The government can fix the drug problem down in South America. Now there's a real stretch. The job has been badly botched so far. Colombia is already the third largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, after Israel and Egypt. Colombia has the highest rate of violence in the world, and assassinations are commonplace.
Corruption is out of control.
It's a mess. Coca and opium poppy are cultivated worldwide, and production would be easily shifted elsewhere. Gen. McCaffrey admits that coca production has tripled over the last few years in Peru. Domestic production of methamphetamine, a central nervous stimulant similar to cocaine, can be quickly expanded too. The entrepreneurs of the drug trade usually keep a few steps ahead of the gumshoes.