nico+and+stasik-+war+on+drugs

toc =War On Drugs = **Overview:** The US tried to stop this horrible war from getting out of hand right at the begining, but they finally President Johnson had to declare the war on drugs in 1970. They saw that more and more people were starting to use drugs habitually and decided they should stop it before it got out of hand. The problem was they were too late. Because of this war, more and more people have started using drugs, the US has used over $44 billion each year and the prisons are starting to get overcrowded. They have faced people smuggling the drugs in through suitcases, shoes, and even private planes. More recently they have tried to stop the Cartels by sending in troops to find and arrest the Cartel members, but as soon as one gets arrested, another steps in. The US is losing this war and Obama is trying desperatly to find a way to help solve this problem. If the government doesn't find a way to stop this war soon, it could get too far out of reach and they will not be able to ever solve the problem.

Historical forces/factors that led to development of movements:
The use of drugs in the US was becoming more popular. There were many different organizations working seperatly to try to stop this growing use. The government noticed this and one association called the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD). The Johnson administration created this association so that there would only be one association to help stop the growing use of drugs and everyone would work together to stop the use. The government saw that more and more people started to use drugs and they decided to create a law mandating every car that passed through the US-Mexico border to go through a three minute inspection. The government also started to allow police to do no-knock searches which seems to go against the peoples fourth amendment rights. Not only was the use of drugs becoming more abundant in the average American, US servicemen in Vietnam also started to use them. The drug trafficking business was also starting to boom with people like the Cali Cartel and Medellin Cartel using small aircrafts to smuggle drugs into the US.

Obstacles/challenges reformers faced:
The US now receives most of its drugs from Mexico. This is because many Mexican drug gangs and cartels are smuggling drugs to the united states to make a big profit. Since they keep making money, there is no reason for them to stop their operations. In fact they make so much money that they can afford to supply there gangs with all the latest weaponry and can also use new methods of drug smuggling. For example, they had 10 boats full of marijuana and they sent each one in a different route. Although 3 of them were caught and stopped, the other 7 got into the US and the cartels still made a big profit even though they lost a lot of product. Another thing that creates a big problem for both the united states and Mexican governments is that rival gangs are starting to turn their guns at government officials instead of killing each other off. If all the cartels band together it could cause a huge problem for Mexico and then the US. This is a picture of a possible tactic by cartels. Another thing that helps Mexican drug cartels is the heroin traficking in Afghanistan. This not only fuels the war in Afghanistan, but also distracts the DEA from Mexico. There are currently 15,000 troops in Afghanistan which is a significant amount. This "multi-tasking" makes it harder to succeed in either branch of war.

[|Mexican drug cartels band together]

Another main thing that the US has to be aware of is that people from it's own country are helping the drug cartels out. In an interview with George Ochao, he mentioned that Barry Seal, a former military pilot was helping them transport the drugs to the US. Many former military pilots became addicted to drugs while at Vietnam so after the war ended, many of them became aquainted with the drug cartels and helped them transport drugs into the US. Not only are people from the US helping the Cartels, but other countries are telling the cartels they can pass through their country as long as they pay the government.

The reformers have also met problems because of the methods they are using. Because of the methods they are using,

the government is spending over 44 billion dollars a year. Also, since they are only focusing on arresting the people and not as much on helping them, the prisons are becoming overcrowded. The number of people in prison has gone from 41,000 to 500,000 in just 30 years. If we don't find a better way to deal with the war, then the government will keep losing money and there won't be a place to put people in jail anymore.

Tools/Methods used to overcome obstacles:
In order to combat drug production in Mexico, The United states has sent many DEA operatives to start arresting cartels and shutting down drug production. There are also close border checks that check immigrants for any drugs that they might have. The US has given a one billion dollar aid package to Mexico to help fight drug cartels along with sending US troops to Mexico. Along with fighting in Mexico, The US is building a fence on the Mexican border to prevent illegal drug smuggling and has created checkpoints where people may pass after being checked thoroughly by border patrol. The Mexican drug enforcers are finding fields of drugs and destroying them but not only are they destroying drugs, they are arresting cartels. With the amount of police in Mexico, it is getting harder and harder to both plant and smuggle drugs inside Mexico and to the US. ON a side note, The US government is also arresting drug addicts in the US in order to try and limit the demand for drugs because if there are no buyer, then there will be no sellers. The US is trying to do this not only by arresting drug buyer but also putting them in rehab in order to reduce their thirst for drugs. The government has also maid many raids including the most succesful one "Operation Millennium" where they sent people to Ecuador and Colombia and ended up arresting 35 Cartel members. On the issue with Afghanistan, the US is funding the war more allowing it to accomplish both tasks at once even though it is still very hard to do especially considering today's economy. One of the tactics the Us has tried using especially with Afghanistan is setting fire to the drug fields. They think this will burn all the plants so the drugs won't be made but the Taliban is still finding ways to get money from these drugs.

Major figures involved in the movement:
The two major drug dealing Cartels are the Medellin Cartel and the Cali Cartel. Both originated in Colombia and were huge rivals. ====**The Medellin Cartel:**====

The Medellin Cartel consisted of Jose Gonzalo Gancha, the Ochoa brothers, and the violent and probably most famous Pablo Escobar. These four people were very extravagent but also very good at their job. They mainly focused on the smuggling of marijuana. At first, their smuggling business consisted of members carrying suitcases full of drugs into the US. This wasn't the most effective or efficient method so they bought a small island in the Carabian and started flying small airplanes into the US with the help of Vietnam servicemen. As time went on, Pablo started becoming more and more violent becuase he wanted more power within the Colombian government. He killed hundreds of government officials, judges, journalists, innocent people, and policemen. As Pablo became more violent, the Cartel began to fall. Eventually, Gancha was shot by the police, the Ochoa brothers turned themselves in so that their prison sentence wouldn't be as great, and Pablo was on the run from the Colombian government. The reason Pablo was able to be found and killed was thanks to the Cali Cartel. ====**The Cali Cartel:**====

These people weren't as flashy as the Medellin Cartel but still got the job done. The Cali Cartel consisted of the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers and Santacruz Londono. They saw their work as more of a buisness. As Pablo became more violent, the Cali Cartel thought they could step in and really become the biggest drug dealers in Colombia. They knew that the Colombian government wanted to get their hands on Pablo because of all the crimes he had done so the Cali Cartel secretly started giving information to the government on Pablo's whereabouts and to what he was planning. Finally, the government was able to catch and kill Pablo. The Cali Cartel would smuggle cocaine into the US, but after a while, the demand for cocaine in the US went down but the Cali Cartel wasn't fased. Instead of panicking, they decided to start smuggling drugs to Europe and Asia. The Cali Cartel was so good at what they did, some people have even accused the former President of Colombia and many Senators for helping finance the Cartel. Finally, the members of the Cartel were tracked down and they were arrested.

The Taliban is centered in Afghanistan and has been causing the Us loads of problems in this drug war. First the US focused on Colombia, then Mexico and now they have to focus on Afghanistan. The US has had to remove troops from Colombia and send them to Afghanistan because they need help over their. The Taliban is being funded by opium. They made $300 million in 2007 from opium alone. The US is burning many of the poppy fields and the drug is now less money than it is, but still the Taliban is able to find a way to make a ton of money off of these drugs. If the US were to be able to stop the Taliban from selling these drugs, then the Taliban would lose a lot of money and the US would have an easier time controlling them.
 * The Taliban:**

====**Gil Kerlikowske:**==== President Obama nominated Gil and the Senate confirmed him as the new Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy for the US. He is now the sixth drug Czar. Gil has 37 years of law enforcement expierience and worked in Seattle where he helped bring its crime rate to its lowest point in 40 years. Obama has brought Gil in to help him devise a plan to help stop the smuggling of drugs into the US from Mexico. This war on drugs has been going on for around 40 years and Obama beleives the expierience that Gil can bring to the table will help stop this once and for all. Gil is the person in charge for coordinating all the aspects of Federal drug control programs and help put the President's National Drug Control Strategy to use.

When Ronald Reagan stepped into office, he really tried to make the war on drugs the main focus for the US. He created many different regional tasks forces throughout the country so they could focus on their area and try to stop the drugs from getting into the country. Nancy Reagan also tried to help out her husband by creating the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign. This campaign focused on middle class white teens and trying to help them know the consequences of drugs and never even start using them. Ronald Reagan spent $1.7 billion on the war and also created a law which set a mandatory prison time for drug offenders.
 * The Reagans:**

To what degree were the movements successful?:
The movements are reaching a certain degree of success. The production of marijuana is down from 1000 tons a year to 300 tons a year in Mexico which is less than 1/3 of what it was before. However as less of it is produced, it is easier to hide and water and it is also possible to booby trap the fields to make it hard to destroy. This makes the marijuana planting in Mexico similar to a population growth. For example all populations have a certain carrying capacity. This is similar to marijuana fields in Mexico. When there is 1000 tons produced annually the fields are everywhere and easy to find but if there we only 10 tons produced annually, the fields would be small and in concealed location possibly well guarded. The good thing is that since production went down, the supply went down and the price went up by 30% and even 100% in some places. All in all the movements have been showing success lately but how the tide will shift is a mystery right now. Both cartels and governments are putting more effort and money in in order to help their side in this drug war.

Why is this issue still provoking thought today?:
The main reason this is still provoking thought today is because the US government still hasn't been able to find a ways to stop the smuggling into the US or a way to stop people from using the drugs. The governments plan has three main steps that sound simple but are very complex. First, they want to stop the use before it started. Second, they want to help rehabilitate the people who have already become addicted. And third, they want to disrupt the market for these illegal drugs. The US made this plan because they had already used $40 billion since the war started and trying to fight it but all they were doing was fighting. Now, they want to help it and they feel by focusing on the war in this way, then they will be able to use their money in a more successful way so that they won't have to waste as much. Before, the US was fighting against the war by itself but in 2006, the President of Mexico Felipe Calderón declared a war on drugs. With this, the US now has some help with the war and now they are able to be more succesful. Hopefully, with the help of Mexico, the US will find a way to stop this war and finally put an end to it after 40 years. The main problem now is with the Taliban. They are getting a lot of their money from selling opium, and the US is trying desperatly to stop this trade to the Taliban will lose some power.

[|US vows to help mexico in war]