Now you may be wondering what is an illegal drug? It is a substance forbidden by law that affects the way the body functions. It has different effects on people and are influenced by many factors, making illicit drugs unpredictable. These drugs can be sold across the globe through drug trafficking. It is defined as a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws that could impact a country’s government, economy and public health. According to the United Nations Drug Report of 2018, more than a quarter of a billion people use illegal drugs globally.

In the United States between the 1960s and 1970s, heroin abuse was the primary concern. During this time, Cocaine was also rising in popularity which led to public concern about drug use. In the 1980s and 1990s, a U.S. counter-narcotic policy in Afghanistan was nonexistent due to the lack of involvement from the CIA. This led to an explosion of opium production in Afghanistan which would affect its economy forever. Now, over 40 years later, the U.S. is facing one of its biggest opium epidemics. In the nineties, the Netherlands’ government began tightening its drug policy regulations in order to diminish drug use and prevent further expansion.

Over the last decade, the U.S. has slowly changed its drug policy to one that focuses on prevention and treatment, but federal money is still being spent primarily on law enforcement. The majority of drug crimes are dealt with at the state level because of the jurisdiction they have over these types of crime. State and local law enforcement are still required to adhere to federal laws such as the Controlled Substances Act. According to the Congressional Research Service, the Controlled Substances Act is an established statutory framework through which the federal government regulates the lawful production, possession, and distribution of controlled substances. Following the establishment of this act, President Nixon decided to authorize the creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in order to enforce its policies.

These actions have been unsuccessful in controlling today’s opium epidemic since the Council of Foreign Relations has stated that the U.S. is dealing with one of the worst-ever drug crises as more than 800 people a week die from opioid-related overdose. It has also resulted in a spike of contracting hepatitis C and HIV due to sharing syringes which is a contributing factor to the increase of children being put in foster care.

Recently, the National Institute of Drug Abuse states that in 2013, an estimated 22.7 million Americans needed treatment for a problem related to drugs or alcohol, but only about 2.5 million people received treatment at a specialty facility. However, in the past, doctors prescribed opioids excessively since they believed that pain was not being fully treated. Pharmaceutical companies also began marketing opiates as something with minimal side effects. Many health experts believe that this is the root of  today’s rise in death.

Afghanistan has become the world’s leading producer of opium and removing this title has been difficult due to its significant impact towards its economy. In the 2016 United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Report, the value of the opium economy in 2016 almost doubled that of 2015. The UNODC Report also states that political instability, lack of government control, security and corruption have been found to be the main drivers of illicit cultivations. Afghanistan National Drug Action Plan acknowledges and believes that improving these aspects will decrease the reasons for farmers to cultivate opium poppy.

Decreasing the production and trafficking of opiates is crucial in order to decrease the revenue that terrorist groups collect. However, only a small amount of revenue collected by Afghanistan actually reaches its drug trafficking groups because more money is made from trafficking opiates to Asia and Europe. As a result, the Afghan government decided to focus on diminishing anti-government elements (AGE) in populated areas. This caused rural areas to become more vulnerable to AGE and evidently cultivate more opium poppy.

The U.S. counter-narcotic policy changed during Trump’s presidency as he decided to bomb drug facilities linked to rebels or those operating without any limitations. The DEA states that there is anywhere between 400 to 500 active drug labs. With this new strategy they managed to take out 10 labs in a week, but there is a rising number of casualties as a result of this new approach. Now, more than 75 percent of the total area under opium poppy cultivation worldwide is found in Afghanistan.

The Netherlands’ drug policies have been successful because they are lowering drug-related deaths without increasing the number of users.  However, the Netherlands still faces a problem in regards to their coffee shops because they are depending on drug trafficking to supply them. This can result in future problems since the economy is becoming more reliant on drug trafficking.

So what is the Opium Act? The Opium Act differentiates the penalties between hard drugs and soft drugs and allows for the selling of marijuana in coffee shops to reduce the risk and use. It has also implemented user rooms to provide a clean environment for drug addicts. In 2016, a total of 21,118 offences against the Opium Act were registered by the public prosecutor which was more than in 2015. These offences are beginning to increase because the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction stated that after the country began offering heroin at no cost in the 1990s, the rate of high-risk use has halved from 2002 to some 14,000 in 2012.

The United Nations have been gathering data yearly into a United Nations Drug Report that is available to the public, so countries can evaluate each of their situations and figure out the best global approach. For example, the Balkan route is one of the main heroin trafficking routes that links Afghanistan to Asia and Europe. More money is made from the big consumer markets found primarily in these continents, making the opiate problem in Afghanistan a shared responsibility. The U.S. has also tried to help Afghanistan’s opiate problem by creating an international counter-narcotic policy in order to eliminate drug labs and reduce the further expansion of heroin trafficking. One can conclude that through cooperation, countries can achieve the impossible which in this case is a drug-free world.