narcostate

Etymology

From narco- + state.

narcostate means A state that is heavily involved in the trafficking or production of illegal drugs. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.

Why this word is great

NARCOSTATE — [Noun] A state whose economy and political structures are heavily influenced or controlled by the illegal drug trade. From the combining form narco- (from Greek narkē, "numbness, stupor," later associated with narcotics) + state (from Latin status, "condition, position, polity"), it denotes a sovereignty anaesthetized from within. Unlike a "failed state" (which has lost fundamental governance) or a "drug cartel" (the criminal organization itself), a narco-state presents a functional façade, its corruption systemic and its institutions hollowed out. It is the freshly paved highway leading only to a clandestine airstrip, the presidential guard wearing the same insignia as the trafficker’s private militia, and the national economy that pulses to the rhythm of laundered dollars—a grand pantomime of legitimacy, performed at gunpoint.

noun

A state that is heavily involved in the trafficking or production of illegal drugs.“But it is time to deprive drug lords, organized crime and narcostates of the huge, tax-free profits realized from illicit drug use in our society.”