Counterfeit Products Of Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals

For several industries in Asia, in particular pharmaceuticals, security issues include fake branded products and the substitution of goods with counterfeit or inferior quality replacements. Recent supply chain security initiatives are also designed to address security problems relating to the sale of counterfeit goods. In August of 2008, Hong Kong customs discovered 2.5m cigarettes in a container that was marked to contain other goods. If these items had not been identified as fake, they could have been sold as original brand goods, resulting in a substantial shortfall in excise income for the Hong Kong Government.

In the past forty years, the United States has spent over $2.5 trillion dollars funding enforcement and prevention in the fight against drug use in America (Suddath). Despite the efforts made towards cracking down on drug smugglers, growers, and suppliers, statistics show that addiction rates have remained unchanged and the number of people using illegal drugs is increasing daily (Sledge). Regardless of attempts to stem the supply of drugs, the measure and quality of drugs goes up while the price goes down (Koebler). Now with the world’s highest incarceration rates and greatest illegal drug consumption (Sledge), the United States proves that the “war on drugs” is a war that is not being won.

Drugs. They have entered our communities, our schools, our neighborhoods, our homes. For generations now they have been affecting our society; influencing politics, laws, wars, science, and the overall structure of society. Russia and Mexico have had some of the highest involvement in drugs, and the fight against them. In Russia almost 6 percent of the total population, which is about 8.5 million people are drug addicts, or regular users. Russia has also become increasingly involved in the trafficking of drugs. In comparison Mexico has been one of the largest marketplaces for drugs, and has been a major producer and exporter of marijuana and heroine. In order to further better their countries, Russia and Mexico have implemented certain policies to restrict, outlaw, or limit drugs and the trafficking of them. This paper is going to compare Russia’s and Mexico’s policies on drugs, it will explore the history and background of both countries policies, the effectiveness of each of the countries policies, and will compare the two countries policies. In this comparison we will discover which country if any has had a more effective policy on drugs.

Initially, from 2000 to 2001 the amount of money that was spent on prescription drugs had risen by nearly 20 percent as the cost of medication also rose. Lawmakers looked at different strategies such as including the drugs in medicare or having them be sold over the counter as insurers and consumers struggled to pay (Steinhauer). This substantial increase in drug cost did not go unnoticed. As the rising costs of drugs were passed onto insurers, they looked for solutions. One large California health insurer, Wellpoint Health Networks, saw a solution in having more drugs sold without prescriptions. The California insurer argued that top allergy drugs should be made more widely available and cheaper, and selling Claritin, Allegra, and Zyrtec, three top allergy drugs, over the counter would accomplish both of those things (Petersen “A Push to Sell”). Manufacturers argued against them, saying that such a move would be dangerous to the consumer, forcing them to diagnose themselves rather than have a professional do it for them. Some news in pharmaceuticals, however, had to do with criminal activities. The United States Food and Drug Administration investigated multiple cases of counterfeit drugs. In each of the three cases, the drugs were extremely expensive, one used by AIDS patients, another a growth hormone for people who cannot produce enough

He also describes how the United States views as a voice and forceful supports of prohibitionist drug controls in international policymaking. In addition, in the United States the discussion on surrounding drug control policy is one of the most extremely disputed matters of our current eras. The author mentions in the article how the strictly enforced US prohibitionist drug was unable to control the Narcotic drugs which happened to create many negative and harmful consequences for the people in the world. The negative consequences that were created when they failed to control the narcotic drugs happened to increase the violence, government dishonesty, and public seizure; therefore, these consequences to the economy growing are very harmful and dangerous. Narcotic drugs have long preserved, which has impacted many people lives in the world. A main purpose of this article is about the unaffordable drug control normally employed by the United States. The United States has spent way too much money abroad and local just thinking that they will be able to decrease the level of illegal drugs; however, they happened to fail at

U. S. citizens pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world. This is an injustice that must be corrected. The "U.S. forbids the import of prescription drugs by anyone other than the original U.S. manufacturer, and even then only when the drugs meet all the approval requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)" (Barlett & Steele, 2004). Prescription drug prices are outrageously high in the United States because of the influence of advertising on consumer purchasing, the misleading statements by pharmaceutical companies about the cost of research and development of new drugs, the manipulation of patent laws, the antiquated laws regarding importation of

Historically speaking, according to Narconon (2015), the issue of prescription drug abuse began in the 1800’s when consumers could self-prescribe medications such as cocaine and morphine. In the 1900’s, the Pure Food and Drug and Harrison Narcotic Tax acts were put into place as measures to control the sale and distribution of these substances (Narconon International, 2015). Today, the prescription drug problem continues to be a growing issue that has many consequences in our society.

According to Johnson (1999) one of the reasons that there is such a profound war on drugs is the U.S. antidrug policy. Ever since this policy has been in effect it has contributed to the growth of the problem. The trafficking of drugs into the United States of America has corrupted officials everywhere. It had an effect on the economy and democracies creating violence and terrorism. It has had the ability to control major parts of the economy. (Bruce, 199) An example would be the Medellin cartel, led by Pablo Escobar; he killed a presidential candidate, judges, and hundreds of Colombian citizens to force then Colombian society to accept his drug business. In order for his business to run effectively he

In that light, Jena et al. (2011) embark on a study to investigate the procurement of prescription drugs via the internet. The justification of their study lies on the fact that despite widespread awareness of the issue among law enforcement agencies, the media and federal regulators, physicians have low levels of awareness on the issue. Therefore, the journal article gives internalizes the issue, citing problems facing the relevant authorities in fighting the vice as well as proposing strategies that allow physicians to deal with this issue of abuse. As a healthcare related article, it is a valuable source of literature in expounding the matter at

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.

The international drug trade from Latin American states is having an impact on a global scale. The trafficking of drugs along with corruptness and murder is an international conflict that is being fought daily. There are many aspects of the drug war from Mexico and other Latin American states which have effects on United States policy as well as policies from other countries that participate in the global suppression of illegal drugs.

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 become an increasingly growing problem in the world today. Illegal drug trade is a worldwide black market consisting of production, distribution, packaging, and sale of illegal substances. Although today’s "War on Drugs" is a modern phenomenon, drug problems have been a common problem throughout history. The market for illegal drugs is massive, when we consider the estimated global drug trade value is worth $321 billion (Vulliamy). The most drug trafficking happens on the border between Mexico and the United States. Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon said, “Our neighbor is the largest consumer of drugs in the world. And everybody wants to sell him drugs through our door and our window”

Currently, increasing frequency of incidents related to substance addictions is a worrying issue. It shows that in Colombia there is a wide availability of psychoactive substances reinforced by the inequities of social and economic factors that have precipitated the increased incidence and prevalence of drug use, predominantly in young population groups. (Silva, Simich, Strike, Brands, Giesbrecht & Khenti, 2012). It was determined that incidence of consume of any illegal drugs (marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine or heroin) was 5.9% of population, estimated at over one million one hundred thousand men (11.4% from the consumer percentage) and nearly three hundred thousand women (1.9% from the consumer percentage). There is a steady increase in