The extensive Impact of Illicit Plant and drug production on Colombian Deforestation Introduction
Illegal substances hurt and destroy not only the lives of the users; they devastate the environment they are grown and manufactured in as well. Since the 1970’s the illegal drug industry in Colombia encompassing everything from growing coca plants to the perceived government solutions have been destroying the lush Colombian ecosystem. Colombia is geographically superior to every other country in South America for three reasons. The first reason being that that it is the only country in the continent that shares a border with Latin America. Next reason is they have both pacific and Atlantic coastlines. The third reason is they have huge amount of biodiversity and unbeaten growing conditions. For these reasons along with a global high demand for illegal substances and certain indigenous plants have made illicit plant/drug production flourished in Colombia for over 40 years. The boom in demand for cocaine came in the 1970’s and has continued to today. In the year 2000 it was estimated Colombia is responsible for 75% of the worlds coca. (Energy & Ecology business editors, 2011) Not to mention the large-scale opium poppy and marijuana production occurring in Colombia. This illegal drug industry wreaks havoc on the Colombia’s Environment more specifically their forests. Deforestation has gradually been getting worse and worse in Colombia since the introduction of the illicit crop and drug trade. Slash and burning is one devastating technique in order to clear the forest for growing and manufacturing. (Blair, 2008) The toxins from the production and refinement of cocaine cause huge environmental implications. The government prevention of coca plant growth, cocaine production, and distribution causes huge environmental issues and only makes the deforestation much more rapid. This poses a huge threat to human life as the Amazon provides much of the worlds oxygen. Also the indigenous life, in the form of wildlife and native peoples to the amazon are in great danger. As well as their habitats disappearing, the native people are forced into drug cultivation. I intend to expose one of the many downsides of getting high by looking into the environmental harm behind illicit crop/drug cultivation and production.

Analysis of effects
Deforestation spurred by illicit crop/drug production has become such a huge problem in Colombia due to the fact there is no regulation behind this illegal activity. This means the drug producers can grow and manufacture where they want and as much as they want. Then they can use whatever toxin they like and dispose of them wherever way is easiest. It takes around a half a ton of fertilizers, pesticides, sulphuric acid and other chemicals to turn an acre of coca to pure cocaine. (Blair, 2008) All bi-products are then dumped in the forest or in the Amazon River. Due to high worldly demand Colombian drug lords have been producing as quick as they can. Now because these are highly criminal activities there is much pressure on eliminating drug related behavior, often not worrying about the environmental implications. Therefore the solutions to mitigating drug crime are actually having a negative impact on the issue of deforestation. When all things are factored in you really get an understanding of the devastation that illegal plant and drug production causes. “The Colombian government says four sq. meters (4.8 sq. yards) of rain forest have to be cleared to produce a gram of cocaine — and 2.2 million hectares (5.44 million acres) of Colombian tropical forest have been cut down to grow coca in the last twenty years.” (Day, 2008) In comparison U.S funded ariel pesticide spraying accounted for destroying around 400 000 acres last year. (Blair, 2008) Biodiversity surveyors have even found guerilla groups have been sprayed even when there are no traces of illicit crops. The authorities are misusing this harmful chemical. (Alvarez, 2001) Clearly these pesticides have some fatal effects if they cause 400 000 acres of rainforest to basically wither up and die. However its not only the forest in which it kills. Local farmers have had crops dying off from this spray. (Clune/ Harper, no year) This displays just how many different effects this drug production has on Colombia. Rainforests carry around 10% of the world’s plant and animal sources. Many of which are developed into new medicines. This poses a huge risk for biodiversity but also poses a risk for the health and future of our biophysical and socioeconomic environments. (Anonymous/ Energy & Ecology, 2011) What a lot of people don’t realize is deforestation causes many other environmental issues including depletion of coral reefs. (Tropical Americas, 2008)(Map below) This is why it is so important to protect our forests. However over the last 10 years there has been a trend in Colombia towards less crime and a more stability. There unemployment has had a decreasing tendency. (Trading economics, 2012) Poverty rates also dropped 10% from 2002 to 2010 (Peters, 2011) There has been a raising push for the country to change there ways due to the war on drugs which is occurring in the Latin America area. They understand if they don’t start to get their country under control now that it could soon be to late.

Slash and burn technique for clearing land

Analysis of solutions
There are few solutions in place to help fix the issue of deforestation caused by the production of illicit crops and drugs. This is an illegal activity so there are polices completely banning the acts however that will have little enforcement. One solution that is in effect now is called uprooting. (Kraul, 2008) People will simply travel around Colombia pulling out illicit crops. This pursuit reduces drug production and in return lessens the amount of deforestation. Since the year 2000 90 people have been killed during uprooting of illicit plants. Landmines and remote controlled explosives are used to protect cultivation and manufacturing sites. (Kraul, 2008) However this will never be a complete solution. This method requires constant missions, is not very efficient and is quite dangerous work. Therefore another option is needed to provide a permanent solution in order to deliver the protection the amazon rainforest needs. This next option is extremely radical but would be much more effective in controlling Colombia’s and the rest of South America’s deforestation problem. This option is legalization and is actually endorsed by the Colombian president. (Goiriena, 2012) Legalization of marijuana is an idea that is now often brought into consideration by governments to control black market/ criminal problems. However legalization of a variety of drugs is quite drastic. The effect that the legalization of harder drugs would have on a country is extremely difficult to estimate. However a country such as Portugal who has had all drugs decriminalized for years has experienced positive social effects after they imposed the law. Portugal had the highest rate of drug users in Europe. However within 5 years they noticed reduced rates of teenage drug use and those looking for addiction treatment more then doubled. (Svalavitz, 2009) The thing about this legalization notion is it has many positive effects in Colombia non environmentally related including majority reductions of drug related activities, violence, unfair working conditions, deadly pesticide spray effects on people and food supply, poverty/unemployment. Environmentally it would significantly reduce deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and all different forms of pollution. Therefore I believe legalization of selected drugs is the right decision for Colombia.

Conclusion
I would recommend Colombia legalize a few illegal drugs in order to get a grip on their country. It’s not as if Colombia has a few little problems that can be fixed with some minor changes. They have to look at these problems from a different point of view then the point of view that helped them create them. They must do something drastic in order to have a lasting effect and one that will revolutionize their country. Things are already so bad in Colombia that there isn’t much room for them to get worse. Therefore why not just test legalization out, see what it does and how it makes things transform. If problems do not start to see an immediate change for the better, then change the laws back. Its better to take action, then to hope that the problems will resolve themselves.

References Maria D Alvarez., FORESTS UNDER FIRE NACLA, Report on the Americas, july/Aug 2001, Vol. 35, Issue 1, available from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=2e5ddad7-9afa-48a3-b6a4-c82a8e4f6e17%40sessionmgr10&vid=1&hid=15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=4912663

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Trading Economics, March 2012, Available at: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/colombia/unemployment-rate

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