Drug Dealing and Drug Abuse - Essay Example

& Executive summary The concerted war against drug dealing and drug abuse started to sweep across the western nation in the 1950s. Over six decades down the road, the war is still far from won. Drug dealing is where it all starts, and it is a systematic chain that starts from production, goes to manufacturing and finally to clandestine large-scale supply. It is a complicated web. Gen. Barry McCaffrey, President Clinton’s drug czar admitted that it is a war ‘waged against an intangible, shapeless noun’, and would be very difficult to win. It is true that in the war against drug trafficking, it is always almost impossible to point out a particular person that is fought. They are amorphous (Elsner 88). The war is difficult to win especially because the drug dealing game keeps mutating constantly. If the governments and anti-drug agencies are going to keep pace with the perpetrators, a time will come in their near future when they would overtake the drug cartels in the game and win the war. Overview of the topic The future is threatened and the economic gains a country has made in centuries may be reversed of people who will form part of that future are immersed in drug use. Everybody has a role to play in convincingly dealing with drug business and abuse. Drug dealing must be paralyzed and reduced. The youth population must be reformed and trained in a drug-free path. Youth are the picture of a country’s future. A country’s future is as good or as threatened as it’s today’s youth population. The war on drug abuse must continue, and the governments and various anti-drug agencies must work closely with the people if the war is to be won. The players are always devising new ways of going about it even before governments and other anti-drug agencies have adopted measures of countering the previous designs. They are always steps ahead of the agencies pursuing them. If tact doesn’t change tremendously, then the problem will stick around for quite some time. The magnitude of the problem is such that the UN estimates drug dealing to account for over $700 billion annually. That tells the level of consumption and abuse across the world. There are people who spend more money buying drugs than they do on food that could guarantee good health. Historical facts Drug dealing, use and abuse are not new talking points in any part of the world. The globe has a history of drug use dating back to the 1500s when tobacco was first used. Different drugs invaded the world along different timelines. After tobacco, morphine was discovered. Then there was tea, coffee, and then the much dreaded cocaine. At first, no country had any tangible laws to control what would later turn into a serious global problem (Elsner 142). This lack of punitive action against drug users and suppliers ensured that, by 1800, Americans were consuming a little over 500 million cigarettes annually. That was such a big number at the time. Many people, celebrities included, have died of heart problems caused by unfettered indulgence in illicit drugs. The western world was the most threatened. Drug abuse is a vice that leads to many other vices. People do no good when they are under influence. Addicts will always not be in their best behavior. Robbery with violence is one vice that is majorly practiced by people who use drugs. They are left with few options of pushing on with life. Having no jobs, and probably no place to sleep because of running away from homes, they will always lead their lives on the streets and try to engage in all manner of violence because it is the only way to get the basic needs. They will be pickpockets and street bangers and beggars. Current situation Drug abuse has been a cause of very many problems to people. Today, drug abuse and addiction in the United States and the United Kingdom among other western nations is said to start at adolescence. Adolescents have the urge to try every drug they come across, largely as a result of peer influence. The pressures and the frustrations that come with adolescence are some of the reasons for indulging in illicit drug at that stage of growth. Many adolescents are in high schools and colleges, so it is easy to guess that these two levels of education have to contend with indiscipline cases that come with addiction (Elsner 162). One way addressing the drug problem among adolescents is to keep very close with them and, with the understanding of problems they go through, try to advise and give them alternative ways of going about their problems. The curriculum should be redrafted to incorporate lessons on drug abuse and the dangers of indulgence. Teachers and parents should take it as a duty to make sure that school/college-going children are not exposed to drugs. Addiction and abuse that start at adolescence is always very difficult to stop when a person is grown. Instead, they get more into drug use as time goes by and it gets to a point where they find it extremely difficult to stop the behavior. Governments and anti-drug agencies must devise new measures to curb drug use. It is agreed that youths form a big part of a country’s future and if they are immersed in drug abuse, the future of that country is bleak. An addict may never be able to keep their job. Students drop out high schools and colleges, and that means they don’t qualify for most of the lucrative jobs, and that leads to an increase in the dependency ratio where the young addicts depend on their ageing, working parents for almost everything. Drastic measures that can be taken by the government include introducing mentorship programs in which the youth population gets educated on health hazards of suing certain illegal drugs. Rehabilitation centers may also be used to help those that had got to serious addiction levels. All these and more will help to reduce the prevalence of drug use and ultimately, drug dealing will cease to be a lucrative venture (James 128). It is a silent way to killing drug business because reformed youths might help by volunteering information that helps track and apprehend dealers. People dealing in drugs are always very rich, but the abusers will always be hapless, leading frustration-studded lives, probably with no employment and inability to raise families. This is something that young addicts should be made to understand. A special police division equipped with professional intelligence should be created by governments. Such a police division will have the sole duty of gathering intelligence information on drug related issues. Drug entry points should be identified and police deployed to prevent further entry. In the United States for instance, it has been noted that much of the illegal drugs enters through the southern section. With that knowledge, a secret police service should be deployed in such areas, and that would help with impounding contrabands before they gain entry. Apart from impounding the drug consignments, people found to have connection with the drugs on transit would be arrested to help with investigation. There should be adequate security surveillance at the borders to prevent drug dealers from identifying new entry points. That way, there would almost be no illegal drugs entering, and ultimately, drug use and abuse will reduce drastically. Conclusion It should be understood by all that drug abuse is a very serious societal ailment which should be controlled and ultimately stopped. It is a cause of retrogression in every other society. Everyone should therefore play their part to ensure the war is a success. One person’s drug problem should be taken as a problem of the whole society. Everyone should help the government and other anti-agencies with leads and valuable information on where drug suppliers hide (James 66). Such information can only be volunteered if people are made to understand that drug abuse sinks their children into some life abyss, where they can only be counterproductive and overly dependent on their parents. If the war is fought and won, social decay levels will reduce. School and college dropout cases as a result of drug use will be minimized. If students do not drop out of schools, there would be many people graduating from colleges and qualifying for jobs. Economic growth would be hastened, with many people being productive (Fish 192). Works cited Elsner, Alan. The Pursuit of Oblivion: A Global History of Narcotics. Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2004. Print. James, Inciardi. The War on Drugs IV. Delaware: Pearson Allyn and Bacon, 2008. Print. Fish, Jared. (Ed.) Drugs and society: U. S. public policy. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. 2006. Print. Read More