Drug Policy Question of the Week – 6-2-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 6-2-12.  http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3892

Question of the Week: How much is the global illicit market worth?

The last Drug Truth Network segment covered Transnational Organized Crime, a relatively new term that was the focus of a 2011 report by Global Financial Integrity. It concluded,

“Whether it is drugs, human kidneys, human beings, illegally harvested timber, weapons, or rhinoceros horns, as long as someone is willing to buy it, someone will be willing to sell it.”

Understanding profit as a driving force, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime computed a “macro” estimate of global illicit trade in 2009, finding

“The overall best estimates of [its] criminal proceeds are close to US$2.1 trillion in 2009 … About half of these proceeds were linked to trafficking in drugs.”

The “micro” components of these criminal proceeds can be found in a new Drug War Facts table based on Global Financial Integrity’s estimates. This table also includes dollar values from the UNODC for cannabis, cocaine, opiates and amphetamine stimulants.

This table shows that the $321 billion illicit drug trade clearly dominated the illicit international trade, representing almost half of its total estimated $646 billion value in 2005. The only other market to come close was “Counterfeiting” at $250 billion. In contrast, the “Small arms and Light Weapons” market had a “mere” value of only $650 million or 0.1% of the total.

At $141 billion, cannabis and cannabis resin combined were estimated to have a global retail value equal to twice the sum of these ten “smaller” illicit markets combined.

Hence, removing just cannabis and cannabis resin from the illicit market place could reduce the proceeds available to transnational organized crime by almost one quarter.

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 5-21-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 5-21-12. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3876

Question of the Week: What is transnational organized crime?

According the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,

“‘organized crime'” is any serious offence committed by a group of three or more people with the aim of making money.”

Transnational extends organized crime across the globe.

The Office of the President of the United States defined transnational organized crime as,

“self-perpetuating associations of individuals who operate transnationally for the purpose of obtaining power, influence, monetary and/or commercial gains, wholly or in part by illegal means, while protecting their activities through a pattern of corruption and/or violence, or while protecting their illegal activities through a transnational organizational structure.”

There is some inconsistency concerning which markets comprise this illicit trade.

Citing the U.S. government’s International Crime Threat Assessment, which was completed in 2000 under the direction of National Security Council, the Congressional Research Service listed:

“the largest international crime threats, in terms of their potential impact, [to] include smuggling of nuclear materials and technology; drug trafficking; trafficking in persons; intellectual property crimes; and money laundering.”

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) counted these threats in its 2010 “Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment”:

trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, cocaine, heroin, firearms, environmental resources, counterfeit products, maritime piracy and cybercrimes.

Global Financial Integrity reviewed

“the scale, flow, profit distribution, and impact of 12 different types of illicit trade: drugs, humans, wildlife, counterfeit goods and currency, human organs, small arms, diamonds and colored gemstones, oil, timber, fish, art and cultural property, and gold.”

Included in this review were the illegal drug markets for cannabis, cocaine, opiates and amphetamine stimulants.

Taken together, “drugs” represent about one half of the illicit market value controlled by transnational organized crime.

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 5-17-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 5-17-12. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3871

Question of the Week: Which drugs impair driving?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other sources, many do. Let’s take a look:

Alcohol “reduces the ability to see distant objects … Blurred and double vision can also occur. Alcohol may also create a sense of overconfidence, with the result that people are prepared to take greater risks.”

Amphetamines “have been associated … with driving impairment both in the stimulation and withdrawal stages; in the latter case especially as the drug interacts with fatigue.”

Antidepressants “can cause impairment, especially in circumstances where extremely high blood concentrations are measured … There is also an additional risk of impairment associated with combined use with alcohol.”

Antihistamines, “such as diphenhydramine, cause sedation, [which is] distinguished as … drowsiness.”

Barbiturates “are associated with delayed reaction times and possibly loss of concentration.”

Benzodiazepines (such as Valium® or Xanax®) “… desired/therapeutic effect … is sedation, which would obviously have a detrimental effect on driving.”

Methadone, “a narcotic analgesic, … may have differential performance effects in naive or recreational users versus tolerant therapeutic users …”

Opiates are “narcotic analgesics … [that] after an initial rush, … act as CNS depressants and certainly could have performance-decreasing effects.”

Sleep aids, such as Ambien®, “cause drowsiness and may cause dizziness. If consumed with alcohol, there is an increased likelihood of these symptoms. Sleep aids alone or in combination with alcohol could have a detrimental effect on driving ability.”

Cannabinoids “experimental and epidemiologic evidence [of their] … effects on driving are mixed. When marijuana is found in drivers, … it is often in conjunction with alcohol, where an impairing effect is more likely.”

Quite a long list for a simple question.

[Editor’s Note: Unless linked to other sources, the “Impairment by Drug” descriptions above come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This list can be found under “Impairment” in the Drug Testing Chapter of Drug War Facts.]

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 4-26-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 4-26-12. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3842

Question of the Week: How much does the U.S. spend on drug control?

A guestimate of this number can be gleaned from the annual budgets for the National Drug Control Strategy.

A 2011 Congressional Research Service report states that

“The director of [Office of National Drug Control Policy] ONDCP has primary responsibilities of developing a comprehensive National Drug Control Strategy to direct the nation’s anti-drug efforts; [and] developing a National Drug Control Budget to implement the Strategy,”

The report says that this budget

“can be thought of as funding two broad categories of demand-reduction and supply reduction activities.”

The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics defines “demand reduction” as

“programs and research related to drug abuse treatment, education, rehabilitation, and prevention that are designed to reduce the demand for drugs.”

It calls “supply reduction,” a

“wide scope of law enforcement-related activities designed to reduce the supply of drugs in the United States and abroad.”

A new Drug War Facts table and graph adapted from the Sourcebook shows federal drug control budgets from 2004 to 2012.

The ONDCP recently wrote,

“The President’s Fiscal Year 2012 National Drug Control Budget requests $26.2 billion … This represents an increase of $322.6 million (1.2 percent) over the FY 2010 enacted level of $25.9 billion.”

What isn’t mentioned is that since 2004, the 2012 Budget has grown by over one third. From 2004 to 2012, the Demand Reduction budget expanded by about one quarter, while supply reduction swelled by almost half.

Added together, drug control budget spending 2004 to 2012 equaled almost one-quarter of a trillion dollars.

As of today April 20, the outstanding public debt stands at $15.7 trillion.

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 4-21-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 4-21-12. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3837

Question of the Week: How much does the U.S. Corrections system cost taxpayers?

With April 15^th upon us, this is a reasonable question, considering that there are over 7 million Americans currently under the control of the U.S. Corrections system. Their “price tag” includes:

• Total 2008 spending in the U.S. on corrections: $75 billion
• Spending in 2010 on state corrections: $51 billion
• 2009 spending on the 767,000 inmates in local jails: $20 billion
• The 2011 budget for the federal Bureau of Prisons: $6.8 billion
• 2009 spending on the 242,000 inmates in state prison with a drug conviction as their most serious offense: $6.3 billion
• 2009 spending on the 4.2 million individuals on probation: $5.5 billion
• Spending in 2009 on 171,000 inmates in federal prison: $4.3 billion
• 2009 spending on the 95,000 federal inmates for whom a drug conviction is their most serious offense: $2.4 billion

Unfortunately, these staggering billion dollar “price tags” take a snapshot of only one year. Over the decades, their financial burden on taxpayers has increased exponentially.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research, points to a solution:

“… a 50 percent reduction in non-violent-offender inmates would save the federal government about $2.1 billion per year, state governments about $7.6 billion per year, and local governments about $7.2 billion per year … these savings total $16.9 billion or about 22.8 percent of the total national spending on corrections.”

Non-violent offenders basically mean drug offenders.

Ending drug war would clearly reduce the cost of corrections and ultimately the “price tag” borne by taxpayers.

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 4-5-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 4-5-12. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3817

Question of the Week: What is Ibogaine?

According to a 2008 article in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology,

“The incidence of opioid-related deaths in the US doubled between 1999 and 2004, with methadone and oxycodone accounting for most of this increase.”

Expanding in parallel with this explosive growth is a subculture that by 2006 had

“increased fourfold relative to the prior estimate of 5 years earlier, an average yearly rate of growth of approximately 30%.”

This subculture advocates for opiate treatment with Ibogaine, defined by a Journal of Neuroscience article from 2005 as,

“a natural alkaloid extracted from the root bark of the African shrub Tabernanthe Iboga,[that] has attracted attention because of its reported ability to reverse human addiction to multiple drugs of abuse, including alcohol. Human anecdotal reports assert that a single administration of ibogaine reduces craving for opiates and cocaine for extended periods of time and reduces opiate withdrawal symptoms.”

A 2011 Journal of Legal Medicine review suggested that it is with higher doses that the user experiences the drug’s most intense effects, which are

“characterized as the “panoramic recall of a large amount of material relating to prior life events from long-term memory, primarily in the visual modality,” or the “waking dream” state. If the user is an addict, he or she will usually be taken back to the place and time where the underlying issue leading to the addiction arose, allowing the addict to gain critical insight into the reasons why he or she abuses.”

The irony is that, classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, ibogaine is listed in the same highly restricted category as the very drugs it counteracts.

Drug Policy Question of the Week – 3-12-12

As answered by Mary Jane Borden, Editor of Drug War Facts for the Drug Truth Network on 3-12-12. http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/3787

Question of the Week: What is the size of the global illegal drug market?

A 1994 report from the United Nations called

“the traffic in illicit drugs one of the world’s most substantial money earners. The retail value of drugs, at around 500 billion US dollars a year, now exceeds the value of the international trade in oil and is second only to that of the arms trade.”

The United Nation’s 1997 World Drug Report reduced that estimate stating,

“[A] growing body of evidence suggests that the true figure lies somewhere around the $US 400 billion level … larger than the international trade in iron and steel, and motor vehicles.”

A 1998 report from the Transnational Institute with the tongue-in-cheek title, “Let’s All Guess the Size of the Illegal Drugs Industry!” placed the size of the world illegal drug market at between “$45 and $280 billion.”

Reducing these estimates even further, a 2001 article in World Economics declared,

“In true trade terms, a more reasonable estimate of the total for illicit drugs—cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and synthetic drugs—is only about $20 to $25 billion annually.”

The 2005 World Drug Report didn’t back down,

“[T]he value of the global illicit drug market for the year 2003 was estimated at $13 billion at the production level, at $94 billion at the wholesale level (taking seizures into account), and at 322 billion based on retail prices and taking seizures and other losses into account.”

Not surprisingly, that 2001 World Economics article concluded,

“The underlying data that give rise to estimates of global drug markets are riddled with discrepancies and inconsistencies.”

These Facts, numbers and others like them can be found in the Economics Chapter of Drug War Facts at www.drugwarfacts.org.