DrugTrafficking

Carly Lombardi Emily King Carson Deardorff Frances Paxton

__Drug Trafficking: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow__

(Unknown)

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= __Introduction:__ = Drug trafficking is a huge problem, not only in the United States, but all over the world. Many people have heard of the opium problems in Afghanistan, but there are also heroin problems in Vietnam and drug cartels have moved from Colombia to Mexico.

= __Proof of Existence:__ = Drug Trafficking: The Proof Drugs are everywhere; in movies like Miami Vice, in songs like We Are All On Drugs by Weezer and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Beatles. We see drugs everyday in medicine cabinets and pharmacies across the world, but when is the line crossed, and when do drugs and the shipment of drugs become a crime? That is when drug trafficking, the production, sale, and distribution of illegal drugs (“Drug”), comes into play. Drug trafficking is taking place all over the world, in regions that are typically not in the best financial situations, places such as: Afghanistan, North Korea, Haiti, Mexico, Colombia, and parts of West Africa. West Africa has been affected by numerous civil wars for many years. The already tense region is getting even tenser as South American drug cartels drop their loads in the poor region. “The United Nations estimates that 50 tons of cocaine worth over $1 billion is shipped across the Atlantic and then unloaded in that region every year.” (Bates) The region has had a rapid growth of crime and cash flow thanks to the new transit points. Some officials are even linking the cartels and drop points to Al-Qaeda terrorism. Since the earthquake that shook the island nation of Haiti in January 2010, drug trafficking has erupted even more heavily in the midst of the chaos. The traffickers have been stopping in Haiti on their way to the United States coming from South and Central America, especially places like Colombia and Mexico. The former president of the small country, Mr. Aristide, was pushed out of presidency due to a rebellion that was paid for on drug money. “Bruce Bagley, a professor at the University of Miami who has studied drug trafficking in Haiti, said that the rebellion was, ‘Basically a narco-coup. The battles was over who was going to control the drug trafficking and the profits of the drug trade.’” (Polgreen) Mexico has also been a place of interest for drug traffickers to make cartels and hide-outs in, especially since Mexico leads directly to the United States and some big-spender heroin addicts. This is nothing new, Mexico has had drug problems for decades, but now, the drug-related violence has gotten out of hand. “In 2008, there were more then 6,200 drug-related murders, more than double the figure from the year before.” (Lacey) That’s just one year, though. Figures and statistics have shown more then 13,600 murders since Felipe Calderon, the current president of Mexico, took power. Although police forces have become more and more active about controlling the problems, the problem will still be there as long as a need for drugs is there. media type="youtube" key="dnxt965o7N4" height="344" width="425" ("Violence") Mexico has a huge problem, but the ever present problem in the biggest South American drug nation, Colombia, is growing at an even more rapid rate. Experts are even going as far as to say the prevention methods are failing. Even former Foreign Minister and current director of Cambio magazine, Rodrigo Pardo, has gone so far as to say, "In Colombia we are tired of the drug strategy. This demonstrated that what we have done has not worked ... We have put so much money and effort into it yet the statistics remain the same, despite success in security avenues" The Colombian people are so used to the drug problem, that polls have said they don’t even really think about it anymore, they’re more worried about everyday life. (Hutchinson) Another equally pressing cartel in the drug world that has been around for a very long time is Afghanistan. Afghanistan produces 87% of the world’s opium poppy (Krastev), one of the main ingredients used in the production of heroin. Although 1 in 5 farms has switched to legal crops, opium is still the biggest produced crop in the region, especially since the prices are about $140 for a kilogram of raw opium. (Krastev) The growing demand for heroin and opium is making the situation even worse, and the farmers aren’t looking to go back to lower paying legal crops anytime soon. When it’s not that hard to sneak boxes of opium onto merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea, it makes growing opium poppies for high prices very desirable. China has been entangled n drug trafficking problems for years, most of which were brought to light before, during, and after the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008. China is right in the midsts of the Golden Triangle, the biggest source of drugs in Asia that includes areas of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar. Because of the over production of drugs in that area, drug lords and smugglers have spilled into Southwest China, causing major problems. “Recently, overseas drugs have opened new trafficking routes, smuggling narcotics to China through India and Nepal,” said Luo Feng, deputy director of the National Narcotics Control Commission, NNCC. The NNCC has even said that, “Afghanistan has turned into a major problem for China.” (Xinhua) North Korea poses a new threat to Asian countries, like Japan, who are trying to avoid the drug invasion. North Korea had Japanese citizens being help captive on its land, making the island nation very unhappy. After the threat to cut all ties with North Korea, Japan finally got the results it wanted, along with some interesting information. An opium regime was discovered, causing all eyes to turn to the small nation. North Korea has been a problem area for weapons smuggling and arms dealing, but as the United States cut off their supplies from Middle Eastern States, North Korea turned to drug trafficking and counterfeiting, although, this has not been an easy crime to pin on the Asian state. “Because the North Korean state is so secretive, it is difficult to prove any direct links between the regime and drug trafficking.” (Cha) The United States and Japan are currently working together to try and prove the existence of drug trafficking, among other crimes, and are still hard at work.

=__ Cause: __= Illegal Drug Trafficking: The Cause The buyer and the seller: that is what it all comes down to in the market for illegal drugs. Though the two are hopelessly intertwined in the business of addictive substances their motives could not be further than polar opposites and yet closer than identical twins. I have observed that the basic need to participate in these illegal transactions all come down to greed. For the provider of such stimulants this greed is material, an ever growing desire to have more: more power, more money or even a greater social standing in the Black Market. Greed for the consumer, however, takes on a different perspective. “Drugee’s," as they may be called in the common vernacular, may find themselves bound to the consumption of drugs in any number of ways: an inherited addiction from birth via addicted mothers, peer pressure, or the ever powerful human desire to fill an emotional deficit. Once a person becomes captivated by dehumanizing drugs an entire chain reaction of a world trade system ensues. People of means and no regard for laws see the demand for drugs, and, itchy to make a quick, and rather large, buck could not be eager enough to find a supply for the growing numbers of consumers. The addictive nature of the drugs that are trafficked also ensures drug lords of a long lasting and highly profitable trade. Drug trafficking has been allowed to grow to such great heights that, though as inconceivable as it may be, entire economical systems of nations around the world depend almost entirely upon the illegal trade of drugs. Such is the case for countries like Afghanistan and North Korea. The issue of drugs in Afghanistan does not exist solely on the presence of drug lords, but rather the common, impoverished farmer. Illegal drugs, such as heroine, sell for outrageously high prices due to the risky nature of the trade; and so when the time comes for farmers to choose a crop in which to invest they side with opium. Opium, the plant from which heroine may be produced, is far cheaper to sew than more appropriate alternative: wheat. Christina Oguz said that //a significant switch to wheat would be unlikely, with the rise in food prices perhaps even resulting in farmers returning to the illegal crop//. It is a hard sell to convince farmers to swap out their crop of choice because wheat and opium must be planted in the same season, and opium gathers a $3,500 advantage per 2.5 acres over wheat (Kabul). Afghanistan, however, was not always the staple of illegal trade that it is today. Years ago when the Taliban was in power militaristic force was strong enough to cut off the cultivation of opiates almost completely. //“Economical incentives alone generally do not change people’s decisions. The thing that pushes them over the edge is strong law enforcement, and strong government leadership.” Stoddard(Kabul).// This statement proves true everyday as the Taliban is no longer in control and Afghanistan provides nearly 90% of the worlds opiates (Kabul). Radical groups such as the Taliban deeply influence affairs such as the drug trade, this is true across oceans, continents, and political borders. In recent years the coca drug trade between Columbia and the U.S. has dropped a significant amount; but do not hold your breath over a complete halt in trade. Critics have observed that this decline is a side effect of the dropping value of the U.S. dollar and the ever growing European market (Adams). This natural economical cancer is what experts call the “balloon effect”. This simply means that suppression of trade in one area of the world just inspires new pressure for the trade somewhere else. The U.N. has observed that there has been a 27% jump in coca cultivation in the last year. “//We’re right back to the levels we saw in 2003-2006. There’s been no breakthrough.”// says Adam Isacson, a Colombian expert at the Center for International Policy in D.C. Colombia, Peru and Bolivia currently are accredited for the majority of the world’s supply of coca. The balloon effect reappears as production of coca in Colombia has dropped nearly 28% while the production of coca has risen 13% in Peru and Bolivia. The cause of the relocation of this drug is greatly due, in part, to the resurgence of the Shining Path: a violent communist revolutionary group (Adams). While illegal drug operations are conducted mainly by unlawful groups behind the established government, there is at least one country whose government deliberately distributes illegal substances around the world. media type="youtube" key="KdI1y4sdPZE" height="344" width="425" ("Colombian") (Mukherjee) In the previously stated situations illegal substances are produced; and the keyword here is illegal. The North Korean government, by law, encourages farmers to cultivate opiate producing poppies. The profits of these heinous acts are directly used to finance the North Korean Regime. Over forty tons of globally illegal substances such as heroine, cocaine and methamphetamines are produced and shipped earning North Korea over $1 billion annually.( Kim) “//Many countries suspect that the North Korean government uses the money earned from drug trafficking to pay for its programs to develop weapons of mass destruction and the ballistic missiles to deliver them”. Ah-Young Kim (Halt).// The smuggling of these drugs are often conducted with the services of the Russian Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza, and other international criminal organizations. Greed: self-indulgent, materialistic, miserliness, the very definition of the cause for illegal drug trafficking. Behind every exchange of an illegal substance lies this definition of human imperfection. Greed spreads like a cancer and takes hold like a parasite until it ruins the host into nothingness. Those who are able to recognize this competitive disease seldom seek for a cure because it is in the soul of man to seek out greater things; so easily does this search lead to an imitation of greater things, to temporary solutions. Since life is short and few of opportunities people tend to settle for the imitation. This imitation comes in many forms: political power, financial superiority, and self-satisfactions. Participation on any level of drug trafficking can temporarily give one the sense of these attributes; but in order to maintain these feelings the amount of participation must grow exponentially. In my opinion this is why drug trafficking continues to expand, and it will continue further unless something is done.

= __Effects:__ = = = As stated above, the central cause of drug trafficking is greed. Families have been torn apart by the effects of these illegal substances, hundreds of lives have been claimed, and an unimaginable amount of money was used to purchase these drugs. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said,” Approximately 21 million people worldwide have abused cocaine and heroin and 30 million abused amphetamine-type stimulants.”(Abadinsky)When the Taliban fell from power, production had increased, and once again, Afghanistan became the world's leading supplier of heroin, with the poppy harvest accounting for 60% of the country's gross domestic product in 2004. (Abadinsky) In the 1960’s the American drug market had began purchasing brown heroin from Mexico on account of their connection with France. More recently, Mexico has been supplying America with black tar, an even more dangerous and potent form of heroin. Forty years ago, President Richard Nixon Had declared a war on drugs. Former chief of Seattle police, Norm Stamper, reacted with this, “We've spent a trillion dollars prosecuting the war on drugs. What do we have to show for it? Drugs are more readily available, at lower prices and higher levels of potency. It's a dismal failure.”(Kristof) There are three main consequences from this drug war. First, is an increase in the populations in prisons makes the United States about five times larger than the world’s average. Second, we have given more power to criminals at home and abroad, because of many economists have favored the easing of drug laws to stop the raising prices. Third, we have wasted our resources. Jeffrey Miron, a Harvard economist, found that federal, state, and local governments spend a total of $44.1 billion every year enforcing drug bans. We spend seven times as much on drug interdiction, policing and imprisonment as on treatment. (Kristof)

= __Future if it Continues:__ = The Drug World Tomorrow “At home and abroad, the U.S. is losing the war against narcotics traffickers.” Writes U.S. News and World report’s Gest (Gest). The drug world today is the worst it has been, and it continues to grow every minute. The human mind has this need to find something that will give them pleasure, whether it is through the use of caffeine, adrenaline, or alcohol, all are drugs commonly used in order to give one the feeling of euphoria. “The antidrug drive that is just now getting into full swing began soon after President Reagan assumed office in 1981.” (Gest) Some of the things not commonly known are hazardous to their health are things such as adrenaline which are found in the body naturally. media type="youtube" key="E0HKSYEPwV8" height="344" width="425" ("Cocaine") Wisegeek.com’s McGuigan says: It may be important after a particularly stressful situation to 'work off' the adrenaline that has been released into your system. Our ancestors handled this naturally through fighting or other physical exertion, but in the modern world, high-stress situations often arise that that involve little physical activity. This can leave high amounts of adrenaline in the body, resulting in [|insomnia] and jittery nerves. Drug users today also do not see prescription drugs as harmful, simply because they were prescribed. Doctors are stuck between not wanting to give out addictive and prescribing their patients the drugs they need in order to heal and remain healthy. Most drug addicts today are prescription abusers who are either patients or are related to a patient or past patient. According to a CDC report, "Sixteen of the 18 drugs most commonly linked to adverse drug events in the study have been in clinical use for more than 20 years.” (Medical news) At the current rate of drug abuse worldwide, it will be hard to pull out of if no one is willing to stand up. One can simply go and speak to their loved ones if suspicion of drug use for other than medical reasons. Many times those who use drugs only do so to make themselves feel better, if we are able to make others feel needed then they will have no reason to turn to ridiculous addiction to reach euphoria. According to the CDC website, the percent of persons 12 years of age and over with any nonmedical use of a psychotherapeutic drug in the past month was 2.8 percent in 2007. (CDC.gov) Internationally many countries worldwide are also fighting the “war on drugs”, “ Switzerland's "Needle Park", touted as a way to restrict a few hundred heroin users to a small area, turned into a grotesque tourist attraction of 20,000 heroin addicts and junkies. It had to be closed before it infected the entire city of Zurich. In the Netherlands, anyone over the age of 17 can drop into a marijuana "coffee shop" and pick types of marijuana just as they might choose flavours of ice-cream. As crime and the availability of drugs rose, and complaints from angry residents about the decline in their quality of life multiplied, the Dutch parliament trimmed back the number of marijuana shops in Amsterdam and the amount that can be sold to an individual.” (Califano) Though America seems to be the one to advertise most on their drug campaigns, countries world wide have been searching for and end long before the U.S. even recognized it as a hazard.

= __Solution:__ = = = We are all responsible for our own actions and decisions which, unfortunately on this topic, affect everyone around us. People need to become aware of how detrimental drugs are to society, there can be no solution to the problem if people do not know what the problem is. Only when each person is able to fully grasp the situation can a solution begin to unfold.

= __Citations:__ = Adams, David. “Upon Closer Look, News on Drug War Not So Good.” //The St, Petersburg Times,// 28 June 2009. Web. Global Issues in Context. //Gale.// 11 January 2010. Bates, Theunis. "Drug Traffickers Build Key Transit Point in W. Africa". 2/18/10 [] (“Califano”) Califano, Joseph. “ Drug legalisation is playing Russian roulette” [|//Financial Times//] pg. 9 ( [|Aug 16, 2007]) London (UK): 9 Feb. 2010 [] (CDC.gov) Statistics: “Illegal Drug Use” 2007: 22 Jan. 2010 [] Cha, Victor and Hoffmeister, Chris. "North Korea's Drug Habit". New York Times. 2/18/10 [] __Cocaine Factories-Bolivia__. Documentary by Unknown. Journeyman Pictures, 2007. __Colombian Traffickers Moving Drugs in Submarines__ Documentary by Teresa Bo. Al Jazeera English, 2008. "Drug Trafficking Law & Legal Definition". US Legal Definitions. 2/18/10 [] (“Gest”) Gest, Ted. "Why U.S. is losing the war against drugs." //U.S. News & World Report.// v96. (Feb 6, 1984): p49(2). //Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center//. Gale. Tallwood High School. 9 Feb. 2010 [] Hamer, Ashley. "Fighting Against Drug Trafficking is Failing: Experts". Colombia Reports. 2/18/10 [] Kabul. “Food Prices Alone Won’t Stop Afghan Opium Growers.” //Africa// //Wire-Sudan,// 6 June 2008. Web. Global Issues in Context//. Gale.// 11 January 2010 .Hutchinson, Asa. “Major Corridors Into The United States.” Map. //DEA Congressional Testimony: Statement by: Asa Hutchinson, Administrator Drug Enforcement Administration, Before the: Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation// 17 October 2001. 22 February 2010. [] Kim, Ah-Young. “Halt North Korea’s Drug Habit; A Narcotic State.” //International Herald Tribune,// 18 June 2003. Web. Global Issues in Context. //Gale.// 15 January 2010. Krastev, Nikola. "Afghanistan: Drug Agency Anticipates Increased Opium Production". Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty. 2/18/10 [] Lacey, Marc. ""Mexican Drug Trafficking"". New York Times. 2/18/10 [] (McGuigan) McGuigan, Brendan. “What is adrenaline?” 07 Feb, 2009: 23 Jan. 2010 [] (medical news) Article: “Patients' Misuse Of Prescription Drugs More Harmful Than FDA Approval Process, According To Op-Ed” 22 Dec. 2006: 22 Jan. 2010 [] Mukherjee, Arpita. “A submarine used by Colombians to traffic drugs across the Caribbean and Pacific.” Photo. //Submersibles: New Form of Transportation for Colombian Drug Traffickers.// 11 February 2008. 22 February 2010. [].

"Opium". Drugs.com. 2/18/10 [] Polgreen, Lydia and Weiner, Tim. "Drug Traffickers find Haiti a Hospitable Port of Call". New York Times. 2/18/10 [] Unknown. "Blackmarket Flu Vaccine" //Cartoonstock.com// 1.15 (2010) [] __Violence and Drug Trafficking in Mexico.__ Documentary by “Latin Pulse. “ Latin Pulse, 2009. Xinhua News Agency, "Worsening Drug Trafficking Poses New Challenge to China". China Through A Lens. 2/18/10 [] Abadinsky, Howard. "drug trafficking." //Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia//. 2010. Grolier Online. 7 Jan. 2010 [] Kristof, Nicholas D. "Drugs won the war." __The New York Times__ 158.54706 (June 14, 2009) Editorial Desk: 10(L). __Global Issues In Context__. Gale. Tallwood High School. 12 Jan. 2010 Kristof, Nicholas D. "Drugs won the war." __The New York Times__ 158.54706 (June 14, 2009) Editorial Desk: 10(L). __Global Issues In Context__. Gale. Tallwood High School. 12 Jan. 2010 []