The so-called “chemical” has established itself as one of the most widespread drugs among young people and vulnerable people in Cuba.
MIAMI, United States. – Authorities of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) of Cuba once again presented drug consumption as a problem “imported” from the United States and other countries, while recognizing the growing weight of the synthetic substance known as “the chemical.”
In a press conference reported by the National Television News (NTV)This Thursday, Colonel Juan Carlos Poey Guerra, head of the specialized anti-drug confrontation body of the MININT, stated that the illicit market on the Island today has “a greater impact of synthetic drugs commonly known as chemicals or papers that come from abroad, from the United States.”
The officer specified that, between 2024 and so far in 2025, “72 operations with dissimilar types of drugs have been hindered, including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and synthetic cannabinoids with the intention of introducing them into the national territory from 11 different origins.” At the same time, he stressed that the main sources of internal supply are “incidents that could violate the border, the concealment of these own shipments and the cultivation of marijuana.”
He NTV He presented the appearance as a ratification of the “zero tolerance policy for drugs” and highlighted that the official approach continues to be “generating a culture of rejection and social awareness” against the illicit production, consumption, possession and trafficking of narcotics.
“Chemicals” and “little papers”: the cheap drug that floods the neighborhoods
The so-called “chemical” has established itself as one of the most widespread drugs among young people and vulnerable people in Cuba. The term is popularly used to designate a mixture of synthetic cannabinoids and other drugs that are sold in small doses, many of them impregnated in herbs or in pieces of paper that are then smoked.
The AFP agency describe to the “chemical” as “a highly addictive synthetic cannabinoid, cheaper and more powerful than marijuana,” and specifies that its consumption has spread in Havana and other provinces.
According to that medium, a dose can cost around 100 Cuban pesos, “three times less than the cheapest pack of cigarettes sold on the Island.” The drug is presented as a “cocktail” made with substances such as “carbamazepine, benzodiazepines, anesthetic for animals and even formaldehyde, fentanyl and phenobarbital,” according to statements from the anti-drug soldier Héctor Ernesto González to state television.
The clandestine “cooks” impregnate the diluted mixture, using a spray, on herbs or on paper, “hence the names ‘the chemical’ and ‘the little paper’,” explained the same expert. The director of the Adolescent Dishabituation Center of the Ministry of Public Health, Elizabeth Céspedes, Indian that the drug causes symptoms of “euphoria, drowsiness, nausea, loss of appetite, convulsions, tachycardia, high blood pressure, serious arrhythmias and lack of coordination in movements,” with a “zombie-like gait” that has become common in video complaints broadcast from the Island.
A public health crisis
The Government’s commitment to emphasizing that the “chemicals” “come from abroad, from the United States” places the focus on the geopolitical dimension and the historical tension with Washington.
At the same time, the official journal Granma has insisted in which Cuba is “at the epicenter of international routes that have the neighboring United States as a global center of production, trafficking and consumption” of drugs, within the framework of its narrative of “zero tolerance” for drug trafficking.
However, the evidence provided by official and independent media suggests a more complex phenomenon than simple “imported drugs.” Granma newspaper reports The Demajagua about “illegal chemical drugs” transported by Cuban citizens between eastern municipalities, as well as the discovery of “papers with the so-called chemical” in homes in Bayamo, reveal internal production and distribution chains that the authorities do not detail in their television appearances.
In addition, both AFP and independent Cuban media have documented the clandestine production of the “chemical” in Cuba from mixtures of drugs, anesthetics and substances such as fentanyl, an extremely powerful synthetic opioid associated with tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the United States and other countries.
Havana’s insistence on pointing out the United States as the main origin of the “paperillos” contrasts with the absence of verifiable data on seizures of precursors, specific routes or actors involved in the local manufacture of the drug. Until now, the authorities have not released toxicological studies or detailed technical reports that would allow the population to know precisely what is being consumed, in what volumes and with what health consequences.
