This paper will discuss various aspects of the international drug trade. The first part of the paper will briefly examine the history of international drug trafficking. The second part of the paper will illustrate the international nature of drug trafficking through the examples of cocaine production and distribution and money laundering. The third part of the paper will look at United States policy responses to drug trafficking. The last part of the paper will look at international policy responses to drug trafficking.
The problem of drug trafficking has existed for hundreds of years. The early Spanish explorers in South America noted that the native inhabitants placed great value in the coca leaf. It was constantly chewed by the Incas, who had originally restricted its use to the royal family and important guests. Pedro Cieza de LTon remarked that the Indians in Peru virtually carried coca leaves in their mouths throughout their waking hours. The Indians told him that the leaves kept them from getting hungry and gave them vigor and strength (Mortimer, 1974, pp. 148-68). The use of opium in the United States dates back to the Nineteenth Century, when the drug was introduced from Asia by Chinese immigrants. Native-born Americans began acquiring opium habits as the new drug spread uninhibited by legal restrictions. It was even prescribed by doctors for various "ailments" and its derivative, morphine, has long been used as a powerful anesthetic (Oliver, 1974, pp. 43-52).
The increasingly widespread use of opium led to increasing numbers of addicts in the United States and Western Europe. By the early years of the Twentieth Century, the U.S. government began taking steps to halt the unrestricted sale of opium in the country. Even at this early stage, the government recognized the international aspects of the drug trade. In 1909 and 1911, international conferences were convened in Shanghai, China, and The Hague, Belg...