Drug Trafficking in the United States
Amie Woods
Instructor Shelley Lawyer
English Composition 122
January 23, 2012

The topic I choose to discuss is Drug Trafficking in the United States. The reason I choose this topic is, because I want to inform you about the social, and the ethical effects that drug trafficking has on upon our society. From people robbing others to families stealing from each other to leaving children without one or both parents, drugs have affected our daily lives. Some addicts spend so much time and money trying to obtain drugs or under the influence of drugs that they neglect their family, friends, and work. (World Book, 2012) I will show through statistics how drug trafficking affects our economy, and introduce you to some low-level offenders that have had stiffer sentences than others simply because of their color of their skin. Last year the United States spent 68 billion dollars on incarcerating drug traffickers, and low-level offenders. (Global Commission on Drugs) (2011) In 1972, there were an estimated 300,000 people incarcerated compared to 2.3 million today. (Global Commission on Drugs) (2011) I started the research trying to limit the topic to drug cartels’, but it was too much information, and I found myself being overwhelmed with all of it. I then changed my focus to the social, ethical, and political side of the coin, because I found it to be more intriguing and much more important. I will show you how drug dealers are recruiting elderly people, and children to carry their drugs across borders with the promise of big money. Many countries have employed the rhetoric of war to combat the drug trade. There are countries where violent kingpins have created large militias. The sensational appetite that America has developed for drugs has triggered trafficking charges that impose lengthy prison