Drug Trafficking: Key Concepts and Models

Chapter 11: Drug Trafficking

Availability, Price, Purity, and Source

• The illegal drug trade operates as a massive enterprise, comparable in size to numerous legal industries.
• Global annual revenue from the narcotics industry is estimated to exceed half a trillion dollars.
  • This amount is three times the total value of all U.S. currency in circulation.
  • It surpasses the Gross National Products (GNP) of all but six major industrialized nations.
• According to the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC), there are approximately 300 million illicit drug users worldwide.
  • An estimated 10 to 13 percent of these users contribute to societal problems.
  • Main issues include
    • Ill health
    • Decreased productivity
    • Drug-related crime
• Price comparison reveals that cocaine costs approximately 30 times more than gold, while heroin is about 10 times the price of gold.
  • Both drugs can be produced at similar costs to aspirin but can be resold at significantly higher profit margins.
• Factors influencing illicit drug use within a country include:
  • Disposable income
  • Age distribution
  • Sexual equality
  • Unemployment rates and levels of income inequality

Market Trends and Price Histories

Denoting the average price and availability from 1988 through 2016:

The Myth of Market Centralization

• A widespread misconception exists surrounding the drug trade’s organization, often likening it to a hierarchical structure resembling the mafia, led by a singular prominent figure such as a 'Mr. Big.'
• The degree of organization varies across different drugs and their production and distribution methods.
  • Drug dealing in the U.S. is notably decentralized and has become even more scattered over the past few decades.
• Numerous traffickers operate through hundreds or even thousands of independent enterprises.
  • Illegal drugs enter the U.S. from various countries, sold by dealers from a wide range of backgrounds.
• Over the past 30 years, patterns have emerged that highlight varying sources, routes, price structures, and networks.
  • Myths surrounding the drug trade often inflate its perceived size, failing to reflect the smaller, more fragmented reality of the industry.
  • It is incorrect to state that drug spending exceeds expenditures on any other consumer product.

The Economic Context of Drug Trade

Economic Liability Myth

• The idea that drug use solely harms the economy stems from scheduling drugs as a financial liability.
  • Schedule one drugs signify an unqualified deficit to the economy.
• However, economically, the illicit drug trade parallels legal industries in contributing to the economy.
  • Sales of illegal drugs foster economic activity similarly to legal products.
  • The drug industry sustains jobs in both its own space and the legal economy.
  • Eliminating the drug sector would eradicate jobs akin to the collapse of sectors like corn or automobiles.
• The primary factor maintaining the drug trade is demand.
  • Eradicating the drug trade could cripple economies globally, potentially transferring economic activities rather than eliminating them.

Distribution Models

1. Pure Agricultural Model:
   • Applies to drugs harvested from plants that require little to no processing.
2. Pure Chemical Model:
   • Involves substances solely manufactured in laboratories.
3. Mixed Model:
   • Concerns both cultivation in agricultural contexts and chemical extraction for sale.
   • Examples:
     • Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia) — opium growth region.
     • Golden Crescent (Western Asia) — opium cultivation region.

Heroin

• A significant volume of heroin supplied to U.S. addicts originates from the Golden Triangle or Golden Crescent regions.
  • Golden Triangle includes Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.
  • Golden Crescent includes Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of Turkey.
  • It serves as an example of the mixed model, starting from opium plants harvested by local farmers through intricate wholesaler and processor networks.

Cocaine

• Most cocaine consumed in the U.S. is sourced from Colombia, Peru, or Bolivia, primarily from Colombia (92% share).
• Colombian traffickers dominated the cocaine smuggling until the late 1980s; however, Mexican traffickers have since increased their influence significantly.
  • Example Price Point: In 2019, a gram sold for $150 at 50% potency, cheaper than previous decades due to mass production and genetic engineering.

Marijuana

• The legal status of cannabis is evolving rapidly across the U.S., resulting in decentralized production.
  • Half of the marijuana consumed is cultivated domestically; remaining sources include Mexico and Colombia.

Methamphetamine

• The methamphetamine supply chain includes large labs in Mexico and smaller dispersed laboratories across the U.S.

Ecstasy

• Most MDMA in the U.S. originates from manufacturing primarily in Belgium and the Netherlands.
• Recent supplies predominantly come from China, Southwest Asia, and Canada.

LSD

• The complexities of LSD production mean there are only a few dozen labs in the U.S. primarily located in California and the Pacific Northwest.

Factors Facilitating the Drug Trade

• Key factors driving the globalization of the drug trade:

1. Prohibition:
   • Acts as a primary catalyst for illegal drug trade.
2. Poverty:
   • Influences movement from legal to illegal products.
3. Weak Governments:
   • Corruption and inefficiency allow drug markets to thrive.
4. Global Networks:
   • Create links between drug sources and consumers.
5. Opportunity Creation:
   • Events such as the dismantling of the French Connection heroin network led to increased entrepreneurial activity in the illicit drug market.

The Negative Impact of Drug Trade

• The drug trade, especially coupled with the drug war, has been devastating in source countries, notably in Latin America, leading to:
  • Escalating violence
  • Growth of organized crime syndicates
  • Widespread corruption
  • Increased domestic substance abuse
• Mexico exemplifies dramatic increases in homicide rates related to drug trafficking operations.

Solutions Proposed by the Drugs and Democracy Report

• The report suggests abandoning the war on drugs, ceasing eradication attempts at the source, decriminalizing drugs, and adopting harm reduction policies.

Chapter 12: Drugs and Violence

Nature of the Drug Crime Link

• Sociological connections exist between drug use and crime, highlighting that drug users are more likely to engage in non-drug offenses compared to non-users.
  • Includes a stronger correlation for certain drugs (e.g., heroin, crack cocaine) compared to others (e.g., LSD, Ecstasy).

The Relationship Between Drug Use and Crime

• Established that the frequency of drug use increases likelihood of criminal behavior.
• The link is deeply embedded in criminological literature with substantial empirical backing.
• Survey data indicates patterns relating drug usage to arrests and prosecution rates.
• ADAM Program: The Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program aimed to gauge drug involvement among arrestees.

Interaction Models

1. Enslavement Model:
   • Suggests that accidental narcotic addiction can lead to a life focused on monetization through crime.
   • Proposes that treating drug addiction as a medical issue could minimize criminal behavior.
2. Predisposition Model:
   • Argues that individuals predisposed to criminal behavior are also inclined to drug usage, indicating a significant overlap in these populations.
3. Intensification Model:
   • Combines elements of the previous two models to explain that while both addiction and predisposition play roles, juvenile crime often pre-exists drug use.
   • Highlights that reducing drug use can decrease crime rates.

The Drug-Violence Nexus

1. Psychopharmacologic Model:
   • Attributes violence to the psychological effects of drugs, stating that psychoactive substances provoke aggressive behavior.
2. Economic-compulsive Model:
   • Suggests that addicts engage in high-risk crimes to fund habits, which can escalate to violence.
3. Systemic Model:
   • Focuses on inherently violent interactions stemming from drug market dynamics, such as territorial disputes.

Cocaine, Violence, and Gender

• Certain trends reveal that:
  • Men's rising cocaine use correlates with increased violent crime perpetration.
  • Conversely, increased female cocaine use heightens the risk of victimization.

Drug Use Dynamics

• Increasing narcotics usage correlates with a rise in theft and robbery incidents, especially concerning polydrug users.

The Interplay of Alcohol and Violence

• Alcohol consumption is often linked to increased rates of violence, with the majority of violent incidents occurring under its influence.
• Disinhibition and cultural norms significantly inform behavior around alcohol consumption.

Enslavement and Predisposition Models Recap

• The enslavement model asserts that drug addiction leads to property crime to fund habits.
• The predisposition model contends that individuals already inclined toward crime are also likely to abuse drugs, making both issues stem from common factors.

Economic Compulsive and Psychopharmacological Models

• Economic compulsions lead users to increasingly risky behaviors to maintain their drug habits, sometimes resulting in violent crime.

Chapter 13: Drugs and Crime

Current Drug Control Framework

Categories of Psychoactive Substances

1. Legal Drugs:
   • Available without restriction under various regulations (e.g., alcohol, tobacco).
2. Prescription Drugs:
   • Require medical prescriptions and are subject to strict control.
3. Schedule One Drugs:
   • High potential for abuse with no accepted medical usage (e.g., heroin, LSD, marijuana).

The Punitive Approach

• Under the punitive model, illicit drug use is criminalized, with negative repercussions for violators.
  • Examples include arrest and potential incarceration.

The Drug War Context

• Despite declining crime in some areas, drug-related arrests, particularly for possession, continue to rise.
• Since 1970, the U.S. prison population has increased dramatically, largely due to drug offenses.
• Critics argue the so-called 'war on drugs' is ongoing and expanding.

Debating the Effectiveness of Prohibition

• The research shows mixed outcomes regarding the success of drug prohibition, asserting law enforcement has a limited deterrent impact.
• Critics posit that legalization or substantial reduction of penalties could result in minimal increases in drug use without broad negative consequences.

Alternatives to Incarceration

Drug Courts

• Initiated in 1989, these programs divert nonviolent offenders to treatment rather than traditional penal responses.
• Participants often demonstrate significantly lower rates of recidivism.

Drug Treatment Frameworks

1. Methadone Maintenance:
   • A treatment aimed at reducing cravings for heroin, typically involves long-term use of prescribed methadone.
2. Therapeutic Communities:
   • Intense live-in programs with an emphasis on abstinence.
3. Self-Help Peer Groups:
   • Autonomous groups focused on mutual support for recovery.

Measuring Effectiveness

• Effectiveness of drug treatment programs can vary, with some individuals responding better to specific interventions.
  • Drug abuse reporting programs indicate successful outcomes across different treatment formats.

Conclusion

• Ongoing attempts to address drug-related issues through a multifaceted approach encompassing law enforcement, health care, and social services remain critical.
• Policies must adapt to account for the complex, dynamic relationship of drugs with society.
• Balancing harm reduction with effective enforcement strategies is essential for future initiatives.