Illegal drug trade hits new high as users total 200m

[bemildred]

Yipee, more catastrophic success.

Runaway demand around the globe puts more money into the hands of traffickers despite action to curb supply

No shit! When you restrain supplies, profits go up? Who knew?

The global drug trade is booming, fuelled by the demand from more than 200 million people worldwide who used illegal narcotics last year, new reports show.

According to an as-yet-unpublished UN report, despite multi-billion-pound anti-drug measures that have restricted some supplies, the market is as insatiable as ever.

'We have shown that drugs control policies can work in terms of supply - but demand is a very different matter,' a spokesperson from the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) told The Observer .

Guardian UK

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. And just think of all that

lost tax revenue. Not to mention the savings if we finally abandon the war on drugs.

[Conservativesux]

10. What about all the jobs that will be lost to the police and prison lobby?

I mean cops and jailers need jobs too, dont they?

After all, we know that smoking a joint is the worst thing a person can do, right?

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. Look at it this way:

the cops and jailers might want to get high too. :)

[XemaSab]

2. Only users lose drugs

n/t

[Rush1184]

20. Yep...

Not taking proper care of your drugs if definatly drug abuse! j/k

[lovuian]

3. Afghan Poppies are going to bring in Lots of money!!!

Lots and Lots and Lots!!!

[illflem]

4. What's worse but never reported

is that the world's illegal arms trade is calculated to bring in more than six times the amount of money as drugs.

[starroute]

6. Hey, drugs and arms go hand in hand

This goes back to the OSS in China during World War II. It continued in Southeast Asia before and during the Vietnam War, in Latin America during Iran-Contra, and in Afghanistan when the CIA was arming the mujeheddin against the Russians.

Arms go into the local hotspot of your choice, drugs come out to pay for the arms, and everyone involved pockets a tidy profit on the side. Throw in money-laundering banks to keep the whole machine spinning along smoothly, and you've got the entire picture.

[w4rma]

11. All illegal goods go hand in hand with arms. (nt)

[gizmo1979]

5. When will they learn that their war on drugs is lost?

While I don't think all drugs should be legal,a change in tactic is clearly in order.Tossing billions of dollars down a worm hole isn't the answer.

[Conservativesux]

9. Yes it is. It keeps law-enforcement and the incarceration industry alive.

Just what we need, more people in prison for smoking pot, right?

[gizmo1979]

14. exactly

how much money would it save just to legalize pot?

[acmavm]

7. Okay, something I've never understood. How do these people who whip

out these statistics know how many people are doing what? If they know 200m people are using drugs, why aren't there 200 million people in rehab or jail?

Also I would say that that is one sad commentary on the state of life on this planet (especially here in the land of milk and honey, the free and the brave, and the rest of that sappy propaganda) if drug use is up that much. What's that say about the quality of life? I mean let's face it, there will always be drug use. But where are all these new users coming from? And is it recreational of defensive (as in an escape from their particular reality).

I would think these answers would be available too, that is if we have a head count of who all and how many are using illegal drugs.

[qwghlmian]

8. There are surveys/polls that are done

anonymously that question people about their use of recreational drugs. If the respondents are sure their anonimity will be preserved, those polls should be pretty accurate.

The "war on drugs" is silly, counterproductive, expensive and will go down in history together with The Prohibition as one of the largest and most futile waste of resources. This whole obsession with "illegal drugs" is only a little more than 100 years old, I understand. Let's hope it will pass soon.

[0rganism]

12. As with gasoline consumption and incarceration rates, we lead the way

USA #1: 5% of the world's population, using 25% of the drugs, fuel, and prison cells.

[FlyByNight]

13. Prohibition already failed once before

When will this madness end?

[mbperrin]

15. Not madness: Money! People incarcerated for drugs tend

to be younger, able-bodied types. Once in prison, they are available to work for pennies per hour! No more paying that nasty minimum wage! Workers are on time every day, and they can't quit without penalty to themselves.

It's federal:http://www.unicor.gov/about/overview/

And states too:http://www.prisonactivist.org/prison-labor/

As long as business can make a ton of money, it'll keep going! Incarceration, not stamping out drugs, is the name of the game!

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/drug.htm

IN 1970, about 300,000 adults were jailed in the US for drugs. In 2003, about a million and a half! A 400% increase!

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm#findings

" Conviction Offense

* Half of jail inmates in 2002 were held for a violent or drug offense, almost unchanged from 1996.
* Drug offenders, up 37%, represented the largest source of jail population growth between 1996 and 2002.
* More than two-thirds of the growth in inmates held in local jails for drug law violations was due to an increase in persons charged with drug trafficking.
* Thirty-seven percent of jail inmates were convicted on a new charge; 18% were convicted on prior charges following revocation of probation or parole; 16% were both convicted of a prior charge and awaiting trial on a new charge; and 28% were unconvicted."

Remember: slavery buying and selling was outlawed in the 1800's. This is better - when the slaves get older or ill, they're just turned over to the taxpayers!

As usual, there is no war on drugs, just on poor people.

[Conservativesux]

17. Not in our lifetimes. Police and Correctional Unions need to keep this ..

going or else they lose memberships.

Its all about money.

[dArKeR]

18. Global drug trade booms despite countermeasures

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/03/14/2003246242

[Psephos]

19. The W.O.D. is sheer lunacy

but the ha-ha attitude toward hard drugs is just as nuts.

Wait until you lose a couple of friends to crack. I did. One was a doctor in residency for oncology, my best friend. The other was a PhD student in theater, a star both on and off the stage. She was my fiance.

With no disrespect intended, you can take all these theories and shove them up your asses, my friends. Hard drug addiction is the most pernicious snake of them all.

Peace.