Slaying the Drug Hydra

SLAYING THE DRUG HYDRA. Scott B. MacDonald like the mythical Hydra, the international illicit drug trade has many heads, and despite the efforts of governments, law enforcement agencies, and concerned citizens to sever the creature's many heads, new ones appear . These "heads" appear in many forms: worldwide trading and money-laundering networks, gangland-style executions, corruption of public officials, and well-armed private armies capable of conducting full-scale military assaults. The global illicit drug trade, according to an estimate in Fortune magazine, is probably worth $500 billion.1 In Latin America the drug trade accounts for between $80 and $150 billion, and as in certain parts of Asia, those who partake in the production and trading of illicit drugs have gained significant political and economic influence.2 The perception has developed that the slaying of the Hydra is a futile process and that consumer nations, such as the United States, are doomed to a never-ending increase in the number of users, a rise in related violent crime rates, and soaring health care costs. However, slaying the Hydra (or at least taming it) is essential if America is to overcome the interrelated health, societal, and national security problems fostered by drug 1.Louis Kraar, "The Drug Trade," Fortune, June 20, 1988, 37. 2.Organization of American States, "Socio-Economic Studies for the Inter-American Specialized Conference on Drug Traffic," Inter-American Specialized Conference on Drug Traffic in Narcotics Drugs (Washington, D.C: Organization of American States, April 22, 1986), 74. Scott B. MacDonald is the author ofDancing on a Volcano: The Latin American Drug Trade and Mountain High, White Avalanche: Cocaine and Power in Andean States and Panama. He is currently an international economic adviser at the Comptroller of the Currency. The views expressed here do not express the views of the comptroller. 65 66 SAIS REVIEW trafficking and consumption. By nature the drug challenge concerns domestic and foreign policy issues, and the need to revamp U.S. drug policy will be crucial for the new administration. Although there have been successes in the "war on drugs," the failures have probably been more significant , making the need for new policy directions urgent. Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions that will have immediate consequences. This article discusses the scope of the problem and briefly outlines the key elements of a coherent drug policy for the new U.S. administration . As suggested by the argument that current U.S. drug policy is neither working nor an entire failure, the new policy should have some continuity with past efforts and innovations for the future. Fundamentally , current U.S. drug policy is disjointed, lacking any consistent support from the Reagan administration and Congress (with such exceptions as Representative Charles Rangel [D-NY] and SenatorJesse Helms [R-NC]), and is in bad need of an overhaul. This article does not wave an accusative finger at either the executive or the legislative branch— there is plenty of blame to go around. The need for action is too pressing to waste time on soul-searching introspection and the exchange of partisan recriminations . Rather, achieving a viable drug policy must be a bipartisan affair internally and a question of international cooperation externally. The problems presented by illicit drug trafficking and consumption are not new. Many of the same arguments about prohibition, legalization , and interdiction have been debated in the United States and elsewhere by previous generations. There is nothing entirely unique about the current "drug crisis" in U.S. society. What is unique is its global reach. The Scope of the Problem In almost any basic international relations course, a fundamental point about the change in mankind's relationship with itself is the globalization of communications. To state it simply, the world has become a smaller place, and access to almost any point on the globe is much easier and faster. Advancements in the telecommunications, computer, aerospace , and shipping industries have revolutionized daily life, especially in the post-World War II era. In terms of free capital movement from country to country, transactions can be completed within a minute using telecommunications technology. Transportation of goods, such as cocaine and heroin, takes hours instead ofmonths. Consequently, the...