NCJ Number
127040
Date Published
1989
Length
14 pages
Annotation
A Mexican political sociologist examines drug trafficking and United States diplomacy as destabilizing influences on Latin America and the United States and argues that although the legalization of such drugs as cocaine, heroin, and marijuana is politically unacceptable in the United States, such a policy might solve the drug-related domestic problems of both source and non-source countries.
Abstract
Drug production, drug consumption, and economic factors are strongly connected, with drugs consumed mainly in the prosperous countries of the northern hemisphere and produced mainly in the impoverished countries in the southern hemisphere. Drug trafficking and drug law enforcement now jeopardize the security of both producing and consuming countries. The lack of success in stopping demand and supply indicates the need for a new policy, and legalizing both production and consumption is the best solution. Tables