“FairTrade cocaine?” is a development education project that’s been launched in Cambridge. We run and design workshops and presentations about the cocaine supply chain, in particular looking at Favela life and the teenage drug gangs of Rio.

“Drugs are bad for you, so don’t take them.” Young people have been fed this message for years, with largely disappointing results. But there is a more important, global message when it comes to drugs, one which is rarely heard by young people (or indeed adults) in this country. It goes something like: “When you take cocaine in Britain, you’re actually killing child soldiers in the drug armies of South American slums.” We believe this is a powerful, ethical message, reinforced by recent films such as City of God, Maria Full of Grace and Favela Rising. It is a message we would like to spread. There is no “FairTrade” cocaine.