Thousands oftons of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamines and other drugs are seizedby law enforcement each year. Even so, the flow of drugs into prime sitescontinues unstanched. And it is clear that the availability and the abuse ofillegal narcotics is a major cause of crime. In fact, in addi­tion to half amillion killed by substance abuse each year in this country, half of all U.S.crimes are re­lated in one way or another to drugs.

 

And everywhere around the world crimeand drugs maintain an intensely intimate rela­tionship. It seems that whereverillegal drugs became a commodity so does crime. First,  robbery and burglary earn the cash thatunwealthy users need to buy the drugs. But then rides the justice system to therescue. Right?

 

Not quite. First of all, the fact of 20 millionalcoholics and another 5 million drug abusers in the U.S. drives the market, formulatesfelons, creates criminals. And the main effect of conventional lawen­forcement efforts to reduce drug use is to drive prices up. So what isbeing done has not only failed but has in­deed contributed to the problem.Interdiction takes some drugs off the street, yes. But it also increased the costs of narcotics. And that leads to the commission of even more crimes.

 

But why can’t the legions of po­lice,social workers, prosecutors, judges, prison guards, probation and paroleofficers get a han­dle on the prob­lem? Because there’s more to it than bunchesof bad guys hold­ing the world hostage. The drug business is so profitable it meanscash for the tak­ing. And that leads inexorably to the corruption of in­dividualsof authority.

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Years ago I came into closeproximity to an individual involved in the drug trade and when I had the opportunity to question a member of law enforcement whythere was never an arrest, I was told the person "is protected from high up."

Now, I never knew if that was highup in the drug trade or high up in the judicial system. Frankly, I suspected it was both! At any rate, it propelled me outof the situation and headlong into my first novel, Sweet Compulsions: A Wry Tale of Music,Multiculture and Mayhem.

Positively,
Carolan