So in one askreddit thread there was a short discussion about drug culture in the past, and the the thing that lead to my question was when someone mentioned that cocaine was invented before LSD. However, besides its early days as a misused pharmaseutical, LSD was the big fad drug before cocaine.
I had heard the term "cocaine glut" before but I was surprised there is no Wikipedia article for it. The closest is the crack epidemic. However, the Crack epidemic started in the early 80's, while cocaine was already flooding into the US in the late 70's.
And since I am not a historian as such myself, I'm operating under a general understanding that the US was in an economic downturn at the time so it feels odd that the demand for a previously expensive and exclusive drug would suddenly skyrocket.
Factors I think you can rule out: Crack's effect on demand, crack profit's effect on US crime org's purchasing power, the Contras (funded by the US until 1984), illuminati
So there's a really great book on this I just read called Cocaine. Simple right?
Anyway, the way the author explains it (this isn't my area of expertise) is that as the US increased its assault on cocaine, peasants in countries like Peru had no choice but to continue to produce it. Peru worked alongside the US in this particular area of drug control; but poor peasants weren't being offered a whole lot of aid or training to transition from coca farming to other crops, so they continued to grow coca. The destruction of coca crops, and the illegal nature of the business (it wasn't always illegal) meant that coca became more profitable. On top of that many peasants and natives chew the coca leaf (it seems to work like marijuana in its leaf form). So you have peasants who have no skills and can't survive selling corn, and coca, in becoming illegal grows more expensive and popular. More and more people started using the drug, which meant more demand, which meant more supply, and so on and so forth in circular fashion. This led to a huge jump in the amount of cocaine on the market, which made it more available. Drug enforcement was still weak at the time, so it was easy to get, atleast compared to today.
So my answer is crude, but I did say I wasn't an expert. Hope this helps.
So, not sure the etiquette on answering your own question, but I did do more digging around and if anyone's interested, here's what I found:
For a long time cocaine was produced as a medicine in the US, and used by working people to get through long, arduous work days, and was often cheaper than alcohol.
After criminalization, the production moved to South America where the plant originated from, andthe cocaine pipeline from Colombie to the US existed pretty much as long as the drug had been illegal. However, it was not a huge import until later.
Before cocaine, the main contraband to the US from the South was alcohol during the prohibition, and later marijuana, both from Mexico.
The focus of the drug trade moved towards Colombia after the Mexican government made a large crackdown on Marijuana plantations, that had operated semi-openly in the country. After the end of the National Front regime in Colombia in 1974 (an arrangement where the two parties took turns in holding power), a new era of instability meant the law enforcement and military were preoccupied in fighting against Guerillas leaving a lot of room for the Cartels, that at the time preferred to stay out of politics.
(small footnote, the old cocaine routes to the US included the Mexican route and the Carribean route, which until 1959 went through Cuba. Until the late 70's the old Cuban cartels, now expats in Miami, would work as the recieving party for shipments. Once the Colombian cartels rose in power they abandoned these old friends in favor of Jamaican and Haitian helpers who could arrange pitstops between Colombia and the US, as the Cubans could no longer operate on the island. The US blockade on Cuba might have possibly saved Cuba from a drug epidemic and the violence associated with the trade)
Few things that fueled the coaine boom were new Free Trade agreements between the US and south American countries that caused a rise in legitimate international freight -- which provided more possibilities for smuggling and a smaller risk of being caught, as well as the unsuccesfull attempts at eradicate cocaine production, which pushed prices up and thus made cultivation more lucrative for what was still a pretty low risk. Coca farms could no longer operate openly , but there was still plenty of jungle for clandestine farming.
At the recieving end, the US had always been a good marketplace for vices. The first cocaine "epidemic" was in the late nineteenth century. The situation became a feedback loop. The more the cartels could import cocaine, the more people ended up using it, rising demand and which increased the supply which again increased demand. This cycle only slowed down by the 90's, when usage dropped by 11%, and is now steadily decreasing.
The 90's also saw the end of Colombian dominance and increased Mexican presence (Pablo Escobar was once the richest criminal, but has now been surpassed by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman). Partly tied to reforms in Colombia and NAFTA opening the US-Mexican border for more trade.
Starting from the 00's, there has been a move towards the European Market from the South American cartels. While at first the popular routee was the direct Colombia--UK route, crackdowns and increased security have lead to using West Africa as pit stop. Europe hasn't been as fertile a market as the US, but is a steady source of profit too.
...I just am interested in these things.