Drug Trafficking in the United States
November 7, 2011
Drug Trafficking in the United States
For generations the United States has been dealing with a growing drug problem. Now that drug problem is crossing the borders. Drugs are being trafficked in from Mexico and Canada. The trafficking of drugs has turned into a national problem for the United States and millions of dollars are being spent annually to help defend this problem. When it comes to this problem it affects everyone in this county. Since drug trafficking is having a large affect on the United States there are agencies that are fighting back to help with this problem.
When it comes to the agencies, that deal this problem the one everyone thinks about is the Drug Enforcement Administration. When looking into the DEA, there is a lot of helpful information on their web site. The United States department of Justice oversees DEA. Looking into just the DEA they have received a large amount of funding to help fight drug trafficking. The Drug Enforcement Administration has received $54.2 million dollars in funding to help stop the flow of drugs traffickers that are smuggling them across the southwest border. Apart of this money will help fund the Sensitive Investigative Units, which will target Mexican cartels. (Reduce The Threat, n.d.).
The Essay on Denver Drug Problem
... countries, the United States appears to be doing a good job in combating illegal drug use, it ... them, a long-term solution to the drug problem may be in grasp. This method of ... liquor store locations, advertisements, etc.) and high drug trafficking areas was given to the public in ... service, Immigtration and Naturalization Service, and the DEA to impliment various progams including both educational ...
With this amount of funding and the hard work of the DEA it should help catch the cartels that supply the drugs and funding for the traffickers to smuggle the drugs across the United States border.
Since these drug traffickers are starting to come into small towns throughout the United States, because they know that in these towns they are less likely to get caught. One small town police chief said that when it comes to dealing with these issues most of the time they cannot. His town only has one full time officer. (Fitzgerald, 2011).
When it comes to these small towns the drug traffickers are using them as a drug highway. Small towns are easy to use since they do not have a larger police force like bigger towns. The traffickers use the roads and highways that run through these towns since they most likely will not get caught. According to Hollywood, Alabama’s police chief, Highway 72 in North Alabama is being used to traffic drugs between Atlanta, Georgia and Huntsville, Alabama. The people who are trafficking these drugs between the two towns are using rental cars, because they know that the police cannot seize that vehicle. (McLamb, 2010).
It is scary when driving down the road and it is not known if the person in the next car is a drug trafficker or not. Knowing that these kinds of people are starting to use these small towns is making it hard on those types of community’s, since they might not be used to the crimes that will follow drug traffickers.
Children as young as twelve years old are using illegal drugs. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2010 ten point one (10.1) percent of children between the ages of 12 and 17 years old were using illicit drugs. (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2010).
Some parent might not know that their children are using drugs. Whether the parent does or does not know that their children are participating in such activities does not mean that the parents have not talked to their children about the use of illegal drugs. Programs like D.A.R.E. are another great source to use when it comes time to talk to children about the use of drugs. Children will also fall into the peer pressure of other kids using drugs. The best way to keep this from happening is by talking to children and telling them it is okay to say no and walk away.
The Essay on Child and adolescent health
The two most important factors influencing adolescent’s developments are psychological and environmental factors. As they grow, they are influenced by environmental factors such as religion, culture, Schools and religion. The psychological factors that influence their development includes cognitive and emotional factors (Hall & Braverman, 2014). In the western society, what is missing ...
With the increased use of the different type of drugs, there will also be increased visits to hospital. Anyone who uses drugs does not know how much is too much for the body to handle. With the use of illegal drugs they do have many side effects on a person’s health. The one drug that will be talked about most is the use of cocaine. Cocaine has affects on the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological systems of the body, along with mental health issues, and prenatal problems.
When it comes to these problems they can range from minor health problems to major health problems. Some of the problems the body will have from cocaine use can be heart attacks, strokes, seizures, headaches, coma, abdominal pain, nausea and muscle twitches. In some cases sudden death can happen for a first time cocaine user. (Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse, n.d.) When it comes to prenatal care research has show that effects of drugs on an unborn child are unknown. Many studies have shown that unborn children exposed to these drugs can be born premature, have low birth weight and many other health problems. There was a girl that was well known at a local high school. She was pregnant with her third child but did not want to get an abortion. So she started using high amounts of cocaine to try to make her body miscarriage her baby. Well as the months past and she did not have the miscarriage she figured it was time to stop using the cocaine. By then it was too late, her son was born addicted to the drug. Her son also developed seizures and has learning problems due to her own drug use. She would say that she was doing what she thought was best for her and her baby. Now many cities have passed laws where if your child is born addicted to drugs you can face jail time.
The United States needs to find a way to stop the trafficking of drugs and easy access to children. Drug trafficking has a major impact on society. The impacts from these drugs are causing young children to lose their lives too soon. There is billions of dollars lost per year in productivity. The cost of the crimes related to drug trafficking is also in the billions. (National Drug Intelligence Center. 2011).
The Term Paper on Drug Trafficking From Mexico To The United States
... united states and drug gangs. (2010, Mar 27). The Economist,394, 41-42. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/223975748?accountid=32521 2.) Willoughby, R. (2003). Crouching fox, hidden eagle: Drug trafficking ... it was provoked by these other drugs such as cocaine. The drug use and abuse in Mexico was ... is to show the comprehensive vision of drug related problems in Mexico since the end of ...
With the loss of this type of money in the United States puts a strain on everyone living here. With the cost of the crimes related to drug trafficking and overcrowding of jails seems to cost tax payers a lot of money that could be used elsewhere if this problem was under control.
To find the answers to these questions for this research will take getting as much updated information as possible. The best places to find this information is the internet. The government agencies that deal with drug traffickers have a lot of useful and updated information for this research.
The results on drug traffickers to this point have shown that most drugs come from the southern border of the United States. Cocaine has show to be primarily smuggled into the United States from the southern California and south Texas borders. (National Drug Intelligence Center, 2011).
Tunnels are being used when these smugglers are trying hard to get these drugs across the border. In Nogales, Arizona smugglers dug a tunnel from Mexico to parking along International Street. These smuggles would cut small rectangular holes in the pavement so they could pass the drugs through. The smugglers would put the drugs into false bottomed cars that were parked over the hole. (Carbone, 2011).
One way that can stop these people from digging these tunnels is to also build a fence underground that way these tunnels cannot be dug. Police officers in these neighboring border towns can walk the popular street with drug dogs, which would show the people that the police are here and can possible keep the smugglers from trafficking the drugs through these types of towns.
When these drug traffickers are trying to get drugs moved weather it is across the United States border or from one town to another they come up with some creative ways of hiding the drugs and money from the sales. The Lexington, North Carolina police chief stated that on August 9, 2011 two of his officers stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation. The two officers ended up seizing over $85 thousand dollars in cash that was in a hidden compartment of the vehicle they drove. (Ignasiak, 2011).
The Essay on Drug Trafficking in Mexico
Drug Trafficking in Mexico: Social, Ethical and Political Problem. Around 20 years ago in Mexico, reading about someone getting his or her head cut-off was something from a horror movie, but times have changed now. Now it is not uncommon to hear about shootings, massacres, or people getting dissolved in acid. Nowadays, reporters have to cut back on whatever news they have for the media. Almost ...
One could only imagine why someone would have that amount of cash on them. A person in their right mind would not carry that kind of cash with them. Then to have the cash in a hidden compartment seems to show some type of illegal action on the occupants of the car.
Some other ways these drug traffickers move drugs is amazing. When you look at the information about the way these people hide drugs thinking they can get away with it shows how little they really know. One place that these traffickers will hide the drugs is in the cars gas tank. In Tucson federal agents found 50 pounds of cocaine wrapped in a gas tank at a check point with the help of special trained dogs. (Associated Press, 2011).
Other hiding spots that have been talked about when trafficking drugs is inside the seats of the car, bumpers, under carriage, inside the door panels and any other place they can think of to stash these drugs.
When talking about the length these people go to hide the drugs, brings up another great point. Why do these people traffic illegal drugs. It cannot be for the thrill of possible getting caught and going to jail. It seems like it’s more for the money that is made when these drugs are sold. In the Arizona story about the 50 pounds that was found in the gas tank, the article stated that those drugs were worth 1.4 million dollars. (Associated Press, 2011).
Money seems to be playing a big factor for the reason to traffic illegal drugs. With the down fall of the economy seems to not be helping with the matter since people are out of work.
Even with all the different police departments and government agencies working on drug smuggling it still won’t put a stop to the trafficking of illegal drugs. Since the trafficking will never completely stop, the more drugs that are kept off the street the better. In 2010, 44,063 kilograms of cocaine was seizures in the United States. (National Drug Intelligence Center. 2011).
At this time a record showing how many arrests were made was not able to be found. For every kilo of cocaine that is taken off the streets is less cocaine that will be sold and possible cause someone’s death prematurely.
The Essay on Mandatory Random Drug Testing
Crunch! A warehouse employee’s foot has just been run over by a forklift driver. During the accident investigation it was discovered that the forklift driver had been under the influence of marijuana. No one wants his/her doctor to be drunk or high on drugs as he slices him/her open with a scalpel. Regardless if the operation is successful, he/she will be much happier knowing the doctor was not ...
Drug trafficking has been a problem in the United States for a long time. There many agencies that are working hard to combat the problem. With all the hard work these agencies are going will help stop a lot of drug flow from Mexico into the United states. With programs like D.A.R.E. will help keep children from using illegal drugs. With a lot of hard work one day there will be no drug trafficking from Mexico.
References
Associated Press. (2011).
50 pounds of cocaine found in car’s gas tank in Arizona. Retrieved October 26, 2011 from http://www.azcentral.com/
Carbone, N. (n.d.).
Drug Smugglers Tunnel Directly Into Arizona Parking Spaces. Retrieved October 19, 2011, from http://newsfeed.time.com
Fitzgerald, J. (2011).
Drugs make way to small towns & villages. Retrieved October 20, 2011, from http://www.hometownstations.com
Ignasiak, D. (2011).
Lexington Police working to catch drug traffickers. The Dispatch. Retrieved October 30, 2011, from ProQuest Newsstand. http://proquest.umi.com/ (Document ID: 2428678141).
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d.).
Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse. Retrieved October 28, 2011 from http://www.nida.nih.gov
McLamb, S. (2010, Dec. 7).
Smaller towns like Hollywood fighting highway drug traffickers. Retrieved October 27, 2011 from http://www.waff.com
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2010).
Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings. Retrieved October 27, 2011 from http://store.samhsa.gov/
U.S. Department of Justice, National Drug Intelligence Center. (2011).
National Drug Threat Assessment. Retrieved October 22, 2011 from http://www.justice.gov
U.S. Department of Justice, (n.d.), Reduce the Threat, Incidence and Prevalence of Violent Crime and Drug Trafficking. Retrieved October 25, 2011 from http://www.justice.gov/
