by Wayne Clist

Created on: June 23, 2009   Last Updated: June 30, 2009

When looking closely at the war on drugs and government policies on the ongoing crusade against illicit substances, we must first make a distinction as to which drugs are focused on. Drug are classed as to, perceived danger of addiction and to society. Obviously drugs such as heroin and cocaine stand at the top of that list in term of dangers and quite rightly hold status as a class A drug.

Amphetamines although not perhaps seen as quite so dangerous, still hold a place high on the list as a class B substance, followed by the likes of the prescription medicines and marijuana. The main focus since the drug explosion in the sixties, has been on the class A substances and has been mostly focused on the twin pariahs of heroin and cocaine. Legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol, although the cause of more deaths than all the others combined, remain freely available as they are easily controlled and create highly valuable tax revenue.

Different administrations have faced the same difficulties in dealing with narcotics throughout and the policies have been amazingly similar throughout the decades. Overseas, the aim has been to create cross border and cross agency bodies capable of fighting fire with fire and tackling the drug problem at source. It is no coincidence that the key areas for drug production throughout the years have often been war-zones.

Heavily armed, government funded paramilitaries wage warfare on the drug lords producing narcotic crops, who are often in affiliation with terrorist or guerrilla factions. Drug money is often contributed towards the purchase of arms or acts of terrorism. The tactics until now have had a particular focus on disrupting the production and distribution of drugs, such as the locating and burning of cocaine plantations in various South American countries and the same in the poppy fields of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Unfortunately the war on drugs has perhaps failed to reap the rewards that the amount of funding thrown at the problem should warrant. The countries most at risk from draconian policies aimed at limiting the prevalence of narcotic crops are generally the poorest, where it is the lowest social classes of their society that are heavily reliant on monies gleaned from usually small amounts of drug crop production.

The policies implemented by international bodies such as the narcotics control board can have direct social and economic effects. The embargo placed upon Columbia making the exportation to western countries

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