Drugs 'n' youths

The illegal drug market is quite lucrative. The revenue estimates of the illegal substance market reach $300 to $400 billion worldwide. These high profits attract individuals who are ruthless, immoral and pursue profits at all costs. Indeed, fighting drugs in the US is a difficult battle to win. Drug movement can be facilitated by air, sea or land travel. According to the US Drug Enforcement Agency there are 60 million people who enter the US annually by air travel, 6 million people by sea and 370 million people by land. Annually, there are as many as 116 million human border crossings into the US from Canada and Mexico. By sea, up to 90,000 ships dock at US ports yearly, carrying more than 9 million ship containers that carry more than 400 million tons of cargo. This makes policing people and cargo for illicit drugs very difficult. With this kind of activity, it is no wonder why the war on drugs is never easy to win.

Who’s Fighting the War?

The US employs the services of many agencies to help win the war against illicit drugs. The US Drug Enforcement Administration’s(D.E.A.) mandate is to enforce the laws against drug production, distribution and consumption through the criminal and civil courts. They also partner with international organizations such as INTERPOL, lending resources and cooperation in the global fight against drugs. The D.E.A. has a force of 10,565 employees in 2004 and has been given a budget large enough to increase this agent force by 2005. Some of its most recent major victories are the Operation Candy Box which saw the arrest, confiscation and dismantling of a major ecstacy and marijuana production ring operating within Canada for distribution to US cities. Another victory is the discovery and dismantling of a massive International ring that was responsible for laundering millions of Colombian drug money in the US, Canada and UK through the Colombian black market Peso exchange system.

The Department of US Customs and Border Protection, an agency of Homeland Security, deals with customs, immigration, animal/plant health inspection and border patrol. Its main goals today are to help fight terrorism and to facilitate legitimate trade and travel across our borders. Its force is 41,000 strong. In 2002, the US Customs and Border Protection seized 1.4 million pounds of marijuana, 17,100 pounds of cocaine and 5,595 pounds of heroin destined to enter the United States. It also seized approximately $45 million worth of illegal drugs destined to be exported to other countries, originating from the US.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the investigative arm of the US Department of Justice. Part of their mandate is to combat public corruption, white-collar crime and violent crimes. Although its main focus today is the prevention of terrorism, this also involves the war against drugs as there are many overlaps between terrorist activities and the illegal drug industry. The FBI’s force extends over 56 field offices and 400 satellite offices within the US. In addition, the FBI has 45 offices known as “Legal Attaches” located around the world.

The Buyers of Illicit Drugs

According to a 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, as many as 14.8 million Americans used illicit drugs in that year. Approximately 57 percent of current illicit drug users consumed only marijuana while 43 percent of illicit drug users in 1999 (an estimated 6.4 million Americans) were current users of other illicit drugs.

The survey also reports that among our children, older teenagers between aged 18-20 years show the highest rate of illicit drug use with rates of current use between 20 and 21 percent. The rate of current illicit drug use among 14 year olds was 9.2 percent.

Men continued to have a higher rate of current illicit drug use than women (8.7 percent vs. 4.9 percent) in 1999. The rate of drug use is highest amongst Native Americans while the lowest rate is found with Asians. The level of education also plays a role such that college graduates are found to have the lowest rate of illicit drug use among adults.

What Do They Buy?

For a complete list of illicit drugs and their descriptions, visit the drug description section of the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

In 1999, Americans spent close to $63 billion on illicit drugs. The breakdown is as follows:

$37 billion on cocaine
$12 billion on heroin
$10 billion on marijuana
$4 billion on other drugs.

Note that over two-thirds of this consumption is by hardcore users.

Effects on Our Youth and Children

(The following data was excerpted from the web site of the Drug Policy Clearing House Fact Sheet citing the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse)

Early age drug use. It’s reported that for 12 to 17 year olds, those much older show a higher rate of drug use. In a 2002 survey, as many as 41% of twelfth graders used drugs while for eighth graders this rate was only 17.7%. The study also concludes that the earlier in life a teenager uses drugs, the more likely they are to develop a drug problem. In the same survey most students admitted that drugs were sold and consumed openly within school property.

Lifetime Use: A 2003 Monitoring the Future(MTF) study found that 51.1% of twelfth grade students who use illicit drugs are likely to develop a lifetime drug use habit. For tenth graders this ratio is 41.4% and for eighth grade students, it is 22.8%. The study further shows that the top 3 drugs used are alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana/hashish.

Academic difficulties: As reported on the web site of the National Conference on Drug Abuse Prevention Research, children who use illicit drugs will often have difficulties in school leading to academic problems. Illicit drug use causes antisocial behaviors which may lead to isolation by the child’s peers. This may, in turn lead feelings of loneliness, non-acceptance which can lead to poor academic performance and failure.

Illicit drug use often leads to risky behaviors that expose our youth to health and other risks. Unplanned pregnancies, HIV, cancer and rape are the most serious of these potential problems.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation research, as reported by the study, as many as one-third of sexually active teenagers report that drugs had an influence in their decision to have sex.

Alcohol use raises the risk of cirrhoses and liver cancer.

According to the Hepatitis Association, consuming more than 4 to 5 glasses of wine daily elevates the risk of a person developing liver cancer.

The easiest way to spread HIV is by sharing equipment such as syringes with people who use drugs. Sharing equipment also spreads other diseases such as hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Side effects on health: Related to diseases are the various side effects that often accompany illegal drug use. The most common are irritability, insomnia, convulsions, tremors, organ and muscle damage, increased blood pressure and heart rate, impaired memory, depression and anxiety. For a detailed list of other side effects, see the “Consequences of Use” section of the Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse Fact Sheet.

Suicide: Drug use also increases the risk of suicide. Results from the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse indicate that the 29.4% of youth who used alcohol or illicit drugs in the past year had a suicide rate three times higher than those that did not.

Crime: Drug users are most likely to commit crimes than nonusers. The 1997 National Household Survey on drug abuse shows that those who are illicit drug users are 16 times more likely to be arrested for larceny and theft, 14 times more likely to be arrested for drunkenness, driving while intoxicated and 9 times more likely to be arrested for committing assault. The survey also reports that amongst inmates, examples of the crimes that show a high correlation to drug use include murder, sexual assault, robbery, burglary and motor vehicle theft.

Additional cost to US schools is $41 billion: Elementary and secondary schools need to equip themselves with special programs needed to help fight the war on drugs. They include alcohol and drug related programs, drug testing facilities, special employee training to help deal with students found to be on drugs, and special education training for those who need to help special education students found to be on drugs.

Social Costs of Illicit Drugs

Crime and corruption: As you can imagine, the illicit drug industry is lucrative. The social costs are plenty: drug addiction, drug trafficking, prostitution, disease, escalating health costs, violence, death and even terrorism. Millions of dollars are spent by the US treasury to fight the war on drugs. The monies budgeted in 2005 for the US Drug Enforcement Administration is $2.15 billion. In 2004, the monies budgeted was slightly lower at $2 billion. What about the funds allocated on behalf of the FBI, CIA and US Customs and Border Protection? Indeed, the war on drugs is costly and expensive. Crime and corruption go hand in hand with the illicit drug industry. For a more detailed list of the type of crimes and their incidents amongst illicit drug users, read the Drug Related Crime report from the web site of the Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse.

Terrorism: A paper by the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism describes how terrorists need money to purchase weapons, travel, provide living expenses for their counterparts and families and host other illicit activities. In fact in testimony before the United States Senate, senior US State Department officials stated that terrorist groups have increasingly turned to drug trafficking for fund raising. Here is an example of a terrorist group that is involved in the illicit drug industry, as excerpted from the paper:

“The terrorist group FARC started off financing their activities through revolutionary tax on coca growers and distributors. It is reported that in the 1990’s they entered into the direct production and distribution of cocaine. In February 2003, the FARC set off a bomb outside a social club in Bogotá that killed 33 people. This group has also been involved in the drugs for guns trade, reaching into other countries like Brazil. Today, Brazil is an unwilling center of drugs for guns trade that fuels the violence in Colombia and cocaine addiction on Brazil.”

Money Laundering: According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, illicit profits are often integrated into the legitimate economy by drug traffickers, posing serious threats to the economic integrity and security of the US. Often these proceeds are used to finance drug operations and other crimes, terrorism activities and promote corruption. Money laundering activities are prevalent in the big US cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Miami. It is reported that in New York and New Jersey, as much as $4 to $8 billion is laundered annually by drug traffickers. Miami reported suspicious activity reports amounting to $5.2 billion in years 1998 and 1999 combined. After 9/11, the CBC reported that the US government froze all of Osama bin Laden’s financial assets residing in the US in order to prevent any transactions made in the United States by other organization suspected of channeling funds to bin Laden’s activities. Legitimate businesses such as money exchange, check cashing, money-remittance are examples of businesses that money launderers use. Money launderers also target banks, investment securities firms and the gaming industries such as casinos.

Prostitution: Often prostitutes find it difficult to get out of their business because of drug addiction. As stated in a report by COPS, it is usually the economic need to feed their addiction that forces them to continue engaging in prostitution. Many street prostitutes are hooked on cocaine and heroin and their desperation to buy the drugs often dictates how far they are willing to engage in riskier activities such as unprotected sex and deviant sexual practices. This leads to other problems such as disease, physical harm and even violence or death. Go to the web site of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) for more information on the problem of street prostitution.

Solutions:

The US government is committed to the war on drugs. Although the focus since 9/11 has shifted to the war against terrorism, the illicit drug industry is often linked to terrorists and their activities. Thus, you can take comfort that in the war against terrorism our government is also fighting the war against drugs. Our government fights this war through various agencies such as the FBI, CIA, DEA, US Customs and Border Protection, local police agencies, and its partnerships with other international organizations.

Let us encourage and support the continuing education i.e., distribution of information about illicit drugs using schools, clinics, hospitals, community centers, neighborhoods and other similar areas as distribution centers. Similarly, let us ask our elected representatives to support community drug rehabilitation programs so that so that those of us seeking treatment can fully recover. Making all Americans, regardless of age, aware of the social dangers of illicit drugs is imperative. By making all Americans fully understand the extent to which illicit drug use destroys individuals, families, communities, government and countries, we will be able to eradicate this industry forever. Remember that without demand for these drugs, its production will surely end.

Our Congress has implemented plenty of laws that help enforce and fight against the illicit drug industry. For example, money laundering reporting requirements such as suspicious activity reports and currency transaction reports are there to detect large movements of money that could be linked to illicit drug organizations operating with the US. According to the web site of Congress.org, there are 15 bills directly related to drug policy under the 108th Congress of the US. Find your elected Congressional representative and write to them to support the bills that support the war on drugs. If each of commit our support, eradicating the illegal drug trade can become a reality.