Nexus - 0703 - New Times Magazine-pages

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instruments can the necessary conditions for the democratisation management of these interests in the domestic domain may be, of society be brought about (Dorn, Jepsen and Savona, 1996:4). with the internationalisation of both the drug economy and drug As proponents of legalisation and those of intensified law law enforcement this task places governments in far greater enforcement vie with one another in the media and political are- difficulties. No matter how good the intentions of drug law nas, the two worlds of crime and law enforcement are increasing enforcement may be, no matter how valuable their outcomes are, their grip on society. Both are extending the scope of their activi- they are unlikely to curb the expansion of the drug industry. ties, professionalising and internationalising their operations. It is to this spiralling escalation between two power contenders Moreover, they seem to find support in the existence of one on different sides of the law that I want to draw attention in this another. article. My quest is to understand how this failure is produced, To understand the perverse dynamics of both the booming drug why this policy is continued and what its consequences are. industry and the proliferating state powers to control it, it is my Thereby, I mainly try to explain the escalation of the drug war and contention that more attention should understand its underlying dynamics as be given to the political and econom- . deriving from structural changes in ic interests related to both the drug The War on Drugs Is actually, the global political economy. I thus economy and its control. Equally, the A A A look at the drug war as a response to intertwined symbiotic and systemic In effect, creating an escalation the problems states face in dealing interactions of the upperworld and of drug consumption, as well as with the loss of their authority in a the underworld, which take shape in ae 7 globalising world. Thereby, I focus the international political economy, driving the fast-growing on the political and economic stakes need to be more closely scrutinised. (private) prison industry. of drug trafficking and drug control, Why people produce, traffic and and analyse the flourishing of both consume drugs are very complex . . . the drug industry and the crime con- issues. Money and the power (pover- It Is also being used to usher in trol industry as forms of projecting ty and marginalisation) that goes with increased surveillance of power and imposing social discipline it account for trafficking and much and as mechanisms of wealth accu- production. But other answers that the population. mulation more adapted to the exigen- explain the flourishing of the drug cies of the pursuit of power and plen- economy must be found in society. ty in the "new world order". My core These relate to how a society is structured, how political power is point is that misguided assumptions and the instrumentalisation of accrued and wielded within it, how economic policy is applied, the War on Drugs, in both domestic and international domains, how the economy performs, and how resistant the cultural fabric subvert the goals of the prohibition regime and produce not only is to the use of public office for private gain (Tullis, 1991:2). To unintended but also intended consequences that explain its escala- understand the policy options and policy choices of governments, tion. we have to consider these factors as well. By an incipient theory of the International Drugs Complex (as I Dealing with these drug-related interests and the multifarious label it), I hope to offer a deeper understanding of the mutual and interdependent dimensions of the drug problem presents dynamics of the expanding drug industry and the extension of governments with very complex policy choices. Difficult as the repressive state powers, and provide further insights in the loom- ing and actual dangers posed by these forces for the democratisation of societies. The theoretical concept of the International Drug Complex is chosen in analogy with the theory of the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC), which was broad- ly used to explain for the longevity of the Cold War, the spiralling arms race, the persistence of ideological antagonisms, 'perverted' priorities in state budgets and interventionist proclivities of big powers' foreign poli- cies (Rosen, 1973:1). To explain the dynamics underlying these societal events and tendencies, the theory of the MIC focused specifically on relations between the military estab- lishment and the weapons industry, that together, within the social, economic and institutional fabric of specific countries, formed a community of interest powerful enough to lead to such outcomes. Apart from analysing such symbiotic relations between dif- ferent players with common and interrelated interests (e.g., special-interest groups seeking special attention from the government), the theory of the MIC also focused on more systemic factors that lead to the growth of both the arms industry and the military ser- vices. Such systemic factors, the theory asserted, exist within a specific society as well as in the international YES, YES, W'S ALL SET,..WE ESTABLISH 2000 INELATED DUMMY INTERMIET COMPANIES, DE BASING MATER WESTERN CULLEN CLES, SPARKING A COMPUTER LED PANIC Of THE TOkt® pvp New YokK STOCK EXCHANGES, LEADING TO THIRD - WORLD CIVIL ANARCHY APD FIRST-WORLD POL IT- {ICAL YACUUMS VIA WHICH WE SYBSIME AU EXECUTIVE POWER APY ESTABLISH A ove WORLO PICTATORSHIP. BUT I Can't START ANT OF THAT UNTIL I Fino mY OTHER DAMMED CONTACT LENS. The War on Drugs is actually, in effect, creating an escalation of drug consumption, as well as driving the fast-growing (private) prison industry. It is also being used to usher in increased surveillance of YES, YES, W'S ALL SET,..WE ESTABLISH 2000 INFLATED DUMMY INTERMET COMPANIES, DE BASING MAIER WESTERN CULLEN CLES, SPARKING A COMPUTER LED PANIC Of THE TOkt® pvp New Yokk STock EXCHANGES, LEADING TO THIRD - WORLD CIVIL ANARCHY APD FIRST-WORLD POL IT- ICAL VACUUMS VIA WHICH WE SUBSUME AU EXECUTIVE (POWER APY ESTABLISH A OWE WORLO DICTATORSHIP. BUT IT cart START ANT OF THAT UATIL T Fino mY OTdeR DAMMED CONTACT LENS, — arena. 28 = NEXUS APRIL — MAY 2000 the population.