he illegal drug trade is a global black market consisting of the cultivation, manufacture,

distribution and sale of illegal controlled drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under
license, of many types of drugs by drug control laws. Some drugs, notably alcohol and tobacco,
are outside the scope of these laws, but may be subject to control under other laws.

The illicit drug trade operates similarly to other underground markets. Various drug cartels
specialize in the separate processes along the supply chain, often localized to maximize
production efficiency and minimize damages caused by law enforcement. Depending on the
profitability of each layer, cartels usually vary in size, consistency, and organization. The chain
ranges from low-level street dealers who may be individual drug users themselves, through street
gangs and contractor-like middle men, up to multinational empires that rival governments in
size. The UN report said the global drug trade generated an estimated $321.6 billion in 2003.[1]

Illegal drugs may be grown in wilderness areas, on farms, produced in indoor/outdoor residential
gardens, indoor hydroponics grow-ops, or manufactured in drug labs located anywhere from a
residential basement to an abandoned facility. The common characteristic binding these
production locations is that they are discreet to avoid detection, and thus they may be located in
any ordinary setting without raising notice. Much illegal drug cultivation and manufacture takes
place in developing nations, although production also occurs in the developed world.

In locales where the drug trade is illegal, police departments as well as courts and prisons may
expend significant resources in pursuing drug-related crime. Additionally, through the influence
of a number of black market players, corruption is a problem, especially in poorer societies.

Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally. While consumers avoid taxation by buying
on the black market, the high costs involved in protecting trade routes from law enforcement lead
to inflated prices.

Additionally, various laws criminalize certain kinds of trade of drugs that are otherwise legal
(for example, untaxed cigarettes). In these cases, the drugs are often manufactured and partially
distributed by the normal legal channels, and diverted at some point into illegal channels.

Finally, many governments restrict the production and sale of large classes of drugs through
prescription systems.

Contents
[hide]
 1 History
 2 Foreign intervention
 3 Violent resolutions
 4 Minors and the illegal drug trade
 5 Trade of specific drugs
 o 5.1 Anabolic steroids

o 5.2 Cannabis

o 5.3 Alcohol

o 5.4 Tobacco

o 5.5 Temazepam

o 5.6 Opium

o 5.7 Heroin/Morphine

o 5.8 Methamphetamine

 6 U.S. Government involvement

 7 In the media
o 7.1 Films

o 7.2 TV Series

o 7.3 Novels

 8 See also
 9 References
 10 Further reading

 11 External links

[edit] History
1921 photograph of Chinese Maritime Officers with 300 lb (140 kg) of smuggled morphine
shipped in cylinders of sodium sulfate from Japan.
See also: Opium Wars

The trade of drugs has existed for as long as the drugs themselves have existed. However, the
trade of drugs was fully legal until the introduction of drug prohibition. The history of the illegal
drug trade is thus closely tied to the history of drug prohibition. In the First Opium War, the
United Kingdom forced China to allow British merchants to trade in opium with the general
population of China. Although illegal by imperial decree, smoking opium had become common
in the 1800s due to increasing importation via British merchants. Trading in opium was (as it is
today in the heroin trade) extremely lucrative. As a result of the trade an estimated two million
Chinese people became addicted to the drug. The British Crown (via the treaties of Nanking and
Tianjin) took vast sums of money from the Chinese government in what they referred to as
'reparations' for the wars.

In the United States, a 1791 tax led to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.

Mafia groups limited their activities to gambling and theft until 1920, when organized
bootlegging manifested in response to the effect of Prohibition. An example of the spectacular
rise of the mafia due to Prohibition is Al Capone's syndicate that "ruled" Chicago in the 1920s.[2]

[edit] Foreign intervention

Some governments that criminalize drug trade have a policy of interfering heavily with foreign
states. In 1989, the United States intervened in Panama with the goal of disrupting the drug trade
coming from Panama.[citation needed] The Indian government has several covert operations in the
Middle East and Indian subcontinent to keep a track of various drug dealers. Opium production
in Afghanistan is a current impediment in the development of an illicit economy for that country.

[edit] Violent resolutions

In the late 1990s in the United States, the FBI estimated that 5% of murders were drug-related.[3]
In addition, drug smuggling can lead to harsh penalties, including the death penalty, in certain
countries (for example, Singapore).

Many including the recently sacked UK government advisor, Professor Nutt, have argued that
the arbitrariness of drug prohibition laws from the medical point of view, especially the theory of
harm reduction, worsens the problems around these substances.[citation needed]

[edit] Minors and the illegal drug trade

The U.S. government's most recent 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
reported that nationwide over 800,000 adolescents ages 12–17 sold illegal drugs during the
twelve months preceding the survey; such adolescents also admitted to know or be linked to
other drug dealers across the nation.[4][not in citation given] The 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that nationwide 25.4% of
students had been offered, sold, or given an illegal drug by someone on school property. The
prevalence of having been offered, sold, or given an illegal drug on school property ranged from
15.5% to 38.7% across state CDC surveys (median: 26.1%) and from 20.3% to 40.0% across
local surveys (median: 29.4%).[5]

Despite over $7 billion spent annually towards arresting[6] and prosecuting nearly 800,000 people
across the country for marijuana offenses in 2005 (FBI Uniform Crime Reports), the federally-
funded Monitoring the Future Survey reports about 85% of high school seniors find marijuana
“easy to obtain.” That figure has remained virtually unchanged since 1975, never dropping
below 82.7% in three decades of national surveys.[7]

[edit] Trade of specific drugs

The price per gram of heroin is typically 8 to 10 times that of cocaine on US streets.[8] Generally
in Europe (except the transit countries Portugal and the Netherlands), a purported gram of street
heroin, which is usually between 0.7 and 0.8 grams light to dark brown powder consisting of 5-
10%, less commonly up to 20%, heroin base, is between 30 and 70 euros, which makes for an
effective price of pure heroin per gram of between 300 and 2000 euros.

The purity of street cocaine in Europe is usually in the same range as it is for heroin, the price
being between 50 and 100 euros per between 0.7 and 1.0 grams. This totals to a cocaine price
range between 500 and 2000 euros.

[edit] Anabolic steroids

Main article: Anabolic steroids

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, anabolic steroids are relatively easy to
smuggle into the United States. Once there, they are often sold at gyms and competitions as well
as through mail and internet operations.

[edit] Cannabis
A box of cannabis.
Main article: Cannabis (drug)

In World Drug report 2006 UNODC focused on The New Cannabis, distribution of stronger
marijuana with more THC and its health effects.[9]

Most of the high grade cannabis sold in the U.S. is grown in hidden grow operations indoors.
The number one producer is California with an annual revenue of nearly 14 billion dollars in
production, Tennessee is second with nearly 5 billion in production, Kentucky is third with
around 4.5 billion, Hawaii is fourth with close to 4 billion, and Washington is fifth with a little
over a billion.[10]

[edit] Alcohol

Main article: Alcoholic beverage

In some areas of the world, particularly in and around the Arabian peninsula, the trade of alcohol
is strictly prohibited. For example, Pakistan bans the trade because of its large Muslim
population. Similarly, Saudi Arabia forbids the importation of alcohol into its kingdom, however,
alcohol is smuggled in very high quantities. In other areas it is considered like any other
beverage, and is legal.

Pure alcohol or liquids with high alcohol content over a certain percentage or proof, calculated
by volume or weight, are also banned in many countries.

[edit] Tobacco

Main article: Tobacco

The illegal trade of tobacco is motivated primarily by increasingly heavy taxation. When tobacco
products such as name-brand cigarettes are traded illegally, the cost is as little as one third that of
retail price due to the lack of taxes being applied as the product is sold from manufacturer to
buyer to retailer. It has been reported that smuggling one truckload of cigarettes within the
United States leads to a profit of 2 million U.S. dollars.[11]

Wikinews has related news: Nearly three million contraband cigarettes seized by
Canadian and U.S. authorities

The source of the illegally-traded tobacco is often the proceeds from other crimes, such as store
and transportation robberies.

Sometimes, the illegal trade of tobacco is motivated by differences in taxes in two jurisdictions,
including smuggling across international borders. Smuggling of tobacco from the US into
Canada has been problematic, and sometimes political where trans-national native communities
are involved in the illegal trade.
The kingdom of Bhutan made the sale of tobacco illegal in December 2004,[12] and since this
time a flourishing black market in tobacco products has sprung up. In 2006, tobacco and betel
nut were the most commonly seized illicit drugs in Bhutan.[13]

[edit] Temazepam

Main article: Temazepam

Temazepam, which is a strong hypnotic benzodiazepine, is being illicitly manufactured in

clandestine laboratories (called jellie labs) to supply the increasingly high demand for the
hypnotic drug internationally.[14] Most clandestine temazepam labs are in Eastern Europe. The
way in which they manufacture the temazepam is through chemical alteration of diazepam,
oxazepam or lorazepam.[15] Clandestine "jellie labs" have been identified and shutdown in
Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Latvia and Belarus.[16]

In the United Kingdom, temazepam is the most widely-abused legal, prescription drug. It's also
the most commonly abused benzodiazepine in Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Czech
Republic, Hungary, India, Russia, China, New Zealand, Australia and some parts of Southeast
Asia. In Sweden it has been banned due to a problem with drug abuse issues and a high rate of
death caused by temazepam alone relative to other drugs of its group. Surveys in many countries
showed that temazepam, heroin, cocaine, MDMA, cannabis, nimetazepam, and amphetamines
rank among the top drugs most frequently abused.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]

[edit] Opium

Main article: Opium

International illicit trade in opium is relatively rare. Major smuggling organizations prefer to
further refine opium into heroin before shipping to the consumer countries, since a given
quantity of heroin is worth much more than an equivalent amount of opium. As such, heroin is
more profitable, and much stronger, because heroin metabolizes directly into the main naturally
occurring psychoactive substance in opium—morphine.

[edit] Heroin/Morphine

Main articles: Heroin and Morphine

International drug routes

Heroin is smuggled into the United States and Europe from areas such as the Golden Triangle
(Southeast Asia); with Afghanistan currently being "the world's largest exporter of heroin".[28][29]
In 2007, 93% of the opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan.[30] This amounts to an
export value of about $64 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest
going to district officials, insurgents, warlords and drug traffickers.[31]

Heroin is a very easily smuggled drug because a small, quarter-sized vial can contain hundreds
of doses. From the 1930s to the early 1970s, the so-called French Connection supplied the
majority of US demand. Allegedly, during the Vietnam war, drug lords such as Ike Atkinson
used to smuggle hundreds of kilos of heroin to the U.S. in coffins of dead American soldiers (see
Cadaver Connection). Since that time it has become more difficult for drugs to be imported into
the United States than it had been in previous decades, but that does not stop the heroin
smugglers from getting their product onto U.S. soil. Purity levels vary greatly by region with, for
the most part, Northeastern cities having the most pure heroin in the United States (according to
a recently released report by the DEA, Camden, New Jersey and Newark, New Jersey and
Philadelphia, have the purest street grade A heroin in the country).

Penalties for smuggling heroin and/or morphine are often harsh in most countries. Some
countries will readily hand down a death sentence or life in prison for the illegal smuggling of
heroin or morphine, which are both, internationally, Schedule I drugs under the Single
Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

Heroin is widely (and usually illegally) used as a powerful and addictive drug that produces
intense euphoria, which often gradually disappears with increasing tolerance. This 'rush' comes
from its high lipid solubility provided by the two acetyl groups, resulting in a very rapid
penetration of the blood-brain barrier after use. Once in the blood stream, heroin is rapidly
converted to morphine. The morphine then binds to the opioid receptors in the brain and spinal
cord, causing the subjective effects. Heroin and morphine can be taken or administered in a
number of ways, including snorting and injection. They may also be smoked by inhaling the
vapors produced when heated from below, usually on aluminum foil (known as "chasing the
dragon").

[edit] Methamphetamine

Main article: Methamphetamine

In some areas of the United States and Canada, the trade of methamphetamine is rampant.
Because of the ease of production and its addiction rate, methamphetamine is a favorite amongst
many drug distributors. The most common "street names" for meth are "crystal" and "ice" and
"crystal meth".

According to the Community Epidemiology Work Group, the numbers of clandestine

methamphetamine laboratory incidents reported to the National Clandestine Laboratory Database
decreased from 1999 to 2004. During this same period, methamphetamine lab incidents
increased in midwestern States (Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio), and in Pennsylvania. In
2004, more lab incidents were reported in Missouri (2,788) and Illinois (1,058) than in California
(764). In 2003, methamphetamine lab incidents reached new highs in Georgia (250), Minnesota
(309), and Texas (677). There were only seven methamphetamine lab incidents reported in
Hawaii in 2004, though nearly 59 percent of substance abuse treatment admissions (excluding
alcohol) were for primary methamphetamine abuse during the first six months of 2004. As of
2007, Missouri leads the United States in clandestine lab seizures, with 1,268 incidents reported.
[32]
Often K9 units are used for detecting rolling meth labs which can be concealed on large
vehicles, or transported on something as small as a motorcycle. These labs are more difficult to
detect than stationary ones, and can be often obscured with the legal cargo on big trucks.[33]

Methamphetamine is sometimes used in an injectable form, placing users and their partners at
risk for transmission of HIV and hepatitis C.[34] "Meth" can also be inhaled, most commonly on
aluminum foil or through a Pyrex test tube or light bulb fashioned into a pipe. This method is
reported to give "an unnatural high" and a "brief intense rush"[35] to its users.

In South Africa the abuse of methamphetamine has reached epidemic proportions in especially
the Cape Flats area of Cape Town where it is called "tik" or "tik-tik". Youngsters as young as
eight are abusing the substance where it is smoked in crude glass vials constructed from light
bulbs. Since methamphetamine is easy to produce the substance is manufactured in staggering
quantities in "backyard" factories. After the new South African government came into power, the
South African Narcotics Bureau (SANAB) was disbanded, allowing dealers an unprecedented
freedom of operation and causing a simultaneous drop in prices and rise in availability.[36]

[edit] U.S. Government involvement

Main article: War on Drugs

The U.S. federal government is a vocal opponent of the drug industry, however state laws vary
greatly and in some cases defy federal laws. Despite the US government's official position
against the drug trade, US government agents and assets have been implicated in the drug trade
and were caught and investigated during the Iran-Contra scandal, implicated in the use of the
drug trade as a secret source of funding for the USA's support of the Contras. Page 41 of the
December 1988 Kerry report to the US Senate[37] states that "indeed senior US policy makers
were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contra's funding
problem.

Highly decorated US military Special Forces veteran Colonel Bo Gritz (retired) has accused the
USA of collaborating with and supporting Manuel Noriega in his drug trafficking operations. In
his book Called To Serve, Gritz details his role as a key US Government employee tasked with
protecting the USA's relationship with Noriega.[citation needed]

Contrary to its official goals, the US has suppressed research on drug usage. For example, in
1995 the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Interregional Crime and
Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) announced in a press release the publication of the results of
the largest global study on cocaine use ever undertaken. However, a decision in the World
Health Assembly banned the publication of the study. In the sixth meeting of the B committee
the US representative threatened that "If WHO activities relating to drugs failed to reinforce
proven drug control approaches, funds for the relevant programmes should be curtailed". This
led to the decision to discontinue publication. A part of the study has been released.[38]