*Special Features & Resources*
Terrorism and the Drug Trade that Supports it - an Editorial  by Rich Sayer

The use of any illicit drug, even in casual or small amounts, and even the use of those drugs not considered to be "hard drugs", is not just a personal matter, as is often argued by users.  It is a serious mistake to consider that such personal drug use (or abuse), even in the privacy of one's own home, is protected under the "freedom of speech" clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  In addition to creating an increased potential of risk to an individual's physical and mental health, the use of illicit drugs has been proven time and again to have serious consequences that often violate the rights of others to be "secure in their persons" as guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.  Consider the following:
  -People around the users are often put at risk by the behavior of users under the influence.
  -The drain on a user's personal budget can often lead to criminal activities in support of their drug use.
  -Finally, the money used to purchase illicit drugs has to go somewhere, so please read on.

With heroin's street value currently at well over 12 times its weight in gold, it is by far the most profitable commodity on today's international markets.  The drug trade produces so much cash that traffickers are finding it increasingly difficult to smuggle it out of the country in order to pay their suppliers.  So great is the drain on our country's economy that the U.S. Customs Service is able to seize amounts in excess of $1.2 million each day.  Profits alone from sales in the U.S. are estimated to measure in the billions of dollars annually.  Between 1997 to 2000, U.S. Customs conducted more than 12,000 financial investigations worldwide — both drug and non drug-related, leading to the seizure by world governments of almost $1.1 trillion in assets.  (Have you ever though about why illicit drug dealers don't take checks or credit cards?)

Farmers around the world grow crops that provide the raw materials for illicit drugs simply because they can hardly afford not to.  Where government sanctions against growing are not effective, the value of these crops to farmers is far greater than the value of food crops such as rice, soybeans, corn, and wheat.  In essence, these farmers are being subsidized by the drug users in this country and around the world, and this subsidy by the black market drug trade is so powerful that even governments find it extremely difficult to compete.

With their purchases of

  -cocaine (produced in Colombia, Peru & Bolivia),
  -opiates (produced in Afghanistan & Myanmar),
  -hashish & marijuana,
  -club drugs
      (MDMA [a.k.a. "ecstasy" "Adam" "XTC" "hug" "beans" and "love drug"] from NW Europe,
      GHB [ a.k.a. "Liquid Ecstasy" "Soap" "Easy Lay" and "Georgia Home Boy"],
      Ketamine [a.k.a. "Special K" "vitamin K"],
      Rohypnol [a.k.a. "rophies" "roofies" "roach" and "rope"] from Europe and Latin America,
      PMA, and
      hallucinogens), and
  -methamphetamine 
      [a.k.a. "speed" "meth" "chalk" "ice" "crystal" "crank" and "glass"]
      produced in the U.S., Mexico & N. Korea, from raw material sources in China and India),

users who live in our very own neighborhoods don't just pay the dealers for a high, they support a wide range of organized crime syndicates and cartels that specialize in the international drug trade.  In addition, it has become increasingly apparent that the drug trade fosters the development of all sorts of criminal organizations, including international terrorist groups, that often use extreme violence to promote their causes - backed by at least partial subsidies from drug users paying for their habits and addictions!  Therefore, since each purchase of an illicit drug may financially give aid to our terrorist enemies, might it also be considered potentially to be an act of treason?  Furthermore, as the President says regarding anyone who has the slightest relationship with our terrorist enemies, "if they fund a terrorist, they're a terrorist", and they'll be dealt with accordingly.

If you know a user or someone who knows a user, please ask them to consider the greater consequences of their actions before they score their next hit.  - Webmaster

Click here to learn how easy it is to submit this article as a "Letter to the Editor" of your own local newspaper.  Let's not keep this a secret!

For further reading:

# NarcoTerror.org -- A Project of Common Sense for Drug Policy #
# DEA's Asa Hutchinson testifies before Congress on the links between drugs and terrorism:
    (Apr. 24, 2002) (Mar. 13, 2002) (Feb. 1, 2002) (Oct. 3, 2001)
    - from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) #
# More U.S. Government Links, Information, and Congressional Testimony # U.S. Customs #
# Yahoo! News - Drug Trade and Terrorism #
# Yahoo! - Latest Full Coverage on Substance Use and Abuse #
# Global Drug Trade - a BBC Special Report #
# United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention #
# International Narcotics Control Board # Int'l Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering #
# ClubDrugs.org # European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) #
# National Addiction Technology Transfer Center # Addiction & Treatment Resources #