NCJ Number
157111
Date Published
1996
Length
491 pages
Annotation
Drug law enforcement in the United States requires that policy makers, law enforcement personnel, professionals involved in drug prevention, and the public be honest about the realities of drug abuse and the illicit drug industry.
Abstract
The first section of this book focuses on the history of drug use and the development of drug control policy, drug pharmacology, theories of drug abuse, the role of source countries in drug trafficking, and the relationship between drug use and criminal behavior. The second section describes the predominant types of drug traffickers: organized crime, including the Mafia and other criminal groups; domestic drug trafficking organizations, including outlaw motorcycle gangs, youth gangs, Jamaican posses, prison gangs, and ancillary trafficking organizations; and foreign drug trafficking groups, including the Colombian cartels, the North Atlantic Coast cartel, Mexican drug traffickers, narcoterrorists, Cuban drug traffickers, and Asian organized crime. In the final section, which examines various approaches toward drug prevention and law enforcement, issues covered include the role of Federal drug law enforcement agencies, drug laws, and local drug enforcement initiatives, as well as drug courier profiles, drug testing of employees and athletes, covert police operations, needle exchange programs, and drug legalization.