NewsWhore
08-27-2010, 05:00 PM
Criminologist Jose Raul Cepeda Borrero of Puerto Rico's Inter-American University is warning that the biggest danger that the countries of the Caribbean, the DR included, face at this time is going from being a bridge and transfer point to being a consumption point. He said this results in serious social problems of drug addiction and a high incidence of crime related to drug trafficking, as reported in today's Diario Libre.
Hogar Crea, the leading drug rehabilitation center, is reporting an increase in the number of requests for its services. In May, Hogar Crea's Leopoldo Diaz said that 4,000 users of marijuana, crack, cocaine and heroin required their help during 2009. He estimates that drug dependency has risen by about 10%.
A report by the National Drug Control Department (DNCD) indicates that from August 2009 to date, they have seized 7,621 kilograms of narcotics, of which 5,964.5 kilograms were cocaine and 1,614.9 kilograms were marijuana.
Cepeda said that the strategies of the anti-narcotics agencies such as the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) were not effective. He said they "are never going to work because they are focused on prohibitionist policies and the iron fist and arresting people and seizing drugs, but they don't tackle the social problems behind drug trafficking."
He said that the Caribbean nations urgently needed to work out their own recipes for pursuing drug trafficking, because it is not the same to be a part of the drug trafficking route as it is to be a drug consumers market.
He told Dominicans to look in the mirror of Puerto Rico, "where the fight against drugs has consumed millions of dollars and the results continue to be minimal in comparison to the seriousness of the problem".
Drug consumption is currently one of the principal health problems in Puerto Rico, with increasingly alarming statistics. It is estimated that around 70,000 people are addicted to drugs spending US$3,000,000 a day on drug purchases. This costs the government more than US$600 million a year.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
Hogar Crea, the leading drug rehabilitation center, is reporting an increase in the number of requests for its services. In May, Hogar Crea's Leopoldo Diaz said that 4,000 users of marijuana, crack, cocaine and heroin required their help during 2009. He estimates that drug dependency has risen by about 10%.
A report by the National Drug Control Department (DNCD) indicates that from August 2009 to date, they have seized 7,621 kilograms of narcotics, of which 5,964.5 kilograms were cocaine and 1,614.9 kilograms were marijuana.
Cepeda said that the strategies of the anti-narcotics agencies such as the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) were not effective. He said they "are never going to work because they are focused on prohibitionist policies and the iron fist and arresting people and seizing drugs, but they don't tackle the social problems behind drug trafficking."
He said that the Caribbean nations urgently needed to work out their own recipes for pursuing drug trafficking, because it is not the same to be a part of the drug trafficking route as it is to be a drug consumers market.
He told Dominicans to look in the mirror of Puerto Rico, "where the fight against drugs has consumed millions of dollars and the results continue to be minimal in comparison to the seriousness of the problem".
Drug consumption is currently one of the principal health problems in Puerto Rico, with increasingly alarming statistics. It is estimated that around 70,000 people are addicted to drugs spending US$3,000,000 a day on drug purchases. This costs the government more than US$600 million a year.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)