Having any sort of drug prohibitions will have a negative effect on the world’s economy because of all the violence and criminal activity from drug cartels, and the unknowing of the safety of the drugs leading to more people overdosing and being poisoned. Many examples in the present and past have shown that drug prohibitions always end badly. One example of how drug prohibition is ineffective is the war currently going on in Mexico on drugs. In the past drug prohibition has also not worked and is shown in countless ways.
Since the first prohibition in 1933, until the present, Mexico has been a key factor at smuggling drugs and alcohol into the United States. Mexico is in a position which allows them to interact with both the United States and South America. Because of this, Mexico is the middle man of the trade route for drugs and alcohol and is their cartels significantly benefit from the exportation and importation of drugs from South America to countless of other countries. Mexico always had a role in the cartels. Mexican drug cartels have grown especially since 2006, mainly for the production of cocaine, since there has been a significant decrease of cartels in South American countries like Colombia, due to drug wars. In 2007 Mexico was in control of about 90% of all the cocaine that entered the United States due to the decrease in production in other countries (Mexican Drug War).
Mexico is currently in the Mexican Drug war due to the fact that Mexico has such a strong influence in the world of drug cartels. The United States way of limiting the exportation of drugs into the United States is having a drug war, so other countries that, similar to Mexico, have a large drug production have most likely had a drug war because of the United States. The United States also interfered in the war the current war between the Mexican government and the drug trafficking syndicates. Drug trafficking syndicates are when a country with little to no drug laws try to create them in order to stop exporting to the United States and to have the ability to make a significant profit off of the drugs. The Mexican side of the war is trying to do their best to alleviate drug-related violence in Mexico and break down the largest cartels. The Mexicans can not completely prevent drug trafficking because that is up to the United States government. (Mexican Drug War) (Mexico’s Drug War).
“Federal law enforcement has been reorganized at least five times since 1982 in various attempts to control corruption and reduce cartel violence” (Mexican Drug War). Felipe Calderon ran the Mexican government, from 2006 to 2012, during the beginning of the war. During this time 27,000 people were missing, “the official death toll of the Mexican Drug War was at least 60,000. Estimates set the death toll above 120,000 killed by 2013” (Mexican Drug War). The war is still going on today which means the number of people dead and missing increases daily. “When there are no drug prohibition laws, there is not rise but not a decrease in profits from drugs, but there is a decrease in violence” (Miron, Jeffery A, and Jeffrey Zwiebel, p. 178-179).
Considerable amounts of money can be put into funding a war. “Thus far, the U.S. government has appropriated about $3 billion in Merida aid, including hundreds of millions of dollars to train Mexico’s counter-narcotics forces and equip it with helicopters and inspection hardware.” (Mexico’s Drug War). Furthermore, all the money being made by selling illegal drugs are not being taxed, and are given straight to the cartels, which means the Mexican government is losing a notable amount of money. “Wholesale earnings from illicit drug sales range from $13.6 to $49.4 billion annually” (Mexican Drug War). Mexico’s population has already decreased and the war will just continue to make Mexico lose lives and money.
Why we should or should not ban certain drugs in different countries is an ongoing question. It is hard for these different countries to find a solution without hurting their economy. Having a drug prohibition has a negative effect on the world’s economy because having a drug prohibition goes along with crime and violence. The criminal activity and death rates go up because just because there is a drug prohibition does not mean people will not stop getting drugs other, more dangerous ways. Drug cartels would also make untaxed money from selling illegal drugs, and profiting from it. So the drug cartels leave with more money, and the government leaves with a weak economy and less money.
If the money from the drugs was taxed, the money could go to the government and help make the government stronger, and stabler. With illegal drugs comes the uncertainty of the safety of the drug which could have the short and long term effects of poisoning, overdose, and death. Illegal drugs are not FDA approved which means anything can be added to them to alternate it. If the drugs were FDA approved, we could be sure that what was going into the drugs were safe, and in the long run, have less poisoning and overdose cases. “The tax revenue collected from alcohol pales in comparison to the costs associated with it. Federal excise taxes collected on alcohol in 2007, totaled around $9 billion; states collected around $5.5 billion”(Arguments for and against Drug Prohibition).