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Drug Trafficking in the U.S.

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Submitted By mugenlude34
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Justin Cottingham
English 101 TTH
Mr. Mark Rooze
November 23, 2009
Drug Trafficking in the U.S.
In the United States, there are two basic roots of evil that inspire more than a majority of all criminal activity, greed and drugs. Money and drugs go hand in hand in the U.S. and many places all over the world. The drug epidemic has been sweeping the world and the United States rapidly. More and more Americans are admitting to using drugs regularly. “An estimated 14.8 million American currently use illicit drugs” (Go). This means there is a huge demand and a wide range of demographics for drug dealers. “The 2004 National Drug Threat Assessment reports that in adults, age eighteen to twenty-five, 15.4 percent report having used cocaine in their lifetime, 53.8 percent report having used marijuana, and 15.1 percent report having used MDMA (commonly known as "Ecstasy")” (Swanson). The U.S. government is spending billions to fight a so called war on drugs.
For the past 50 years the drug trade has increasingly grown in popularity. It is the biggest money making industry in the world. It is estimated that the highest annual income is around $400 billion with a gross profit margins of 300 percent, making the drug trade worth more than the annual budget of the U.S. DOD (Department of Defense). The demand for illicit drugs is greater worldwide than the demand for textiles and automobiles. It is said that of all international trade, 8% of that is illegal narcotics, while textiles make up 7.5% and automobiles make up just around 5%. With these facts and knowledge of the drug trade it comes to no surprise that the criminals behind drug trafficking are extremely wealthy. Because of the high degree of profits stemming from the drug trade, the individuals of such illicit criminal organizations dealing in narcotics find themselves very influential and powerful making them extremely

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