U.S. Official Outlines Strategy to Curb World's Illicit Drug Problem

(Beers ties enforcement to alternative crop development)  (750)
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- A strategy that combines law enforcement and the
promotion of alternative legal crops should be used to counter the
world's illicit drug industry, says Rand Beers, the State Department's
assistant secretary of state for International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement Affairs (INL).

Speaking February 9 at a two-day United Nations International Drug
Control Summit held at the U.S. Capitol, Beers said there is "no
single bullet or one perfect circumscribed solution" to dealing with
the drug problem, but instead a "series of tools and implements."

Beers said the question is how best to convince farmers that growing
illicit crops such as coca leaf used in making cocaine or opium poppy
plants is not in their best interests. The difficulty, he said, is
that farmers believe they can make more money from illegal drugs than
by growing alternative legal crops.

Creating markets for legal crops, building transportation systems to
get those products to market, creating other forms of employment, and
using community development to improve the life of the agricultural
community still might not stop farmers from cultivating illegal drugs,
Beers said.

"I think the answer is fairly straightforward," Beers said.
"Alternative development alone is insufficient." Rather, he said,
"alternative development paired with some kind of enforcement
mechanism is ultimately the only way to affect the decision-making on
the part of drug farmers around the world."

Beers said an enforcement strategy should aim to prevent the farmer
from being able to sell his illegal crop, by preventing it from being
taken to market, or preventing the buyers of drugs from getting to the
sellers, as was done in Peru, which resulted in the collapse in the
price of the coca leaf. In Bolivia, he added, farmers were warned that
even if they grew illicit products, government authorities were
prepared to cut down their crop, a strategy known as "involuntary
eradication."

Beers said it must be impressed upon farmers that they bear a risk in
trying to grow an illegal crop, and that living in a remote area will
not put them beyond government eradication efforts.

Beers noted the success of several countries around the world in
fighting illegal drugs. For instance, since 1985, there has been a 91
percent reduction in the cultivation of opium poppy in Thailand. Since
1992, Pakistan has shown an 81 percent reduction in opium poppy. Peru
has seen a 66 percent drop in coca cultivation, while Bolivia has
registered a 55 percent reduction in coca cultivation.

Another speaker at the summit, Rep. Dan Burton (Republican of
Indiana), warned that if the world community does not work together
against drug traffickers, "the regional stability of South America and
the economic stability of the world are at grave risk, especially if
democracy fails and drug traffickers prevail."

Burton, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, called for
a "comprehensive regional strategy" to fight drug traffickers. He
commended Peru's President Alberto Fujimori for his aerial
interdiction policy of shooting down drug-running aircraft. Burton
said the policy has proved successful in slowing coca production in
both Peru and Bolivia, in effectively closing the air bridge between
Peru and Colombia, and providing a "shining example of what can be
done when there is a will to do it."

Burton also commended the success of eradication and alternative
development programs in Bolivia. Government officials from that nation
said at the summit they hoped to make their country "drug-free" by
2002.

Summit participants, in a draft statement concerning their objectives,
said: "International cooperation is a crucial part of effective drug
control. Legislators and parliamentarians from around the world should
continue to work together and share information about successful
methods to reduce drug abuse, production and trafficking."

Among their specific recommendations, the participants said all
nations have a responsibility to provide alternative crop development
to replace illegal drugs eradicated in drug-producing regions. In
addition, they said cooperative drug interdiction and money laundering
efforts at the sub-regional and hemispheric level are an essential
part of cracking down on criminals who profit from drug trafficking.
Finally, they said treatment of drug abusers is an integral part of
demand reduction and should include treatment within criminal justice
systems.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
usinfo.state.gov)