The Illegal drug Trade

The trade in illegal drugs is a multi-billion dollar business, and a global problem. Millions of people worldwide are regular users of illegal drugs, and millions more are involved in their production, trafficking, and sale. The trade of illegal drugs has always existed, but has become even more serious to various nations and governmental organizations in recent times. Drugs are mainly produced in developing countries, but are produced worldwide, even in developed countries like Canada and the United States. Major consumer countries include Canada, the United States, and European nations, although consumption is worldwide. In jurisdictions where legislations restricts or prohibits the sale of certain popular drugs, it is common for an illegal drug trade to develop. There have been no effective solutions to the global billion dollar illegal drug trade and its' negative economic and social impacts.

Drugs are produced all around the world, and are then exported to other countries to be sold.

Latin America and the Caribbean

English: Four ounces of low-grade marijuana, usual...

Panamanian motor vessel Gatun during the largest d...

Some major drug farming and manufacturing areas are Columbia and other South American countries mainly for cocaine, the Asian "Golden Triangle" (border areas of Thailand, Burma, and Laos) for opium, the US for methamphetamine, Afghanistan and Pakistan for heroin, parts of Canada for cannabis, and the Netherlands and Belgium for ecstasy. Regardless of the source, high demand for illegal drugs on the black market leads to the formation of complex illegitimate production, smuggling, and distribution networks that span across national orders and generate billions of dollars of revenue.

Illegal drugs can generally be categorized into two main types - those which are grown naturally (they come from plants) and those which are made in labs (made from chemicals). For the first category, the growing area is very important and substantial farming is needed for mass production. This category includes drugs like cannabis products (marijuana, hashish,