Illicit Drugs & Indiscriminate Proliferation: The Consequential and Discourse Analysis of Substance Abuse

Background of the studyInternational tensions are augmenting with a rapid pace through variety of social and economic evils predominantly including the trafficking, supply and use of illicit drugs. The origins of some of these tensions are clear: rapid changes in political alignment, reduced family and community cohesiveness, increased unemployment, economic and social marginalization and increased crime (UNDCP, 1995:3). Whatever the reason in a given country, the lack of economic progress has put such countries in a financial bind and frequently placed severe restrictions on government services available to the most vulnerable segments of the population. In this context, both the nation State and its individual citizens have become more vulnerable to the temptations of money from illicit drug production and trafficking and to the acceptance of illicit drug profits by financial institutions or as direct investment (UNDCP, 1995:5).Estimates and information of illicit drug production come from several sources primarily comprising of satellite mapping, ground surveys, agronomic characteristics or consumption figures and political factors (Tullis, 1993:1). Although we have estimates of illicit drugs' production, yet the production figures for opium-heroin and coca-cocaine are not precise, rather gross amounts produced in various countries are estimated. Based on the integration of information from nine country studies, an expert Tullis (1993:12) has noted that 3045 tons (estimated) of opium is produced in nine countries where variables detract from the precision of attempt at assessment. Besides, this is not considered an estimate of world production for two reasons: (a) some countries have not been included in these estimates (Afghanistan, for example, had an estimated cultivation of 19,470 hectares in 1992 and produced 640 tons of opium that year according to the United States Department of State (INCS Report, 1994:2); and (b) many unexamined assumptions have been made in preparing these estimates.In contrast to opium production, coca leaf and cocaine production take place in relatively few countries. The estimates made by the abovecited commentators are not highly divergent from those provided for coca and cocaine by the Department of State. The approximate total for the three producer countries (Peru, Bolivia and Colombia) are coca leaf, 330,000 tons, and cocaine, 322 tons. Several features of this picture are noteworthy: (a) the major production sources of drugs are quite varied, not limited to one or two producer countries or simply one region of the world; (b) according to 1992 GNP per capita data (World Bank Report, 1994:18), major production of opium and coca takes place in less developed countries, many of which have considerable economic, agricultural, political and social problems; and (c) according to all estimates, the total amount of production is extremely high. If alcohol and tobacco production amounts were added to those of opium, cocaine, cannabis and psychotropic drugs to form an aggregated estimate of addictive substances production, the picture that emerges is one of the enormous supplies of these substances. One commentator has described the illicit drug industry during the production phase, as "labor intensive, decentralized, growth-pole oriented, cottage-industry promoting, and foreign exchange earning - desirable features of rural development in economically stagnating areas" (Tullis, 1991: 57).There were also major regional gaps in information in official reporting with respect to the nine-year period 1983-1991. The average percentages of countries actually reporting over this nine-year period were as follows: in Europe (74%), the America (51%), Middle East (46%), Asia and the Pacific Region (40%) and Africa (37%) (Report of United Nations Secretariat, 1993:4). In the African region, only one-third have reported six or more times in the last nine years, which makes the region more susceptible and more prone to the evils of drugs because of difficulty in identification of drug related curses. …