Proliferation of Opium and Cocaine in the World - Essay Example

? DRUGS IN THE WORLD Examine what role does colonization and war play in the proliferation of opium and cocaine in the world? The historical and contemporary societies, irrespective of the level of development, have used drugs for medicine, recreational and religious purposes. Evidently, the contemporary globalized society has become proliferated with two major drugs, which are opium and cocaine. Historically, the origins of the opium poppy can be traced back to lower Mesopotamia where it was cultivated by the local Sumerians. All knowledge concerning the plant’s cultivation and euphoric effect was soon passed along to the Assyrians, then to the Egyptians around the second millennium B.C. To this end, opium planting first began in eastern Mediterranean and spread systematically to India via trade routes and eventually arriving at China by the eighth century A.D (Chouvy, 2010). On the other hand, cocaine, which is a derivative drug of the cocoa plants traces it genealogy back to the Andes region where it was cultivated by the Incas populace. Evidently, cocaine was first derived from coca in 1860 and it powerful stimulant effects became evident. To this end, the drug creates an instantaneous sense of euphoria by igniting the brain’s regulatory transmitters (Marcy, 2010). Presently, both opium and cocaine have become a global drug menace that was catalyzed through colonization and wars. During the British occupation of India in 1750, they specifically took control of Bihar and Bengal which were key opium growing districts. To this end, the British shipping company took control over the opium trade from Calcutta to China. Evidently, by 1767, the opium exports to China by the British reached a record two thousand chests per year. In addition, the British India Company created a monopoly over the opium trade and restricted the Indian poppy growers from selling the commodity to competing trading companies. In Turkey, the British Levant Company bought more than half of the opium originating from Smyrna Turkey. Furthermore, they diverted all importations strictly to the United States and Europe. During the First and Second Opium War which was precipitated by efforts to suppress opium trade by the Chinese commissioner, the British sent warships to China’s coast. To this end, the Chinese lost the war to Britain and eventually opium importation was legalized. This further proliferated the supply of opium. On the other hand, cocaine spread and proliferation began during the Spanish colonial era when it was slowly becoming entrenched as a global commodity. Furthermore, the success of Europe’s commercial revolution was also hinged on cocaine since it assisted in lubricating the major silver mining industry of colonial Spain. Evidently, the colonial Spanish slave masters came to discover that the coca stimulant made the laborers to work harder, eat less and work for longer hours. To this end, the cocoa leaves were used as a major stimulant towards coercing the Indian worker at the Potosi mines. When cocaine alkaloid derivative was discovered, the Spanish colonial masters began an intensive cultivation of coca for cocaine cultivation. The leaves were thus traded and also transplanting of the Andean coca specimens in Asia, Australia and Africa. During World War 1 and 2 eras, importation of coca leaves and manufacturing of cocaine increased significantly. Evidently, between 1918 and 1921, Japan recorded an all time import of coca of 455,000 kg. Evidently, the trade of cocaine has been largely fuelled by notorious violence in countries such as Peru and Colombia since the late 1970’s. In the United States during World War 2, coca trades that were used in the manufacture of cocaine increased to the range of 300-400,000 lb. These were largely imports from Peru. The U. S cocaine networks during the World War 2 period exhibited features such as monopolies of cocaine processing that were assisted by the state, while leading intensive global campaigns that were against the illegal production of coca and cocaine. 2. Identify and discuss who is more to blame for the world's drug economy. The illegal drug economy is currently a global problem that has pervaded every facet of the developed and developing countries. Evidently, there are thousands of pounds of drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, marijuana among other illegal drugs that are in production in the global economy and being sold. To this end, there are many accusing fingers that will foremost blame the governments for laxity in the war on drugs. However, it should be noted that the countries with stringent anti-drug policies still have pervasive drug problems. To this end, a survey conducted by the World Health Organization showed that the United States had the highest level of illegal drug trade globally. Another example is the government of the Republic of China which has passed very stringent laws on illegal drug trade and trafficking. However, despite such interventions, the illegal drug trade has proved to be quite a pervasive problem in the People’s Republic of China. To this end, although it’s a true to a certain degree that the government holds a certain level of responsibility, they do not bear the largest responsibility or blame. Moreover, the global drug use is not evenly distributed. Therefore, the drug economy is not simply concordant to anti-drug polices by government. This is because countries with strict ant-drug policies do not have lower drug use levels compared to countries with liberal anti-drug policies. To this end, the major responsibility of the drug economy rests within society and with the average drug user in particular. In justification, a survey by the World Health Organization pointed out that Americans were four times culpable of using drugs such as cocaine in their lifetime. In addition, the use of drugs such as marijuana among the America populace was at an all time high of 42.4 % (Isralowitz, 2004). By also looking back on the historical proliferation of drugs, it is evident that the trade and smuggling of illegal drugs was fuelled by a large market base across the continents. Evidently, drugs such as opium and cocaine gained popularity when their euphoric effects were discovered by the native populations. Consequently, it was soon embraced as lifestyle recreation drug by people across the globe in continents such as Europe, America, Asia and Africa. In this regard, the drug economy has been lucrative owing to the high demand placed by people in society (Isralowitz & Myers, 2011). These statistics clearly point to the drug user and potential drug user as the driving factor behind the thriving drug trade. Evidently, the driving motive behind the illegal trade is that people will consume the product and consequently generate revenue for the drug lords. To this end, without a lucrative market precipitated by demand in society, the drug menace would be a thing of the past. In this regard, society should beginning to demand and agitate for moral fiber and personal accountability in the fight against the drug menace. Furthermore, society should shift its attentions from blaming law enforcement agencies and the government but begin to demand that drug addicts leave their reckless lifestyles for a more productive life. Reference Chouvy, P.A. (2010). Opium: Uncovering the politics of the poppy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Isralowitz, R. (2004). Drug use: a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. Isralowitz, R., & Myers, P. L. (2011). Illicit drugs. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood. Marcy, W.L. (2010). The politics of cocaine: How U.S. foreign policy has created a thriving drug industry in central and south America. Chicago, Il: Lawrence Hill Books. Read More