Drug Dealing: Nearing Its End?

2560 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The war on drugs in Latin America

The drug scourge facing the Americas has spread and created disaster, but in the end, it might come to an end through legalization. It is critical to examine several key components to fully understand how drug cartels, specifically South American, work and how there is the possibility of stopping this grand diffusion that has mostly taken place in this last half century. The inner workings of the cartels are complex and essential to their success and spread. Part of the process is how drugs get shipped to different parts of the world. The way that drug lords have worked, has brought success and richness to them and the cartels they lead. There have been attempts to stop the drug scourge, but all have failed. In the end, the only way to end this problem and break down cartels is to legalize the drugs that are presently illegal.

The dominating area for drug trafficking and production has shown to be Latin America. Colombia is one of the only countries in the world that produces three drugs based on plants: marijuana, cocaine and heroin. According to the US National Drug Intelligence Center, since October 2006, Colombia is the source of approximately 70 percent of the world's coca leaves and cocaine, making it the principal world producer (Krauss). Since the early 1980s, the illegal drug trafficking business in Colombia has been mainly controlled by its two large cartels, the Medellín and Cali cartels (Krauss). Mexico has also been a dominant and leading exporter of illegal drugs. Of what the U.N. estimates, Mexican drug lords are in charge of 142 billion dollars a year business in cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, and other illegal drugs (“Americas”). According to the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcem...

... middle of paper ...

...
"Drug Abuse, Drug Trafficking, & Organized Crime." Drug Library. President's Commission on Organized Crime, 1986. Web. 20 April 2010. .

Jacobo Rodríguez, L. "Time to End the Drug War." Law. The Cato Institute, 03 Dec 1997. Web. 4 May 2010. .

Krauss, Carolin. "Development of Illicit Crop Cultivation and Drug Trafficking." Drug Trade in Colombia. ISN, n.d. Web. 20 April 2010. .

"Mexico: Drug Cartels a Growing Threat." Americas. World Press, 02 Nov 2006. Web. 4 May 2010. .

Stamper, Norm. "How Legalizing Drugs Will End the Violence." Drugs. Alter Net, 28 Jul 2006. Web. 4 May 2010. .

Show More
Related

  • Mexican Cartel

    1525 Words  | 4 Pages

    The cartels are now in control of most of the drug trades and are successful. The Mexican border gives them the power to go everywhere they desire, making them a relentless force. “To date operation Xcellrator has led the arrest of 755 individuals and the seizure of approximately 5 U.S. Currency more than 12,000 kilograms of cocaine, more than 16,000 pounds of marijuana, more than 11,000 of methamphetamine, more than 8 kilograms of heroin, approximately 1.3 million pills of ecstasy”(Doj 2). Mexican cartels extend to central and southern America. Columbia is the supply of much of the cocaine exported to the U.S. Colombia is under control of South American gangs, they do business with the Mexican cartels to transport drugs the north. The Northern Mexican gangs hold the most control because the territory is very important (Wagner1). They are many different types of cartel in Mexico it also signifies that there are killing each other so their cartel can expand an...

    Read More

  • Mass Incarceration of African Americans

    2058 Words  | 5 Pages

    New York: New York, 2010. Print. The. Should the U.S. Continue Its War on Drugs? Opposing Views: Issues, Experts, Answers.

    Read More

  • Overivew of Mexico's Drug War

    1809 Words  | 4 Pages

    Over the last several decades, violence has consumed and transformed Mexico. Since the rise of dozens of Mexican cartels, the Mexican government has constantly been fighting an ongoing war with these criminal organizations. The cartel organizations have a primary purpose of managing and controlling illegal drug trafficking operations in Central America and South America to the United States. Violence on a massive and brutal scale has emerged due to the nature of the illegal drug trade. Because the drug trade is vastly widespread, cartels are often fighting one another and competing in business. Mexican authorities count at least 12 major cartels, but also talk of an untold numbers of smaller splinter groups. (Taipei Times). Five cartels from Mexico have risen to become the extremely powerful amongst all the drug organizations operating in Mexico. The Guadalajara Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Tijuana Cartel, the Juarez Cartel, and the Gulf Cartel. These organizations, along with other distinguished Mexican cartels, have plagued Mexico with violence, terror, and fear due to the essence and nature of illegal drug trafficking.

    Read More

  • America's War on Drugs: Policy and Problems

    4902 Words  | 10 Pages

    America's War on Drugs: Policy and Problems. In this paper I will evaluate America's War on Drugs. More specifically, I will outline our nation's general drug history and look critically at how Congress has influenced our current ineffective drug policy. Through this analysis, I hope to show that drug prohibition policies in the United States, for the most part, have failed.

    Read More

  • I Support the Decriminalization of All Drugs

    1134 Words  | 3 Pages

    When societies finally become comfortable with reality, they begin to abandon the murderous laws that impede their growth. Currently, the social stigma and legislated morality regarding the use of illicit drugs yield perhaps the most destructive effects on American society. Drug laws have led to the removal of non-violent citizens from society- either directly by incarceration or indirectly by death - which is genocidal in quantity and essence. I base my support of the decriminalization of all drugs on a principle of human rights, but the horror and frustration with which I voice this support is based on practicality. The most tangible effect of the unfortunately labeled "Drug War" in the United States is a prison population larger than Russia's and China's, and an inestimable death toll that rivals the number of American casualties from any given war, disease or catastrophe.

    Read More

  • Drug Prohibition Research Paper

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some of the most prominent economists already involved in the issue are Jeffrey Miron and Mark Thornton. One strand of the discussion comes from Jeffrey Miron 2004. He discusses the current battle with the regulation and legalization of drugs in the United States and provides an analysis of the problems associated with prohibition. Miron offers a balanced, sophisticated and in-depth analysis of the true costs, benefits, and consequences of strictly enforcing drug prohibition. He argues that the effects of prohibition on drug use have been modest at best and have numerous highly unfavorable detrimental side effects. Specifically, prohibition is shown to directly increase violence, even when it deters drug use. Miron's analysis leads to the alarming discovery that the more resources given to the war on drugs, the higher the homicide rate. He provides a cost-benefit analysis on several alternatives to the war on drugs. His conclusion is indisputable. He proclaims that any of the numerous and widely discussed alternatives are likely to be a substantial improvement over the current policy of total

    Read More

  • Drug Trafficking and Its Effects on US Policy and Economy

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    Drug trafficking has been a massive concern between the borders of Mexico and the U.S. “since mid 1970s” (Wyler, 1). Drug trafficking is “knowingly being in possession, manufacturing, selling, purchasing, or delivering an illegal, controlled substance” (LaMance, 1). A dynamic relationship exists amongst Columbia, Mexico, and the U.S. the informal drug trafficking economy. This growing informal drug economy leads to many individuals creating a substantial living through this undercover market. These individual drug cartels monopolizing the trafficking market are a growing problem for the U.S economy and need to be located and controlled. If this trafficking continues, the U.S. informal economy will crush the growth of legal industries. The trafficking and abuse of drugs in the U.S. affects nearly all aspects of consumer life. Drug trafficking remains a growing issue and concern to the U.S. government. The U.S. border control must find a way to work with Mexico to overpower the individuals who contribute to the drug trafficking business. This market must be seized and these individuals must be stopped.

    Read More

  • The War on Drugs: Failures of the Drug Law Part 1

    4153 Words  | 9 Pages

    “[The war on drugs] has created a multibillion-dollar black market, enriched organized crime groups and promoted the corruption of government officials throughout the world,” noted Eric Schlosser in his essay, “A People’s Democratic Platform”, which presents a case for decriminalizing controlled substances. Government policies regarding drugs are more focused towards illegalization rather than revitalization. Schlosser identifies a few of the crippling side effects of the current drug policy put in place by the Richard Nixon administration in the 1970s to prohibit drug use and the violence and destruction that ensue from it (Schlosser 3). Ironically, not only is drug use as prevalent as ever, drug-related crime has also become a staple of our society. In fact, the policy of the criminalization of drugs has fostered a steady increase in crime over the past several decades. This research will aim to critically analyze the impact of government statutes regarding drugs on the society as a whole.

    Read More

  • The US War on Drugs in Latin America

    3419 Words  | 7 Pages

    The United States has a long history of intervention in the affairs of one it’s southern neighbor, Latin America. The war on drugs has been no exception. An investigation of US relations with Latin America in the period from 1820 to 1960, reveals the war on drugs to be a convenient extension of an almost 200 year-old policy. This investigation focuses on the commercial and political objectives of the US in fighting a war on drugs in Latin America. These objectives explain why the failing drug policy persisted despite its overwhelming failure to decrease drug production or trafficking. These objectives also explain why the US has recently exchanged a war on drugs for the war on terrorism.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Liberal And Liberal Views On The War On Drugs

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    Timothy Lynch, writing in the conservative magazine the National Review, writes about how the drug war has not made very much progress and has essentially failed. Lynch writes about how voters in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Alaska, and Maine that have rejected ideas to improve the war on drugs and instead they “approved initiatives calling for the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes” (40). Lynch also writes that “the supply of drugs has not been hampered in any serious way by the war on drugs” (41). This supports the conservative’s claim that the war on drugs is not making any progress to stop the supply of drugs coming into America. Conservative writer for the magazine National Review, William Buckley, shows his outrage towards the Council on Crime in America for their lack of motivation to change the drug policies that are ineffective. Buckley asks, “If 1.35 million drug users were arrested in 1994, how many drug users were not arrested? The Council informs us that there are more than 4 million casual users of cocaine” (70). Buckley goes on to discuss in the article, “Misfire on Drug Policy,” how the laws set up by the Council were meant to decrease the number of drug users, not increase the number of violators. Richard Lowry writes an article for the National Review, quoting a Council on Foreign Relations report on drug eradication policies

    Read More

  • The drug control policy of the United States

    1414 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shannon, Elaine. “The War on Drugs: A Losing Battle.” Time.com. Time Magazine, 3 Dec. 2010. Web. 18 Dec. 2011. .

    Read More

  • Should Drugs Be Decriminalized?

    1650 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wolf, M. (2011, June 4). We should declare an end to our disastrous war on drugs. Financial Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.consortiumlibrary.org/docview/870200965?accountid=14473

    Read More

  • Legalisation of Marijuana

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walters, John P. "No surrender: the drug war saves lives." National Review 27 Sept. 2004: 41. Student Edition. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

  • Anti-legalization of Drugs

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    6th ed. Boston: Bedford, 1997 "Legalizing Drugs." Greenhaven Press. San Diego: 1996 Olson, William J. " Drugs Should Not Be Legalized. " Greenhaven Press.

    Read More

  • Teenagers and Drug Abuse

    1622 Words  | 4 Pages

    New York: Citadel Press, 1997. Bender, David. The War on Drugs. California: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1998.

    Read More

More about Drug Dealing: Nearing Its End?

Open Document