9781422280218

And, of course, drugs cost money, often a lot of money. When their own money runs out, drug users may begin stealing from family and friends, or when desperate, they may even rob or mug people in the street. And if a user owes a drug dealer money, the drug dealer will not wait. First, he threatens, then he attacks to get his money. It may not be the user he attacks, but the user’s family. Soon, the drug user is simply trying to survive. Chances are that others are also running scared. Drug dealers threaten entire communi- ties, menacing users and fighting other drug gangs. Violent turf wars erupt as different gangs battle to take over a neighborhood, or to protect the one they control. When guns are used, innocent people can also be wounded or killed. And what was once a safe community—the kind of place where children could play in the street safely and parents did not worry if their children were gone a bit longer than they said they would be—becomes a place threatened by potential violence and terror. Figures prove that, where the DEA has stopped a drug gang from operating in a community, both gun-related violence and the overall crime rate drop dramatically. Why? Because much of the violence and crime in communities is drug-related. More- over, that violence can extend nationwide, even worldwide. It is probable that the ter- rorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were funded by drugs. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which published a report on the link between drugs and terrorist attacks in 2007, “drug trafficking has provided funding for insurgency and those who use terrorist violence in various regions throughout the world, including in transit regions. In some cases, drugs have even been the currency used in the com- mission of terrorist attacks, as was the case in the Madrid bombings {train bombings of 2004}.” Many of these drugs are sold through trafficking in the United States and Europe. There has never been a better reason to just say no to drugs—and help in the war against terrorism.

14

D efending O ur N ation

Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter