The article analyzes the involvement of seven university students in drug dealing in Metropolitan Lima. This qualitative study based its analysis on semi-structured interviews and seven-month fieldwork.The article evidences that the experience as recreational drug users allows them to grasp basic routines related to the market: who, where and how to buy drugs. Based on that previous experience, students get involved in marijuana exchanges because: (i) they want to sell it in order to smoke for free; (ii) they have a good connection with and become a broker for their friends, or (iii) they are interested in generating extra-money to maintain a lifestyle associated with recreational consumption in middle-class university contexts (going to parties, going on trips, buying other drugs, among others).Subsequently, students emphasize their interest in generating monetary incomes and begi...

The article analyzes the involvement of seven university students in drug dealing in Metropolitan Lima. This qualitative study based its analysis on semi-structured interviews and seven-month fieldwork.The article evidences that the experience as recreational drug users allows them to grasp basic routines related to the market: who, where and how to buy drugs. Based on that previous experience, students get involved in marijuana exchanges because: (i) they want to sell it in order to smoke for free; (ii) they have a good connection with and become a broker for their friends, or (iii) they are interested in generating extra-money to maintain a lifestyle associated with recreational consumption in middle-class university contexts (going to parties, going on trips, buying other drugs, among others).Subsequently, students emphasize their interest in generating monetary incomes and begi...

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo presentar de manera sucinta el panorama actual de la política de drogas a nivel internacional y a nivel nacional. En primer lugar, se presenta que el régimen internacional de drogas prohibicionista se encuentra siendo fuertemente cuestionado y que actualmente en varios países se están probando vías alternativas para lidiar con el problema de las drogas. En segundo lugar, se muestra la situación peruana con respecto a la política de drogas y se muestra su particular reticencia a ejercer reformas similares a las de sus pares latinoamericanos. Finalmente, se presentan los principales grupos opositores a la política de drogas en el país, quienes buscan impulsar reformas en esta materia, pero que aún mantienen una capacidad limitada para hacer efectivas sus demandas.