Discuss source control as a drug control strategy

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• One approach to drug control is to deter the sale of drugs through apprehension of large-volume drug dealers, coupled with enforcement of drug laws that carry heavy penalties. This approach is designed to punish known dealers and users and to deter those who are considering entering the drug trade.
• A major effort has been made to cut off supplies of drugs by destroying overseas crops and arresting members of drug cartels; this approach is known as source control.
• The federal government has been encouraging exporting nations to step up efforts to destroy drug crops and to prosecute dealers. Other less aggressive source control approaches, such as crop substitution and alternative development programs for the largely poor farmers in other countries, have also been tried, and a review of international efforts suggests that "some success can be achieved in reduction of narcotic crop production.".
• Three South American nations—Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia—have agreed to coordinate control efforts with the United States.
• Even when efforts are successful in one area, they may result in a shift in production to another area or in the targeted crop being replaced by another.
• For example, enforcement efforts in Peru and Bolivia were so successful that they altered cocaine cultivation patterns. As a consequence, Colombia became the premier coca-cultivating country when the local drug cartels encouraged growers to cultivate coca plants.
• When the Colombian government mounted an effective eradication campaign in the traditional growing areas, the cartel linked up with rebel groups in remote parts of the country for their drug supply.
• Student views will vary.