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INTRODUCTION, THESIS & ANNOTATIONS

The Economic Impact of International Drug Trafficking to the United States

Angela Rodriguez

GEN499: General Education Capstone 

Amy O’Brien

April 7, 2021

Part 1: Introduction and Thesis Statement

The severity of illicit drug trade in North America continues to exponentially increase and prosper more than half a decade later since many governments in the region declared a war on drug. The issue has further been substantially bolstered by the forces of globalization and high interconnectedness of people across the world. International drug trafficking entails a global illicit trade that involves the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances that are subject to drug prohibition laws. To date, drug crime poses a serious problem globally. Additionally, the United States (US) is one of the most affected countries when it comes to the global illicit trade, because of the huge consumption of illicit drugs in the American societies. Whereas the use and abuse of legal and illegal psychoactive drugs and related substances has many adverse consequences, the practice has become an integral part of the American society. Alongside the huge demand market in the country is the close proximity of the US to Mexico, Columbia and other Central and South American countries that are notorious as supply markets for drugs. Regardless of the other factors, drug use poses serious business and economic impact in the country. For instance, the US Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that by 2007, the economic cost of drug abuse in the country to be at $193 billion. These values include those related to lost productivity, healthcare costs and criminal justice costs. Drug use also directly leads to reduced labor force, increased turnover and absenteeism, reduced academic performance, and increased crime and violence rates in the country. Consequently, the US government has led the war on drug effort for over 50 years now in a bid to bring the criminals to justice and to rid its societies of the burden of drug use. To date, the topic of international drug has been subjected to a lot of research. However, most of these researches usually focus on the general topic of international drug trafficking and how to control the problem. There are only a handful of such researches that uses holistic approaches to researching the problem. Furthermore, only a few studies explore the economic impact of international drug trafficking problem from the perspective of the US. Cognizant of these factors and study gaps, there is a need to look at the economic impact of international impact of international drug trafficking in the US. The primary aim of this research study is to analyze the economic impact of international drug trafficking in the US through a systematic review of published resources and to provide a holistic exploration of the problem. It is expected that the findings will support the already-known fact that the crime poses a serious economic challenge to the US businesses and economy, and these challenges will only worsen with time if the vice is not managed. The study will add to the already available vast pool of information on international drug trafficking and help academicians, business communities, multinational and local organizations, federal and state governments, and the local and international communities understand the need to lead war efforts against international drug trafficking using evidence-based strategies.

Part 2: Annotations

Jenner, M. S. (2011, Summer). International Drug Trafficking: A Global Problem with a Domestic Solution. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 18(2), 901-927.

For a very long time, there have been many policy debates in the US regarding how to control the illegal drug trafficking and consumption. Unfortunately, most of these policy initiatives have often only resulted in marginal success. Some researchers have called for radical policy reforms using novel and infamous means, amongst which is universal legalization of illegal drugs. Jenner explores the efficacy and feasibility of universal legalization of illicit drugs as a viable solution for illegal drug trade in the US by exploring the historical survey of illegal drug industry and by examining the attempts to control the industry and their effectiveness. Thereafter, in this review article, the author has proposed universal legalization framework and assessed its potential efficacy and feasibility before proposing a regulatory framework through which the government can use to control the domestic drug problems after the legalization of drugs, following the US context.

The most important perspective from this paper is that a universal legalization of drugs would solve the problem by destroying the black market and placing the control of the industry and its financial incentives on the hands of the government, rather than destroying the market participants. Universal legalization of drugs is a novel, radical and unique proposal will continue to have an important theoretical and practical policy implication in the future.

KecK, M., & Correa-Cabrera, G. (2015). U.S. Drug Policy and Supply-Side Strategies: Assessing Effectiveness and Results. Norteamérica, 10(2, July-December, 2015), 47-67.

In this research article, the authors sort to explore the effectiveness and results of US drug policy and supply-side strategies. Specifically, the authors analyzed the interdiction efforts’ effectiveness by assessing the relationship between drug policy and supply-side strategies of border enforcement, drug seizures and drug prizes. The article applied statistical data to assess if border enforcement along the southern US border impacts the illegal drug supply into the country given that border enforcement has become a key US policy tool for the country’s 50-year war on drugs seeking to prevent illegal drugs’ flow, and that the US-Mexico border has become the frontline in the war effort. The research uses US Border Patrol line-watch data to measure border enforcement. Based on this data, they studied the relationship between border enforcement and the amount of cocaine seized, the amount of marijuana seized, the amount of heroin seized, the price of marijuana, the price of cocaine, to the price of heroin.

The study is important because helps highlight the effectiveness of some of the drug policies and strategies that the country is currently using against the war on international drug trafficking. It helps answer the doubt perpetrated by many scholars on the ability of the US and individual states (with their electorates to care for, tight budgets, and inflexible bureaucracies) to effectively stop the international drug trafficking networks that have considerable advantages like favorable market forces, transnational connections and flexibility. The results from the study reveals numerous challenges in solely using border enforcement to fight the US illegal drug market., and also a mixed statistical record concerning the effectiveness of interdiction on fighting illegal drug market.

Puyana, J. C., Puyana, J. C., Rubiano, A. M., Montenegro, J. H., Estebanez, G. O., Sanchez, A. I., et al. (2015, August). Drugs, Violence, and Trauma in Mexico and the USA. Medical Principles and Practice, 26(4), 309–315.

In this article, the author contends that the drug possession, trafficking and consumption menace has persisted since time immemorial, and that the prohibitive legislation against the activity most likely took pace during the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, the illegal drug trafficking problem has become an international black market despite its criminalization. Additionally, the tremendous variability of the market’s impact on violence’s occurrence and magnitude depends many factors, including the affected regions’ or country’s econo-socio-cultural background. For instance, the author notes that Mexico and the USA currently have security border issues over the last decade, especially because of the huge proliferation of several aspects of drug-related trafficking and criminal activities aspects in the area. Still, the author notes that the whole illegal drugs’ spectrum causes huge but tremendously diverse sufferings, affecting all the society’s socio-economic levels. Therefore, there is a need to employ a wide range of interventions rather than the oft common criminal penalization strategy when handling the problem. Consequently, the review article analyzes the relation between violence and illegal drug trafficking in Mexico and the US, and its effects on the human crisis experience at the Mexico-US border. The article explores the context of violence and illicit drug trade and drug-related violence and injuries in Mexico, and then the context of violence and illicit drug trade and drug-related violence and injuries in the USA.

The findings suggest that the ballooning effect related to the enforcement of severe crime reinforcement policies in Mexico is to blame for the current proliferation of drug trafficking market in Central African countries and the USA and its related human crisis characterized by injury, suffering, and deaths. The article holds that the increasingly expanding cases of human rights crisis have resulted in exorbitant loss of lives and productivity costs across the continent. The article also determined how the current social violence climate experienced in Central American and the influx of illegal immigrants in the US may be partially linked to the drug trafficking, crime and gang violence phenomenon. Therefore, the article supports the current contention that illegal drug trafficking has tremendous socio-economic impact in the region which needs to be managed as soon as possible. Additionally, the article also underscores the perspective that appropriate healthcare interventions are just as important as the current war approach against the problem.

Robles, G., Calder ́on, G., & Magaloni, B. (2015, August). The Economic Consequences of Drug Trafficking Violence in Mexico. Working Paper.

For a very long time, Colombia and Mexico have been the primary sources of most of the illegal drugs consumed in the US. The phenomenon has prompted the successive US governments to employ strategies aimed at blocking the problem from its roots – i.e. from the forum countries where these drugs originate. Unfortunately, the problem still persists, and there is no indication that the production, distribution and consumption of these illegal drugs would slow down in the near future. More importantly, many scholars have linked many of the socio-economic problems in countries like Mexico to illegal drug trafficking. As the authors of this article put it, the violence levels in Mexico have tremendously increased as a result of structural transformations in the illegal drug trade business. The increased numbers of drug traffickers have led to a dramatic increase in the rates of crimes like homicides as they seek to control the market and trafficking routes. Consequently, in this study, the authors propose the application of an event approach to estimate the drug wars’ economic impact. The findings of the first section of the study show that marginal increases of violence have a significant negative impact in the areas labor participation and unemployment rates. Additionally, it also suggests substantive marginal effect related to homicide increases for earned income and business owners’ proportion, but not for energy consumption.

The findings from the study’s second part shows that Mexican municipalities that experiences dramatic increase in violence between 2006 and 2010 also had significant reduction in their energy consumptions in the years following the turf war’s beginning. Thus, the study suggests that illegal drug trafficking has significant negative impact on a country’s economy. The findings from this study hold two important theoretical implications for my study. First, I aim to relate or translocate the findings from the current study with my study topic, by generalizing the economic impact of the problem to the US context. Secondly, based on the ballooning effect theory, I will also use the finding to support the perspective that the current economic problems due to drug trafficking in Mexico would also affect the US with time.

Vulliamy, E. (2019, February 17). Tale Of Two Drugs Lords: From Cosa Nostra To Guzmán – It’S Strictly Business. Retrieved April 30, 2021, from The Guardian:

This news article report by The Guardian explores the tale of two drugs lords separated apart by two continents rose to fill-in the international drug trafficking industry. The first don that the author explores is Salvatore Riina, a drug load who bossed the Sicily’s Cosa Nostra (Italy) cartel from the late 1970s until his death in jail in 2017. The second don is Joaquín Guzmán Loera, who was convicted in February, 2017, for being the world’s biggest drug load at the time. Until the time of his conviction, Guzmán was the leader of the Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, the crime’s mightiest syndicate, and became famously known as “El Chapo”. As the author describes, the drug lords both stood trial about a quarter of a century apart. The two were separated by two eras and two hemispheres, although they bore the same nickname (‘‘Shorty’’) and the same business. However, while looking at the tale of the two dons might shed an important light on the personal life of prolific international drug lords, I do believe that the article is particular relevant to the current research as it describes the business model used in drug trafficking. As the author contends, although the business model used by drug traffickers has appeared to change over time, it still remains the same in many crucial steps.

The author also explores the various means used by governments to control the problem, and its effectiveness. In the article, the author emphasizes that drug trafficking is rooted in our societies like corruption, and many people and interests are involved. It describes how even high-ranking government officials, law enforcers, and military leaders are involved in the supply chain network; therefore making any of the current control strategies to be ineffective. Therefore, the article tends to indirectly support the perspective by Jenner (2011) that controlling the problem will demand novel and radical strategies that aim to destroy the market rather than the market participants. As the author contends, international drug trafficking has become like a cancer in the society, and that it has become about power and hierarchy. The implication of this perspective is that although the government may target the leaders, the market always remains, and other players will always rise to take up the mantra.

References Jenner, M. S. (2011, Summer). International Drug Trafficking: A Global Problem with a Domestic Solution. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 18(2), 901-927. KecK, M., & Correa-Cabrera, G. (2015). U.S. Drug Policy and Supply-Side Strategies: Assessing Effectiveness and Results. Norteamérica, 10(2, July-December, 2015), 47-67. Office of National Drug Control Policy. (nd). How Illicit Drug Use Affects Business and the Economy. Retrieved April 30, 2021, from Obamawhitehouse.archives.gov: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/ondcp/ondcp-fact-sheets/how-illicit-drug-use-affects-business-and-the-economy Puyana, J. C., Puyana, J. C., Rubiano, A. M., Montenegro, J. H., Estebanez, G. O., Sanchez, A. I., et al. (2015, August). Drugs, Violence, and Trauma in Mexico and the USA. Medical Principles and Practice, 26(4), 309–315. Robles, G., Calder ́on, G., & Magaloni, B. (2015, August). The Economic Consequences of Drug Trafficking Violence in Mexico. Working Paper. Vulliamy, E. (2019, February 17). Tale Of Two Drugs Lords: From Cosa Nostra To Guzmán – It’S Strictly Business. Retrieved April 30, 2021, from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/17/tale-two-drug-lords-el-chapo-guzman-salvatore-riina-mexico-italy

Assignment 6: Personal Leadership Journal

To prepare for your Assignment:

· Review this week’s Learning Resources, especially:

· Personal Leadership Journal Assignment Instructions

· Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2017). The leadership challenge: How to make extraordinary things happen in organizations. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.

· PRACTICE 5: ENCOURAGE THE HEART

· Chapter 11, “Recognize Contributions” (pp. 247–270)

· Chapter 12, “Celebrate the Values and Victories” (pp. 271–294)

To complete the Personal Leadership Journal Assignment ,

Compose a cohesive document that addresses the following :

· Discuss your results from Practice 5 of the LPI Self: Leadership Practices Inventory.

· Reflect upon how you currently use and plan to use the elements of “ENCOURAGE THE HEART” to build trust as a leader.

· Looking at the ethical dilemma you discussed in this week’s discussion board, address the following:

· If you had the opportunity, would you change any actions you took? Explain why or why not.

· Would any of the elements discussed this week have helped you during this dilemma? Explain why or why not.

· 4–6 pages in length. 

· APA citing 7th edition

· Correct grammar

· No plagiarism