Marching Powder

"Inspired by the description of San Pedro prison in La Paz, Bolivia, in the Lonely Planet Guidebook - and in particular by the 'English-speaking' tours it advertised -- Rusty Young decided to visit the notorious jail. The tour was given by inmate Thomas McFadden, a British citizen arrested for drug smuggling. They struck up a friendship, and Young ended up spending for months in San Pedro, listening to McFadden and learning about one of the strangest places on earth. San Pedro is a city within a city: Inmates buy and cell their cells. Advertisements cover the walls. Wealthy drug lords live in…