Brendan Cochrane

Health-1050-F14
Professor Roberts
12/9/2014

Violence Felt Beyond The Drug World

When most people think of violence related to drugs the first thing that
comes to mind is property crime, and they stop there. They feel that the violence
only extends to the abuser breaking into homes or businesses to steal items to pay
for their habit. What most people choose not to think about is the various cycles of
violence that plagues every level of the drug life. From the producers, the smugglers,
sellers, and users, they all experience their own levels of violence, but each
experiences violence of all levels.
Most of the drugs brought into this country are driven and ruled by cartels
throughout South America. These cartels oversee the producing and distribution of
their marketed drugs into the system. There is very little structure in the South
American areas. This allows various cartels to war with each other for territory and
rights to trafficking routes. The violence extends to everything imaginable, from
threats of violence and assault, property damage and theft, kidnapping and
extortion, to torturing and murder.
This does not stay within the bounds of the cartels either; whole
communities and cities are brought to their knees unless they bow and allow total

control by these cartels. Citizens with no ties to the cartel gangs are murdered daily
by cartels for not playing ball with them; especially those who try and stand up to
them and deter their business are killed publicly by the thousands. It has been
estimated that since 2006 cartels in Mexico have killed 60,000 police officers,
Mexican soldiers, government officials, and citizens. Due to this fear of being killed,
Mexican cartels have infiltrated deep into government, military, and policing
organizations across Mexico. These establishments remain very corrupt to this day,
which in-turn makes it hard for the just government to pursue and capture these
cartel leaders. Guerrilla groups bent on protecting their villages and communities
have begun springing up around parts of Mexico. They have begun to combat the
cartels in their area and are beginning to see some improvement in their areas.
The United States of America has begun a joint effort with Mexico to combat
the cartel on a grander scale. In 2007, Mexico and America announced the Merida
Initiative. Its focus is on disrupting and taking out major cartel, gang, and drug
trafficking enterprises in Mexico, and especially along the Mexican/American
border. Even though the program is just beginning, it has already begun to see
disruption in the cartel ranks. The capturing of cartel leader Joaquin El Chapo
Guzman, and other high-ranking officials was a good start to the year 2014. If our
two countries can continue in these efforts, and diminish the problem at the source
in these cartels, we will begin to win the war that has been placed so heavily on
drugs.
After the cartels and wholesale buyers come the street level dealers. These
are the men and women selling the dope to the user. Again, a lot of this structure is

set up like the cartels. Almost all street gangs who deal have territory that they
work. Blocks and streets in communities are taken and defended in a vicious cycle of
violent assaults and killings. For the gangs, this is how they gain business. For the
dealer in the gang, this is how he gains reputation and respect. Many communities
and areas are so deeply rooted in gang violence that they take on the same mentality
as Mexican areas and allow the extortion and violence as long as they can continue
to live. They do not look for help or go to the police for fear of violent repercussion.
The police do their best to quell the street level gangs and dealings, but they can
only go so far to help.
Due to a court system and shortage in penal facilities these gang members
and dealers are not meted out the proper punishments and are sent onto the streets
again. These days the liberal agenda is to release those prisoners who have not
committed violent drug offenses. I feel that just because they were caught while
making a non-violent drug offense, does not make them non-violent people. I
guarantee that all drug dealers have committed a violent act worthy of long prison
sentences at some point in their lives, they just were not caught or sentenced due to
the failure of our justice system. Releasing them will just allow for more violence on
the streets and in our communities.
It was bad enough when gangs kept their violence to within their groups and
among other group of their same mind set. But the violence continues to spread to
the people of the community. They are not equipped to handle the gangs so they are
bullied into extortion and violence. If these street dealers and gang bangers would
keep the violence between themselves it wouldnt too big of an issue, nobody cares

if they kill themselves off. But they dont, they get innocent people involved, and
they need to be stopped.
The next level of violence comes to the users family and loved ones. They
want so much to help the abuser. They see the abuser go through the pain of using,
they physical, mental, and emotional pain, and they want to help. So they allow the
user to live amongst them in their home. Provide shelter, food, money, and any
other help they can provide. But when that becomes insufficient for the user they
begin to take advantage of the loved one. They begin to manipulate their feelings
and emotional ties to the loved one. They begin to extort them, blaming the help for
their problems so the help feels guilty and gives more than they can afford. Then,
when that begins to break down, the abuser simply begin stealing from the help.
They take what ever is not nailed down and either sell it, pawn it, or trade it for their
drug of choice.
When the help catches on to this and takes action to stop the crimes against
them, the abuser gets mad and the violence begins. Whether physical violence
against the helpers person, or their property, the abuser takes out their frustrations
on the help. When the help suggests rehab for the abuser, the violence grows. The
abuser knows they have a problem; they generally hate themselves more than they
ever thought they could, but it pushes them over the top when they realize others
see they have a problem as well. They do not want to draw attention to their
problem, especially when someone else is doing it. They feel guilt for the
disappointment and hurt they have caused. But more hurt is all they know how to

cause, because the itch for the drug is too strong and they will do anything to satisfy
that itch.
Which draws to the final level of violence I will write about the user. At the
bottom of this chain is the user, the reason for all of the other levels of violence. The
one that funds the cartels, keeps the street dealers in business, and drives family
and loved ones to drink. Aside from the violence they put on and into their bodies,
they begin to hurt themselves on purpose in violent ways. They begin failed
attempts at suicide, some for attention, some to feel like they are leaving the pain of
the drug behind. They inflict bodily harm, usually cutting or gunshot wounds, on
themselves. Some even use this as a ploy to get prescribed drugs from doctors at the
hospital. A lot of the times if the drugs and overdoses do not kill the abuser, they will
commit suicide because they feel that it is the only way to stop the use and abuse to
themselves. By this time they are usually homeless, have no emotional ties to family
or loved ones, and have seen what they have become and see no other way out.
And thus the violence will continue. But how does society rid our selves of
this problem? Do we attack it at the bottom, being the user, or do we attack it at the
head, begin the cartels and producers? Do we continue to spend billions of
taxpayers dollars on the drug war? Do we as a society just accept that the problem
may never go away as long as there are people with weak morals in our society?
Should we just find a way to live with it? Where does the solution lie?

Works Referenced:
"Violence in Mexico." Jan 2014. Council on Foreign Relations. Dec 2014.
Moore, Mark, and Mark Kleiman. "The Police and Drugs." Perspectives on Policing 11
(1989). NCJRS. US. Department of Justice. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.
<https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/117447.pdf>.
"Drugs and Crime Data." Fact Sheet: Drug Related Crime NCJ149286 (1994). BJS.
U.S. Department of Justice. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/DRRC.PDF>.