Report Writing week 11. HOMEWORK FOR “JOHN CANTHAR” ONLY!

This draft should be 8-10 pages long.

   

Finalize your research paper: Revise and carefully proofread your research paper, adding more supporting details where needed.

 

Check accuracy and completeness of documentation.Parenthetical citationsReferences 

The Subject is “Drugg trafficking” and the example of the previous work is attached below for you to see and to guide yourself!

 

Please remember to use the APA Format for all the quotations you will use from other sources!

Carlos Galvez ENC 3211 Report Writing Week 9

[Year]

Drug trafficking

Drug trafficking in the United States has been an ongoing problem for years. It has grown so large that it is more than just a problem.   As the demand for drug users in the United States grows larger, so does the demand for drug trafficking.   The supply of drugs has to keep up with the demand.   There has been little change in the way the government has fought drug trafficking throughout the last 20 years.   In studying what has been done to control drug trafficking in the past, it may provide some insight into what changes may be made to improve the efforts in the future.

      Why is the research on reducing drug trafficking important?  

In the United States there are crimes being committed everyday and they usually lead back to drugs.   Whether the person committing the crime is on drugs or needs money for drugs, it usually has something to do with drugs. Our children are being hospitalized or dying every day from drug usage and overdoses. They are being hurt or killed by other people who are on drugs. Influences every day from peers to use drugs is what parents have to worry about. Are our children educated enough to just say no? Drugs are too accessible and they need to be stopped, slowed down or regulated.   This would reduce the illegal flow of drugs through the United States borders. Focusing on the U.S. Mexico border, the estimates in 2006 show that 92% of cocaine coming to the United States comes in through the southwest border. (Bury 2006).

How effective are the efforts that the United States Government has implemented for drug trafficking been along the southwest border?  

For many years now the United States has guarded the southwest border with border security.   Border security has checkpoints, scanners, drug dogs, helicopters and the National Guard   to help maintain our borders.   Many different agencies have control over the ports of entry.   U.S. Customs is the primary agency responsible for ensuring that everything that comes through the ports of entry complies with federal law.   U.S. Customs is also in control of the flow of drugs into the United States. (Policy 1999)   U.S. Customs, U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard provide a joint effort in drug trafficking in the United States.   The United States Government has been increasing the security of these regulated checkpoints over the years to help control the increase of drug trafficking each year.   Since there has been little change in the way the government fights drug trafficking, the statistics on drug reduction efforts are not consistently progressing.  

According to the National drug Control Policy (2006), joint efforts with Mexico started in 1995.   With the assistance of Mexico, 80% of the plants that are grown naturally are sprayed and killed by the Mexican Government either by planes or manually before they can be harvested and sold as illegal drugs. (Romero, 2011).   This is also being done in the United States by the United States government. This is one of the combined efforts by the United States government and Mexico in the “War against Drugs”.   Mexico’s eradication efforts slowly increased from 1995 through 1998 (Romero, 2011).   In 1999 their efforts jumped significantly. (National Drug Control Strategy, 2006)   Their numbers were reduced again in 2004, which shows that the effectiveness of their efforts was reduced.
      Because of the increased security over the years, drug dealers are always finding new ways to smuggle their drugs across the border since there is such a high profit involved.   Money in which the government spends on reducing the drugs along the southwest border has had an unsteady effect over the years (Romero, 2011).   Statements have been made that the government would be better off spending more money to fight the demand for drugs in the United States and improving the treatment available for the users.   Although this has been applied moderately over the years, more emphasis could be applied.   Since Americans have such a high demand for drugs and are willing to pay high dollars, it makes the United States a good target for International traffickers.   In order to reduce drug trafficking, the United States must reduce its consumption and desire for drugs.   This is what will help reduce drug trafficking, not only along the southwest border, but throughout the entire United States.
      In 2005, the United States started building a fence along the 700 miles of the 2000 mile southwest border.   The fence was built to help reduce illegal immigration and to help reduce drug trafficking.   As of December 2008, six hundred and one miles of the project had been completed. (Aguilera, 2011)   From 2005 through 2010, the apprehension rate of illegal activity coming through the southwest border dropped by 62%.   It is unclear if this was completely due to the border fence or due to a decreasing number of jobs in the United States. (Aguilera, 2011)   In 2010, the Homeland Security Secretary ordered a review on the fence project.   Then, in February 2011, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that she has cancelled the virtual fence project along the southwest border. (Aguilera, 2011)   After spending $672 million dollars, one would think it would not just be thrown to the trash.
      The fence along the southwest border started out to be a popular idea; however, as the years went by and the cost kept rising, the effectiveness of the fence began to be questioned.   After a review on the project as a whole it was decided to cancel the remaining portion of the incomplete fence and completely scratch the virtual reality monitoring.   This project was not given sufficient time to prove its efficiency to repel against the security efforts the government is taking to reduce the flow of drugs through the border; the Drug Cartel has turned violent (Romero, 2011).   They have not only turned violent against the government, but against rival Cartels and innocent bystanders (Rhee, 2009).   Drugs worth $10 million a day is what motivates the drug cartel to find new ways to avoid incarceration.   The cartel’s have better weapons and more money than the Mexican army (Romero, 2011).   It seems that anyone who tries to take down the Cartel is gunned down.   Even a reporter who was chasing a story on the Cartel was murdered.   This has had an increasingly large effect on tourists going to Mexico (Bury, 2006).
      In 2009, The United States Congress allowed funding of $700 million to support Mexico under the Merida Initiative efforts (Romero, 2011).   This was one of the United States most recent efforts to help the drug trafficking on the southwest border.   “These funds will help to improve the law enforcement, crime prevention and strengthen institution building and rule of law.” (Rhee, 2009)   That money will provide increased Mexico border security, training of law, judicial reform efforts, new information technology, new equipment, including 5 new helicopters and help to develop Mexico’s new legal system. (Rhee, 2009)   This was an effort to secure the southwest border by putting some control on the opposite side, which should have effects on both sides of the border.   This shows that new efforts are still being taken in some different directions; unfortunately it will be a couple of years before we find out the results of these efforts.
      June 5, 2009, President Obama’s strategy to reduce the flow of illegal drugs across the southwest border was released.   This strategy was called “The National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy.”   This strategy was to help communications with state and local law enforcement agencies and to communicate with Mexico in their dealings with the cartels.   This strategy includes enhancing intelligence, sanction drugs and everything related, ensure prosecution, break up drug trafficking organizations, enhance counterdrug technologies and enhance U.S.-Mexico cooperatives. (Homeland Security, 2009)
      What other efforts could the government have taken to help reduce drug trafficking over the 2000 miles of U.S. and Mexico border?  

Since the Southwest U.S. and Mexico border is fairly large, approximately 2,000 miles, and a vast variety of open space, mountains and the Rio Grande River, there are many different ways in which drug traffickers smuggle drugs through the border (Romero, 2011).   Using the land, sea and air, the drug traffickers use hidden compartments in vehicles, tunnels, backpackers on foot, lightweight aircraft and gliders, ATV’s, package delivery, motorized launches and rafts.   This being said, the government does have their work cut out for them when it comes to securing the southwest border (Bury, 2006).
      There has been much controversy over the legalization of one drug in specific, Marijuana.   The United States Government estimates that the primary source revenue for Mexican traffickers is Marijuana.   Marijuana accounts for 61% of the illegal drug sales from Mexico to the United States. (Bury 2006).  Some people support the idea that legalizing Marijuana would not only reduce the amount of drug trafficking, but it would bring the income to the United States by letting the government regulate the sales such as they do with tobacco.   One argument to this is that if they legalize one drug they would have to legalize them all?   Then the counter argument becomes, no, they only need to legalize anything that could be naturally grown.   The other drugs are altered in one form or another; therefore, could still remain illegal (Bury, 2006).   Marijuana has been legalized for medical purposes in various states throughout the United States; however, under federal law it is still considered illegal.

In conclusion, there is a lot that needs to be done to better the control of drug trafficking along the southwest border.   The issues are clear; however, the solution is not.   Increasing border security, which has been done on a regular basis, may help with control, but is not a solution (Aguilera, 2011).   Joint efforts with Mexico over the last 15 years has definitely helped to put a damper on drug trafficking; however, when the efforts of the United States puts a stop to drugs in one area, the drug traffickers come up with new ways to get their drugs across the border (Aguilera, 2011).   New efforts are still being made to help increase the security along the southwest border; however, their efforts still need to be taken in different directions (Bury, 2006).   Many suggestions have been made such as focusing on drug users and treatment and the legalization of Marijuana.   These suggestions need to be further researched in order to determine effect it would have on the reduction of drug trafficking in the United States.

References

Aguilera, E. (2011). Surgical Strikes in the Drug Wars,” Foreign Affairs

Bury, C. (2006). : Desperados: Latin drug lords, US lawmen, and the war America can’t

win, Viking.
Rhee, F. (2009). Drug Violence and State Responses in Mexico,” Manuscript: University

Of San Diego

Romero, K. (2011). Living in Fear: Mapping the Social Embeddedness of Drug Gangs and
Violence in Mexico, “Unpublished Manuscript