge with a problem that starts in South America, but affects us all:

To avoid law enforcement, the traffickers are using increasingly remote routes, including protected national forests. To launder their money, they invest in ranching and agriculture, two businesses notorious for bulldozing and burning forests to make way for livestock and crops…

LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images

Losing forests in Central America doesn’t just destabilize the region, it comes with worldwide consequences. Forests help capture and store planet-heating carbon dioxide; when they are destroyed by traffickers or by the businesses the traffickers launder their money through, they release that planet-heating gas into the atmosphere.

Stunning. Now you’ve ruined it for everyone.

In addition, the traffickers are causing human migration, as the violence and intimidation used drives communities from their land:

“When I’ve asked community leaders and protected area managers in Central America how drug trafficking impacts their work, they say, ‘Simple, it costs lives,’” says Jennifer Devine, a co-author of two of the studies and an assistant professor at Texas State University.

That violence, along with the loss of livelihood for people who depend on local natural resources, becomes one of the drivers for migration, she points out.

Sure, you’re not buying your cocaine directly from some guy in Central America, but you are aiding and abetting an industry that “costs lives”.

Perhaps this is why some drug dealers in the UK have gone as far as to label their goodies “ethically sourced” and “vegan”.

Anyway, we’re not here to tell you how to live your life, even if you should feel a few pangs of regret about certain choices.

[source:verge]