What do you think the crime that occurs the most in the world is? Is it gang related activity? Prostitution maybe? The answer to this question is drugs and drug trafficking. If we make drug legal, will drug trafficking stop? In this essay I will talk about the perspectives of countries on drug trafficking.
Firstly, what is drug trafficking? Drug trafficking is the production and distribution of drugs around the world through specific routes. The drugs commonly traded are cocaine, heroin, opium and marijuana. Even though drug trafficking is illegal in lots of countries, people still do it for the same reason, the need for money. The job is also quite easy so it’s easy money, and it’s also very profitable, but they face a lot of danger getting caught and put into prison. The consequences vary but the punishment will be severe enough to discourage the seller from selling drugs. Drugs’ trafficking is already highly illegal by itself, but this crime also relates to many other crimes such as murder, assault and kidnapping. Drug trafficking is punished much more strictly.
The first country that is famous for drug trafficking is Afghanistan, famous for its opium. More than 90% of the world’s opium is produced in Afghanistan. This type of drug is commonly traded in the “Golden …show more content…
Crescent”, the name given to the area of opium production covering three countries, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. The reason why opium trades in Afghanistan is because 70% of Afghanistan’s government is involved in opium trafficking. More than a dozen governors are part of the process of opium’s production and distribution.(April 3, 2009,Addiction Blogger, the good drugs guide)
The second country which is famous for drugs is Mexico. Famous for its marijuana and methamphetamine. There are 4 major drug cartels in Mexico, the Gulf, Juarez, Tijuana and the biggest one, the Sinaloa drug cartel owned by Joaquin Guzman, the 701th richest man in the world. These 4 areas are the places where cocaine from America and marijuana from Mexico is distributed and traded. 90% of the cocaine that enters U.S.A goes through Mexico. Mexico is also a main supplier of marijuana and meth for the U.S. These cartels are getting more wealthy and powerful every year. There is also a drug war in Mexico, causing thousands of death between rival drug cartels. (April 3, 2009,Addiction Blogger, the good drugs guide)
The third and last country that is famous for the drug industry that I’m going to talk about is Bolivia. Bolivia is ranked third for cocaine production, after Peru and Colombia. This country has 28,900 hectares of its land farming cocaine, double what Bolivian law allows. The reason why this is not a worry for the government is because the current president, Evo Morales was the head of the “Cocaine growers association” before he became the president. Apart from being a top cocaine producer, Bolivia is assuming the role of a major transit point for cocaine shipments from Peru to Brazil. (April 3, 2009,Addiction Blogger, the good drugs guide)
Drugs do not have much value alone.
If you make them illegal, this gives them a huge “price support” to drug sellers/traffickers. They make very big profits, and so they need violence and corruption as protection. This is why the gangs are so ruthless. The only way to stop drug trafficking is to legalize it. If drugs are legal, we can tax them. The corrupt banks and companies who do not pay tax and support the drug industry would have to start paying tax. Then we might catch some criminals. The government spends a lot of money to stop trafficking. If it stop they can use these thousands of millions of dollars for social support. Then not so many people will die of
overdoses.
References: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/09/cocaine-production-united-nations-summit http://www.psmag.com/politics/is-drug-trafficking-worse-than-murder-57445/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2008/10/map_of_the_week_the_mystery_of.html http://thesocietypages.org/graphicsociology/2011/05/11/mexican-drug-cartels/ http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/mexicodrugwar.html http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/blog/0754/7-countries-where-drug-lords-lord-it-over/ http://eewiki.newint.org/index.php/Make_drugs_legal http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/afghanistan/drug_trafficking/