Drug Tourism

Antoaneta Stefanova October 5th, 2012 DRUG TOURISM Unconventional Tourism Homework Definition: Drug tourism is defined as travel for the purpose of obtaining or using drugs for personal use that are unavailable or illegal in one's home jurisdiction. It also includes travel experience that is accompanied by the consumption of said substances. Specification: This type of tourism includes crossing a national border to obtain drugs over the counter that are not sold in one's own country, or traveling to another country in order to obtain or use narcotics that are illegal in one's own country, and also traveling from one province/county/state to another in order to buy alcohol or tobacco more easily. Origin and development: Drug tourism basically developed after governments started prohibiting drug possession and use. This happened largely after WW2 and has continued up to the present. Main markets, destinations, facts and trends: The most popular country for drug tourists is the Netherlands, though from January 2012 the government passed a ban on selling drugs to non-citizens. This however doesn’t discourage tourists from visiting Amsterdam, which is the most popular destination for buying marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Other destinations are Australia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain and Australia, who have a more liberal approach to marijuana use. In Malana, India and the Rif Mountains in Morocco tourists go for the hashish which is produced there. In South America, some tourists are attracted to Amazonian villages to try a local liquid called ayahuasca, a mixture of psychedelic plants used in traditional ceremonies. Similarly, tourists in Peru try a hallucinogenic cactus called San Pedro, which has originally been used by local tribes. Americans, for example, regularly travel to Mexico, where drugs can be bought cheaper and easier, or to Cuba, for the Cuban rum and cigars that are not sold in the US. Future perspectives: The future of drug