- Urge Home - Your Body - Your Mind - Drugs and Alcohol - Beyond
School - Our Society - Connecting You |The Global Drug Trade|
|Poverty and Terrorism| The trade behind cocaine (or coca, as
the plant of origin is known) and heroin (which comes from opium
poppies) is a global issue. An estimated four million people
depend on income derived from the cultivation of illicit drug
crops. In the year 2000, the global drug trade was estimated at
a value of US$400 billion. It’s an issue worth more than the
price of feeding the planet over the same period of time. From
the rainforests of South America to the remotest parts of
Afghanistan to Pete Doherty’s honker, we trace the journey of
the most profitable crops in the world. Ironically, the two most
fatal drugs are still legal today and taxed to the hilt by
governments around the world. Alcohol and tobacco kill more
people than illicit drugs every year and are both widely
accepted and available. The very fact that other drugs are
illegal increases the profit to be made