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Annotated Bibliography Group 1

Question #1: What is the drug war and how does the government define it?

Paley, D. (2014). Drug war capitalism. Oakland, CA. : AK Press, 2014. (pg. 31-42)

In this book, we learn about the causes pf the drug war and the system that it revolves around, which, according to the author, is capitalism. More specifically, we will be using the second chapter in this book, titled: “Defining the Drug War.” In this chapter the reader learns about the interests that may be benefiting the United States Government, and how it all really revolves around the government. For example, a big business the government has is the prison system, which is not very rehabilitative. This book will help us define the drug war in the United States and its causes.

Golub, A., Bennett, A. S., & Elliott, L. (2015). Beyond America’s War on Drugs: Developing Public Policy to Navigate the Prevailing Pharmacological Revolution. AIMS Public Health, 2(1), 142-160. doi:10.3934/publichealth.2015.1.142

In this article, the reader learns about the current policies shaping the war on drugs and how the legality and illegality pf drugs creates a bigger problem. The author provides a historical outline of the history of drug misuse and how it became to be the massive problem it is. He then proceeds to suggest multiple different solutions which he believes can help the United States solve the issue. This article is relevant to our research because the policy and legal aspects of this issue are highly relevant and are both a cause and solution to the problem.

Question #2: What exactly is the process of drug trafficking (from production to consumption)?

US Dept of Justice, National Drug Intelligence Ctr. (2009). South Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area: Drug Market Analysis 2009 (Report No. 2009-R0813-031). United States of America: US Dept of Justice, National Drug Intelligence Ctr. Retrieved from National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Abstracts Database Retrieved from https://0-search-proquest-com.lib.utep.edu/docview/9808934?accountid=7121

The process of drug trafficking differs from Mexico and the United States. Drug trafficking in Mexico is a more complex process because it involves, production, transportation, and laundering. While in the United States drug trafficking process involves more transportation than any other procedure. Drug trafficking in Mexico involves rigorous processes from acquiring land to mass produce drugs, transporting the product through air, land, and sea only through routes protected by their cartel. Once the drugs have reached their destination, now the money must be smuggled back into Mexico and be prepared and organized for laundering. While in the U.S. the drug trafficking depends more on stash houses, who hold drug shipments for a certain amount of time then ship and transport the product to their respective areas to be sold throughout the states and stash the money acquired from the sales to pay the cartels for their contribution.

Office of National Drug Control Policy. (2008). National Drug Control Strategy: Data Supplement 2008. United States of America: Office of National Drug Control Policy. Retrieved from https://0-search-proquest- com.lib.utep.edu/docview/9803249?accountid=7121

There is no specific race, ethnicity, age group, or socioeconomic status that is a target for the purchase of drugs however there are certain trends between these descriptions. Those who are unemployed tend to do drugs more than those who have a part-time or full-time job. Those with limited resources also tend to purchase drugs more often than those with more resources due to the pressure or stress that they receive. Males are also most likely to use drugs than females, when it comes to marijuana black people are more likely to use this drug than white and Hispanics. Hispanics are more likely to induce cocaine more than blacks and whites with blacks being the least likely to. Hispanics also use more injected drugs than blacks and whites such as heroin. Teens and young adults are also a more vulnerable target to consume drugs usually ranging from the ages of 13-22 years old. The education level also affects the consumption of drugs, reports show that white, black, and Hispanic dropouts consume significantly more drugs than those who remain in school. Trends vary when it comes to drug consumption however, age, ethnicity, employment status, and education influence the probabilities of drug consumption.

Drug Enforcement Admin. (2003). Mexico Country Profile for 2003: Drug Intelligence Report (Report No. DEA-03047). United States of America: Drug Enforcement Admin. Retrieved from https://0-search-proquest- com.lib.utep.edu/docview/9726408?accountid=7121

Heroin is mostly imported in to Mexico from Latin American countries to be purified however Mexico is not responsible for its production. When it comes to heroin, Mexico uses small acres of land to plan opium plants to not attract attention and acquire chemicals that are easily available to them in Mexico or imported from the U.S. to be mixed with the opium plant to produce more of it at lower costs. Marijuana production is facilitated through the U.S. border states like California which offers the possibility to harvest marijuana without federal problems. Cartels also use rural lands in Mexican states to mass produce marijuana without government intervention. With drugs such as methamphetamines, cartels have lab houses in rural lands where the mass production of drugs is facilitated through chemicals imported from the U.S. to purify the substance and create more of it at low cost as well. Production of controlled drugs and opioids are also mass produced in Mexico by individuals who on pharmaceutical companies for the whole purpose to have access to these drugs without raising any type of concern.

Question #3: What are some of the social and economic effects of the drug war in the United States?

Thompson, G. O. (2014). Slowly Learning the Hard Way: U.S. America’s War on Drugs and Implications for Mexico. Norteamérica: Revista Académica Del CISAN-UNAM, 9(2), 59–83. Retrieved from http://0- search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=101381837&sit e=ehost-live&scope=site

The war on drugs is at an all time high and the members of LEAP feel as though U.S. officials should regulate the drugs rather than criminalize them. After seeing many law enforcement officials in America put away millions of people because of petty drug crimes, took away millions of dollars from our societies to fund this “war on drugs”, and tore down families because of petty drug crimes. The group LEAP believes that there should be a regulation on drugs because it seems as though the problem is just going to keep getting more expensive and costly to our societies, yet there is not much being done other than millions of people being thrown in jail to sit out their time and go right back to using, and administering the drugs that got them put away in the first place. This is important to the global issues report because it is about the war on drugs. More specifically this article touches on some of the sub questions in the report. Bobo, L., & Johnson, D. (2004). A Taste for Punishment: Black and White Americans' Views on the Death Penalty and the War on Drugs. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 1(1), 151-180. doi:10.1017/S1742058X04040081

This article goes into depth about how the Drug War is largely affecting the minority’s in America, yet it is done strategically. Of all minorities that this war is targeting Blacks, and Mexicans happen to be the most targeted of them all. The war on drugs is also more centered on taking down people in communities of lower education, low paying jobs, and amongst people in low income based housing.This is important to the global issues report because it hones in on which group of people are affected by the drug war. This is also important to the report because, we would like to know exactly what is happening when these people are the focal point of such a war.

Question #4: What does the policy look like on drugs and drug trafficking, and why is it still such a massive problem?

Castaneda, J. (2014). Mexico’s Drug War (pp. 63-72). New York, NY: Greenhaven Press.

To reduce the drug war United States will have to legalize drugs, but that is something they have never thought of doing. Mexico can’t modify its drug enforcement if the United States don’t act to fix things based on the drugs. The United States policy consists of decriminalization, cut harm, and adjusting the laws to reality. This is a war that cannot be won no matter how hard they try. This source is important to our Global Issues Report because it answers the question in a large scale. It explains the reason why the US policy affects the drug war and how it takes a big part of it in a thoroughly manner.

Bertram, E. (1996). Drug war politics: The price of denial. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

In this book, we learn about how the aggressive drug enforcement policy consists of putting people that consume drugs in jail, but is a failure. The failure of the policy is affecting the society of the US in a harmful way which is resulting of cartel violence in Mexico. The changing of drug laws has not made an impact in a good way, it has only increased the drug use. The United States has put in a lot of money with the hope to reduce the drug use, but it hasn’t worked. The US drug policy has just been a waste of money because the policy is not doing what it’s supposed to do, which is reduce the war on drugs. This source is important to our Global Issues Report because it explains to us the reason why the drug war is still a massive problem.