Narco-States: Politics Powderless to Deal With

[Stavros]

The Guardian in the UK recently reported on the Turks & Caicos Islands, where the global trade in narcotics has infiltrated society and threatens to undermine law and order.

I have to admit that from what little I have read, I think this may be one of the most difficult political and social issues that States must deal with, and so far I am not sure anyone has dealt with it effectively.

If there is a market, with suppliers meeting the demand of customers, should market forces determine the economy this represents? Should the law accommodate what the market wants?

What happens when law and order, in effect, ceases to exist when the criminals involved appear to have more power than the State, or co-opt/bribe the State and its agencies? Or when a State uses the narcotics trade as part of its domestic, regional and foreign policy?

Thus, Syria is now one of the most active and corrupt narco-states- the citizens it did not murder or make homeless refugees, it has now 'captured' with captagon.

What is the solution? Did the US military interventions in Colombia put a stop to the cocaine trade? Does the Taliban still make profits out of the cultivation of Poppies manufactured into Heroin?

Is legalization, regulation and control the solution?

Narco-state - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narco-state)

[Stavros]

from today's Observer, re Brazil and the PCC

How a Brazilian prison gang became an international criminal leviathan | Brazil | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/11/pcc-brazil-drug-trade-gang)

[Stavros]

From Roberto Saviano via Ecuador

"What is happening in Ecuador is a story that concerns everyone, because drug use is not an exception now but the norm. Last year, an international study found that British people have become the second-biggest cocaine users (https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/cocaine-health-europe-drugs-study-b1128801.html) in the world. And it is not just a moral issue, because drug trafficking and mafias mean doped markets, businesses with unfair competition, corruption and manipulation of public consensus, and, ultimately, the destruction of democratic rules of government.The absence of serious reflection on drug addiction and consumption, of meaningful discussion on drug legalisation, leads exactly to what is happening in Mexico and Ecuador. Pay attention to the violent scenes on the streets of Ecuador and you will understand what mafias are capable of.
We have two paths ahead of us: we either deal seriously with drug trafficking, or drug trafficking will continue, by military means, to occupy democracy – or what remains of it."
The world is hungry for cocaine and happy to buy it. But think of the ravaged countries that pay the price | Roberto Saviano | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/09/cocaine-ravaged-countries-ecuador-drug-coup-complicit)