WORLD'S ENVIRONMENT ALSO VICTIM OF DRUG ADDICTION

The goal of the U.S.-backed war on drugs is to stop cocaine and
heroin produced in South America from traveling north through Mexico
and into the bloodstreams of Americans. Yet after spending tens of
billions of dollars in recent decades there's little to show for our efforts.

In fact, according to the latest reports by the Washington Office on
Latin America, narco-trafficking has remained strong. Since the early
1980s, U.S. cocaine and heroin prices have fallen considerably, while
purity levels have risen and then remained fairly stable.

Furthermore, cocaine and heroin use is beginning at younger ages and
the total number of users has risen. Loss of human lives and
suffering should be our primary concern while addressing this issue.
However, the cost to our environment from the narco-industrial
complex, and its subsequent toll on human health, is also staggering.

Pressing environmental issues like global warming and ocean
contamination are grabbing headlines while the production, processing
and trafficking of narcotics is slowly and quietly wreaking havoc on
nature and undermining environmental efforts around the world in
three major ways.

o Destruction and contamination: Growing coca plants for cocaine and
poppies for heroin results in deforestation and the clearing of
thousands of acres of endangered ecosystems. Attempts to eradicate
the drug crops with herbicides poison the soils and sensitive
amphibians. The chemicals involved in the fabrication of drugs like
methamphetamine pollute our waterways when waste is dumped and the
air in buildings when meth is cooked. Some of the narco-chemicals
flowing down the Tijuana River to the ocean are new to water quality
analysts and the potentially devastating environmental impacts are as
yet unknown.

o Corruption and impunity: The unaccounted-for cash flowing through
the narco-industry results in demoralization and impunity, undermines
environmental policies and erodes the rule of law. In parts of
Mexico, wildlife law-enforcement agents are unable to do their jobs
because they fear for their lives and are understandably unwilling to
risk a run-in with a narco-trafficker. Drug-related violence is on
the rise and many field biologists have had direct encounters with
armed smugglers.

o Addiction and apathy: When individuals are drug users or addicts,
it is impossible for them to think about the long-term environmental
consequences of their actions. They are solely focused on obtaining
their next fix. As a result, natural resources are destroyed for
short-term gain. High on drugs, fishermen and divers may work without
stopping for three days straight, pushing their own physical limits
to the breaking point, while leaving a barren, dying ocean floor in their path.

At the root of all this is the hunger for hard drugs. The United
States drives the drug market with its insatiable addiction to meth,
heroin and cocaine. Without this demand, the flow of the drug
economy, and associated environmental destruction, would cease.

There is a lot at stake if we continue to lose the war on drugs.
Human lives, human health, endangered animals, the quality of our air
and water, entire ecosystems, entire communities, even democracy and
the rule of law are at risk.

As we rethink our approach to the drug issue, let's connect the dots.
Let's spell out the real, full costs of a drug policy that doesn't
work and find creative new approaches that focus on reducing drug use
domestically, rather than losing the battle abroad with supply-side approaches.

We must curb demand and decrease the power of traffickers and dealers
by focusing efforts on cutting consumption by the heavy users
responsible for the vast majority of drug-related crime and social problems.

Treating drug-dependent criminals, extending treatment to addicts who
have not broken the law and expanding school-based prevention
programs can substantially cut drug use. The data indicate that
resource intensive drug courts are effective in creating long-term change.

We need smart and strong drug policies that are based on the best
available research, address the range of interconnected social and
environmental issues and integrate creative and experimental solutions.

Our communities and our environment depend on it.

This is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.