What’s the Deal on Drugs in Santiago?

Obviously, you have to be careful, like in any country in the world. But at least in Santiago’s party scene, the use of drugs—alcohol and other substances—is very widespread and largely accepted. No one’s really going to judge you. It depends on the place, of course, but people use marijuana and cocaine at standard parties, and at the more electronic ones, people will take ecstasy.

There's also something called “tusi,” which isn’t necessarily well-known everywhere, but in Chile, “tusi”—a kind of pink cocaine has had a sort of boom. So it’s not unusual at all to walk past party venues and see little baggies with pink powder inside. And despite Chile being a pretty conservative country, the party culture has this sort of open-mindedness. And again—you have to be careful when buying, be mindful of who you're buying from, and always use substances safely.