As summit documents point out, the hemispheric drug trade has grown into a multibillion-dollar enterprise that endangers the health and safety of millions of people. It imposes enormous costs on societies. For example, taxes must rise to finance police surveillance, drug prosecutions, the penal system and drug-treatment programs. Drug trafficking distorts economies by impeding economic development. In some countries, it inflates currency values and makes it more expensive for legal businesses to import products.
Money laundering undermines the proper functioning of the banking system.