Counter-demand approaches to narcotics trafficking

Abstract

The illegal narcotics demand in the US is discussed in relation to the products supplied by the Mexican cartels. This is then contrasted with major legal commodities with addictive properties consumed in the US. Overlaps of use are also noted. Traditional, right of center, and left of center counter-demand approaches to narcotics trafficking are also surveyed. All of these approaches represent no-win scenarios for the US with its ‘troubled population’ of addicted users. Final analysis suggests that a blended counter-demand strategy should be explored based on extinguishing demand, coercing the users, and, to some extent, fulfilling user demand by the provision of prescription narcotics to ‘special status’ addicts and by means of limited decriminalization of personal marijuana use. Such a suggested strategy would have its own negative elements and should be considered less of a bad choice than the other, even worse, US counter-demand policy options that exist.

Keywords:

• behavioral modification
• death penalty
• decriminalization
• counter-demand
• narcotics trafficking
• special status individuals

Notes

^⊃ Editor's note: NLECTC-West was subsequently closed after the submission of Matt Begert 's co-authored contribution.

 1. See the section on The Illegal Economy of Mexican-US (Sureños) Gangs, Cartels, & Mercenaries in Bunker, ‘Strategic Threat’. This is a very conservative estimate of yearly Mexican cartel and affiliate revenues with other estimates ranging from $40–60 billion.

 2. Table G.5 – Types of Illicit Drug Use in the Past Month among Persons Aged 12 or Older: Numbers in Thousands, 2002–2007, in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies, Results from the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings.

 3. Table G.6 – Types of Illicit Drug Use in the Past Month among Persons Aged 12 or Older: Percentages, 2002–2007, in Ibid.

 4. Section 3.1. Alcohol Use among Persons Aged 12 or Older and 4. Tobacco Use, in Ibid

 5. Section 2. Illicit Drug Use, Association with Cigarette and Alcohol Use, Section 3. Alcohol Use, Association with Illicit Drug and Tobacco Use, and Section 4. Tobacco Use, Association with Illicit Drug and Alcohol Use, in Ibid

 6. US Drug Enforcement Administration. ‘Chapter 1 The Controlled Substances Act’ subsection ‘User Accountability’.

 7. Booth, Opium: A History, 193, 198.

 8. Booth, Opium: A History., 184.

 9. Booth, Opium: A History., 203.

10. Chepesiuk, The Drug Wars, xxiv.

11. Chepesiuk, The Drug Wars

12. US Drug Enforcement Administration, ‘Chapter 1 The Controlled Substances Act’.

13. US Drug Enforcement Administration, ‘Chapter 1 The Controlled Substances Act’

14. Fields, ‘White House Czar Calls for End to “War on Drugs”’.

15. Office of National Drug Control Policy, The President's National Drug Control Strategy.

16. Meiners and Burton, ‘The Role of the Mexican Military in the Cartel War’.

17. Office of National Drug Control Policy. The President's National Drug Control Strategy.

18. Chepesiuk, The Drug Wars, xxi.

19. Wikipedia , ‘Office of Drug Control Policy’.

20. US Drug Enforcement Administration, ‘Chapter 1 The Controlled Substances Act’.

21. US Drug Enforcement Administration, ‘Chapter 1 The Controlled Substances Act’

22. Peele, The Meaning of Addiction, 1.

23. Chepesiuk, The Drug Wars, xxix.

24. Moore, Creating Public Value.

25. Amsterdam Information, ‘Amsterdam Drugs’; and Greenwald, ‘Drug Decriminalization in Portugal’.

26. Initiative & Referendum Institute at University of Southern California, ‘Focus on Marijuana’, 1.

27. Office of National Drug Control Policy, ‘National Drug Control Strategy; FY 2009 Budget Summary’.

28. The Economist , ‘Failed states and failed policies’.

29. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. ‘Criminal Offender Statistics’.

30. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, ‘Prisoners in 2007’.

31. Drug War Chronicle , ‘Sentencing: US Jail and Prison Population Hits All-Time (Again) – 2.3 Million Behind Bars, Including More Than Half a Million Drug Offenders’.

32. For various language versions of this report, access http://www.drogasedemocracia.org/. Concerning the decriminalization trend in Latin America, see Foreign Policy , ‘Passport: Argentina to decriminalize personal marijuana use’; and Time , ‘Mexico: Decriminalizing Drugs’, 13.

33. Hartnett, ‘Drug Legalization: Why It Wouldn't Work in the United States’; and Mother Jones . ‘Features: Totally Wasted’ 28–53, 80.

34. Concern has also been expressed concerning the left of center approach and criminality. A possible unintended second order effect would be for the Mexican cartels and their associates to turn to other forms of crime in order to make up for their loss of billions of dollars of yearly revenues. This may be a moot point as this trend has already taken place concerning human smuggling, kidnapping, theft, and other illegal activities in both Mexico and the US.

35. Debate exists if hardcore marijuana users should or should not also be given such a special status designation – for cocaine (& crack), methamphetamine, and heroin users most certainly.

36. This is envisioned as a modified extension of the drug courts program. For more on these courts see, Office of National Drug Control Policy, ‘Drug Courts’.

37. The medical marijuana movement is another issue and, while in violation of federal law, the societal question is should cancer and AIDS patients (especially terminal ones) have access to this illegal narcotic? The potentials for abuse of such programs are, however, immense as have taken place in Los Angeles with the large numbers of sham dispensaries that have arisen.

38. Hierarchical structures, such as states, will under time of threat further centralize their activities. As the US begins to suffer domestic terrorist incidents it is expected that the federal government will follow this pattern. See Brafman and Beckstrom, The Starfish and the Spider; this centralizing under threat theme is evident throughout the work.

39. Jails and prisons are notorious for illegal contraband such as narcotics, and even cell phones, making its way into these facilities.