By: Leonardo Alfonso and Brenda Ammeraal
Proposal text presented to the NCDO - The Third Chamber project on October 2007
The Hague, The Netherlands
Proposal approved unanimously on The Third Chamber plenary session at the Dutch Second Chamber headquarters on 2nd November 2007 and sent to the members of the Commission of Foreign Affairs of the Dutch Parliament
Illegal drug trade is a big business. Annual worldwide illegal drug sales are greater than the GDP of 88% of the countries in the world, about US$400 billion, unregulated and untaxed. A big trade in which the best customers are U.S. and Europe, responsible of 77% of the world’s drugs consumption.
The concerns in the consumer countries have been 1) the criminal activities in which the addicted people get involved in 2) the costs associated to public health. Current strategies for reducing drugs consumption focus mainly on the reduction of production, assuming that by reducing drugs availability prices would increase, with a consequent drop on the number of consumers. However, these strategies have failed: in spite of five billion dollars spend on the “War on Drugs” from US, cocaine is priced as low and purity is as high as it was six years ago. In both U.S and Europe the number of addicted people has not decreased.
Although the problems in producer countries are also significant, especially for society and environment, they are globally ignored. Organized crime, environmental destruction, displacement and negative health effects due to fumigation are just some examples. The high demand from the North encourages criminal organizations to take care of the business and to produce drugs at any price. As a consequence, violence and forced expulsion of legal farmers have been created social problems and accelerated poverty in several countries. In Colombia, for instance, military expenditures to combat drugs production and trade reached 5.5% of its GDP, whereas 0.17% was invested in research and development and almost zero for safe water.
Moreover, the environment has suffered from both production and eradication. The first has brought vast deforestation, even in national parks and environment-protected areas. The second, addressed with herbicides, has polluted land and water, destroyed flora and fauna and sickening people. In Colombia, again, where glyphosphate is sprayed, children have lost hair and suffered diarrhea and temporary irritation in eyes and skin.
The Third chamber asks Dutch, European and American authorities to radically change the strategies to combat the negative consequences of illicit drugs trade.
First, we propose to use the money that is spent on war and chemicals to destroy crops to be spent on:
1) scientific research on drugs addiction in the northern countries, approaching new types of vaccines and genetic-based solutions for preventing drugs consumption and abuse.
2) Development of plans for helping farmers to switch from illegal to legal crops.
Second, we claim for more aggressive campaigns at European level in drugs consumption prevention and in educational programs on the negative consequences that drugs trade causes in developing countries. Societal problems such as child soldiering and farmers forced by rebel armies to produce drug crops and environmental issues such as deforestation must receive at least as much attention as the consequences for ones health and the dangers of becoming addicted.
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