2009 UN World Drug Report ... in pictures

[MA-Caver]

Among the many things going on in the world... this problem still hasn't gone away... and doesn't seem to be diminishing anytime soon. (Bold and red are mine... CAUTION several graphic images hidden behind clickable screens.

The 2009 United Nations World Drug report, released earlier this year, notes that 2009 marks "the end of the first century of drug control (it all started in Shanghai in 1909)", and that the illicit drug market worldwide has now become a $320 billion-per-year industry. As drug-related violence in Mexico appears to continue unabated, and crackdowns in Afghanistan are being made against its massive opium crops, new efforts are also being made worldwide in methods of enforcement and treatment of recovering addicts. Collected here are a handful of recent images from the rough world of illegal drugs across the globe. (37 photos total) http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/10/2009_un_world_drug_report.html

12
A mannequin dressed as a stereotypical drug smuggler is displayed at the drug museum inside the Secretary of Defense headquarters in Mexico City, Thursday Aug. 6, 2009. The museum is used by the Mexican army to teach soldiers the ways drug smugglers operate and live. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) #

The story is told well in the photos... what is particularly saddening (for me) is seeing the hopelessly addicted grandfather trying to get his toddler grandson to smoke the opium pipe he holds, also the woman lying on the floor with the infant sitting nearby, undoubtedly inhaling second-hand Opium laced smoke.
If there was a good reason to fight in Afghanistan other than terrorist... this is it. Drug trade fuels the terrorism anyway (in part) but also (according to the article) helps tiny communities survive through harsh economic climates.

Discuss...

 

[CoryKS]

If there was a good reason to fight in Afghanistan other than terrorist... this is it. Drug trade fuels the terrorism anyway (in part) but also (according to the article) helps tiny communities survive through harsh economic climates.

Discuss...

It is sad... but I'm not certain what you are saying here. First, it sounds like you are okay with using military force abroad in order to fight the drug trade, but by that rationale we would be justified in invading Mexico. Second, you say that the drug trade helps tiny communities survive, so does it follow that we will destroy tiny communities if we fight the drug trade?

 

[celtic_crippler]

The "War on Drugs" is a pathetic failure. It's obvious that trying to stamp out drugs in general is not accomplishing anything, especially now since more and more youth are finding it easier to raid their parents medicine cabinets than hooking up with a pusher on a street corner...besides, it's cheeper.

These images are horrific and sad, no denying that. Drugs destroy many lives, no denying that either. I think what comes into question is how we deal with the problem.

I say that because since time immemorial "man" has used drugs. Whether for recreation or otherwise... I don't see that behavior changing any time soon... it hasn't in thousands of years so why would it?

As a matter of fact, our current approach only seems to worsen the situation... yet nobody wants to admit it even though you've got bodies with heads missing and vice-versa. The "criminalization" of particular drugs has only created a black-market for them and thereby created criminal organizations to fuel it.

You can readily see how those who pander to the politicians (like large pharma corps) escape being lumped in with the others, but the damage caused by the "legal" drugs are no less relevant. In fact, one can easily get aid if becoming addicted to pain killers without fear of legal repercussion and with the assistance of trained medical professionals. That's something a heroin junkie doesn't have.

We know it's a problem. I think we need to evaluate how we've been approaching it and change what hasn't worked. We need to come up with and try new ideas to ease the suffering of addicts while reducing and/or eliminating what's created such a large and profitable black market for it.

What's insanity? Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. The "war" hasn't worked, nor will it ever. You can't dictate or control human behavior to that extent...if it were possible we wouldn't have prisons.

Drugs exist...many grow wild on their own with no need for extensive processing... Even if they weren't, people will find a way to get "high." People are going to do drugs; period. Now, how can we humanely offer assitance to those who want help and at the same time destroy the black market responsible for so many more deaths?

 

[Rich Parsons]

Picture 30 satates the police are knocking down Illegally Grown Poppies.

Do they allow them to grow it legally?

 

[MA-Caver]

It is sad... but I'm not certain what you are saying here. First, it sounds like you are okay with using military force abroad in order to fight the drug trade, but by that rationale we would be justified in invading Mexico. Second, you say that the drug trade helps tiny communities survive, so does it follow that we will destroy tiny communities if we fight the drug trade?

This picture and the caption below it helps illustrate my point... I hope :asian:

30
Police officers from the district of Ar Gul, swing away with long sticks to eradicate a patch of illegally grown opium poppies in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan on July 16, 2009. Two years ago, opium - the raw ingredient used to make heroin - was grown on nearly half a million acres in Afghanistan, the largest illegal narcotics crop ever produced by a modern nation. A government crackdown on poppy cultivation has spelled economic disaster for many communities throughout the country. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) #

That these tiny communities growing the plant(s) get their money/living doing so... destroying these crops means they have nothing to sell and no money to buy food, etc. No I do not support these communities and their illegal crop(s) but the fact that the (present) government should find ways to help these communities find another LEGAL cash crop so that they will have an alternate incentive to make a living.

Crackdown on the black market and cartels that sell these illicit drugs is needed. Yet the bribe money is far too tempting to turn down.
No we cannot stop people from finding ways to get high because they will one way or another and as long as there's a buck to be made from it there will be a way.