NCJ Number
183134
Date Published
2000
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the threat that drug trafficking poses to Caribbean nations as well as issues in mounting effective efforts to counter it.
Abstract
There is no question that Caribbean nations are currently experiencing an enormous amount of drug activity that includes the cultivation of some drugs (ganja or marijuana in Jamaica and Belize), the transhipment of drugs throughout the region, drug-related crime and violence, drug-related corruption of officials, arms trafficking, money laundering, and drug addiction. What is less evident and subject to regional and international debate is the best way to address the problem. Caribbean leaders often cite the insatiable American appetite for illicit drugs, claiming that the most realistic and enduring policy is to reduce the high demand for drugs. There is growing support for funding demand-reduction programs, both in the United States and the Caribbean; however, most of the budgetary and manpower resources for U.S. anti-drug efforts has focused on areas many critics cite as failures. Most estimates suggest that interdiction efforts uncover only a fraction of all illegal drugs entering the United States. A strategy that Caribbean leaders have long sought is the kind of trade relationship with the United States that other less developed nations enjoy. Only then can the small nations of the Caribbean begin to thrive economically, possibly redirecting individuals away from the temptations of drug use and trafficking. 1 table and 18 references