NCJ Number
160279
Date Published
1995
Length
243 pages
Annotation
The author presents a profile of drug use worldwide; using the dramatic examples of Peru and Colombia as case studies, he describes in detail the manufacture and distribution of cocaine, crack, heroin, cannabis, speed, ice, and LSD and the damage caused by the drug trade.
Abstract
About half of all murders in the United States drug-related; approximately 30,000 Colombians die violent deaths each year as victims of the drug trade; 50 percent of all burglaries in Great Britain are committed by drug addicts to pay for their habit; and Mafia-style gangs in Russia and Eastern Europe are quickly learning how lucrative the drug trade can be. Most criminal gangs and terrorist movements are financed partially or completely by the $500 billion the world spends each year on illegal drugs. The author discusses the link between cocaine and terrorism in Peru, Colombian cartels, money laundering, drug law enforcement, and drug legalization. He concludes that the solution to the drug problem lies in consumer countries, especially the United States and Europe, rather than in the drug-producing countries of Latin America and Asia. References, notes, and tables