Trafficking in Illegal Drugs and Persons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Trafficking in Illegal Drugs and Persons - Essay Example Controling and minimizing cross-border terrorism and illegal trafficking of humans and drugs are the most challenging aspects of transnational crimes. An estimated 600,000 to 800,000 (the numbers are increasing every year) humans in the form of children, teenagers and women and men are the annual victims of this modern-day slavery of human trafficking. These victims of modern-day slavery are subjected to fraud, force or coercion to sexual exploitation and labor. (U.S Dept. of State, 2008) Othe illegal trafficking of humans, today, terrorism together with illegal trafficking of drugs is on the rise. To be able to tackle these issues that pose serious threat to the individual nations and mankind as a whole, a good strategy in terms of policy making is required. Polices that will be able to sufficiently express the predicament of transnational crimes in broader terms, and which will later help stretch the limited budget for the purpose. So in order to put across the urgent need to tackle with these crimes of transnational nature, that can cripple the country from its' inside in much extensive terms, the President decided to focus on three countries. The three countries are- Canada, Iran and France. The focus on these three countries will not provide only with the invaluable insights on how these countries engage in dealing with the three transnational forms of crimes, but also help in gaining the individual countries cooperation. On a global scale the industry of illegal drugs has grown to $400 billion (US $) approximately (Riley D.,1998). This rise in the illegal drugs industry has acted as fuel for organized crime; it has lead to the corruption of governments, violence and distortion of economic markets. Illegal drug trades and drug abuse has always been a crippling feature of the international as well as national scenes. For years attempts have been and are being made to combat the trafficking of illegal drugs and its' abuse, individually and bilaterally. However, these attempts have not been as successful as expected, but it has made the nations realize that the only through which this issue can be effectively handled is internationally coordinated action. The international cooperation to combat against drug abuse and illegal drug trade started in 1961, with the, Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, followed by Convention of Psychotropic Substances in 1971 and the Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. (Ludec D. and Lee J., 2003) Canada as a nation is not so much harsh in its, 'war on drugs'. The state has assigned much of its resources and energy to treatment rather than on enforcement. The nation's National Drug Strategy that was first launched in 1987 and renewed after every 5 years stresses demand reduction and increase in efficient treatment programs. In 1990, after it sanctioned the third UN convention of 1988, it made major changes and revisions in its drugs and narcotics related legislations- as to fulfill the international obligations as per the conventions. On 20th June 1996, it adopted the new legislation, Bill C-8, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). The main purpose of CDSA that forms the integral part of Canada's National Drug Strategy is, "to provide a framework for the control of import, production, export, distribution and use of mind-altering