 |
 |
 |
Have you ever thought about the connection between the Andean flamingo and illegal drugs? What about the connection between your local stream and toxic waste from meth laboratories? Most people know that doing drugs will have negative consequences on their health, but they may not realize the harm they cause the environment. |
 |
 |
|
 
Demand for illegal drugs is helping to destroy countless species of animals and plants, placing the public at risk, and supporting the disappearance of rain forests around the globe. The loss of these rainforests contributes to changes in the global climate. In addition, the production of some illegal drugs pollutes our drinking water supply by releasing carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals).
Reducing the demand for illegal drugs is one way we can ease the pressure on some of our most fragile natural habitats. We can reduce the demand for illegal drugs by not doing them and educating our friends, families, and communities about these facts.
Marijuana
The illegal growth and cultivation of marijuana has destroyed and contaminated thousands of acres of public lands in America. In fact, more than 2,500,000 marijuana plants have been found and eradicated on National Forest lands since 1997. The damage begins when marijuana farmers burn off native vegetation, destroying natural wildlife habitats. Some growers clear cultivation areas with chain saws and spread fertilizers and pesticides. The arsenic-based poisons kill small animals and rodents and in turn, the larger animals and birds that consume them, devastating the food chain and area water supplies.
Often, tons of trash and high concentrations of human waste are left behind by smugglers, who come to the U.S. to care for the crops. This impacts wildlife, vegetation and water quality along rivers and streams. It also detracts from natural, scenic qualities and can affect human and animal health from spread of bacteria and disease.
Links:
Corporate Green: Police See Pot Growing Turning Into a Big Business 
ABCNews.com - October 30, 2002
Back to Top
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine or "meth" labs, using inexpensive over-the-counter chemicals to process the drug, can cause soil and water contamination, threaten fish and stream wildlife and create fires.
For each pound of "meth" produced, five to six pounds of hazardous waste are generated, posing immediate and long-term environmental and health risks. For example, National Forest Service employees who have been in contact with meth dump sites have become ill (remember, this could be the mom or dad of someone you know). The waste contains chemicals such as lye, red phosphorus, hydriodic acid and iodine. Some of this hazardous waste is dumped directly into domestic water wells, farmland and mine shafts, creating broader public health risks from contaminated water.
In California, for example, chemicals from large meth lab dump sites have killed livestock, contaminated streams, and destroyed large areas of trees and vegetation in that state.
White Lies: Methamphetamine
The Prescott Valley Tribune
Back to Top
Cocaine
The U.S. consumes nearly 260 metric tons of cocaine every year, which is grown and processed in the fragile environments of South America. The result has been the destruction of almost 6 million acres of fragile tropical forest over the past 20 years in the Andean region of South America, one of the planet’s most valuable ecosystems.
Each year, millions of pounds of chemicals are used to process coca and then dumped into waterways or onto the ground in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. Terrorist groups in Colombia linked to the narcotics trade frequently bomb oil pipelines resulting in toxic spills. One pipeline has been attacked more than 700 times since 1986 resulting in an overall spillage of 2.2 million barrels of oil into the surrounding ecosystem. In Colombia, which contains roughly 10 percent of the Earth’s biodiversity, roughly three million acres of tropical rain forest have been ruined by the coca trade. In Peru, ten percent of the total rainforest destruction in the last century is due to illegal drugs.
The rapidly eroding rainforests may mean that scientists may not find potential cures for deadly diseases, (one in six prescription drugs has a tropical source). The loss of rainforests also contributes to changes in the global climate. Pollution of waterways will perhaps permanently eradicate species of plants and animals, in addition to releasing carcinogens into drinking water for generations to come.
Links:
Cocaine Industry 'Killing Rainforest'
BBC News - October 31, 2002
Back to Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
Alcohol is the most abused drug by youth. More
|
 |
 |
|
Home 
