Peggy Daniels Becker - Drugs

Christine Nasso, Publisher
Elizabeth Des Chenes, ManagingEditor

2011 Greenhaven Press, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning

Gale and Greenhaven Press are registered trademarks used herein under license.

Formore information, contact:
Greenhaven Press 27500 Drake Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535
Or you can visit our Internet site at gale.cengage.com

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 ofthe 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

For product information and technology assistance, contact us at

Gale Customer Support, 1-800-877-4253
For permission to use material from this text or product, submit all requests online at www.cengage.com/permissions

Further permissions questions can be e-mailed to

Articles in Greenhaven Press anthologies are often edited for length to meet page requirements. In addition, original titles of these works are changed to clearly present the main thesis and to explicitly indicate the author's opinion. Every effort is made to ensure that Greenhaven Press accurately reflects the original intent of the authors. Every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyrighted material.

Cover image Ian Hooton/Science Photo Library/Corbis.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Drugs / Peggy Daniels Becker, book editor.

p. cm.-- (Issues that concern you)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7377-4951-9 (hbk.)

1. Drug abuse--Juvenile literature. 2. Drugs--Social aspects--Juvenile literature. I. Daniels, Peggy II. Becker, Peggy Daniels.

HV5809.5.D36 2011
362.29--dc22

2010034626

Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 67 14 13 12 11 10

Richard S. Sandor

Sally Satel and Scott Lilienfeld

National Institute on Drug Abuse

Steve Fox

Scott Morgan

Don Hazen

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

Alexandra Marks

Drug War Chronicle

Matt Markham

Lindsay Lyon

Victoria Clayton

What You Should Know About Drugs
What You Should Do About Drugs

T he topics of drug use and substance abuse seem to always remain near the forefront of current events, news and entertainment reports, public debate, and family discussions. Each day seems to bring yet another scandal involving drugs and a celebrity, movie star, recording artist, politician, or professional athlete. In a society where it often seems as though everyone is doing it, navigating the mixed messages society receives about drugs can be confusing. Some public figures push for the legalization of drugs. Government and law enforcement leaders condemn drug use as a crime that is harmful to society. Meanwhile, a global market has developed around the production and supply of drugs to anyone with enough money and the desire to experiment. Where do illegal drugs come from? How do they reach the United States? And how do drugs get into the hands of those who choose to use them?

Despite the classification of certain drugs as illegal substances, some people in the United States continue to grow or otherwise produce illegal drugs. Illegal drugs are bought and sold every day, even when the process puts buyers and sellers at great personal risk. Current laws forbid the possession of illegal drugs, and law enforcement agencies across the country are kept busy fighting the war on drugs. In 2009 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) arrested more than thirty thousand people on drug-related charges. Millions of additional arrests were made by local law enforcement officials in communities across the country. Fifty-two percent of all federal prison inmates are serving sentences for drug-related crimes.

In addition to the high number of arrests, a staggering amount of illegal drugs are seized by law enforcement officers each year. In 2009 DEA agents seized more than 666,000kg of marijuana, more than 49,000kg of cocaine, 642kg of heroin, 1,700kg of methamphetamines, and 2.9 million dosage units of various hallucinogenic substances. These figures do not include the vast amount of illegal drugs seized by other law enforcement agencies. Many of these drugs were produced within the United States, while others were imported illegally as part of the international drug trade.

The market for illegal drugs has spread across the globe. Americans seem to have a particularly large appetite for these drugs, and so the constant demand keeps drugs flowing into the country. The National Drug Intelligence Center prepares an annual report describing the dangers of trafficking and use of cocaine, methamphetamines, marijuana, heroin, pharmaceutical drugs, and other substances. Drug trafficking in the United States often involves violence, intimidation, theft, and financial crimes. The scope of these operations crosses state lines as well as international borders.

A significant amount of the illegal drugs moving into the United States come from Mexican and Colombian drug-trafficking organizations. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, these organized crime gangs typically earn between $18 billion and $39 billion in profit every year. In addition, the theft of controlled prescription drugs costs insurance companies up to $72.5 billion each year. The cost of policing the drug trade and monitoring airports, seaports, and ground border crossings grows each year along with drug smuggling activity.

Most illegal drugs consumed in the United States make their way into the hands of users through the organized crime channels that are connected to the international drug trade. The majority of drug sales in the United States are controlled by violent urban gangs that operate throughout the country, in cities and also in suburban and rural areas. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, cocaine is the leading drug threat to American society. Methamphetamine is the second leading drug threat, followed by marijuana, heroin, pharmaceutical drugs, and ecstasy. Gangs control the distribution and sale of nearly every illegal drug, although prescription drugs are also obtained in other ways. Certain prescription drugs are obtained legally and then sold for illegal use or acquired in large quantities through the Internet.

U.S. Coast Guard officers guard 19.4 metric tons of cocaine confiscated from a Mexico-bound cargo ship. In 2009 DEA agents seized approximately 49,000kg of cocaine.