Cocaine In Colombia

I hope you all can agree that a better idea would go after the source of the drugs or even the treatment of the people using them and hopefully in time the number of people using narcotics drops dramatically. But realistically what happens is people using and distributing narcotics are entered into a never ending life of crime because the government punishes the criminal offenders’ absurd amounts that the government knows they cannot afford. So once released from prison or jail these criminals have debts that they have to repay and no way to pay them. So what is the answer? Crime is the answer. That is where the cynical cycle starts all over again and these released inmates find themselves in a familiar situation; trying to make money for reasons that don’t benefit themselves. But, unfortunately, the only way these people know how to make money is deemed deviant by society.

Supposedly 90% of all U.S. dollars in circulation, including the $13,304,844,056 dollars spent by the U.S. to date in the War on Drugs have trace amounts of cocaine on them. Of the $13,304,844,056, $9 billion in foreign aid has been endowed to Colombia, where nearly 100% of the cocaine that is imported to the U.S. originates. The U.S. is as addicted to coke as coke is to it. The ongoing Colombian conflict between the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), and the government of Colombia has been raging for nearly 52 years. Yet, the 1990-2015 era of the conflict is the most notable due to the mass proliferation of cocaine. After the cartels receded from preeminence in Colombia, the nation

While the United States and Europe are the main importers of cocaine, the main exporters of cocaine are found in Latin America. Latin America has among one of the most impacted nations involved in narco-terrorism. In Latin America, cocaine is known as the “atomic bomb”. The most impacted countries of narco-terrorism are Columbia, Mexico, and Peru.

From the third world of many South American countries, to the third street projects in the inner-city, to the third floor of a downtown luxury loft, cocaine is prevalent and being used. The business of the coca leaf is a billion dollar a year industry, if not more. Our foreign counterparts are profiting in full off of the drug. Mexico, Peru, and Colombia are some of the countries in Central and South America that are profiting and manufacturing cocaine.

Those who were never educated on the effects of drug use are most likely going to be the ones to fall victim of peer pressure and eventually get into drugs themselves. In other cases, it is hard to avoid and can be picked up as a child, seeing family members or other individuals doing drugs. We should educate everyone, as well as having no tolerance laws when it comes to hard drugs and giving longer sentences to those who are caught with the drugs, instead of letting them off on probation or parole. Many people would completely disagree with allowing marijuana to be legal, but if you think about it, it could eventually cause the drug violence to end around the world. Marijuana has the least effects out of all the drugs in the world, and although people take it to the extreme, it is honestly a harmless drug and should not be causing this many people to have their lives taken over

The crimes of the drug trade cause communities to fall apart and increase in crime. The war on drugs has been a past, present, and future battle. Stopping the flow of drugs into communities is becoming harder. The funds are low and are not leading to enough options to prevent this problem. The factors to stop this have always been in place. Specific information communicated from departments and other law enforcement agencies will probably help slow down the influx of the drug trade. One recommendation from my readings to ease crime of drug trafficking is more drug treatment facilities. The bigger cities within in America have drug treatment facilities, but they cost. Only the people who can afford the treatments go to the facilities. Border control is another recommendation that address the war on drugs. The reason is terrorism supplied by money, and the money is supplied by drug sales from drug trafficking. Drug trafficking is connected to many other crimes besides terrorism, crimes like money laundering and murder. The ineffective things are throwing money at the war on drugs. Budgetary and financial issues are centered on drug enforcement. The many other countries that make up Central Asia lack the funds to create a law enforcement task force that would enforce only on their borders. Tajikistan is the only country in Central Asia that has a drug task force, but the United Nations funds it. The treatment for people with drug abuse is under

Issues such as manufacturing and delivering of materials were delayed. As a consequence, the plan could not be executed right away. However, even with the aid that Colombia has provided, data proves that numbers have not decreased for drug activity. Since December of 2001 combatants have sprayed herbicide over 75,000 of the 340,000 acres of drug crops reported to exists in Colombia. The plan was to cut that acreage in half by 2002. However, evidence from reports conducted by the United Nations have emerged, proving that there is far more than 340,000 acres of drug crops in Colombia. Which puts into question this plan. Another statistic that is proven misreported is the total amount of cocaine produced in Colombia. The U.S. stated their estimates to be around 580 tons annually. However, recent studies show that cocaine production out of Colombian ranges from 800 to 900 tons annually. This miscalculation is supported by the fact that according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the street prices of cocaine have not been reduced since the commencement of Plan Colombia. If crop eradication in Colombia had been successful, the supply of cocaine would have decreased, thus forcing the law of supply and demand to raise the price of cocaine in the black

According to the U.S. Department of State, coca growth and cocaine production in Peru started in the 19th century, when profits were high from exporting to the United States. In 1948, Peru outlawed cocaine and the production of it, prompting illegal growth in the largely uninhabited Hullaga Valley. The Hullaga Valley consists of incredibly rugged terrain, making it difficult for the government to control the growth of coca, ultimately leading to an increase in cocaine production in Peru. A large proportion of this cocaine was shipped southward out of Peru, through Chile, until roughly 1970 when an increased military presence near shipment routes caused a reroute through Colombia. By 1980, Peru was considered to be the world’s

This refers to the elimination of drug crops while they are still being grown. The U.S. has used this policy in several South American countries as a means to limit drug trafficking before it has a chance to develop. However, significantly reducing crops has not always led to decreasing drug trafficking. Reduction of drug crops in one country may lead to increased production in another. This is likely to happen when one country becomes the focus of an eradication effort, while another country can increase its production to fill in the void. If there is one thing that the world market can produce, it is its high demand of illegal drugs. The Drug Policy Alliance gives cites a specific instance verifying the problems that can be associated with eradication procedures. During the mid 1990s, “eradication efforts in Bolivia and Peru created incentives to grow coca in Columbia. While Peru experienced a 66% reduction in coca cultivation and Bolivia experienced a 53% reduction, coca cultivation in Columbia doubled. In addition, more potent strains of coca have been developed, leading to higher yielding coca crops.” This example shows the adverse effects of the policy of eradication.

In Colombia, a historic peace accord has been brokered between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that is set to end half a century of conflict between the state and the terrorist organization. The FARC rebels have long been a powerful member of the cocaine trade in Colombia and beyond, aiding in the development and exportation of the drug to the United States. With the alliance between the FARC rebels and the Colombian government pending, the FARC will be demilitarized and integrated back into Colombian society for the first time in more than 50 years. Upon this historic event, roughly 60% of Colombia’s coca, the plant used to produce cocaine, will be relinquished from the hold of the rebels. The

The drug dealers have captured a great deal of power in Colombia, and have adopted the position of the government in many instances. The drug trade has ruined the image of Colombia, and has caused the world to forget about the other goods produced in Colombia, like coffee, flowers, oil and gas for instance. As the website put out by the Colombian Government Trade Bureau entitled “Colombia Trade News” states,

Drug trafficking is a major issue in Colombia, causing many other issues across the country. Many people involved in the drug trade including civilians are being killed, kidnapped, and injured over this problem. Over the years, the government has started cracking down on the growers, producers, and sellers but so far, they have only caught minor criminals. The government is making agreements with neighboring countries and finding alternative uses for the crops to slow down the production of drugs. Despite all of the efforts being made to stop drug trafficking, violence, and production the cartels are still thriving throughout Colombia.

Drug trafficking has been an ongoing epidemic in the United States, as well us other countries for an unimaginable amount of time. Illegal drugs varying from heroin and cocaine are primarily the main drugs that get smuggled in the United States from South America. Even marijuana and methamphetamine have been popular in the drug smuggling “industry”. These gangs go to a variety of different extents to get the job done. Drug trafficking increases the violence levels These drugs have been smuggled through the Southwest Border since the 1970s and are attempting to expand the distribution of those drugs into eastern U.S. markets. The countries of drug production have been seen as the worst affected by prohibition. In many countries worldwide, the illegal drug trafficking can be directly linked to high violent crimes. This is especially true in third world countries, but has still been seen as an issue for many developed countries all over the world. Drug trafficking increases the risk of violence and crime due rise of addiction along with an increase of death. It also effects the along with correctional system effects.to its high costs, Nearly all of the heroin produced in Mexico is destined for distribution in the United States. Organized crime groups operating from Mexico produce, smuggle, and distribute various illegal drugs after trafficking them across the US border. Trafficking groups that operate from Mexico tend to avoid penalties by their stealthy methods of smuggling

Latin America has had a long history of drug use, which contributes to its stereotype as a drug infested region. Beginning in the 1970’s, the United States has been trying to eliminate drug cartels, trafficking, and use in Latin America (Bogota). The influence of drugs in Latin America has led to violence and death over the many years.

Over the past three decades, the US has spent more than a trillion dollars to curtail drug industry operations in Latin America. During 1980s, Peru, Bolivia and Columbia used to contribute 65%, 25% and 10% toward the overall coca production globally. Since then, due to many US funded war efforts on drugs in these neighboring Andean countries, drug industry in Columbia got a tremendous boost, increasing its market share to 90% and making it the world’s largest cocaine producer ever by 2000. Between 2000 and 2010, US invested close to $7.3bn on military and economic aid to eradicate coca production and cocaine trafficking. The project