Drug Dealing: Nearing Its End?

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The drug scourge facing the Americas has spread and created disaster, but in the end, it might come to an end through legalization. It is critical to examine several key components to fully understand how drug cartels, specifically South American, work and how there is the possibility of stopping this grand diffusion that has mostly taken place in this last half century. The inner workings of the cartels are complex and essential to their success and spread. Part of the process is how drugs get shipped to different parts of the world. The way that drug lords have worked, has brought success and richness to them and the cartels they lead. There have been attempts to stop the drug scourge, but all have failed. In the end, the only way to end this problem and break down cartels is to legalize the drugs that are presently illegal.

The dominating area for drug trafficking and production has shown to be Latin America. Colombia is one of the only countries in the world that produces three drugs based on plants: marijuana, cocaine and heroin. According to the US National Drug Intelligence Center, since October 2006, Colombia is the source of approximately 70 percent of the world's coca leaves and cocaine, making it the principal world producer (Krauss). Since the early 1980s, the illegal drug trafficking business in Colombia has been mainly controlled by its two large cartels, the Medellín and Cali cartels (Krauss). Mexico has also been a dominant and leading exporter of illegal drugs. Of what the U.N. estimates, Mexican drug lords are in charge of 142 billion dollars a year business in cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, and other illegal drugs (“Americas”). According to the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcem...

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