Sky
17th January 2008, 01:00
The legalization of drugs in the United States would have a serious effect on the economic livelihood of millions of peasants around the developing world:
The Colombian economy is dependent on the drug industry. Colombia's National Association of Financial Institutions (ANIF) estimated the nation's 1999 income from the illegal drug trade to be $3.5 billion (assuming 10 percent of the profits were repatriated), which is close to the income from oil, and more than the income from coffee. As much as 3 percent of Colombia's workforce, or 300,000 people, are directly employed in the drug industry. Drug cultivation accounts for 6.7 percent of Colombia's agricultural production, compared to 12 percent for coffee. In some regions the percentage approaches 50 percent. If legalization were to occur suddenly, without any provision for softening the economic shock, the effects on the Colombian economy could be devastating.
Revenues from the illicit drug trade are very helpful for national liberation forces:
It is estimated that Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), has an annual income of $448 million, $180 million of which comes from taxing the drug trade.
http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia150.htm
The Colombian economy is dependent on the drug industry. Colombia's National Association of Financial Institutions (ANIF) estimated the nation's 1999 income from the illegal drug trade to be $3.5 billion (assuming 10 percent of the profits were repatriated), which is close to the income from oil, and more than the income from coffee. As much as 3 percent of Colombia's workforce, or 300,000 people, are directly employed in the drug industry. Drug cultivation accounts for 6.7 percent of Colombia's agricultural production, compared to 12 percent for coffee. In some regions the percentage approaches 50 percent. If legalization were to occur suddenly, without any provision for softening the economic shock, the effects on the Colombian economy could be devastating.
Revenues from the illicit drug trade are very helpful for national liberation forces:
It is estimated that Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), has an annual income of $448 million, $180 million of which comes from taxing the drug trade.
http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia150.htm