Deck 10: Drug Trafficking

Question 1

According to the thinking of contemporary economists, ________.

A) all crime is economically productive
B) no crime is economically productive
C) some crime is economically productive, while some is not, some may be negative in its economic impact
D) the economic impact of crime on a society is unknown and unknowable
E) none of the above

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Today, the majority of the illicit drugs brought into the United States from other countries originates from which of the following regions?

A) the Middle East
B) East Asia
C) the former Soviet Republics of Central Asia-Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
D) Western Europe
E) There is no single region from which the majority of all illicit drugs in the U.S. originate.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

According to the text, a "Mr. Big" is one central smuggler at the pinnacle of a highly centralized illicit drug organization. This dealer controls and runs the entire trafficking operation of the global sale of:

A) cocaine.
B) heroin.
C) marijuana.
D) all illicit drugs.
E) no illicit drugs.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Over the past few decades, numerous major drug traffickers who were heads of huge smuggling operations have died, been arrested, imprisoned, or killed. What has happened subsequently?

A) Their trafficking operation was shut down and illicit drugs stopped moving through their former territory.
B) Drug trafficking increased tenfold in their territory since their removal.
C) Virtually no change took place; the drug trade continued unabated because an underling stepped in and resumed the operation.
D) is unknown-and unknowable
E) none of the above

Question 5

For which of the following illicit drugs is the total trafficked weight the greatest?

A) cocaine
B) heroin
C) methamphetamine
D) Ecstasy
E) marijuana

Question 6

Over the past three or four decades, the illicit drug market has:

A) become much more centralized, organized, and hierarchical.
B) become extremely decentralized.
C) remained at the same level of centralization.
D) remained secret-unknown and unknowable.
E) none of the above.

Question 7

Which of the following corresponds most closely to the pure chemical model of illicit drug manufacture and sale?

A) cocaine
B) morphine
C) opium
D) codeine
E) LSD

Question 8

According to the text, the countries with the highest rates of criminal homicide are those with:

A) a high per capita Gross Domestic Product-that is, average national income.
B) the most deeply entrenched and contentious drug trades.
C) high levels of educational attainment.
D) the most just and honest judicial system.
E) the most democratic political systems.

Question 9

Criminalizing drugs has:

A) increased their price.
B) decreased their price.
C) kept their price at the same level it would be if the currently illicit were legal.
D) had an unknown impact on their price.
E) none of the above.

Question 10

In order for drug use to take place, the availability of a given drug is:

A) a necessary but not a sufficient condition.
B) a sufficient but not a necessary condition.
C) both a necessary and a sufficient condition.
D) neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition.
E) none of the above.

Question 11

According to the text, illicit drug selling is:

A) a pure economic loss; every cent that's spent on illegal drugs should be subtracted from a nation's total Gross Domestic Product.
B) a pure economic gain; every cent that's spent on illegal drugs should be added to a nation's Gross Domestic Product.
C) mixed in its economic impact; some of what users spend on drugs enriches the economy, providing income and jobs for workers, while some depletes the economy through death, extortion, and suppressed earnings.
D) unknown in its economic impact-and unknowable.
E) none of the above.

Question 12

The dominant ethnic or national group that controls the international illegal drug trade is now:

A) Italian.
B) Italian American.
C) Latin American, mainly Colombian, Mexican, and Dominican.
D) Nigerian.
E) None of the above; there is no single ethnicity or national group that controls global trafficking.

Question 13

In order for drug use to take place, the predisposition to use a given drug is:

A) a necessary but not a sufficient condition.
B) a sufficient but not a necessary condition.
C) both a necessary and a sufficient condition.
D) neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition.
E) none of the above.

Question 14

On which of the following illicit drugs is the greatest total amount of money spent in the United States?

A) cocaine
B) Ecstasy
C) marijuana
D) methamphetamine
E) heroin

Question 15

For which of the following drugs is the market and distribution pattern most decentralized?

A) LSD
B) marijuana
C) methamphetamine
D) Ecstasy (MDMA)
E) heroin

Question 16

Most of the methamphetamine consumed in the United States had its origin in:

A) Canada.
B) Europe.
C) Asia.
D) Mexico.
E) Australia.

Question 17

Which of the following corresponds most closely to the mixed model of illicit drug manufacture and sale?

A) Ecstasy (MDMA)
B) opium
C) marijuana
D) heroin
E) methamphetamine

Question 18

According to available, reliable information, over the past few decades, the:

A) purity of cocaine has increased and its price has declined.
B) purity of cocaine has increased and its price has increased.
C) purity of cocaine has decreased and its price has increased.
D) purity of cocaine has decreased and its price has decreased.
E) none of the above.

Question 19

Some critics of the current drug policy believe that the government colludes with and protects drug dealers in order to keep the public "doped up," passive, and politically inactive and that if the authorities were allowed to arrest and imprison the traffickers at the top of the distribution hierarchy, drug selling would be brought to a halt and the drug trade would go out of business. Comment, making use of facts and details that are discussed in this chapter.

Question 20

In the early 1970s, which country accounted for the majority of the botanical source of the heroin used by addicts in the United States?

A) India
B) Burma
C) Argentina
D) Turkey
E) Colombia

Question 21

Since most drug "kingpins" are rich, how does poverty contribute to illicit drug distribution-from the source to the seller-to-user dealer?

Question 22

The public often hears or reads that the drug industry is an economic liability, that it costs American society a given amount-recently, $160 billion-a year. Comment on that assertion, making use of what you have learned in this chapter. Be specific; be detailed.

Question 23

How does worldwide globalization make for drug distribution networks and drug supply to the United States? Given the nature of globalization, do you think it is possible to wipe out drug selling by making arrests in the countries that supply the United States with illicit drugs? Why or why not?

Question 24

Describe the seller-to-user level of heroin transactions in as much detail as you can. Does the description about the subject elaborated in this chapter challenge any stereotypes or myths that much of the public holds about drug dealing?

Question 25

Which drugs are most likely to be produced within the borders of the United States? Why?

Question 26

What two factors are absolutely necessary to drug use and abuse? Are they sufficient, each by itself? Explain.

Question 27

Where do drugs come from? Experts have identified three models of drug production. What are they? How do they give us clues to the illicit drug production and distribution system? Do paths of drug distribution change over time? Why or why not? What determines where drugs come from and where they go?

Question 28

Some observers have claimed that, in economic size, the drug trade is more lucrative than General Motors, more than the entire legal U.S. farm industry-in fact, the biggest industry on the earth. Is this true? Cite some facts and figures to address this claim.

Question 29

This chapter suggested how race and social class or socioeconomic status (SES) can influence the likelihood of arrest. Are discrepancies in arrest for black versus white sellers and users, and lower and working class versus middle-class sellers and users, solely due to race and class bias and discrimination, or are other factors at work-for instance, use and purchase patterns and law enforcement-to-seller-and-user points of contact-that might influence these discrepancies?