Drug Violence : The United States

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.

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

This is associated as a result of drugs, but is more so influenced by the illegalization of them. If a problem arises from a gang or cartel they don’t have a proper system to use to deal with it. Instead they resort to violence, which in turn just creates more violence. “According to some estimates, the homicide rate in the US is 25-75 % higher because of the War on Drugs,”(Kurzgesagt). The war has actually increased the homicide rate, doing the opposite of the intentions because of the laws against drugs. From 2007-2014 it is estimated that 164,000 have been murdered in Mexico, that is more than the deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq in the same time frame. If we had a better system to deal with the drugs rather than start the war against it, there would be less violent crime related to

Due to drugs-related gang violence since 2006, when Mexican President Felipe Calderón entered office, more than 100,000 people have been killed (CNN Library, 2017). Among the major Mexican cartels - Los Zetas Cartel, Gulf Cartel, La and La Familia Michoacana, the Sinaloa Cartel is the most dominant drug trafficking organization in Mexico with an increasing presence in the United States. Roughly 80% of illegal substances like heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana are supplied by the Sinaloa Cartel (Woody, 2016). There have been several attempts of increased pressure from both the U.S. and Mexican governments to disrupt drug trafficking organizations and this has led to significant instability and violence escalating into a national security crisis.

increased both the number and longevity of laws, that required longer sentences and mandatory minimum sentences.

The war on drugs in the United States is becoming a major problem for everyone involved. As more people are arrested for drug crimes, the more police are spending resources in order to arrest them. It's shown that non violent drugs offense have risen over the years, but violent and property offenses have gone down. While this doesn't suggest that police are solely focus on just arresting non violent drug offenders, one has to wonder why there are so many of them in jail. The government believes that locking up these offenders will reduce drug related crimes and lower demand for drugs, but I don't see that happening. During the late 20's and early 30's, the U.S had a prohibition on alcohol and it caused an uproar with the public. The prohibition

In 1971, Richard Nixon launched the war on drugs stating, “America’s public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all out offensive” (Sharp, 1994). Since this war was declared 45 years ago the prison population has risen dramatically and has cost tax payers a substantial amount of money, with no end in sight. Nearly sixty five percent of the 2.3 million U.S. prisoners meet the criteria for substance abuse or addiction, yet only eleven percent receives treatment during their incarceration and a large majority of these offenders return to prison within years of being released. Our society needs to become more proactive when fighting this war versus what we have done in the past by being solely reactive. We need to give these nonviolent drug offenders a chance to succeed by offering rehabilitation services instead of sending them to prison (Howard, 2015).

The extent of drug cartel’s economic dependency on U.S. and other foreign buyers shields individual empires from oppression and the threat of rival groups. As the percent of cocaine being transported into the US raises from 77 percent to more than 90 percent, drug cartels are becoming stronger and more widespread (Lee n. pag.). With the rapidly escalating number of U.S. cocaine sales, Mexican mafias profit immensely. These cash profits fund all cartel activities including the

The Mexican drug trade is a very lucrative business, resulting in numerous factions fighting for territory and profit to be had. The United States populace is the largest consumer of illicit drugs in the world and the demand is never-ending. The main Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO) continue to provide the service of manufacturing and distributing illegal drugs and in turn earn billions of dollars each year in profit. Violence and greed from the drug trade has turned Mexico into a war zone for the foreseeable future with no end in sight.

All over the southwest U.S there have been drug cartels which smuggle drugs and weapons from country to country illegally. More recently

What is drug trafficking? well, the drug trafficking is the illicit cultivation, manufacture, trade distribution and sale of illegal substances which, have been banned or are considered illegal .The first drug ever used was the opium which was introduced for the chinese, “In the 1850 and late 1890s “ opium dens were common in the american society“ (Berridge, 1985, pg. 3) and later on million of people became addicted to a new drug called “crack.” between the 1960 and 1970 started a new era of drugs which is know as the, “rise of modern drugs.” Such as the psychedelics,

There is clearly a high demand for recreational drugs in the United States, and because of this drug cartels all through Mexico and South America have thrived for decades. This essay will explore some of the reasons why Mexican Cartels have thrived in the new Millennium creating a drug trade that is estimated to bring The Cartels over 3 billion dollars in profits this year alone. It will also explore the tactics used by both the United States and Mexico in combatting the illicit drug trade and the cartels that have their hands firmly in their control.

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”

Once a drug courier has been selected the individual will go through a training period in which they swallow or stuff a large number of harmless objects such as plums and condoms filled with powered sugar. After they have proven to be trustworthy and capable of the task they will then be sent out on there first assignment. Drug smugglers commonly ingest large bags containing drugs prior to crossing international boarders and recover them after their arrivals at their destination. In order to prevent being caught they will carry a variety of paraphernalia required to conceal and repack premature packets if they evacuate too early. This usually includes condoms, petroleum jelly, latex fingers and gloves. Also deodorants and sprays can be

Russia has arguably the worst drug problem in the world. It struggles with a growing number of drug addicted individuals and a large drug trafficking problem. Due to its lack of border controls, Russia has become an integral part of the international drug trade. With the withdrawal of international militaries from Afghanistan, heroin importing and the number of heroin addicts only stand to grow. Facing these problems, Russia desperately needs a solution to its drug problem in order to avoid the cataclysmic effects of international drug trade that would undoubtedly harm millions of lives throughout the world.