Human Interest

Most people would agree that Opium is a devastating addiction.  But what most of us don't see is the other side of the drug trade. This video shows the vulnerability of the drug-dealers and poppy-farmers.  The Afghanistan government finds and destroys a poppy farm and the interview with a boy of the farming family is riveting.  You can't help but feel bad for these people, especially the children who are directly effected by it.

Drug trafficking is a problem all over the world, but this is really something else.  Realistically, these people are just growing flowers, but it's their intent that is the problem.  I was always aware that Afghanistan was a major producer of drugs, but I had no idea the extent. I agree that if someone has illegal drugs, that they should be punished.  But these poppies are these people's life line.  That's not to say that what they are doing is acceptable, but you can't help but feel bad.  They live in a poor region where they are doing what they need to just to feed their families. It's kind of heartbreaking, but there are laws against these drugs for a reason, and they should be penalized.  Then there is the question of how do they choose one family to punish, when this is clearly a huge problem that is not easily hidden; these people are growing these plants in plain sight.  The government has every right to punish them, and as upset as they are to have their crop destroyed, I would think it's got to be better than getting thrown into an Afghani prison.

The other side of the war on drugs. -Lon

Very important insight

there is also a negative side affect on this and that is now that planting marijuana is not making any money for the growers it is time to move to bigger and more dangerous stuff. The united states though the government  will not admit to, has a major drug usage problem and so it would be time to bring in another form of drug to make a profit. every so often there is something new that pops up on the streets and Americans want to experience them.

Events that we think of as local (Washington and Colorado legalizing marijuana use) have national and global implications, especially in a globalized economy.  This article is but one example of why geographers try to approach every issue at a variety of scales to more fully comprehend the ramifications and ripple effects of any given phenomenon. 

Tags: Mexico, narcotics, scale. 

This video was very informative on the mass killing related to drug cartels. It clearly shows that the war on drugs comes at a high price of human lives. There is not real viable solution to stopping these drugs cartels because as seen in this video, many law enforcement agency cracked down on the head of the cartels but it backfired instead. Many factions or "little snakes" exists now because the head of it is gone. In my opinion we cannot stop drugs violence if there is no reason to make drugs in the first place (the consumers). 

It is hard for the Mexican authorities to do anything about it, they know who the drug dealers are but think about it a police chief who is honest has a life expectancy of 18 months on the force.

After watching a video like this, I have nothing to feel except sadness, all the missing people and all the dead because of drugs... What really through me for a loop was when the narrator said the police handed people over to a cartel. Who does that? Clearly it is an issue if it makes the top five for most widely reported mass killings, plus who knows however many more going unreported. It appears as something good was being done by capturing and or killing drug cartel leaders, but apparently doing good, made things worse, because without leaders, new factions were made and apparently  those new factions were much worse, being more violent and creating more incidents. Having corruption within is also probably making things much worse.

unit 7

I believe that absolutely no one is surprised that right before an international event, the hosting city is cracking down on its problem areas. I am skeptical of the Brazilin governments  promise to develop the long neglected Favelas. After Rio finishes hosting the 2016 Summer games, the government will once again neglect the Favelas. There will no longer be an incentive for the government to care about the favelas. The eyes of the world will be off the  city and things can return to normal. The only losers in this equation are the actual residents of these slums. Once again the promise of better days will ripped  from them. An added injury is that there informal economy will have been destroyed. While life in an informal economy is hard by any measure, it is still a way of making a living. The increased police presence will destroy that way of life and replace it with empty promises.