[UNOCT] Narcoterrorism's Reign of Terror

Written by Wall Street Journal

The September 11th Al-Qaeda terrorist attack in 2001 remains a fresh wound for many Americans. The despair it has wrought upon American citizens is irreparable, and yet terrorism is still very much alive today.

Possessing the forms of bioterrorism, cyberterrorism, ecoterrorism, nuclear terrorism and most importantly, narcoterrorism, the United States and its citizens have a duty to play in ensuring economic, social and political stability under the threat of this climate of fear. 

What is narcoterrorism?

Narcoterrorism refers to the influence of government policies through intimidation or threats made by narcotics traffickers. One of the most well-known examples of narcoterrorism is Pablo Escobar’s dealings with the Colombian government. Following Pablo Escobar, drug trafficking has only continued to spread all across the world, and the term ‘narcoterrorism’ has extended to label terrorist organisations that engage in drug trafficking activities.

Narcoterrorism is one of America’s most pressing issues, with the opioid crisis having claimed the lives of more than 500,000 Americans in 2019. There are currently almost 250 million prescriptions for opioids written every year, which is more than enough bottles of pills for every adult in America. Rampant addiction and misuse of opioids has devastated the nation, and continues to seriously impact America’s social and economic welfare. 

What is America doing to combat this national crisis? 

In a UNOCT press conference, Wall Street Journal posed this question to the United States’ delegate. In response, the delegate stated that, “The United States intends to combat narcoterrorism by enforcing new legislations preventing the reselling and acquisition of drugs”. The legislations mentioned were not specifically stated. 

The delegate also stated that, “with President Biden, (America is) hoping to enter a new era of drug regulation in the USA, giving citizens the freedom to choose whether to indulge in drugs or not.”

This response cannot be interpreted as an actual solution, as American citizens already have the freedom to choose whether to partake in the consumption of drugs or not. Rather, the question at hand is how to prevent Americans from getting addicted to the opioids present in the everyday medication overprescribed by American doctors.

The Sackler family, dubbed by BBC as “America’s most hated family”, is well known for their contribution to the opioid crisis, regarding distribution of opioids and encouragement of overprescription of opioids, despite their unwillingness to bear responsibility for any part of it.

America’s response to this has been extremely underwhelming. Despite intentions of prosecuting the family’s company, Purdue Pharma, the manner in which the prosecution is executed not only allows the Sackler family to keep their immense fortune, but also results in future suing of the family to be rendered impossible.

Due to the ineffective legal handling of this situation, the Sackler family will not be held properly accountable for their narco terrorist crimes, and narcoterrorism will only continue to plague the lives of American citizens.

It is evident that more must be done to combat narcoterrorism in the United States, starting with holding offenders accountable and investigating overprescription of opioids in healthcare. 


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