<
https://theconversation.com/addicted-how-the-world-got-hooked-on-illicit-drugs-and-why-we-need-to-view-this-as-a-global-threat-like-climate-change-248401>
"It has taken decades for some to accept the devastating effects of climate
change on our planet. Despite scientific evidence that was available years ago,
many people were reluctant to make the connection between increasing use of
fossil fuels, rising global temperatures and devastating weather events.
A key reason for this reluctance is the dislocation of cause and effect, both
in time and geography. And here there are clear parallels with another deadly
human activity that is causing increasing levels of suffering across the
planet: the production, trafficking and consumption of illicit drugs. Here are
some troubling “highlights” from the UN’s latest
World Drugs Report:
Cocaine production is reaching record highs, with production climbing in
Latin America coupled with drug use and markets expanding in Europe, Africa
and Asia.
Synthetic drugs are also inflicting great harm on people and communities,
caused by an increase in methamphetamine trafficking in south-west Asia, the
near and Middle East and south-eastern Europe, and fentanyl overdoses in
North America.
Meanwhile, the opium ban imposed by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan
is having a significant impact on farmers’ livelihoods and incomes,
necessitating a sustainable humanitarian response.
The report notes how organised criminal groups are “exploiting instability and
gaps in the rule of law” to expand their trafficking operations, “while
damaging fragile ecosystems and perpetuating other forms of organised crime
such as human trafficking”.
At every stage of the process of producing drugs such as cocaine, there are not
only societal impacts but environmental ones too. An example of the
interconnected relationship between climate change and drugs is demonstrated in
the use of land.
Demand for cocaine has grown rapidly across many western countries, and meeting
this can only be met by changing how land is used. Forests are cleared in South
America to make way for growing coca plants. The refinement of coca into
cocaine involves toxic chemicals that pollute the soil and nearby watercourses.
This in turn compromises those living in these areas as access to clean water
and fertile land is reduced.
Until this is reversed, these local communities will not be able to cultivate
the land to earn an income or rely on water sources to live. And each year,
some of their number will add to the hundreds of thousands of people around the
world who die, directly or indirectly, as a result of illicit drug use.
Having spent most of my career researching the human toll of drug use at almost
every stage of the supply and consumption chain, I believe a complete shift in
the way we think about the world’s drug problem is required.
We already have many years of evidence of the ways that drugs – both natural
and (increasingly) synthetic – are destabilising countries’ legal and political
institutions, devastating entire communities, and destroying millions of lives.
My question is, as with climate change, why are we so slow to recognise the
existential threat that drug use poses to humanity?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
