Rising Cocaine Prices Don't Mean We're Winning the Drug War
After reading Donna Leinwand's cover story in USA Today, "Cocaine flow to 26 cities curbed," you'd think we've turned a major corner in the war on drugs.
Tough action by Mexico is driving down the cocaine supply in 26 U.S. cities, a recently declassified Drug Enforcement Administration analysis shows, an encouraging drop in narcotics crossing the border that law enforcement officials hope will continue.
…This new Calderón government is really taking a tough stance, and it's really taking its toll on the trafficking organizations," says Tony Placido, the DEA's intelligence chief.
It just goes on like this. Cocaine is more expensive! The Drug Czar is optimistic! Mexico is kicking some serious drug trafficker ass! Amazingly, Leinwand entirely fails to explain that cocaine prices are still just a fraction of what they used to be. The real story behind cocaine prices is that they've rather consistently continued spiraling downward despite decades of drug war demolition tactics.
It is just so strange to leave this out because it actually makes the story more interesting. Wouldn't the rise in cocaine prices be more exciting if people understood how rare it is? It's like the drug war equivalent of a solar eclipse. For God's sake, don't stare directly at it or you'll fry your retinas. Such phenomena are best observed under expert supervision.
It is almost more frustrating, therefore, to read Leinwand's companion piece, which perfectly articulates how premature and overblown the Drug Czar's pronouncements truly are:
[drug policy expert Peter] Reuter says this isn't the first time the Mexicans have gotten tough on traffickers. "The Mexican government is clearly cracking down, but the government has cracked down before to no effect," Reuter says. "It's sort of early days for declaring that something important has happened."Eventually, drug traffickers will develop new routes to get around whatever is stopping them, says Alfred Blumstein, a professor who specializes in criminology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
"It's a resilient process," Blumstein says. "I would anticipate that over a period of time, like six months to a year," the drug traffickers will "be back in shape."
These revealing perspectives are relegated to bowels of a different article on page 3, while Leinwand's above-the-fold cover story reads like an ONDCP press release. This is unacceptable. With opposing viewpoints safely quarantined in an entirely separate – and less prominent – article, ONDCP can now tout their USA Today coverage without directly exposing anyone to Reuter or Blumstein's skepticism. And that's exactly what they've done.
Everything we know about the cocaine economy tells us that it won’t be long before prices drop again to unprecedented new lows. That is just a fact, and I'm still not sure why anyone thinks it's worth their time to suggest otherwise.
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Comment posted by Kevin Kneeland on Sat, 09/15/2007 - 7:50amThe price of a gallon of gas goes up 2 bucks over several months. gas prices fall 20 cents. Hey, the oil cartel is finally hearing us and giving us relief! B a a a a Step up for your shearing. If anyone is dependent on cocaine OR oil, they will buy it somehow.
less product more funds for terror. thanks drug war
Comment posted by Anonymous on Sat, 09/15/2007 - 8:49amDoesn't this really just mean that with less product and work, there are more funds for terrorism. Thanks Drug Czar.
Rising Cocaine Prices Don't Mean We're Winning the Drug War
Comment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 09/20/2007 - 9:55pmIf the price goes up, it's because we're winning the war on drugs. If the price goes down, it's because we're winning the war on drugs. If the price remains stable, it's because we're winning the war on drugs. Even if there's a sighting of Bigfoot or The Loch Ness Monster, somehow, it's just got to have something to do with the fact that we're winning the war on drugs.
Okay, so after 30 years, tens of billions spent, and not one inch of progess, some "negative thinkers" say we're not winning the war on drugs. They say the taxpayer is a fool to continue to fund this war on drugs with no results after 30 years fighting it. Well I don't think they're fools, I think they're just extremely patient. Well, maybe unbelievably patient. Okay, okay, patient beyond all comprehension.
But the point is, we're winning the war on drugs. Just keep saying it, and don't look at the man behind the curtain.
Erin Anderson
http://www.allpositiveoptions.com
the drugs are our enemy! We must consume them all!
Comment posted by Anonymous on Mon, 11/26/2007 - 3:25ambravo, Erin Anderson, your comment very clearly illustrates the absurdity of the drug war
as for the rising cocaine prices, I wonder just how exactly is that supposed to help alleviating the addiction problem (not to mention it just boosts the percentage of drug-related crimes). The dealers are gonna add more meth in the mix (apart from hell knows what else they put there), the users are gonna be less satisfied with their current dosages... How do they picture that's gonna look like? "Oh dear, this crack is too expensive, I think I'll pass the next couple of pipes and go do something useful". Riiiight...
The claims of success
Comment posted by Malkavian on Fri, 09/14/2007 - 7:32amI'm reading the excellent book "Lies, Damned LIes and Drug War Statistics" right now. What I have learned so far is this: the drug authorities will ignore the fact that the long term trends are stable or even going up. They simply do not own up to the facts that are indicative of their failing War on Drugs.
However, if there's even the smallest, transitory drop in anything to do with drugs the ONDCP will take credit. Even if it's just the smallest dip from one year to another.
Also, even if they're dedicating vast resources to interdiction and other such efforts it remains to be seen if there are any real effects of it. Even if they had the never-before-seen-success of ACTUALLY raising prices and forcing down consumption of cocaine all we would see was a substitution among the user population: but then, of course, they could create a new moral panic as a new (meth)amphetamine "epidemic" hits the US.
They just love their own self-created crisis.