DRUG BUST

In this past week alone, the US Coast Guard has seized 2 Colombian vessels transporting a combined 7 tons (approximately $196 million) of cocaine. These vessels are a relatively new (and improved) way of transporting drugs into the US. They are believed to be made in the jungles of Colombia and are described as semi-submarines. This new semi-submerged model of the vessels makes finding them in the ocean "more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack," said Michael Braun, Chief of Operations for the DEA.

After reading the article, I immediately thought 'Oh great, the US is acting as the world police again'. Both vessels were captured south of Guatemala--not too close to home. Upon further research, I learned that at that point of the ocean is really a sort of international domain, where different countries share jurisdiction.

I then began to think of this article in reference to the global War on Drugs. Is this 'war' really effective? Clearly, the US making a dent in supply of drugs via semi-submarines, but that does mean the drugs aren't getting into the country some other way. Those of you familiar with The Secret will be familiar with the theory that focusing on keeping drugs out of circulation really just creates more motivation towards getting/keeping drugs in global circulation which makes the problem worse. In my opinion, this search-and-seizure method the US is currently entertaining will do just that.

I think that the international community needs to pull together and find a solution to this problem that will make more than a temporary impact--clearly more can and should be done.