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CONCLUSION M ost would argue that we are losing the war on drugs. They are more plentiful and pure and less expensive than ever before. Yet, I remain cautiously hopeful. We live in a big world, and the United States of America is a superpower with great responsibilities. Even though our country has made many mistakes in past alliances that we cultivated , we must have international partners to combat drug traffickers. Partnerships with other countries are necessary to interdict drug shipments and arrest violators. At times our partners have subverted our intentions. In the 1950s the U.S. and France forged alliances with warlords in Laos, Thailand, and Burma, an area known as the Golden Triangle, in an effort to contain the spread of Communism. The U.S. and France supplied the warlords with weapons, ammunition, and air transportation. Our well-intentioned plan backfired when a new problem arose. The warlords used the resources they were given to develop their opium business. The problem did not go away. From 1965 to 1970, during the Vietnam War, there was a surge in heroin entering the U.S. Opium from the Golden Triangle was smuggled into Marseilles . It is believed that Corsican gangsters then shipped the refined heroin to the United States for distribution to the country’s 750,000 addicts. The supply of heroin continued until the United States and France worked together on the famous French Connection case to put the heroin processing plants out of business. .......................... 10590$ CONL 03-12-04 13:06:03 PS In other parts of the world, we continue to struggle with allies who do not share our concerns about drugs. Afghanistan, for example, illustrates the point. The United States backed the Northern Alliance against the Taliban in the war on terror because the Taliban were closely tied to Al Qaeda operatives. Ironically, recent history indicates that when the Taliban were in power, their ban on opium production in the year 2000 was widely respected and adhered to. Unfortunately, members of the Northern Alliance, our allies, cultivate opium poppies. An interim authority was formed per our agreement on December 4, 2001, with Hamid Karzai acting as interim chairman. Since then, neither the Taliban nor the Northern Alliance has taken any real initiative to seize stored opium or precursors or to arrest and prosecute narcotic traffickers. Domestically, the problem has been one of perception. It was not until the middle of the Reagan presidency that we stopped viewing the drug problem as a regional matter. Up until that time, if heroin use grew in New York City or Cocaine Cowboys got too violent in Miami, the government sent more agents or money to the affected geographical area to contain the problem. It was like putting out scattered brush fires while the forest fire blazed. Finally, the Reagan White House, after listening to suggestions by the DEA, realized that drug trafficking was a national security problem that necessitated an international plan of attack. As a result, the White House finally began to look at the drug problem globally and to implement a plan to identify and target major traffickers. Unfortunately, the principal source of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana has moved dangerously close to our borders. Colombia, with its modern, sophisticated processing labs, is now the world’s leading producer of cocaine , and supplies virtually all of the cocaine distributed in the United States. Almost 60 percent of the heroin distributed in the United States comes from opium poppy that is grown, harvested, and processed in Colombia . In addition to this, Mexican heroin, known as Mexican mud, flows freely over the border. These are some of the problems that continue to confront and frustrate drug agents today as we struggle with the drug problem in our country. It is time to put drug trafficking, along with terrorism, on the top of our country’s agenda. The recent DEA administrator, Asa Hutchinson, believes in a threepronged approach of prevention, enforcement, and treatment to fight drug use in the United States. No single approach will work. Prevention, beginning with education at a young age, is crucial. There must be a concerted, concentrated program that introduces grammar school students to the danger of drugs. The program needs to grow with the students, matching their intellectual capabilities and curiosity. The program must deal with facts, not hysteria, with particular focus on health risks. Several studies indicate 216 .......................... 10590$ CONL 03-12-04 13:06:04 PS [3.133.12.172] Project MUSE...

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