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Drug Trafficking Between Latin America & the U.S.

The United States is currently engaged in a War on Drugs, a war that has been waged for decades and which shows no indication of being successfully concluded in the near future. As with other types of wars, this one has fronts both within the domestic borders as well as in foreign lands, and the war affects the country's economic policy and shapes relationships with numerous foreign powers. The United States military and intelligence services are engaged in the war, as are various law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels. Yet drug use and abuse continues to be strong within the United States, and drug interdiction efforts on the international level draw mixed reviews. This research considers the issue of drug trafficking between Latin America and the United States, and examines the political ramifications of the various governments' drug policies.

Trafficking in drugs exists only because certain drugs are illegal in the United States and elsewhere, and because a shadow and illegal market exists for these drugs. Drug trafficking is a product of the twentieth century, with roots in the earliest part of the century. As early as 1914, the Harrison Act regulated the distribution of narcotics (including cocaine) by physicians. While the Harrison Act slowed drug use, the appeal of narcotics continued to the point that the president appointed a Commissioner of Narcotics in 1930 ("The Annals" 21).

Prohibition was enacted in 1920 and had two obvious consequences: by making the transportation and sale of alcohol illegal, it promoted a black market (since demand was not eliminated); at the same time, Prohibition resulted in effectively lowering the consumption of alcohol--per capita consumption among those old enough to drink did not return to preProhibition levels until the 1970s (Cannon 2599).

Prohibition and the way that it was enforced also set the stage for the way in which drug use and transportati...

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Drug Trafficking Between Latin America & the U.S.. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 21:50, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1694138.html