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Article: Narcotics Policy
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Narcotics Policy
William O. Walker III
Efforts to control the production of and traffic in illicit drugs, commonly referred to as "the war on drugs," seem like a relatively recent phenomenon. The visibility of struggles since the late 1970s against drug
organizations, or "cartels," based in the prosperous Colombian cities of Cali and Medell
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n did much to shape that perception. Narcotraffickers, as major figures in the South American drug business are called, were responsible for the influx of powdered cocaine, crack cocaine, and, increasingly since the late 1980s, heroin into the United States.
Public awareness of drug control as an aspect of U.S. foreign policy likely ...