The International drug trade has been a highly distressing and complex issue for decades, and while there has been legislation and action taken- nothing has sparked a definite decline in the world-wide illegal exchange of drugs. Illegal drug trading internationally has stemmed back all the way to the Opium Wars in China during the mid 19th century, and continues to this today in policies like the war on drugs. This specific black market has manifested into numerous branches throughout history including the Vietnam War, the Medellin Cartel, and the Panamanian drug trade. The US has recorded over 60,000 drug related deaths in the year of 2017 itself, which is a fairly large number despite only looking at one country in a year’s time. The amount of drug related deaths have well crossed over the million mark and continues to rise on the daily due to inadequate regulation and enforcement. Today, we can see the international drug trade thrive within Mexican cartels run by drug Lords such as El Chapo, and we can even see the selling of illicit drugs in groups such as Al-Qaeda.

         In the US, the majority of the information on the International Drug Trade resides in a federal campaign known as the War on Drugs. The campaign became widely popular during President Nixon’s presidential term and has continued to this today. The war on drugs has expanded into territories like Mexico and Columbia in efforts to cut off the cartels from dealing into the United States. It is estimated that the United States spends upwards to 51 billion dollars on the war on drugs. The US has established a plethora of drug related agencies that keep track of and actively hunt down external drug forces, some of them are known as ONDCP, and Drug Abuse Prevention and Control. While the US has certainly devoted a generous amount of resources and time to the war on drugs, the Global Commission on Drug Policy released a critical report on the War on Drugs in 2011, declaring: “The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.” Today, the US still remains under criticism for the colossal amounts of effort put into the fight against foreign and domestic drugs.

        The delegation of the United States believes that we as a committee should seek proactive solutions that revolve around seeking and restricting drug cartels and empires. We believe that an effective solution would include a heightened security and interception of drugs to prevent exports. The United States believes that there should be increased funding provided to developing countries in efforts to improve airport screening, and border patrol screening in efforts to limit the transportation of contraband. The United States also believes that an establishment of a UN Drug database be made that complies the investigation and research needed to convict drug criminals that would be mutually shared with all countries struggling with drug crimes or actively seeking to prohibit drug trafficking. We also deem is necessary that the countries heavily involved in housing large drug empires be especially cooperative and vigilant in hopes that they would be open to foreign aid monetarily and militarily. Lastly, we hope that those countries make an active effort to minimize law enforcement and government corruption through increased screening and transparency.