Essay Instructions: Project Part 2: Declaring Your Audience, Research, and Thesis Statement
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT MODEL
This week you need to start the preliminary research for your paper. You will complete three tasks:
First you will declare your audience.
Second you will turn in an annotated bibliography including a minimum of three sources.
Finally, you will write your thesis statement.
Use some of the information I provided
Effect of Drug Trafficking Across the Border on Law Enforcement
A number of people dispute that the war against drug trafficking across the border is costing the United States a lot of tax dollars, law enforcement endeavor, and lives, and that, even with so much effort, small progress has been made. Data indicates that anti narcotic budget in the United States has jumped up from $9.7 billion in the 90s to around$18 billion in year 2000. Moreover, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) field agent has increased from 3,191 in 1990 to 4,561 in 2000. Despite these increase in DEA agent the number of drug abusers in the United States has boosted from 5.8% in early 90s to around 6.7% in the 1998. Approximately around 15 million of the US total population was abusing drugs in various ways in 1999. Among these 15 million around 200,000 were roughly using heroin which estimates to more than thrice the numbers in 1993 which was around 68,000 (Massing, 2000). In spite of the al the efforts being made by the law enforcement agencies against drug traffickers the numbers of drug abusers in the United States has risen tremendously in the last ten years.
President Richard Nixon in 1968 devised the term “war on drugs” to signify United States efforts against drug manufacturers, distributors and its consumers. Nixon brought together four agencies in 1974 to establish the Drug Enforcement Agency known as the DEA. President Ronald Reagan, in the 80s restored the war on narcotics and amplified the endeavors of the DEA to trim down drug trafficking across the border to the United States (Hamowy, 1987). Reagan instigated a chain of regulations permitting federal officials to have access to military intelligence, training, and technology to track and seize drug traffickers. While this was taking place the federal and local governments approved laws permitting land and assets build from drug revenues to be impounded and confiscated by officials. During the Reagan administration, drug therapy programs and education programs were started, which also included Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign in which kids were educated through by media messages and slogans to refuse to accept offers concerning drugs (Hamowy, 1987).
Enhancements in law enforcement endeavors was aimed in reducing drug trafficking by enforcing further strict legal sanctions for convicted drug cartels, but the sheer size of the revenues generates from drug business dominates the threat of penalty. The global drug operation is estimated to produce $300 billion to $400 billion every year. Such a outsized revenues besides providing a strong motivation to deal in drug, gives them access to latest, state ??"of- the- art technological edge. Since the traffickers have a superior budget than drug enforcement agencies, they have resources to come up with more advances and sophisticated means of manufacturing, transporting, and smuggling drugs (Massing, 2000). Research indicates that in past few years the drug cartels have purchased commercial jetliners and have erected a fleet of small submarines to transport drugs to the United States. Lots of these drugs have slipped the border in large propane tanks, hazardous containers, canned food, and drums of jalapeno peppers. One such instance is when one of the groups effectively trafficked drugs from Mexico into the United States and further into Canada concealed in a special mold of porcelain toilets. These facts indicate strongly that he present DEA budget is highly insufficient in fighting against the immeasurable resources at to drug traffickers disposal (Hamowy, 1987).
Depending entirely on anti-narcotics efforts abroad, the government agencies would have to spend $783 million more annually to cut cocaine consumption by 1 percent; similarly depending on prohibition, it would have to splurge $366 million extra, and on domestic law enforcement, $246 million. Relying solely on treatment, however, the government would have to spend only $34 million more to attain that 1 percent decrease. According to one study called as the RAND, treatment was seven times less expensive than local law enforcement, ten times more effectual than prohibition, and twenty-three times more cost effective than going out hunting down the drug cartels (Massing, 2000).
Massing and others are convicted that drug therapy is not only more successful at decreasing drug abuse than prohibiting it, but in addition way more cost friendly for the American taxpayers.
References
Massing. M, 2000, The Fix, University of California Press.
Hamowy, R, 1987, Dealing with Drugs: Consequences of Government Control. Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy: San Francisco.