America is plagued by a drug epidemic. This is not only a domestic problem, as high dollar drugs enter the United States illegally each year. It is estimated that the Drug Enforcement Administration makes over thirty thousand arrests a year due to the distribution of illegal narcotics. An estimated thirty-two percent of all offenders in state prisons were either in possession of or under the influence of illegal drugs at the time their crimes occurred. The drug trade in countries like Mexico is so lucrative that it is estimated that fifty billion dollars a year is grossed by the country making the drug business sixty-three percent of Mexico’s economy. With these factors in mind, the seriousness of the drug business in America is in the
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Further, capital punishment for drug related murders (transactions) has already become part of the federal punishment. To make punishments severe can illicit the idea that traffickers have an “all or nothing” mindset, and can encourage violence in their attempts to evade arrest and subsequent prosecution [Abadinsky, Howard 2014 296]. When the market for drugs is reduced through coordinated law enforcement efforts, the cost of the substances increases. Drug users will also switch to another type of drug in order to ward off withdraw and get high. An example would be a Heroin user switching to Suboxone. It is believed that the federal efforts to eradicate Cocaine led to the development of Crack Cocaine. Whenever a drug is prohibited by law, it seems a more potent form of the substance surfaces. The “crack epidemic” evolved from falling Cocaine prices in 1983. Drug dealers attracted a new variety of customers by expanding the market for the drug. When the availability of crack was abundant, Heroin use increased as well as its purity level. At one time Cocaine dominated the drug trade, and Heroin took a “back seat” to this powerful stimulant drug [Abadinsky, Howard, 2014, 297]. Crack never became a “mainstream” drug, and by the year 1990 the crack epidemic had …show more content…
Consequences characteristic of this effort include the following: displacement, and human rights violations. Throughout time, when a country attempts to curtail the production of substances used in drugs (i.e. opium/poppy plants) production will ensue in neighboring regions that are conducive to the growth and harvest of these substances. Essentially, the drug problem is displaced to other countries or regions, and not effectively eradicated. Bolivia decreased its coca production by more than half, and this came at a price for the country. Physical abuse and the trampling of civil rights were observed in this country as a result of the reduction. With the reduction of production of coca plants in Bolivia, the problem was displaced to Columbia. Today, Columbia has the monopoly on coca production, and laboratory operators have invented more potent strains of the drug and more efficient in processing the leaves into Cocaine base [Abadinsky, Howard, 2014
Further, capital punishment for drug related murders (transactions) has already become part of the federal punishment. To make punishments severe can illicit the idea that traffickers have an “all or nothing” mindset, and can encourage violence in their attempts to evade arrest and subsequent prosecution [Abadinsky, Howard 2014 296]. When the market for drugs is reduced through coordinated law enforcement efforts, the cost of the substances increases. Drug users will also switch to another type of drug in order to ward off withdraw and get high. An example would be a Heroin user switching to Suboxone. It is believed that the federal efforts to eradicate Cocaine led to the development of Crack Cocaine. Whenever a drug is prohibited by law, it seems a more potent form of the substance surfaces. The “crack epidemic” evolved from falling Cocaine prices in 1983. Drug dealers attracted a new variety of customers by expanding the market for the drug. When the availability of crack was abundant, Heroin use increased as well as its purity level. At one time Cocaine dominated the drug trade, and Heroin took a “back seat” to this powerful stimulant drug [Abadinsky, Howard, 2014, 297]. Crack never became a “mainstream” drug, and by the year 1990 the crack epidemic had …show more content…
Consequences characteristic of this effort include the following: displacement, and human rights violations. Throughout time, when a country attempts to curtail the production of substances used in drugs (i.e. opium/poppy plants) production will ensue in neighboring regions that are conducive to the growth and harvest of these substances. Essentially, the drug problem is displaced to other countries or regions, and not effectively eradicated. Bolivia decreased its coca production by more than half, and this came at a price for the country. Physical abuse and the trampling of civil rights were observed in this country as a result of the reduction. With the reduction of production of coca plants in Bolivia, the problem was displaced to Columbia. Today, Columbia has the monopoly on coca production, and laboratory operators have invented more potent strains of the drug and more efficient in processing the leaves into Cocaine base [Abadinsky, Howard, 2014