Cocaine Cowboys

Cocaine Cowboys was a shocking depiction of the problems and trouble that came along with drugs here in the United States in the state of Florida. Florida and the United States in general are not the only countries that have had this problem; in fact it seems to have hit the U.S. pretty late in the game. With drugs come a series of problems such as violence, corruption, lack of safety, and in general unnecessary death.  Drugs and their aftermath spread like disease both in distance and in rank. The 70’s drug era while destroying a lot also exposed a lot of holes for our country allowing them to work towards plugging them.

In Younger’s reading, Collateral Damage it is stated that “drug trafficking breeds criminality, exacerbates political violence, and hence greatly increases problems of citizen security,” which is exactly what was depicted in the film. The United States, unlike other countries, were not prepared for the drug wars and the aftermath that came with them not having ever dealt with a problem like this. The policies that were developed by our government and still being improved today have been looked to for a model by other countries also experiencing this war on drugs. However, as discussed in Younger’s article what works for us isn’t necessarily helping other countries, because the policies we have in place are largely taking away funds that could be put into other areas of our government hindering some growth in different areas. What is working to the best of its ability in our country is also hindering the democratic progress of other countries because they are stable within that system as we are. Then there are the problems of our policies with other countries creating violence or conflict with the military and police and the drug producers. While these policies are benefiting us they are harming other countries in the process. These are issues that are very complex and surely hard to fix, but government should be trying to find ways of to benefit us without harming others. The act that was implemented by George W. Bush seems to be trying just that by aiding other countries and helping make drug production and trafficking more risky and costly. However, no matter what policy is implemented, now that people have known drugs and know the potential money that come out of them people will always look for ways around the government to get the job done.

One of the biggest issues in the movie, besides the obvious violence, was the corruption that it bread. There were several people in the film that mentioned how they paid off an official or officer or made campaign contributions with their drug money, and no one cared where the money came from or what moral codes they were breaking as long as the price was right. And in the second reading, The Contras, Cocaine, and Covert Operations there are several government entries that were uncovered by reporter Gary Webb tracing and tying government into drug affairs. There are several accounts of government agents knowing about drug running and illegal activity and even government taking bribes from cartels such as the Medellin Cartel and funneling it into the contras. The corruption of government should not be allowed, but from best we can tell it seems that there will always be someone somewhere that can be bought or will simply look the other way as long as their benefitting.