The escalation of violence in areas that have become a stronghold of illegal drug production and trade highlights these harmful effects. For example, 27,000 people died on average in Colombia in each year of the 1990s as a result of violence. This death toll due to violence implied a reduction of more than 2 years in the Colombian life expectancy at birth (Soares, 2005). Similar numbers have been observed in Brazil in recent years, where organized crime has reached a dimension not previously seen in the country. Linking the phenomenon of high crime with illegal drug trafficking, the governor of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio Cabral, has declared that “A lot of crime in my state and city comes from [drug] prohibition, many young people die in wars over drug-selling spots,” calling then for a debate on drug legalization in Brazil and internationally (Drug War Chronicle, 2007). Violence is not universally associated with drug trafficking, but in settings where drug markets are heavily contested or where social or political institutions are weak, violence is more likely.

Much violence results from traffickers competing for market share. However, state efforts to fight traffickers also unleash substantial violence. Large-scale policy and army operations have resulted in high numbers of deaths throughout the world, from Mexico and Brazil to Thailand and Colombia. In Mexico, the army has recently been deployed to combat drug gangs, and they have responded in kind. Many people on both sides have died, but the drug trade continues unabated and, supported by their highly profitable activities, drug traffickers have proven to be exceptionally resilient.<sup>2</sup> In Thailand, the bloody 2003 government campaign against drug trafficking continues to be controversial. In only three months, over 2,500 people died. Even though initially the police blamed gang violence for the killings, a recent report found that they were due to a government “shoot-to-kill” policy and that over half of those killed had no links to drug trafficking ( _The Economist_ , 2008c). Adding to the multitude of concrete examples, the academic literature on the subject has found a clear and systematic causal link from drug prohibition to violence (see Dills, Miron, and Summers, 2008; and Fajnzylber, Lederman, and Loayza, 2002).

Organized crime groups link with other opponents of state institutions, magnifying the negative effects of drug traffickers on social and political stability. This is clear in the association between drug trafficking, guerrilla activities, and terrorism that recently became commonplace in South America and other drug producing regions. In Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC) and Peru (Shining Path), guerrillas and drug traffickers exchanged money and arms for protection until they eventually became undistinguishable from each other. In Colombia, guerillas became involved in the drug business in the 1990s, playing the role of the middlemen between coca growing farmers and the traffickers’ cocaine producing labs. Eventually, rough estimates reported by Reuter, et al., (2004) suggest that half of the resources of the FARC were estimated to come from drug production and trade. Scholars have documented a similar coincidence between terrorist or guerrilla groups and drug production and trafficking in other areas of the world, including the Middle East and South Asia (Reuter et al, 2 Throughout Nuevo Laredo, Mexico (near the border), public advertisements like the following (loosely translated) are showing up everywhere: “Important Announcement: Operative Group _Los Zetas_ is offering you, military or ex-military personnel, some dirty work. We offer: good salary: 5,000 pesos/week [about US$500], stipends, and very good food. Interested people, call (044 867) 168 74 23. Deserters need not abstain.” ( _Washington Post_ , May 7, 2008, p. A13.) _Los Zetas_ is a hit squad that works for the Gulf drug trafficking cartel, composed of elite Mexican army deserters. Drug traffickers in Mexico, just as under Pablo Escobar in Colombia, are preparing an army to counter government forces.

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