Cocaine Rising and Cocaine Falling

1.The commodity value chain of coca-cocaine has evolved over the years due to transforming from a crop grown in small local areas for traditional consumption to a crop covering large areas of several countries in South America. Being a so-called easy crop, the coca leaf is a crop that can be grown by poor farmers due to little preparation needed (Vellinga 2007). These mostly unskilled laborers grow the coca leaf which is consistently a positive profit and is always in demand. The countries of Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru are countries who are very involved in the coca leaf production. Suppression of coca cultivation in Bolivia and Peru has led to an explosive growth of coca cultivation in Colombia. In Bolivia and Peru, the clandestine drug economy had become more interwoven with the formal economy (Vellinga 2007). A history of poverty and lack of development is one of the main driving forces behind the production of coca and the coca paste. It is important to remember at one point in time there was a legal cocaine industry. The medicinal market for cocaine paved the way for the illegal market once cocaine was labeled as a narcotic (Gootenberg 2012).  

After World War II the United States, acting as the world leader against narcotics, began to criminalize narcotics, notably the coca leaf. This event led to the decentralization of coca growers. Nevertheless, being a crop that is easy to grow and make a viable profit, coca growing found a way to continue and to thrive. Still having a demand, coca growers used smuggling routes to get their product to its intended destinations.  Traffickers of coca use several routes and methods just as traffickers of opium have different methods and routes. These two narcotics are grown in regions which seem far away from many of their customers and use complex trafficking routes. The trafficking of the narcotics have a couple of different routes. Mexican gangs have a system in place for transporting narcotics from the southern to the northern states, and places with large Mexican populations are able to control these drugs down to the street level. Colombian traffickers use the Caribbean for trafficking and have several locations in the Eastern United States in which they have a stronghold. The Caribbean banks also serve as a source of money laundering for the traffickers due to the current financial situation in many of the countries, and the countries are sometimes drawn to narcotic trafficking for financial gain.  

2.The legalization of drugs is a topic of debate in which some believe the legalization of drugs would decrease violence and crimes, and others believe crime would increase. On the opinion crime would decrease, it has been pointed out property and violent crimes increased since the creation of the Drug Enforcement Agency (Duke 1993). The reason behind this is the more effort law enforcement takes to combat drugs, the less drugs may be available therefore driving the price up for consumers. If drugs cost more the users may need to commit crimes in order to afford the drugs. Studies have shown drug users commit less crime when the price of drugs are lower or even when the user attends outpatient rehabilitation. The war on drugs incarcerates those who have been convicted of drug crimes and takes room away in prisons for those who commit other, more serious crimes. With drug prices lower and possibly more users willing to get treatment, the demand for drugs would change and drug trafficking may become less lucrative for drug cartels. If the narcotic industry is not as lucrative as it was when narcotics were illegal, there may not be much as an incentive for drug traffickers anymore. Since these drug cartels are driven by the financial aspects of traficking, drug organizations may decide to turn their attention elsewhere.  

Aspinwall, M., & Reich, S. (2016). Who is wile E. coyote? power, influence and the war on drugs. International Politics, 53(2), 155-175. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy2.apus.edu/10.1057/ip.2015.43 

Duke, S,B. 1993.How drug legalization would cut crime. Perspective on drugs.  https://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Misc/media2.htm 

Gootenberg, P. (2012). Cocaines long march north, 19002010. Latin American Politics and Society, 54(1), 159-180. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy2.apus.edu/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2012.00146.x 

Paoli, L., Rabkov, I., Greenfield, V. A., & Reuter, P. (2007). TAJIKISTAN: THE RISE OF A NARCO-STATE. Journal of Drug Issues, 37(4), 951-979. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy2.apus.edu/10.1177/002204260703700410 

Scherlen, R. (2012). The Never-Ending Drug War: Obstacles to Drug War Policy Termination. PS: Political Science and Politics, 45(1), 67-73. Retrieved August 4, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41412723  

Vellinga, M. (2007). THE ILLEGAL DRUG INDUSTRY IN LATIN AMERICA: THE COCA-COCAINE COMMODITY VALUE CHAIN. Ibero-Americana, 37(2), 89-105,3,7. Retrieved from https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/scholarly-journals/illegal-drug-industry-latin-america-coca-cocaine/docview/215099938/se-2?accountid=8289 

Wyler, L. S., & Cook, N. (2011). ILLEGAL DRUG TRADE IN AFRICA: TRENDS AND U.S. POLICY *. Current Politics and Economics of Africa, 4(2), 265-350. Retrieved from https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/scholarly-journals/illegal-drug-trade-africa-trends-u-s-policy/docview/1709512372/se-2?accountid=8289