Speaker criticizes U.S. drug policy
By Omar Yunus
The Flat Hat
Sanho Tree, the current chair of the International and Border Affairs Committee of the Nation Coalition for Effective Drug Policy, addressed a gathering of 30 people at Small Hall Tuesday night. Tree's appearance was primarily sponsored by Students for Sensible Drug Policy. The topic of his presentation was U.S. involvement in the Columbian Drug War.
"It's unfortunate we have to learn about Columbia through this drug war," he said.
Tree's presentation began with background information on Columbia's civil war, which has been ongoing for 38 years. The factions involved in the war include the Columbian government and various guerrilla and paramilitary groups.
Tree also said that U.S. anti-drug policy in Columbia was detrimental to reducing cocaine usage. In illustrating this, he went on to identify three major causes for the drug crop problem in the area.
First, Tree pointed to the extreme poverty in Columbia. With a poverty line of $2 a day and with 40 percent of the population living on less than $1 a day, Tree said that selling coca plants -- processed to make cocaine and other narcotics -- is sometimes the only apparent way to subsist. He added that growing other crops is not economically feasible, since infrastructure and vehicles to transport goods and materials are lacking.
"The state has abandoned these people," he said.
With no roads, vehicles or markets to sell other crops, Tree said that poverty encouraged the growth of coca and the resulting worldwide distribution of cocaine. U.S. policy did not adequately address poverty.
According to Tree, the undiminished demand for cocaine was the second reason for the drug problem. Internationally, the illegal drug industry totals $400 to $500 billion.
"Ninety percent of U.S. cocaine is from Columbia," he said.
To attack this problem, Tree said the U.S. employs a "war paradigm" to address what should be a health problem as a criminal justice problem. Such policies have included supplying Columbia's military with billions of dollars, toppling drug cartels and aerially fumigating fields to kill coca plants.
"The more risk to the trafficker, the more it's going to cost, if people are willing to buy it," he said.
The resulting increased value of cocaine was his third point.
Proportional amounts of cocaine are "worth many, many times more than solid gold," he said.
Tree also discussed some consequences of other U.S. policies, especially aerial fumigation. While planes are supposed to fly at low altitudes for concentrated sprayings, Tree said that planes were often forced higher due to gunfire, resulting in imprecise spraying which hurts plant life, livestock and even people.
"It's important to remember there are families as well," he said, adding that there was only correlation-based evidence to show the sprayings affected local people.
According to Tree, attitudes of the U.S. government towards Columbia have changed since Sept. 11, 2001.
"Since [the terrorist attacks of] 9/11, the U.S. has taken a different spin towards Columbia," Tree said. The drug war is "now called Narco-Terrorism. But there's no such thing as Narco-Terrorism ... it's a political construct."
Some students that attended the lecture empathized with Tree.
"It was a very sad thing to listen to," senior John Heifitz said. "I got this feeling of hopelessness."
Freshman Ariana Reilly said she learned about the scope of the international drug industry.
"I didn't really realize how complicated the drug issue is," she said.
For more information on Columbia and the drug problem, visit www.usfumigation.org or www.ips-dc.org/projects/drugpolicy.htm.
|
