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Реферат: Doubts accident result of freak weather (Иностранные языки)
Article:
Doubts accident result of freak weather
An accident
An international task force investigating the effects of the devastating
cyanide spill from a part-owned Australian gold mine in Romania will be
urged to focus on the project's construction standards amid doubts the
accident was caused by freak weather.
Sources in the European Commission in Brussels, which will co-ordinate the
establishment of the task force, and Hungarian official sources, said
questions had been raised about whether construction of the tailings dam
met accepted international standards.
The dam burst, releasing a toxic sludge into rivers and creating Europe's
worst river pollution disaster for decades. The sources said construction
standards were likely to become the key issue in assessing the extent of
liability of the project owners, who face damage and compensation claims of
millions of dollars
Officials said evidence from people in the accident area raised serious
doubts about whether weather conditions, which the project owners have
blamed for causing the dam burst, were anywhere near as severe as this.
The Australian manager of the Baia Mare project, Mr Phil Evers, said after
meeting the EU's Environment Commissioner, Ms Margot Wallstroem, at the
mine site that weather conditions before the accident were "extremely
unusual".
This, he said, had created a flood which had burst the tailings dam.
He said there had been heavier than normal snow falls in December and last
month, followed by heavy rainfall and
"a very severe thawing event" which had created an extraordinarily large
volume of water.
Mr Evers declined to comment on the construction standards of the dam.
The establishment of the task force was announced by Ms Wallstroem during
her visit to the affected area.
The mine owners will also conduct their own scientific investigation of the
accident, with an Australian expert team comprising an hydrologist, a
biologist and a chemist due at the mine site at the weekend.
Describing the contamination of the East European river system as a
catastrophe for the people living by the rivers, Ms Wallstroem said she
wanted answers about "what happened, how bad is the damage and what can be
done to rehabilitate the environment".
She also criticised the Australian half owner of the project, Esmeralda
Exploration, for what she said was an attempt to play down the seriousness
of the effects of the cyanide spill.
"They have to be prudent in what they are saying. This is a serious
environmental accident. For the people who depend on this water, it is a
catastrophe," Ms Wallstroem said.
Australia's Minister for the Environment, Senator Hill, said yesterday he
would look at sending technical or scientific expertise to the mining
disaster site but stressed that he felt Australia did not have any
financial liability for the accident
Crop circles are not a modern phenomenon.
They are mentioned in academic texts of the late 17th Century, and almost
200 cases- some with eyewitness accounts- have been reported prior to 1970.
Since then some eighty eyewitnesses from as far away as British Columbia
have reported crop circles forming in under twenty seconds; cases are often
accompanied by sightings of incandescent or brightly-coloured balls of
light, shafts of light or structured flying craft.
Serious attention was given to the simple circles in 1980 in southern
England. The designs appeared primarily as simple circles, circle with
rings, and variations on the Celtic cross up into the mid-1980s. Then they
developed straight lines and created pictograms, not unlike petroglyphs.
After 1990 the designs developed exponentially in complexity, and today it
is not unusual to come across designs mimicking computer fractals and
elements that relate to fourth dimensional quantum physics. Their sizes
have also increased, some occupying areas as large as 200,000 sq feet. To
date there have been over 10,000 reported and documented crop circles
throughout the world, with some 90% emerging from southern England. While
many still go unreported each year, the emegence of the phenomenon in the
world media and the internet has allowed more information to be lodged.
If you happen to buy the story that all crop circles were originated by two
sexagenarians with planks of wood, string and a weegie board, you are not
in the minority. Once in a while, governments like to control public
interest in unexplained phenomena by generating a disinformation method
called 'debunking', a technique invented during the Cold War for the sad
purpose of controlling mass opinion in the face of unexplainable phenomena
(this was the prime motive of the 1953 Robertson Panel, details of which
are obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act). The method is very
effective because the media provides little or no scientific or factual
data with which the public can form an educated opinion on the subject.
This absence of evidence is then replaced by ridiculing the subject through
association with other 'fringe' topics; so-called experts are brought-in to
explain away all the events as freak weather conditions or the work,
general pranksters, even sexually excited animals!
According to TV documentaries, all crop circles up to 1992 were made by two
simple, elderly men called Doug and Dave. It has since been discovered by
researchers such as George Wingfield and Armen Victorian that the D&D story
was tied to the British Ministry of Defense- in collusion with the CIA,
among others. Evidence supplied by a high-ranking informant in the British
Ministry of Defence suggested that the government had every intent to
discredit the phenomenon by putting forward two hoaxers in an effort to
quell growing public interest in crop circles. When confronted to provide
evidence on certain claimed formations, Doug and Dave changed their story,
even reversing previous claims; or they simply remained silent when asked
to explain the list of features found in the genuine phenomenon. When they
claimed making all the formations around the English county of Hampshire,
for example, it was pointed out that half the known formations had actually
occured in another county- "Er, no, we didn't do those either," they
replied. In the end, not even Doug and Dave knew which ones they had made.
And although they claim to have made hoaxes since 1978- at the time the
published date of the first design- evidence witheld confirmed crop circles
dating back into the 1930s. The public has never heard these retractions,
nor been given the opportunity to compare the mess created by D&D with the
mathematical symmetry of the real phenomenon.
In 1998, however, the surviving member of the deceptive duo did make an
incredible admission to British newspapers that he'd been guided by an
unknown force.
Since Doug and Dave's inauguration, many copycat hoaxers have appeared on
the scene. Some do it to disprove or derail researchers, some for profit,
some because they are sociopaths, some because they genuinely believe they
can communicate back to the phenomenon (with very interesting results, I
may add). Prior to 1989 the hoaxing problem was virtually unheard of. After
1990 designs of man-made origin vary by year- in 1992 and 1998 it was as
high as 90%, in 1996 as low as 20%.
That people with a good amount of training can go into a field and
eventually create a coherent pattern has never been the issue- recently, a
group of known hoaxers called TEam Satan/the circlemakers was paid to go to
conveniently out-of-the-way New Zealand to make an elaborate formation for
The Discovery Channel. The deceptive tactics used to trick a viewing public
into accepting the hoax theory are dealt with here.
The issue is that no man-made crop circle has satisfactorily replicated the
features associated with the real phenomenon, and this has baffled
scientists and researchers. Crop circles are created by a force seemingly
at odds with modern science. Central to the hoax argument is that a
physical object is required to flatten the crop to the ground, resulting in
the breaking of the plant stems. In genuine formations the stems are not
broken but bent (left), normally about an inch off the ground at the
plant's first node. The plants appear to be subjected to a short and
intense burst of heat which softens the stems to drop just above the ground
at 90Є, where they reharden into their new and very permanent position
without damaging the plants.
Plant biologists are baffled by this phenomenon and farmers, who know how
the land ticks, are baffled by this. It is the singlemost method of
identifying the real phenomenon. Research and laboratory tests suggest that
microwave or ultrasound may be the only method capable of producing such an
effect.
Crop circles are sometimes accompanied by trilling sounds, since captured
on tape and analysed by NASA as artificial in origin, with a harmonic
component in the infrasonic range.
The detection of electromagnetism also differentiates genuine formations
from fakes. This naturally-occuring energy is known to exist at ancient
sites such as stone circles, long barrows, tumuli, dolmens and menhirs, and
in churches and cathedrals which were built upon these sites. Crop circles,
sacred sites and other places of worship are also found upon intersecting
points along the Earth's invisible energy grid, and the size and shape of a
crop circle is typically determined by the area of these 'node' points on
the Earth's surface. The frequencies of this energy are associated with
changes in brainwave patterns and affect the body's biophysical rhythm, so
it is not unusual to find reports of people experiencing heightened states
of awareness and healings in crop circles- a situation also common to
sacred sites. People may also experience dizziness, disorientation and
nausea- effects caused by prolonged exposure to infrasound or microwave
frequencies.
Biophysical evidence includes plants' expanded epidermal walls, and
drastically extended node bends in fresh formations (normalright, crop
circle far right); also observed are distortions of seed embryos, and the
creation of expulsion cavities in the plants as if they have been heated
from the inside. In genuine formations there is a disruption of the plant's
crystalline structure, as these microscope photos demonstrate (left).
Yet in all cases, the plants are not damaged and will continue to grow and
ripen if left untouched. This would not be possible had they been trampled
by force.
Genuine crop circles are areas of gently laid and swirled plants which
create a floor in mathematical proportions similar to the Golden Mean, the
vortex nature uses to create precision organisms such as shells,
sunflowers, the spatial relationship of the bones in the human hand and
galaxies. The floor of crop circles can have up to five layers of weaving,
all in counterflow to each other, with every seed head intact and placed
beside each other as if arranged in a museum case; the centres can contain
nested, woven, crested, or wreathed swatches of plants- sometimes the
center will consist of a single standing plant.
They are not perfectly round but slightly elliptical (a hoax, requiring a
fixed central rope, cannot achieve this adequately). Their edges are
crisply defined from the flattened crop as if drawn with a compass and
incised with surgical precision. Hoaxes, by comparison, bear a stylistic
resemblance to tuffs of greasy, uncombed hair- and, of course, all their
plants have been trampled, bruised and crushed.
Other anomalies indicate an increase infra red output within and around a
new formation, indicating that both the heat content of the plants and the
watershed have been affected. Evidence even exists of four non-naturally
occuring, short-life radioactive isotopes in the soil inside genuine crop
circles (these dissipate after three or four hours); the soil in around
them appears to have been baked.
Mathematically, genuine crop circles encode obscure theorems based on
Euclidian geometry as well as the unalterable principles of sacred
geometry. They have the capacity to alter the local electromagnetic field
so that compasses cannot locate north; cameras, cellular phones and
batteries fail to operate, and aircraft equipment fails whilst flying over
them. Then there are levels of background radiation up to 300% above
normal, radio frequencies falling dramatically or rising sharply within
their perimeters, animals in local farms avoiding that particular area or
simply acting agitated hours before one materializes, and car batteries in
entire villages failling to operate the morning after one is found nearby.
In some of the major events, entire towns are left without power.
Since genuine formations materialize at crossing points along the Earth's
magnetic energy currents, they are influencing the energy pattern of local
phehistoric sites. They reference local Neolithic sites in
size/shape/direction, and are dowsable upon entry, with as many as 150
concentric rings of energy outside their physical perimeter. In fact, a
year after they have been harvested and the field ploughed and re-sown, the
energy imprint of the formations will still be dowsed, long after their
physical traces have vanished.
This area of research has allowed for the possibility of crop circles as a
healing force, and they are already being successfully employed in
radionics, flower essences and resonance therapy around the world, both for
people and environments in distress.
Crop circles are generally formed at night between the hours of 2-4 AM,
traditionally during the shortest evenings of the English year when
darkness lasts but four hours, in fields eagerly watched by farmers,
military, laser alarms, scientists or hundreds of enthusiasts in their
sleeping bags hoping to be the lucky ones to witness a crop circle forming.
Some of those lucky few have witnessed large balls of brilliant colour
project a beam of golden light into a field which next morning displays a
new crop circle.Yet despite many stakeouts and fields rigged with top
surveylance equipment, crop circles have appeared out of the mist right
under the noses of those looking for them. On one occasion, the
Circlemakers even materialized in full view of the British Prime Minister's
heavily-guarded country residence.
At Stonehenge in 1996 (left), a pilot reported seeing nothing while flying
above the monument, yet 15 minutes later this huge 900 ft formation
resembling the Julia Set computer fractal, and comprising 149 meticulously
layed circles, lay beside the heavily guarded monument. It took a team of
11- including myself- no less than five hours just to survey the formation.
Still not convinced? This web site contains a sampling of the on-going
research dedicated to enlightening the public. More will be added as time
goes by. Look at the pictures, study the research or better still, visit a
genuine crop circle. You'll get the message pretty quickly.
And when you do, tell this story to a friend.
What is El Nino?
El Nino, which in Spanish means child, is a freak weather pattern occuring
in the Pacific Ocean. It is well known that oceans have huge heat storage
capacity, which makes them one of the most important factors affecting
global climate. Every change in ocean temperature will have a certain
influence on weather patterns in adjacent land masses. When El nino occurs
such an interaction between ocean and atmosphere appears, proving theory
that these two are highly dependent on each other.
Реферат на тему: Drug abuse: Tendencies and ways to overcome it
CONTENTS:
Number:
Pages:
1. Introduction
2-4
Chapter 1. Concept, Manifestations and Tendencies of
Drug Abuse
4-14
2. The Concept and Manifestation of Drug Abuse 4-
11
3. Tendencies of Development
11-14
Chapter II. System and Classification of Measures to Overcome
Drug Abuse
14-22
4. System of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse 14-
17
5. Classification of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse 17-22
Chapter III. Drug Abuse in the International Law 22-38
6. International Fora and Legal Acts on Drugs
22-34
7. Tendencies in the World Community's Reaction to Drug Abuse. 34-37
Chapter IV. Measures to Suppress and Prevent Drug Abuse 37-40
Chapter V. Organized Measures to Counteract Narcotics 40-57
8. General Provisions for Counteracting Narcotics
41-45
9. Organization of Medical Counteraction to Narcotics 45-
49
10. Enforcement of Legal Measures of Narcotics Counteraction 50-53
11. Other Organizational Measures to Combat Narcotics 53-57
12. Conclusion
57-58
Introduction
The 20th century has witnessed the spread of narcotics to the entire
world. In the past narcotics in the natural economy were confined to
territories where drug-bearing plants were grown. By the end of century
drug addiction has become a worldwide socially dangerous trend.
Narco-dealers making fabulous profits infect more and more people and
even entire social groups with drug addiction. Narcotics have long since
gone beyond the borders of traditional drug-producing areas and have
infiltrated all the countries of the world, exerting its malicious effect
on their peoples. It has affected social, economic, political and
biological aspects of life.
Statistics is constantly reporting the spread of drug addiction and the
growth in the number of drug addicts on file at medical institutions, as
well as the rise in officially recorded drug-related crimes.
Drug abuse has become a real plague of the 20th century in many
countries of the world and may become the plague of this country in
particular.
The pleasurable sensations of comfort and satisfaction that a person
experiences using narcotics is much greater than that of alcohol thus
making the repetition necessary. Consequently, dependence on drugs and the
desire to enlarge the dose or experiment with the new and more powerful
drugs increases. Gradually the desire for dope becomes so overwhelming that
it degrades the addict's individuality. The transition from experimentation
to dependence is no longer a secret for it has been studied thoroughly.
Profit seeking dealers expand the drug market at any cost by supplying
drugs to more and more addicts taking advantage of their weaknesses.
Drug sales are the closing stage in drug trafficking. Drug trade earns
huge profits that cover the costs of cultivating drug-bearing plants,
producing (or illegally acquiring from medical institutions)
transportation, sale expenses, and the bribery of officials, including
those of the law enforcement agencies. Since illegal drug trafficking is
extremely advantageous in terms of illegal profit accumulation and so
harmful and immoral it must be regarded by the entire world community as a
socially dangerous phenomenon. Some countries qualify its certain
manifestations as a heinous crime.
Throughout this century international organizations have been paying
much attention to actions against drug abuse. For example, in 1909 the
Shanghai Opium Commission approved documents to restrict drug trafficking
between countries. The international opium conference held in the Hague
between 1911 and 1912 worked out, for the first time in history, the drug
convention of 1912. The conference on opium held in Geneva between 1924 and
1925 approved, on February 11, 1925, an Agreement under which opium was
made a government monopoly. The second Geneva conference on opium passed a
convention on February 19, 1925, under which narcotics were to be produced
only for the purpose of meeting the countries' legal demand for them.
Besides this convention stipulated the extension of the list of drugs. On
July 13, 1931, an international convention limiting the production of drugs
and regulating their distribution was approved in Geneva. It came into
force in 1933. A convention of actions against the illegal trade in hard
drugs was signed in Geneva on June 26, 1936. It made international
prosecution for drug-related crimes possible and introduced punishments for
such crimes compared with the previous conventions.
In 1946, the UN Economic and Social Council passed a resolution that
provided for the international drug control and for the establishment of a
drug commission for this purpose. On November, 19 1946, the UN General
Assembly passed resolution 54/1 which endorsed a Protocol on Drugs. It was
signed at Lake Success on December 11, 1946. At the initiative of the Drug
Commission, a protocol extending the international control over drugs set
forth by the 1931 convention, was signed at the third UN General Assembly
session in Paris on November 19, 1948. A Protocol on Control over opium
poppy, consisting of the Preamble and the Final Act, was signed in New York
at the UN opium conference on June 23, 1953. The UN conference in New York
in 1961 approved a Uniform Drug Convention and in 1971 in Vienna a special
diplomatic conference passed a convention that stipulated the establishment
of a control over psychotropic preparations. The UN conference in Vienna in
1988 adopted a convention of actions against the illegal trafficking of
drugs and psychotropic substances. In keeping with the decisions of the G
Seven heads of state and governments and of the European Commission
Chairman, the 15th top-level economic summit in Paris set up a special
group in July 1989 to deal with the laundering of drug money. Upon this
group's recommendations, the International Drug Control Council called on
all the governments to approve, among other things, legislative acts
against attempts to launder money obtained from drug sales and to ensure
their effective use. The list of international antidrug conferences and
their drug-prevention documents alone, as well as the establishment of
special international bodies and organizations to carry out their
decisions, is a graphic illustration of how serious the world community's
effort to oppose drug abuse has been.
A lot of people today are drawn into the process of illegal drug
trafficking: from those engaged in cultivating drugs or producing medical
preparations containing drugs, to drug salesmen and dealers engaged in
money-laundering. At times these people form groups, which are termed,
organized criminal groups or associations by the criminal code. On the one
hand, these groups take control of drug-related crimes and draw people who
commit such crimes on their own. And on the other hand, they establish firm
organizational ties among themselves forming drug cartels in order to
monopolize drug trafficking in the vast regions of the world. This shows
that there is a continuous blending process between narcotics and organized
crime. These factors characterize the highest degree of danger that
narcotics represent. They prove the pressing need to increase worldwide
action against narcotics. This action calls for the use of all possible
means: political, legal, economic, and medical among others.
The antidrug campaign is a big drain on the material resources of the
country. It involves large spending on various programs such as preventive
Medicare, law-enforcement, legal and economic measures, and other. If this
spending is to be rational and effective, a range of measures should be
outlined with the utmost precision and professionally implemented.
All this calls for a comprehensive analysis of the existing situation
and of the possible opposition by drug dealers. As the owners of enormous
wealth, which sometimes exceeds the budgets of some countries, drug dealers
are able to influence government policies, especially in small countries.
Mainly bribing top government officials in the legislative or the executive
branches ensures this influence. As a result, criminals get a chance to
interfere in law making from the outset. The bribery of the law enforcement
officers and of the officers of the court, among others, makes it possible
to cover up drug deals, prevent exposed members of the criminal
associations involved in these deals from prosecution or substantially
curtail their prison terms.
Unlike the United States and other wealthy countries, smaller nations
are in no position to allocate sufficient sums from their budgets to carry
out effective antidrug projects. Research-based guidance may to a certain
extent make up for the lack of necessary funding. And here government-
supported antidrug programs may play an essential role.
The study of drug abuse has always been prominent in the study of law.
Many booklets, articles, serious textbooks, and monographs are devoted to
narcotics. It is as hard to cover all aspects of the problem, even in the
most profound study, as it is to establish absolute truth, especially,
since reality keeps creating new problems all the time.
The key solution lies in the need to pool international efforts in
eradicating drug addiction and narco-business. In the present-day world
with its integration processes it is impossible to do away with drug
addiction in any one country. Yet there is no way for the world community
to regard itself free from the problem even at a time when drugs will be a
peril only in one particular country. An intensive and continuous buildup
of the world community's joint effort against narcotics is a top priority
objective of the world at large.
Chapter 1. Concept, Manifestations and Tendencies of Drug Abuse
1. The Concept and Manifestation of Drug Abuse
Sociologists, lawyers and medical experts single out three basic
aspects of drug abuse: social, legal and medical.
These aspects are interconnected and interdependent and reveal the
diverse nature of drug abuse. Moreover one can also point out the
criminological, economic and ecological aspects.
To highlight the entire multiplicity of this phenomenon, it is
necessary to go beyond the widespread notion of "drug addiction" because
strictly speaking it applies only to the medical or biological aspects of
drug use being viewed exclusively as a disease without covering social,
legal and some other aspects. This is why the notion "drug abuse" rather
than "drug addiction" is used in juridical literature as a much wider term
covering social, legal and other aspects. So, drug abuse is understood as a
"social phenomenon" which combines such illegal actions as willful
consumption of narcotics, dealing in narcotics illegally, as well as
solicitation to use drugs, creating the conditions for becoming a part of
illegal drug trafficking.
This definition is acceptable on the whole and may be used as a basis
for describing the phenomenon, yet it fails to cover the biological aspect
and insufficiently expresses the economic, legal and criminological
aspects.
There is a need for a term that would cover all the aspects of this
negative phenomenon, and of the ways of combating it.
Social Aspects of Drug Abuse:
Most concisely, the social aspect of drug abuse can be described as a
combination of social behaviors linked to narcotics and their social
consequences in the form of damage that has been done and can be done to
society.
The actual negative social manifestations of drug abuse are expressed
in various drug-related actions: cultivation of drug bearing plants,
preparation, acquisition, storage, sale and consumption of narcotics, as
well as persuasion to use narcotics.
Negative Social Consequences of Drug Abuse:
The negative social consequences of drug abuse are similar to the
social consequences of crime. They amount to "real harm caused by crime to
social relationships and expressed in the cause-and-effect combination of
criminal behavior and in the direct and indirect, immediate and mediate
negative changes (damage, losses, and other ill effects), ultimately
affecting the social (economic, moral, legal, etc.) Values and also
implying the combination of society's economic and other social hazards
attributed to the effort to combat and to socially prevent crime.
Proceeding from this definition it is possible to recognize the
negative social consequences of drug abuse. The first is the negative
social changes, such as harm to people's health, the destruction of family
foundations, and a decline in work efficiency. The second is the cost which
society has to pay to overcome these changes. Other changes also include
refusal to work, various antisocial actions, and crime. A closer look at
these negative changes shows that drug addicts are poor workers because of
their ill health, which, in general, makes work impossible for them during
spells of abstinence. Their entire range of interests and thoughts lies in
the desire to find ways of obtaining drugs. The list of negative changes
also includes material damage perpetrated by the drug addicts who are often
the source of transportation accidents and accidents in industry. For
example, 60 billion dollars worth of damage is done annually in the United
States alone. There is also the moral damage resulting from the various
unlawful actions motivated by the desire to find means for buying drugs,
such as the willingness to commit crime for the sake of meeting that
desire. Forgery, embezzlement, abuse of authority and office duties is just
a few. Drug addicts create unbearable conditions for their families by
denying them normal lifestyles and means of existence. They harm their
offspring by upsetting the hereditary stock. Drug addicts undergo physical
and moral degradation and die early. They destroy their own basic moral and
ethical values.
The Committee of Experts of the World Health Organization determines
the social danger and negative consequences of drug abuse according to the
basic factors and divides them into two main groups: the breach of
relations among drug consumers and the spread of unfavorable consequences
among many people.
Specific Social Problems of Drug Abuse:
WHO experts describe the specific social problems caused by drug abuse
as follows: the huge material losses and their consequences in the form of
all kinds of damage done to those who immediately surround drug consumers
(parents, college roommates and so on) and to the society as a whole; the
deterioration of relations with official organizations and institutions,
staff at college and at work etc.; drug consumers' inclination to commit
crimes motivated by the need to have drugs or the means to buy them, and
also the mercenary and violent crimes committed under the influence of
drugs; the additional demand for welfare benefits and medical care for
persons using drugs other than for medicinal purposes and in connection
with this the unnoticed spending both by drug addicts and by society as a
whole; the danger arising from drug addicts as potential conduct of drug
addiction in their immediate surroundings.
Detailed research however allows for a broader list of specific social
aspects. They include: ideological and cultural, law enforcement, medical
care and preventative medicine, labor and education, family and leisure
time, and material resources. The specific ill effects of narcotics and
their unfavorable social consequences can be seen in any of the categories
listed above. For example, in the ideological and cultural area they
express themselves in the development of a specific drug ideology; in the
law enforcement area there is an increase of crime. In Medicare and
preventive medicine, there is deterioration in people's health and an
increase in the number of handicapped children. In industry and education -
a decline in labor efficiency and poor results at schools and other
educational centers is evident. One can also point to accidents and to
deterioration of relations among staff. In the family relations, a loss of
understanding occurs. All this requires setting up special schools,
preventive centers, drug departments at medical institutions,
rehabilitation centers and new antidrug programs.
To sum up the above-cited social aspects of drug abuse one may state,
that it is harmful in physical, moral and proprietary ways. This harm is
caused by the proliferation of the narcotic sub-culture as it draws more
victims into it; secondly, by drug-related crimes; thirdly, by crimes
committed for the purpose of getting means for buying more drugs; fourthly,
by crimes committed under the influence of drugs; and, finally, by the
spending needed to carry out various programs aimed at eliminating drug
abuse.
Legal Aspect of Drug Abuse:
The legal aspect of drug abuse is also a part of the social aspect.
Crimes and other law-breaking acts covered by the totality of legal norms
involve the illegal cultivation of drug-bearing plants, the preparation,
storage, transportation, trafficking, sales, and theft of drugs, the use of
drugs without doctor's prescription, and the violation of laws regulating
the handling of narcotics. This also covers the situation when suitable
conditions are created for taking drugs and those in which more people are
persuaded to use drugs or when people have to commit crimes in order to
obtain means to buy drugs. Crimes committed under the influence of drugs,
as well as crimes that are committed for the purpose of getting money to
purchase drugs are included as well.
These crimes should be viewed as part of the notion of drug abuse since
they are caused by the desires of drug users to boost drug-inspired
activities or their level of intoxication. The legal aspect of drug abuse
also includes those relationships regulated by law and arising from the non-
medical use of drugs.
Criminological Aspect of Drug Abuse:
The criminological aspect of drug abuse includes a part of this
phenomenon that poses an extreme danger to the public, i.e. is linked to
the above-cited crimes, their state, level, structure, dynamics, cause-and-
effect, criminal's personality, and prevention measures, among others.
Economic Aspect of Drug Abuse:
The economic aspect of drug abuse is associated with its affect on
economy, such as large sums of money in possession of drug dealers, a
decline in labor productivity of drug addicts; an increase in spending on
law-enforcement engaged in combating drug-related crimes; and a drain on
national budgets due to preventive and rehabilitation measures to combat
drug addiction. Experts claim, for example, that in the former USSR, the
cost of illegal drug trafficking within the "narco-business-shadow economy"
amounted to billions of troubles.
Biological Aspect of Drug Abuse:
The biological aspect of drug abuse is associated with the notion that
it is "a disease manifested by a constant and insurmountable craving for
drugs (morphine, for example) causing euphoria in small doses and stupor in
large ones. The regular use of drugs arouses a desire to increase the dose.
The abstinence syndrome usually accompanies withdrawal.
Narcotics damage the internal organs of drug takers, destroy their
nervous systems, their state of mind, and bring about their social
degradation.
Since drug addiction is a disease, there is a need to find a cure for
it. Hence, the need to have qualified medical personnel, special drug
rehabilitation centers and branches offices, effective medicines and
curative methods.
Ecological Aspect of Drug Abuse:
The ecological aspect of narcotics is associated, on the one hand, with
the natural existence of drug-bearing plants, and on the other, with their
man-made cultivation. These plants are a source of obtaining and preparing
narcotic substances. From the ecological point of view there is a need,
first, to do away with the spread of wild drug-bearing plants, and second,
to ban their man-made cultivation. The economic, biological and ecological
aspects are subjects for research by experts.
Drug-related Crimes:
It is possible to define drug abuse as a negative social phenomenon
touching upon the social, legal, criminological, economic, biological and
ecological areas accordingly. One part of the phenomenon is drug addiction,
as a disease, and other, embraces all the law-breaking actions related to
drugs: those carried out to secure means for purchasing drugs or those
committed under the influence of drugs. Such law-breaking actions cover the
use, preparation, purchase, storage, transportation, parcel mail, sale and
theft of narcotic substances; attempts to force other people to use drugs
and the creation of conditions conducive to such use; attempts to sow and
grow drug-bearing plants; attempts to violate the established rules
regulating the production, purchase, storage, control, sale, transportation
or parcel mail of narcotic substances; and, drug smuggling. The law-
breaking actions also cover various mercenary crimes (violent crime) that
are not drug-related but are committed in order to buy drugs subsequently
(theft, robbery, plunder, fraud, blackmail and others) and also violent
crimes committed under the influence of drugs (e.g., hooliganism against
individuals). This notion reflects the essence and the confines of the drug
use and serves as a guideline for determining its scale and developing
strategies against it. Yet the true scale of this phenomenon is obscured by
a high degree of latent drug-induced diseases and law-breaking drug-related
actions.
Narcotics and Crime:
The above-listed law-breaking actions are crimes proving an
interrelation between drug abuse and crime. Drugs and crime are not only
closely interrelated, but actually blend fully, and in fact, becomes what
is known, as narco-crime. But to merely establish this fact is not enough.
The danger drug-related crimes pose to the public surpasses the danger
coming from other crimes. Drug-related crime is largely interrelated with
various other kinds of crime and even merges with one of its most dangerous
varieties such as organized crime. This becomes clear studying the dynamics
of drug-related crimes. Central here are the drug users who represent a
consumer of narcotics, and the ultimate target of drug trafficking - the
sale of drugs. When people become dependent on drugs they concentrate all
their efforts on getting drugs at any cost. They engage in criminal
activities ranging from the cultivation of drug-bearing plants and the
preparation of "stuff", to its sale.
Tendencies of Development:
The number of drug users grows in direct proportion to the rise in
crimes committed under the influence of narcotics and, in the long run, to
the profits earned by the drug dealers. Hence, drug dealers seek to 1)
expand the drug sales; 2) increase the output of drugs or receive more of
them from medical and pharmaceutical centers; and, 3) further promote
criminal activities connected to drugs. The latter seems to ensure the
realization of the former. A high degree of organization paves the way for
expanding drug sales, increasing the output and boosting drug trafficking.
Expanding Drug Sales:
The expansion of drug sales is achieved by persuading more people to
take drugs. Drug dealers set up drug pads and stores where narcotics are
available. They try to advertise them in indirect ways. They make sure that
more powerful drugs are continuously being developed.
In order to increase drug output drug-bearing plants are grown on
remote plantations in regions with difficult access. Illegal shops and
laboratories for developing new types of narcotics are set up there. Funds
for increasing drug output are raised by blackmailing or bribing public
officials. Drug-dealers practice violence, make threats against officials
and encourage theft of large amounts of drugs.
Boosting the Level of Organization of the Illegal Drug Trafficking
Business Methods to improve the level of organization include mergers of
criminal groups and associations, severe disciplinary measures within
criminal organizations, greater degree of cohesion among group members,
conspiratorial rules, and tougher actions against those who violate the
rules in such groups. Other methods are: increasing attempts to draw
government officials into criminal groups, taking control of persons
engaged in drug-related crimes on their own, centralizing finances and
monopolizing drug prices.
According to various studies there are quite a few syndicates and
cartels in the world that have divided drug trafficking regions among
themselves. Activities of these groups are guided by a clear-cut system of
criminal actions, such as promoting the sowing and cultivation of drug-
bearing plants, the production of narcotics, their wholesale purchase, and
the transportation and sales of drugs to consumers. Drug syndicates and
cartels, for whom drug trafficking is the main source of income, act under
the guise of legitimate companies, trying to come across as legal as
possible. They have airplanes, modern weapons and the newest technology in
their possession. Leaders of the criminal drug associations do their utmost
to oppose the actions of law enforcement agencies. With this purpose in
mind, they not only try to check police actions but make attempts,
successful at times, to infiltrate police ranks. Professional criminals
deploy defense measures that may prove to be so effective in challenging
the worthiness of surveillance of suspects and the bugging of their phones.
United into cartels and syndicates and organizationally divided into groups
and associations, drug- criminals are usually aware that they remain under
constant surveillance. To ensure their personal safety they resort, as a
rule, to various counter-surveillance measures, thus putting well-trained
police officers in a difficult position. Experience shows that criminal
groups usually keep the approaches to places where narcotics are turned
over under their own close watch.
Ways to Legalize Drug Profits:
Drug dealers seek not only to build up profits from drug trafficking
but to legalize them as well. To that end they engage in criminal
activities where by legal and illegal operations are inextricably
intertwined. The money earned from the trade in narcotics is invested into
legitimate businesses or in real estate. It may also be laundered in
financial transactions, such as, the purchase of shares and securities or
other newly invented and constantly perfected operations. The income thus
obtained allows drug dealers not only to pour more money into drug
trafficking or finance more drug-related crimes but also provides for a
legal coverage of drug trade, or for the participation in legal activities.
Speakers at the international seminar on combating organized crime in the
Russian city of Suzdal in 1992 held in accord with the resolution of the
45th session of the UN General Assembly, pointed out that "in the majority
of countries, organized crime developed along two directions: participating
in prohibited activities (property crimes, money laundering, illegal drug
trafficking, violation of hard currency transaction rules, intimidation,
prostitution, gambling, trade in weapons and antiques) and joining legal
business (directly or using such parasitical means as extortion. This
participation in legal economic activities is always bent for the use of
illegal competition methods and may have a greater economic impact compared
to the involvement in totally illegal kinds of activity). In short,
criminal methods are used in both cases leading to the situation in which
criminal elements form the majority of organized criminal formations.
Organized Narco-crime:
Typically, drug cartels and syndicates are highly organized. Present in
the organizations are: strict and precise distribution of functions; very
rigid hierarchies; internal discipline maintained by interest, authority
and force; stringent conspiracy; ramified networks of groups bound by firm
organizational ties; branches existing and functioning in various
countries; contacts with other criminal groups (counterfeiters, smugglers,
murderers etc.); the use of professional criminals; the
internationalization of group members; and, the use of violence to meet the
desired ends. To protect their huge profits and spheres of interest, the
subjects of narco-criminals stop at nothing and employ violent means, such
as the contract murders of their rivals and of law enforcement agents. The
money brought by the trade in drugs is often used to finance dangerous
crimes and acts of terrorism. It becomes a source, which finances
subversive activities of all kinds. Profits obtained from the drug trade
make it possible to finance large-scale armed operations against government
forces (like in Columbia or Mexico). Profit gained from the drug trade is
often compared with the profits earned by whole industries. The drug trade
is regarded as the world's second largest economy. All this enables drug
dealers not only to pay generously for the participation in crimes but also
to set up a common financial fund, a common bank, so to speak. Narco-money
is also used to exert influence on policy-making, particularly, by
nominating the associates of drug dealers to key posts in the economy and
politics or by bribing persons who already hold such posts and turning them
into supporters of the drugs trade. These financial investments are
reinforced by threats of violence against them or their close relatives
(wives, children or parents). This proves convincingly that narco-crime is
a well organized and well planned business incorporating the mutually inter-
related criminal activities of individuals, groups, associations,
syndicates and cartels with a division of mutually interrelated functions.
This is the reason to regard this kind of crime as a variety of organized
crime. Some researchers believe that drug profits are the economic
foundation of organized crime. This can be seen in comparison of elements
forming narco- and organized crimes. To get a clear understanding of the
elements of the latter it is necessary to look in retrospect at the history
of organized crime. While crime and drug addiction have been known to the
world for at least several centuries, the existence of organized crime has
been officially recognized quite recently, only in this century. Yet both
national and foreign researchers date the origin of this phenomenon, in one
way or another, to a much earlier period.
Various stable criminal organizations used to appear and operate on
territories of almost all modern states. Gangs of brigands and smugglers
were at work not only on land but also at sea (sea pirates). They had in
their possession caches of weapons, stocks of gold and food and, sometimes,
entire fleets of pirate boats furnished with everything necessary for an
attack and ready to go into combat with regular troops or ships. They
thereby challenged borders and laws. Already at that time members of such
gangs observed their own internal rules and traditions strictly, contrary
to the ones obligatory in society. Among them there was the principle of
mutual help, the recognition of the leaders' authority, the distribution of
duties and spoils, as well as a system of reward and punishment. Gangsters
knew exactly the kind of work they were responsible for and also knew their
zones of influence (slave trade, cattle stealing, smuggling arms,
narcotics, gold, diamonds, etc). They talked their own language and stuck
to other conspiratorial rules. Taking hostages and bribing officials were
their usual practices, very much like the actions of the present day
organized crime groups.
With the passing of time, of course, these organizations kept
transforming and modernizing, adjusting to changes of state borders,
governments and economies. They were turning more and more into organized
criminal associations that posed a serious threat to public safety, to the
supremacy of the law and to other state institutions. As researchers point
out, a particular danger of organized crime is that it becomes more and
more arrogant, aggressive, ingenious and diverse. In the 1980s, organized
crime became increasingly apparent throughout the world.
Forms of Organized Crime:
Along with traditional forms of organized crime, new forms, more
diverse and greater in scale, have appeared, such as the theft and re-sale
of luxury cars, electronic equipment, historical and cultural art objects,
antiques, icons and church plate. Other forms include the illegal trade in
human being, weapons and ammunition, strategic raw materials, non-ferrous
and rare metals, drugs counterfeiting, theft and forgery of credit cards,
gambling, and infiltration of legal business and world finance. An analysis
of documents issued by the UN Information Center proves that the influence
of various forms of organized crime spreads far beyond national borders and
"transnationalize crime", so to speak. This creates a situation which
"differs, both qualitatively and quantitatively, from the situation in the
past and hampers the accomplishment of effective measures aiming to prevent
and eliminate crime. Experts believe that the evolution of organized crime
should be seen as "a process providing for a rational reorganization on the
international basis of criminal enterprises using the same patterns just as
it is the case for legal enterprises." This process reflects tendencies for
forming a more intricate organizational structure typical of the modern
society in all countries. This explains why the UN Secretary General
pointed out in his speech at the 47th General Assembly session on September
28, 1992, that it was imperative to promote international cooperation and
develop practical steps against organized crime in view of its negative
impact on various areas of society's social, political and economic life.
Though extremely topical, problems of organized crime have not yet been
resolved properly by juridical theory and practice. Suffice it to say that
there are still some countries where no laws on organized crime have yet
been passed. There is no uniform approach to the concept of organized crime
at the legislative level. The attributes and signs of this phenomenon have
not yet been finalized. No attempts have yet been made to develop a
comprehensive program of action against it. There are few statistics or
official data on organized crime as a whole.
For example, in the former USSR the first official mention of organized
crime made at the government level was on December 2, 1989, when the
decision to step up the effort against organized crime was passed by the
2nd Congress of People's Deputies. However, no laws regarding organized
crime have been adopted. This could not help but leave its imprint on the
practical activities of law enforcement agencies in the former Union
republics. There was no solid theoretical discussion of the concept of
organized crime, as the scarce publications of the last few years could
hardly give a complete picture of this problem.
Some published works, however, contain a number of definitions of
organized crime. Some authors point to the following basic features.
Criminal groups based on hierarchical order consolidate within the borders
of one particular region or a country; their leaders take no part in crimes
but only perform organizational, managerial and ideological functions.
Government officials, including law enforcement officers, become corrupt
and join criminal activities providing safety to the members of criminal
associations. This association has a tendency to monopolize and expand the
spheres of illegal activities, and to protect leaders from bearing any
responsibility. Another group of authors believe that organized crime is a
system of contacts forming naturally in the criminal surroundings which
lead to the concentration and monopolization of certain kinds of criminal
activities. Diversified ties between groups engaged in criminal activities
are characteristic of this system.
About the Concept of Organized Crime:
Organized crime represents the consolidated criminal associations with
their own norms of behavior, hierarchical ladders and finances, it is the
most dangerous kind of crime that opposes and counteracts the lawful
actions of the state. This definition also embraces the totality of
mercenary and economic crimes committed with the help of corrupt government
officials, and law enforcement agents among them, who yielded to bribery
and other forms of corruption.
Organized Crime in Foreign Legislation:
In this context it is interesting to look at foreign experience in
dealing with organized crime, particularly, in the field of legislation.
The Italian criminal code states, for example, (article 416-2) that "the
association of a mafia kind is ranked as a criminal one when its members
practice the removal and intimidation of other persons in order to ensure a
cover-up and observe the law of silence and thus make it possible to commit
crimes, and win, directly or indirectly, posts allowing the management or
control of business activities, the distribution of concessions and permits
of all kinds, the signing of contracts, and communal services, as well as
making illegal profits or securing illegal privileges for themselves and
other persons." The American approach seems to be slightly different. While
the Italian Criminal Code lists features of organized crime, American
Federal Legislation (USC-par. 3781), though naming certain features of
organized crime, attributes concrete actions to it, namely, "unlawful
activities by members of a well-organized and disciplined association
supplying illegal commodities and offering illegal services, which include
but are not limited to, gambling, prostitution, usury, the spread of
narcotics, racket and other unlawful actions by such organizations."
Organized crime has broad opportunities for carrying out unlawful deeds but
the choice of these opportunities is mainly determined by the level of
expected profit, the minimum degree of possible risk of being caught and
exposed and the absence of concrete victims. It is this particular factor
that comes to the foreground in crimes related to narcotics whose users are
not interested in reporting to the police. The specific choice of a
"specialization" for this or another criminal group is a factor
guaranteeing it, to a large degree, a high level of conspiracy and a free
hand in committing crimes. Along with the previously mentioned
"specialization" of criminal associations there also exists what is termed
as an "internal specialization", i.e. the division of labor among criminal
association members.
Organized Crime and Drug Related Crime: Features in Common:
These features include:
- clearly defined organizational and managerial structures with a
hierarchy which ensures the protection of leaders from punishment since
their actions usually remain outside the confines of the criminal code;
- uniform norms of behavior and responsibility;
- planned unlawful activities and common goals aimed at making large
profits;
- a system aiming to neutralize all forms of legal control and
development of counter measures;
- common finances invested in various areas of criminal activities,
which are used for bribing the necessary people, providing material support
to members of criminal associations and financing crimes;
- monopolization and expansion of areas of criminal activity,
cooperation between criminal associations in various branches of a national
economy, the introduction of commodities and services to the black market,
exploitation of women through pornography, and prostitution;
- the use of legal methods to launder drug money.
In sum narcotics are a negative social phenomenon posing an extreme
danger to society. This danger is expressed in such ill-effects as the
destruction of people's health as a result of drug addiction, drug-related
crimes, the totality of which forms an independent crime branch (narco-
crime), and the ability to turn the most dangerous and well-organized part
of narco-crime into a variety of organized crime.
Par. 2. Tendencies of Development
Some tendencies of development can be traced by using the statistical
method, whereas others, which are not clearly evident, can be discovered by
sociological studies, expert evaluations, interviews, studies of documents
or by content analysis of mass media publications.
The Structure of Narco-crime:
In the structure of narco-crime, the predominant criminal actions are
the illegal preparation, acquisition, storage, transportation and
dissemination of narcotics by mail. The percentage of such crimes is high
and is increasing all the time. It varies between 87 and 96%. Actions not
with the intent to sell constitute an overwhelming share (from 96 to 99%).
On the one hand, this fact gives reason to assume that the actions
listed above were taken to obtain narcotics for personal use. On the other,
a conclusion can be drawn that the main efforts against the spread of
illegal drug trafficking "have actually shifted towards intensifying
repressive measures against drug users.
However, illegal activity with drugs and their deliberate sale is much
more intensive. But for various reasons, both objective and subjective,
these fall under a different legal assessment. A major factor is that it is
difficult to prove that there was an intent to sell. This is compounded by
subjective views of "intent to sell" in special situations and the absence
of a clear-cut stand by the lawmakers. 93% of the polled narcotic officers
believe that proving "intent to sell" is difficult especially since this
question is of decisive importance in final judicial rulings.
Besides, 63% of the respondents charged with illegal drug operations
without the aim of selling drugs, admitted that they not only had such
intent but also had been engaged in these operations on a regular basis all
the way up until they were arrested.
It is interesting to note that in police seizures, drugs obtained from
natural plants have prevailed so far. (Nearly 9/10ths). Today the amount of
seized raw materials for making drugs is estimated in tens of tons and has
grown more than 5 times in the last few years. This is well above even the
over-estimated needs and norms of known addicts.
Specialized studies on the subject underline how difficult it is to
investigate and uncover the above-mentioned crimes because of "the
ingenuity of methods used to carry them out, attempts to conceal them and
also because criminal behavior is multifaceted.
One should also take into account the absence of well-conceived
methods, and the shortage of professionally trained personnel to uncover
and investigate such crimes, especially, in the present-day conditions when
there are political collisions caused by the Soviet Union's disintegration,
when there are "transparent" and ill-defined borders between the former
sovereign Soviet republics, when the internal affairs agencies are not well
equipped technically, and when the customs and border control services are
vulnerable.
The Structure of Crime and Latency:
Among the registered crimes there are none related to violations within
the system of medical care of the rules of drug-making, drug acquisition,
storage, keeping stock of, dispensing, transporting or sending by mail, at
pharmaceutical factories or medical and bio industrial enterprises, etc.
The absence of information about drug-related crimes, however, does not
mean at all that there are no crimes present.
A study of the problem has shown that there is no reason to believe
narcotics are safely kept out of reach of addicts. This has been confirmed
by more than one-third of the polled officers of internal affairs agencies.
Every second drug taker who was forced to undergo treatment, did not deny
that he had received drugs from medical personnel. Similar cases of drug
acquisition were noted by over 10% of persons charged with drug-related
crimes, whereas 17% of people from the same group of drug abusers confessed
that they used to steal drugs from hospitals, small medical centers and
pharmacies. The share of other crimes in the structure of drug-related
crimes total is insignificant, though they play a rather negative role in
the spread of narcotics. For example, during one year, the crime of
solicitation to use drugs was recorded only once or twice and 3 or 8 times
the crimes involving the organization or running dens for addicts or
providing premises for that purpose.
All the same just over 98% of the polled people charged with drug abuse
and intent to sell drugs said they had persuaded 3 to 7 persons to start
using drugs. In more than 70% of such cases, a special effort was made to
invite potential "victims" to homes belonging to different persons. These
people received remuneration for granting premises especially arranged for
this purpose and where conditions were conducive for the use of narcotics.
Practically one out of every 4 persons charged with drug abuse but without
attempting to push drugs, admitted in talking to officials, that he had
persuaded at least 3 or 4 persons to use drugs treating them to narcotics
that he had bought or made for his own use.
What is more, 37% of the examined complaints and statements by citizens
addressed to various agencies, especially, those made directly to the local
police officers have remained unread, though they specifically mentioned
people who had turned their homes into drug pads.
Negative Tendencies:
All these facts highlight: 1) an increase of the degree in danger posed
to the public by drug-related crimes; 2) the appearance of new narcotics,
giving way to diversity of drugs; 3) increase in the number of people
involved in the use of narcotics through persuasion; 4) the rising le | |
