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The resilience and resistance of criminal networks, particularly drug trafficking organizations, remain crucial issues in contemporary society. Existing studies have unrealistically modelled law enforcement interventions and have failed to capture the complexity of the adaptations of criminal networks. This study introduces MADTOR, the first agent-based model that examines the responses of drug trafficking organizations to different types of law enforcement interventions. MADTOR addresses previous research gaps by enabling more realistic simulations of law enforcement interventions, modelling adaptations by organizations based on real-world operations and allowing comparisons of different interventions. To demonstrate the possible applications of MADTOR, we assessed the impact of arresting varying proportions of members on the resilience of drug trafficking organizations. Our results reveal the disruptive impact of arresting even a few members, and a non-linear relationship between the share of arrested members and disruptive impact, with diminishing returns as the proportion increases. Surviving organizations face increasing recovery difficulties as more members are arrested. These findings contribute to the development of strategies for effective interventions against drug trafficking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the undeveloped law of maritime drug interdictions and proposes reforms to strengthen interdiction procedural law. Topics discussed include logistical obstacles and rights of interdictees, historical development of the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, modern justifications for extended confinement such as detentions at at-sea arrests, federal presentment rule with presumption requirements, and doctrine of outrageous government conduct doctrine.

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Copyright of International Journal of Legal Studies ( IJOLS ) is the property of International Institute of Innovation Science-Education-Development in Warsaw and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The global issue of Drug Trafficking has raised major concerns to the International and National communities to handle in the recent years. It is the most debatable and challenging problem faced by almost all the countries of the world. The problem has been multiplying due to various factors and significantly because it is lucrative for the criminals. It has posed challenges for the countries and its enforcement machineries owing to its dynamic nature. At the International level, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has been involved in helping the Nations to remain safe from drugs through its normative and facilitative actions. It has established Field Offices in Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Caribbean and the Pacific to tackle the problem and coordinate with the Governments to initiate necessary actions. Apart from this, at the Domestic levels too, Nations have established their own mechanisms to deal with the issue. In context to Asia, the name Golden Crescent has been given representing principal areas of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan as illicit opium production countries and Golden Triangle as certain south-eastern Asian Countries as one the largest Opium producing areas of the world. Due to the illicit production of drugs and its consequent illicit trade some of the Asian countries are affected the most. For the purpose of the present paper, the Author has taken into consideration countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as South Asian Countries. The present paper identifies the Drug policies of selected countries, their existing enforcement mechanism and the current problems and perspectives in context of transnational drug trafficking. The paper also discusses the International Law on controlling of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and the challenges thereto. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Basic Education College Magazine For Educational & Humanities Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Through 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), the Gun Control Act (GCA) outlaws the possession of a firearm "in furtherance of" a drug trafficking crime. The statute's language is broad, and federal courts have interpreted it expansively. By giving prosecutors wide discretion in charging individuals with § 924(c) violations, the language enables the disproportionate incarceration of Black firearm owners. This Comment addresses this issue in three parts. Part I discusses the ways early gun control laws overtly disarmed Black firearm owners. Additionally, Part I provides context for the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which coincided with the backlash to the Civil Rights Movement. Next, Part II outlines the ways different circuits have interpreted § 924(c), demonstrating how those interpretations disadvantage Black defendants. Finally, Part III puts forth two proposals for reform: interpreting § 924(c) more narrowly, or simply removing the language at issue from the GCA. These reforms would reduce racial disparities in the enforcement of § 924(c). They would also reaffirm the right of Black Americans to keep and bear arms for self-defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For some, the open ocean is prison. The Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA) prohibits individuals from knowingly or intentionally distributing a controlled substance or possessing it with the intent to distribute. Empowered by the MDLEA, the United States Coast Guard arrests and detains foreign nationals hundreds of miles outside of U.S. territorial waters. After months shackled to Coast Guard ships, these individuals face the harsh reality of American mandatory minimum drug sentencing, judged by the kilograms of drugs on their vessels. But the MDLEA conflates kilograms with culpability. More often than not, those sentenced are fishermen-turned-smugglers due to financial desperation or coercion-not the kingpins the statute aspired to target. In the First Step Act of 2018, Congress attempted to grant sentencing reprieve to these defendants by extending the safety valve provision to the MDLEA. When it works, the safety valve provision enables judges to sentence below mandatory minimum penalties. Unfortunately, the unique qualities of international drug couriers preclude them from receiving such relief. Until the legislature and presiding judges recognize this, MDLEA defendants will continue to receive irrationally long prison sentences. This Note argues that including the MDLEA as an offense under the safety valve provision fails to mitigate the MDLEA’s harsh mandatory minimum sentences. This Note begins in Part I by discussing the MDLEA’s history as well as how the Coast Guard arrests these defendants. It then explains how the statutory mandatory minimum sentence interacts with the Sentencing Guidelines and highlights the flaws of this system. Part II addresses the safety valve provision as well as the previous circuit split regarding its applicability to the MDLEA. Part III introduces the First Step Act of 2018 and describes how it resolved that split. Part III then evaluates the effectiveness of the First Step Act’s change and provides a recent case example. Finally, Part IV concentrates on how defendants sentenced under the MDLEA are uniquely incapable of sentencing reprieve. It explores general improvements for the safety valve as well as specific changes for the MDLEA. This Note ultimately argues that Congress must amend the MDLEA’s sentencing regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the new technologies being deployed at sea, maritime autonomous vehicles (MAV) are of increasing interest to States to enhance their intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to improve their maritime security. This article analyses the international law implications of this use of MAV to support maritime law enforcement efforts in response to drug trafficking and other crimes at sea. The use of MAV for criminal purposes, especially smuggling goods, also holds international law consequences. The article assesses how these different operations of MAV fit within existing legal regimes, highlighting emerging legal questions for resolution and setting out recommendations for law reform to enhance counter-smuggling operations at sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the court case U.S. v. Davila-Mendoza, wherein the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit restricted the Commerce Clause authority of the Congress over economic activity on foreign waters, particularly the regulation of maritime drug trafficking under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act.

Copyright of Dilemas Contemporáneos: Educación, Política y Valores is the property of Dilemas Contemporaneos: Educacion, Politica y Valores and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article offers information on the Drug Trafficking in Idaho. It discusses that the Idaho Code provisions for each of these offenses provide a statutory maximum sentence a judge may impose on a person convicted of such an offense, but do not provide mandatory minimum sentences; mentioning about that affecting in heroin carries a maximum sentence; only for trafficking, the maximum is life imprisonment rather than 14 years.

This study examines the relationship between drug control policy, normalization and symbolic boundary work among drug traders. Taking from interviews with 50 personnel in Amsterdam's coffee shops, we find that Dutch drug policy shapes their understanding of what comprises morally acceptable drug use and sales. Conversely, the rules set by the state also guide personnel's definitions of what is morally unacceptable: using hard drugs or committing predatory crimes. To normalize their own involvement with cannabis, personnel must identify potential rule breakers and criminals. To do so, they construct symbolic boundaries differentiating themselves from these persons. We conclude by discussing the theoretical implications of our findings for normalization and symbolic boundaries and by suggesting a potential negative secondary impact of cannabis decriminalization or legalization: the further marginalization of hard drug users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social drug supply is non-commercial drug supplying, or sharing, among friends and acquaintances for little to no profit. Given the increasing research and international recognition of the social supply of drugs, this paper critically assesses how Canadian law has incorporated social supply in drug trafficking. While the Cannabis Act includes a limited exception for social supply, the overall approach to drug trafficking law in Canada is overly broad and over emphasizes drug trafficking as inherently predatory. This approach does not adequately account for the social nature of drug supplying. Considering the recognition that social supplying is less morally blameworthy than commercial dealing, the fact that many people who use drugs do not regard social sharing as trafficking, and the harm reduction benefits associated with social supply as an alternative to other forms of dealing, law reform is needed in Canada. Three avenues for law reform are proposed: (1) educate judges and lawyers about the lived experiences of people who use drugs and the phenomenon of social supply; (2) use the language of social supply and minimally commercial supply in sentencing submissions to gradually challenge ideas about drug use and supply; and (3) pursue strategic Charter arguments under section 7 against the overly broad definition of drug trafficking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policies face major challenges to their consolidation and stability that force rulers to make significant political efforts to keep them alive. Some of these challenges occur by the adjustment of the policy's idea as an attempt to reduce the possible difficulties caused by public confrontation, thus better adapting them to the reference frame of the actors. Such is the case of Colombia's drug control policy which did not have sufficient legitimacy to be carried out, despite international pressure, but it was later coupled to the international agenda as a national need. By using the critical discourse analysis, this study verifies how the discursive transformation of this policy took place and the cognitive mechanisms used to reinterpret it as a matter of national security and not international co-responsibility, which allowed consolidation of the current prohibitionist strategy. The results of the study reveal an interpretation of the drug trafficking problem as a threat to the institutional order, which reduces the confrontation capacity of the critics of the proposed policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article summarises the Sentencing Council's proposed revision of its Drug Offences Definitive Guideline (Consultation Paper, January 2020). The article discusses the basis on which "harm " is assessed under the guideline and it identifies matters which, given the complexity of UK drug laws and social behaviours with respect to drugs, expose the challenges of formulating a guideline that is apt in every case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States Sentencing Guidelines created a novel, more uniform calculation for sentencing federal criminal offenders. The complex system, however, is not without its flaws. Section 2D1.1(b)(1) of the Sentencing Guidelines provides for a two-level increase in the specific offense level if a dangerous weapon (including a firearm) is possessed in connection with a drug trafficking offense. "Possession" in this provision includes constructive possession. Federal Circuits differ greatly on the standard they use to define "constructive possession," leading to disproportionate and unequal sentences across the country. A universal interpretation of constructive possession that requires the weapon to be both temporally and spatially proximate to the defendant and the drug activity fits most closely with what the Sentencing Commission intended the two-level increase to punish. The Sentencing Commission intended a higher sentence to punish the increased danger an offender creates in possessing a dangerous weapon with drug activity, and increased danger only arises from a dangerous weapon if the weapon is close enough to the offender for him or her to use it during the course of drug activity. Aligning the provision's application with what the Sentencing Commission intended would create more proportionate, uniform punishment nationwide than the wide range of different interpretations used across the federal judiciary now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If Person A delivers drugs to Person B at the latter's request, Person A is liable for drug trafficking-a serious offense in many jurisdictions. However, the liability of Person B for drug trafficking is unclear as much may depend on Person B's intention with the drugs. The Singaporean Courts recently had to grapple with this issue in Liew Zheng Yang v. Public Prosecutor and Ali bin Mohamad Bahashwan v. Public Prosecutor and other appeals. Prior to these two cases, the position in Singapore was clear-Person B should be liable for drug trafficking as an accessory to Person A, in line with Singapore's strong stance against drug offenses. However, since these cases, the Singaporean Courts have taken a contrary position and held that Person B may not be liable if the drugs were for his/her own consumption. This Article examines the law with respect to this drug conspiracy offense in Singapore, looking at its history, the primary legislation and similar cases. It also scrutinizes the judicial reasoning in the two cases above and considers whether this can be reconciled with the Courts' prior position on the issue. In this analysis, the Article also investigates the position taken in other comparable common law jurisdictions-including the UK, Australia, Canada and the United States-and concludes that the Singaporean Courts' reasoning in the aforementioned two cases may not be tenable and warrant a reexamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the disproportionate tax burden on marijuana sellers and the growing tension between current federal tax law and states' legalization of marijuana. Topics discussed include history and legislative intent behind section 280E of Controlled Substances Act; tax treatment for illegal drug traffickers; and solutions to eliminate the reach of section 280E to statelegal marijuana businesses.

This paper draws upon social theories that outline different contextual factors in law-breaking to explore the association between certain aspects of social deterioration in a sample of individuals and their participation in drug trafficking, by using a quantitative methodology and a new database obtained from the records of 371 inmates convicted of drug crimes in the state of Sonora (Mexico). The findings show that having a criminal record, using illegal drugs, poverty, educational lag, family disintegration, and residence in the state influence participation in drug trafficking. This analysis contributes to a discussion of the factors that facilitate the spread of crime in northern Mexico and notes that a deterioration in social conditions is a crucial factor in choosing to engage in criminal activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Note addresses whether people who use criminal aliases to send drugs through the mail should retain their Fourth Amendment rights in those packages. While several circuit courts have identified this as an issue, none have resolved it. One district court has been able to conclude, unquestioned by the higher courts, that such people do not retain their Fourth Amendment rights in the packages. This Note disagrees: People who send drugs through the mail using criminal aliases have Fourth Amendment rights in those packages. Because of the growing opioid crisis in the United States, a crisis fueled in part by drug dealers exploiting the dark web to send their customers dangerous illegal drugs through the mail, this Note does not end with an assertion that drug dealers should enjoy Fourth Amendment protections. Instead, this Note explores the exclusionary rule and how courts could apply it to combat the opioid crisis and dark web drug dealing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA), enacted through Congress's power to "define and punish . . . Felonies Committed on the high Seas," prosecutes individuals for drug trafficking "on board" vessels. Individuals often raise jurisdictional defenses in U.S. courts when prosecuted under MDLEA, and scholarship in the area argues about whether the Constitution permits MDLEA to reach drug traffickers who are on the high seas. Recently, courts have begun using MDLEA to prosecute foreign nationals located in a foreign nation who are not on board a vessel as conspirators. However, no court has fully examined Congress's authority to enact a statute with this reach or engaged in a comprehensive statutory interpretation of MDLEA's conspiracy provision. This Note examines MDLEA from two perspectives. First, it examines whether Congress has constitutional authority to enact a law prosecuting drug trafficking by a foreign national on land in a foreign nation to determine the validity of such law. Because the Constitution grants Congress the power to punish crimes on the high seas, this inquiry depends on whether conspiracy can effectively extend an individual's conduct from land to the high seas. Second, this Note considers the statutory language of MDLEA to determine whether the law enables the prosecution of a foreign national located in a foreign nation as a conspirator. This Note argues that the text of the statute limits the substantive offense by using the jurisdictional language of "on board a covered vessel," and so MDLEA remains a valid exercise of Congress's Article I authority under the Felonies Clause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade there has been a clear consensus among drug policy researchers that the practice of incarcerating persons for drug offenses has been counterproductive. As a result, U.S. criminal justice policy is increasingly emphasizing alternative dispositions to incarceration for drug related arrests. In addition, large numbers of persons currently incarcerated for drug related offenses are being released into communities. However, there are serious questions about where these individuals are going to live once released and how they will access needed services. Residential recovery homes in the community are good options for those who wish to pursue abstinence from drugs. They provide a drug- and alcohol-free living environment along with social support for abstinence and successful functioning in the community. This paper reviews recent changes in drug policy the U.S. and describes the variety of recovery home options that are available to persons diverted or released from incarceration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores some of the empirical dimensions of the way in which lawyers litigate drug crime cases in Mexican federal courts. In particular, the aim is to illustrate two aspects of the relationship between the legal profession practice and the crimes related to the trafficking, production, possession and transportation of illegal drugs in Mexico. The investigation focuses on whether the distinction between ‘narco-lawyers’ and ‘lawyers defending other crimes’ could be pertinent and useful for classifying particular forms of legal profession exercise. Moreover, analysis also extends to how narco-lawyers ‘work’ in practice, and what specific practices could distinguish them from their peers. Research findings suggest that lawyers who defend drug-criminals in Mexico (1) do offer a better explanation to their clients regarding the status of the judicial process, (2) present more evidence (witnesses, in particular) to support their client's innocence, and (3) obtain softer sentences (4) in less time than those lawyers who do not represent drug traffickers. Taken together, these findings suggest that drug trafficking may be contributing to a distinctive way of exercising the legal profession in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: In the last years were published many epidemiological articles aiming to link driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) with the risk of various unfavorable traffic events (UTEs), with sometimes contradictory results. Aim: The primary objective of this study was to analyze whether there is a significant association between DUIC and UTEs. Materials and Methods: We used two meta-analytical methods to assess the statistical significance of the effect size: random-effects model and inverse variance heterogeneity model. Results: Twenty-four studies were included in the meta-analysis. We obtained significant increases in the effect size for DUIC tested through blood analysis, with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.27 and a confidence interval (CI) between 1.36 and 3.80; death as an outcome, with an OR of 1.56 and a CI between 1.16 and 2.09; and case-control as the type of study, with an OR of 1.99 and a CI between 1.05 and 3.80. Publication bias was very high. Conclusion: Our analysis suggests that the overall effect size for DUIC on UTEs is not statistically significant, but there are significant differences obtained through subgroup analysis. This result might be caused by either methodological flaws (which are often encountered in articles on this topic), the indiscriminate employment of the term "cannabis use," or an actual absence of an adverse effect. When a driver is found, in traffic, with a positive reaction suggesting cannabis use, the result should be corroborated by either objective data regarding marijuana usage (like blood analyses, with clear cut-off values), or a clinical assessment of the impairment, before establishing his/her fitness to drive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Variations in drug laws, as well as variations in enforcement practice, exist across jurisdictions. This study explored the feasibility of categorising drug laws "on the books" in terms of their punitiveness, and the extent of their concordance with "laws in practice" in a cross-national comparison.Methods: "Law on the books", classified with respect to both cannabis and other drug offences in the Czech Republic, NSW (AU) and Florida (USA) were analysed in order to establish an ordinal relationship between the three states. Indicators to assess the "laws in practice" covered both police (arrests) and court (sentencing) activity between 2002 and 2013. Parametric and non-parametric tests of equality of means, tests of stationarity and correlation analysis were used to examine the concordance between the ordinal categorisation of "laws on the books" and "laws in practice", as well as trends over time.Results: The Czech Republic had the most lenient drug laws; Florida had the most punitive and NSW was in-between. Examining the indicators of "laws in practice", we found that the population adjusted number of individuals sentenced to prison ranked across the three states was concordant with categorisation of "laws on the books", but the average sentence length and percentage of court cases sentenced to prison were not. Also, the de jure decriminalisation of drug possession in the Czech Republic yielded a far greater share of administrative offenses than the de facto decriminalisation of cannabis use / possession in NSW. Finally, the mean value of most "laws in practice" indicators changed significantly over time although the "laws on the books" didn't change.Conclusions: While some indicators of "laws in practice" were concordant with the ordinal categorisation of drug laws, several indicators of "laws in practice" appeared to operate independently from the drug laws as stated. This has significant implications for drug policy analysis and means that research should not assume they are interchangeable and should consider each separately when designing research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests whether judges and/or prosecutors manipulated mandatory federal sentencing guidelines to shorten prison sentences. It finds that, among drug traffickers convicted under the federal guidelines' former mandatory sentencing system, those who faced harsher underlying charges were found to have played significantly lower-level roles in their conspiracies. This is consistent with guideline manipulation to help defendants facing longer sentences. Women received significantly larger role-in-the-offense reductions related to harsher underlying charges than men. Effects were insignificant if defendants were eligible for lower-cost alternative methods of sentence reduction, namely substantial assistance departures and safety-valve reductions from mandatory minimum sentences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusess past and present status of drug smuggling problem in the U.S. Topics dicussed include efforts taken by the government agencies in preventing Port of Savannah from becoming from becoming; issues surrounding the security measures of the ports in the country; and enactment of Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act of 1980 for addressing the same.

Background: After decades of internal discussion, the Government of Jamaica recently amended its laws to create a regulated and licensed cannabis industry for medical and scientific purposes. The new law also decriminalizes personal possession and use of cannabis; allows cannabis to be used by individuals for religious, medical, scientific and therapeutic purposes; and permits home cultivation of up to five plants.Methods: We first describe the statutory changes under the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act of 2015 and compare it with other jurisdictions. We provide an analytical framework for understanding how the DDA Amendment affects key populations and achieves its stated goals, drawing on publicly available information and unstructured interviews with non-governmental stakeholders in Jamaica.Results: The Amendment's primary goals are to deliver economic impact and reduce criminal justice costs. A relaxed policy of enforcement toward possession and use seems to have occurred even before the law's passage; after the law's passage, enforcement remains limited. To access medical cannabis under the DDA residents must receive authorization from a certified health professional in Jamaica; tourists may self-declare their medical need; and Rastafarians may grow and exchange non-commercially for religious purposes.Conclusion: Internally, many see "ganja" as an industry sorely needed to drive economic growth in Jamaica. Indeed, the potential impacts could be large, especially if Jamaica draws additional tourism or creates a viable export industry. A growing cannabis-related tourism industry seems more realistic. We maintain that policymakers and observers should proceed in an orderly fashion, continuing to identify and resolve remaining uncertainties, initiate new types of data collection, and make decisions based on realistic assessments of potentials for economic impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) are capitalizing on new marijuana legalization laws. Topics include according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), DTOs in Mexico bring in the most marijuana out of any other foreign DTO and recent figures show a trend in marijuana being smuggled into the U.S. that correlates with legalization.