Cocaine Market Booming as Meth Trafficking Spreads, UN Report Says
The global number of cocaine users, estimated at 22 million in 2021, is growing steadily, UN data shows; cocaine seizures have, however, grown faster than production
One thing that struck me about this is that, now, Afghanistan is becoming a producer of methamphetamine. Before, they were just known for opium poppies and hashish, but now they make meth.
I'm against the war on drugs, but I'm also against drugs like cocaine, heroin, and meth. Fentanyl is another one that's been in the news a lot lately.
To me, it seems it would be more effective to treat this as a medical/mental health issue, not as a criminal issue. How much does drug treatment for addicts cost versus the costs of playing whack-a-mole with global drug smugglers and cartels?
Granted, they do have some successes, as they always proudly pose among their spoils:
As much as this appears to be, there's a lot more that gets through undetected. It's never going to go away as long as there's a demand for it, and where is the demand?
Another problem is that, at least through most of the War on Drugs, soft drugs like marijuana were lumped in with all of the harder drugs and pretty much all viewed the same. As a consequence, a lot of anti-drug resources and law enforcement assets were wasted going after marijuana, impeding and hobbling their ability to stop the harder, more dangerous drugs. But even then, after more than a half-century, the War on Drugs has appeared to be unwinnable.
The War on Drugs has also led to other problems, such as gang violence, the increased incarceration rate, and peripheral issues such as police shootings and similar incidents rooted in this obsession over the War on Drugs. All a cop has to do is say "I smell marijuana" at a traffic stop, and things can quickly escalate. As many have brought up the issue of systemic racism in law enforcement, few seem willing to make the connection to the War on Drugs as being a primary catalyst. Even the media and liberals seem rather wishy-washy about it.
As I said earlier, I would be more inclined to view this as a medical issue, not a criminal issue. It's cheaper to send someone to drug treatment than it is to send them to prison.
But then that brings up the issue of whether drug treatment even works. I've heard that AA and other 12-step programs have a 90% failure rate. There are some out there who so far gone with the drinking and drugging that they appear to be past the point of no return. I don't know what can be done for them, except maybe set up some kind of addicts' hospice program, at least so they don't have to die in the streets. That would also solve a lot of problems from a societal standpoint, as a lot of these broken individuals are seen as a public menace - homeless, panhandlers, petty criminals, etc.
What are your thoughts on the War on Drugs? Are we winning? What would "winning" this war actually look like? Are we taking the right approach?
Some countries execute smugglers and addicts. Would that be a more effective approach?
Is the drug problem so severe and threatening to national stability that the police should be given broader powers for surveillance, search, and seizure? Is it really so necessary to go on this all-out War on Drugs with all of the resulting expenditure of public resources and infringement on civil liberties towards enforcement?
