Key Point For Drug Cartels

The problem of drugs coming over into the United States from Mexico is not new, but it is serious and in spite of many efforts by American law enforcement and border authorities, it continues day after day. This paper reviews the problem from several perspectives and brings to light attempts the U.S. has made to stop drug trafficking on our border with Mexico. The biggest issue regarding border security is the power of the drug cartels, and the majority of emphasis in this paper is directed towards the cartels.

Here lies a stale lifeless body after a drug cartel raids a small town, just south of the Texas border. In December of 2006 and still ongoing, the Mexican Drug War has resulted in the death of tens of thousands of individuals. Mexico believes that in order to put an end to the Drug Wars, America needs to control its need for drugs. The first call to action involves new policies and restrictions on the exports and imports of drugs in between the United States and Mexico.

The systematic scheduling of drugs in the United States is arbitrary which leads to a discriminative social injustice. Some psychedelic substances such as Psilocybin are schedule 1 drugs, while alcohol and nicotine are legal. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) both alcohol and nicotine are proven to be harmful and addictive (2017). Conversely, Psychedelic substances have not been proven to be addictive. This equates to a social injustice that discriminates over someone who may prefer the effects of psilocybin to nicotine, even under the science that has shown nicotine and alcohol have a higher potential for abuse. Unfortunately, many political factors come into play regarding the legal status of drugs and industries such as the pharmaceutical, tobacco and alcohol industries, who harbor the most money and have an influence in the legality of drugs whether they are safe or not. While legalizing psychedelic substances would most likely cut into profits for these large industries they would bring about economic benefits as well.

“Once the defendants accept drug court, they appear before the drug court judge and plead guilty to the crime or (more often) crimes. The defendants are then placed on probation; once they sign an agreement, they become clients of drug courts. In some jurisdiction a plea may occur in another courtroom, but it is always the best practice to have the drug court judge pronounce sentence. The sooner they can begin to understand the nature of the drug court and to comprehend that they are there to receive help and support, not punishment” (Roper, Lessenger 292). Once you enter the program you agree to turn over certain rights, making a commitment and vow to complete the program. Many times records of the program are taken such as photos to

We should decriminalize drugs in the U.S. instead of legalizing them. Decriminalization refers to the lessening of criminal penalties of certain acts. According to De Marneffe, “… the legalization of drugs … [is] the removal of criminal penalties for the manufacture, sale, and possession of large quantities of recretational drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine” (346).

As current president Barack Obama stated, “Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine you’ve done everything right your entire life… only to suddenly face the threat of deportation to a country that you know nothing about, with a language that you may not even speak” (Obama). These kids, who know little of their home country, have grown up in America for most of their childhood as law abiding children who lack U.S. citizenship. Back at home, children are frequently on the front lines of danger, and so a parent’s only option is to pay up to $7500 to smuggle their child into America (Ross). Until America reassesses this issue with illegal alien minors, young, innocent children will be returned to a poverty-stricken lifestyle with no way out.

Just Say No.” This phrase was uttered in 1982 by Nancy Reagan, the first lady of the United States, in response to a schoolgirl’s question of what she should do if offered drugs (Weinraub A5). These words became the slogan for a nationwide substance abuse prevention program that followed the then recently enacted drug policies intended to discourage the manufacture, sale, and use of illicit drugs in the United States. These zero tolerance policies carried harsh penalties and strict enforcement for all drug related offenses. Almost four decades later, these policies are still in effect, as is their focus on criminalization as a means to reduce the availability and usage of drugs. Their ineffectiveness is evidenced by the facts that drug use rates have remained steady over the past four decades and incarceration rates have exponentially rose during that same period. I believe that a new course of action should be taken, and a bold new drug policy should be enacted. Decriminalization would result in a substantial decrease of the prison population, relieve the unnecessary burden that has been placed on our criminal justice system, shift the paradigm from drug enforcement to drug treatment, reduce the health risk of HIV, AIDS, and heroin related deaths; and provide unprecedented benefits from the regulation of the manufacturing and sales of substances that are currently illegal.

No one chooses to cross the border unless there are absolutely no other options. Many Mexicans choose to either downplay the event or not talk about it at all. The act of crossing the border is laden with powerful symbolism – to Americans, it represents a larger willingness of Mexicans to violate the law. However, if people knew the true story, of the risks, and what it takes to cross the border, then they would have a different perspective. For most people, when you cross the border, you have to pay thousands of dollars to the “coyote,” people who specialize in human trafficking and importing immigrants across the U.S.-Mexican border. If you are traveling with a child, there is a high chance that you will not be able to cross with them. Although

A controversial subject many Americans are constantly at battle over is legalizing drugs. Some experts have the opinion that drugs should be legalized for medical treatment, and for help with severe illness. Other experts argue that this will have a bad effect due to overdosing and addiction, and also the adverse affect on teens. I do not think that drugs should be legalized but they should allow people with serious medical conditions to use these illegal drugs. Legalizing drugs would only create and even bigger drug abuse situation, and especially for juveniles. Legalizing drugs would also create the question of what to do with criminals who are already incarcerated for this offense. There are surveys, which give statistics on crime, and how crime rates are affected by the use of drugs. For example, there is one survey called the “National

While the overall number of apprehensions of immigrants unlawfully entering the country is at a 40-year low, the number of children coming illegally and alone is surging, largely as a result of increasing drug-fueled violence in Central America, particularly Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. One in 13 people caught by the Border Patrol last fiscal year were under 18. Seventeen percent of them were 13 or younger. Close to 14,000 minors, twice as many as the previous year, were placed in federal custody. (This figure doesn’t include an equal number of Mexican children who were quickly

The border patrol has been a major problem for many decades concerning illicit drugs entering into the United States (Levinthal, 2012). Controlling the importation of illicit drugs is not an easy task. Statistics confirm the combined United States border stretches approximately 7,000 miles (Levinthal, 2012). The amount of government officials needed to monitor the importation of illicit drugs is unimaginable. Moreover, the government has designated four agencies to reduce the interdiction of drugs entering into United States territory. The four agencies for reducing illicit drug control in the United States, includes (1) DEA, (2) the U.S. Customs & Border Protection Agency, (3) the U.S. Coast Guard, and (4) the U.S. military (Levinthal, 2012).

In recent years, the United States has seen an enormous spike in drug abuse causing many to start calling it an epidemic, making many question to the way in which the government handles this issue. As many Americans already know the current policy in which the government deals with this situation is known as the war on drugs, which calls for the eradication or prohibition of illegal drug use. This policy enforces stricter punishments, including mandatory sentencing that has maxed out the prison population, and has caused an influx of money to go to drug related agencies to combat the issue. Thus, in theory creating a nation free of all drugs deemed harmful and keeping them away from society along with teaching those who break these laws a lesson in order to deter more drug crime. However, according to many this policy has dramatically failed, this so called “war” has cost tax payers billions, is unfairly implemented, and has put thousands of nonviolent people in prison for years. This issue is in desperate need of reform, instead we need to look at it as a public health issue. In order to deal with all these underlining issues and better support those dealing with addiction the United States government must reform this policy and consider a public health approach instead that could potentially save thousands. We should be helping those suffering from drug addiction not punishing then further by locking them up and throwing away the key.

“We all have an interest in making sure teens grow up healthy and drug free.” – John Walters

    This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to listen to DEA Agent Michael Sullivan talk about his career as a DEA Agent. He did not specifically discuss one thing, but he talked about how he started off doing Border Patrol. He discussed how he often caught people that were trying to transport drugs back and forth. He also mentioned that the largest amount of drugs he found was over 21,000 grams of weed. One interesting thing that I enjoyed from his discussion was the different tactics he told us that people use as a way to transport drugs from the US to another country. He told us that people will cut all of the organs out of a dead baby and stuff the baby with drugs. They

Since the 1960s, State and federal law enforcement have become more focused into putting an end to drug use. Each year, crimes related to drug use has increased, making the government spend tens of billions of dollars arresting, convicting, and jailing drug users. Because of this ongoing problem, the government can’t help but to wonder “will this ever end?” and “Should we stop fighting?” With these questions being raised about a problem so conflicted, The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch have different views and opinions regarding the Drug War’s Standpoint.