Preview

International Drug Trade Essay Example

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1226 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
International Drug Trade Essay Example
Drugs are a major in issue in the lives of people all over the world, whether it be young teenagers in America , or adults in Latin America . The international drug trade affects more people then they realize, and only some people are fighting it. In some countries in the world, drugs are only thing keeping the economy running. In those same places, it is the drug lords who run the country, which is how the drug trade stays alive. In these countries, the crime rate stays relatively high compared to the United States '. Peoples' lives are risked every day in these countries, and some even flee their homes in search of a safer, more comforting home.
In the United States , “the high national priority given to terrorism has resulted in enhanced focus on links between drug and terror groups” (Perl). The United States are one of the few countries taking a step to eliminate the drug trade. Today in the US, over 1 billion dollars is spent toward fighting the "War on Drugs,“ while “the total economic cost of illicit drug use to the nation in 2002 have been estimated by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to be $180.9 billion (Perl). That is a lot of money that is spent on a war that seems to be going nowhere. The United States proposal to preventing the spread of this issue, “The primary stated goal of U.S. international drug policy is to reduce the supply of illicit narcotics flowing into the United States . A second and supporting goal is to reduce the amount of illicit drugs cultivated, processed, and consumed worldwide” (Perl). So with that approach, hopefully more and more countries will join the United States effort in fighting the international drug trade. In Colombia , they have put into effect “… ‘Plan Colombia ,’ a $1.3 billion military assistance-focused initiative to provide emergency supplemental narcotics assistance to Colombia ” (Perl). So the United States is definitely not alone in the fight against the drug trade. In

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    English Comp Rough Draft

    • 1155 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Substance abuse and consumption have become an epidemic in America. The use of drugs results in countless drug-related deaths and causes states to spend billions of dollars to combat drug trafficking. Drugs are shipped in by sea, air, automobile, and even smuggled in by person. These drugs are supplied by drug cartels. These criminal organizations where formed to promote, control, produce, and distribute narcotic drugs. While these cartels operate from all parts of the world, some of the most infamous are the Mexican and Columbian Cartels. America has put policies into combating drug trafficking, however these policies are not effective as drug abuse is at a society crippling high.…

    • 1155 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    drugs in americas paper 1

    • 1262 Words
    • 1 Page

    How is it possible that America, the strongest country in the world, cannot rid the use and sale of illegal drugs? First, we must take a look at what their policy includes. The Drug Wars’ “primary aim is to prohibit supply, so that Americans cannot find or cannot afford drugs to use; its secondary aim is to discourage those who do consume drugs, mainly by penalizing them,” (Bertram, pg. 3.) Still, with this policy and its lack of achievement, we deny any true change. “Despite a decline in casual drug use since the late 1970’s, and despite the billions of dollars spent to fight the drug war, the number of people suffering drug use or addiction, the level of violent drug-related crime, and the spread of diseases linked to drug…

    • 1262 Words
    • 1 Page
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    I chose to do my paper on a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. I am quite familiar with this program; I have been clean and sober for nearly eighteen months and attend meetings weekly. Without the support and encouragement from my sponsors I guarantee I would still be where I was nearly two years ago. I prefer to attend closed meetings, because they are generally smaller; and I am able to open up to the group.…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The fearmongering rhetoric of the War on Drugs has jacked up the price of security in the United States. American society has become desensitized to the common systemic rights abuses caused by the War on Drugs that we now accept them as everyday practice to stop drug abuse. Furthermore, the method that the War on Drugs uses to approach the drug problem is inherently flawed. With status quo means, the War on Drugs is unwinnable. The approach taken to end drug abuse is completely ignores the economics of the War on Drugs.…

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Substance Abuse - Heroin

    • 2142 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Drug issues in American have forced the government to hold a zero tolerance policy when it involved drugs. These policies were created with the idea that drug use is all too common epidemic, that is increasing the grips on communities and this policies basis is to remove all of the illegal use of drugs all together. It’s never as easy as the foundation states no matter the way it is approached. The idea is to punish for the use, trafficking and creation of the illegal narcotics to make those whom consume, sell or create will be punished with jail or fines. The current investment is currently listed as 400 billion US dollars yearly. Even though the Government has made every attempt to limit this it has been shown that drugs use is on the rise, not just in North America, but other continents as well such as Europe and South America. Watch the television and listen…

    • 2142 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In our society drugs and the people involved with drugs are a major issue. People who use drugs or sell drugs tend to do outrageous things to get the drugs or to make money off selling drugs. I believe that these type of people are endangering others in their lives, their community and even the world. I came up with a brilliant solution to stop their outrageous antics. I feel that the addiction of most drug attics will never stop. We will never get rid of drugs but, we can get rid of the people involved with drugs. All drug influenced people should be moved to their own country.…

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The war on drugs has been going on for over thirty years. It does not appear that a lot of progress has been made. If the United States were fighting any other war, this long, with these results, they would change direction. The United States current drug policy has consumed tens of billions of dollars and ruined countless lives. According to Unitarian Universalists for Drug Policy Reform (2006), "The costs of this policy include the increasing breakdown of families, escalating rates of incarceration, political corruption, and the imposition of United States policy abroad. For United States taxpayers, the price tag on the drug offensive has soared from sixty six million in 1968 to…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    An Unfair Drug War

    • 2110 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Drug production and drug dealing today has become a substantial source of revenue. Whether for making up budget deficits or for the enrichment of certain individuals, population groups, firms or even countries, drugs are distributed worldwide. Drugs also involve economically marginalized sectors of the population, such as peasant producers or some small-scale drug dealers, criminal organizations or certain closely-knit sectors of society in the world of business or State institutions. The recycling of profits is central to the economy and society in terms of land, real estate and financial assets. It directly involves businesses and financial institutions. The social transformations stemming from the development of the drug economy reveal a growth in the sectors of illegal activity. These issues, which now concern all parts of the world, take different shape from one region and location to another.…

    • 2110 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I intend to talk about the repeated effect of the drug war. Forty years ago, the world declared war on drugs. Today, after decades of failing to adequately control drug consumption, an even greater problem has emerged: violent drug traffickers have taken the industry hostage and will stop at nothing to preserve their power. ( Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies;Summer2011, Vol.18 Issue 2, p901-927, 27p). Drug trafficking is the most widespread and lucrative organized crime operation in the United States, with an annual income estimated to be as high as 110…

    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Satire On Drugs

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages

    History has demonstrated that the more plentiful drugs are, the more they will be used. Conversely, the less available drugs are, the fewer people use them. Therefore, we should cut the supply of drugs to our citizens. Drug availability can be decreased by operating against every link in the drug chain from cultivation to production and trafficking. Drug crop cultivation must be addressed both domestically and abroad. Drugs must be interdicted while in transit. The diversion of precursor chemicals must be prevented. Illicit profits must be traced to their criminal sources and, where possible, seized. Trafficking organizations must be broken. Because drug trafficking is fundamentally a profit-oriented enterprise, attacking the economics of every aspect of the illegal drug industry offers a way to reduce drug availability. Interdiction must continue to be a vital component of a balanced supply-reduction effort. Effective interdiction efforts require flexible, in-depth, intelligence-driven operations. Bilateral, multilateral, regional, and international cooperation is critical to the success of any interdiction…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever wondered how much money is spent on illegal drugs annually? So far over $352,492,916,346 has been spent on drugs worldwide. Drug trafficking is a business that just keeps on growing. Many attempts have been made to control global drug production and supply resulting in the current form with the 1961 UN single convention on drugs. These attempts include harsher laws regarding drug trafficking. Government uses the police and military for the enforcement of laws, and to punish users.…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The war on drugs in the United States is an expensive and deadly ongoing battle that has not yet been won. The term war on drugs provides drug distributors with more income due to the illegal nature of drugs. Americans do not have readily available easy access to many types of drugs that are illegal. Because narcotics are illegal that is enough for many people to want drugs. This is a major problem faced today in our prison systems throughout the United States. Especially in the state of California where many people find their way into our criminal justice system due to many factors…

    • 1951 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Drugs are running rampant in our society today. Families and communities across America are being torn apart by all types of drugs. The criminalization of drugs has not done anything for addicts other than put them behind bars and misappropriate the useful time of government agencies. America needs to start focusing on the treatment of addicts, not the incarceration. Soon after, Americans will notice the decline in problematic drug usage that Richard Nixon promised when he declared the “War on Drugs”. America has comprehensively failed on every level to deliver a drug policy that not only works, but has a lasting effect on people’s lives in America. It is time America decriminalizes drugs; not only is it a sensible proposition, but it will ensure America receives the victory in the endless battle in the…

    • 1546 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    According to the text, “The existing budget to fight the supply of drugs cannot compete with the limitless resources available to drug traffickers”. (R.Dowd, 1997). Even though the U.S. spends millions of dollars every year on the war against drugs, it’s not enough. Tax payers’ dollars are being used to fight drugs, while the drug traffickers have almost “limitless” resources due to the large amount of their gross income. Drugs that are being trafficked in the U.S. are also giving gangs the upper hand with a lot of different things. Drug cartels have so much money, power, and even respect from people and other gangs that it makes it even more difficult to stop them. As stated in the text: “ The U.S. has implemented many innovative ways to reduce drug trafficking over the last 20 years, but still has not been successful and bringing the number down to a tolerable level”. (D.Baum,…

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The estimated total of funding from the government has come close to almost $1.4 trillion dollars (Editorial; Nixon's drug war still hurts the poor). For more than forty years, America has funded efforts to suppress the importation of illegal drugs and has had little to no success. Looking at the outcomes of this war, the results are hundreds of thousands innocents dead in other foreign countries. As in Mexico alone, the total rate of homicides was estimated to 11 per 100,000 individuals in 2005; by 2010, it was 18.5 per 100,000 individuals (Enamorado). The effects of the domestic war on drugs is spilling into other countries as a power struggle for who will gain control of the large US market. If marijuana was legal, this effect would no longer be relevant. Individuals would be less likely to seek out and buy the drug for recreational use through illegal…

    • 1611 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays