Paradise Lost

Hawaii, behind this picture perfect paradise, lies an altered reality, where drugs are destroying peoples lives. Tourists flock to Hawaii's pristine beaches looking for a taste of paradise, but it's also one of the top 10 states for illegal drug use. For many years weed, cocaine, and heroin were the drugs of choice especially on the surf scene, but since the early 90's, crystal methamphetamine or 'Ice' has flooded this Pacific chain of eight islands.

The majority of Hawaii's 1.4 million residents live on Oahu and the Big Island. Oahu is home to the state capital Honolulu. 'The 50th state' has the highest rate of crystal meth use in the entire nation. Unlike the mainland U.S., here people from all walks of life use meth. Meth is not confined to the ghetto. Hawaiian slang for meth is 'Batu' which means 'Ice'. It's a powerful synthetic stimulant produced from ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, a drug that can be found in cold and allergy medicines. It has a pretty much instant effect. Meth users experience an intense rush which can keep them up for days and frequently leads to paranoia and psychosis. The meth increases energy and users often exhibit repetitive obsessive behaviour.

 

In the late 80's, Asian gangs used Hawaii as a testing ground for meth and the drug quickly became popular. Crystal meth abuse costs the Hawaiian economy $500,000,000. In Hawaii, the U.S. DEA leads the fight against the drug. Ice consumes more law enforcement resources than all the other drugs combined. 51% of cases here are directly related to methamphetamine. A conviction for trafficking crystal meth can carry a 20 year prison sentence and a 20 million dollar fine! But with huge profits at stake, many are willing to risk life behind bars.

 

The Hawaiian islands are experiencing a meth epidemic. In recent years, the state has seen a shift in the drug supply chain from Asia to Mexico. In the early 1990's, it was coming over from Asia, but in the mid 90's it started to transform and the Mexican drug cartels started to take over. Simply because it's easier to traffic Ice across the U.S. - Mexican border than to smuggle it from Asia. Mexican drug gangs now control over 70% of the U.S meth market.

In 2011, drugs worth $531,285,893 were seized. The majority of drugs are imported, but the mainland is nearly 2,500 miles away, so dealers demand sky high prices. Honolulu international airport being the main gateway for drugs into the Hawaiian islands, approximately 90% of meth seized on Oahu arrives here. One of the other ways traffickers like to bring narcotics in, is through cargo. The Hawaiian islands import 85% of everything they need so drugs are easy to hide. Between 2007 and 2010, seizures of Ice increased by 89% and wholesale prices dropped, reflecting an increased availability of the drug.

 

Hawaii's Pacific Ocean location is 2,500 miles to the nearest drug production hub. Shipping narcotics to the island chain, Mexican cartels can make huge profits. In the state capital Honolulu, dealers sell at vastly inflated prices.

With drugs infused into Hawaiian society, and not everyone able to afford rehab, one of Hawaii's leading judges is transforming the judicial system; Judge Steven Alm, 'Hope' probation creator,

''Of the U.S., Hawaii is always one of the lower states for violent crime, usually in the bottom 10, but Hawaii is almost always in the top 5 for property crimes, such as thefts, burglaries, and stealing from tourists cars, and we are convinced that is because of our large drug problem. I would estimate between 80 to 85% of the cases in court involve drugs or alcohol''.

At the original sentencing, the judge has the choice of either sending somebody to prison for a number of years or putting them on probation - supervision in the community. The problem is that on regular probation, when people have tested positive for drugs there are no real consequences. 58.8% of men arrested in Honolulu tested positive for meth in 2011.

 

Judge Alm is changing the probation system so that there are direct and immediate consequences for drug use. If you test positive on probation for drugs on the 'Hope' probation scheme, you will go to jail that day (for a few days). Currently there are about 2000 felony probationers in 'Hope'.

''We had top quality research done on the programme, people in 'Hope' who are on the drug test hotline (random checks for those on probation) tested positive 72% less often than the people on regular probation; they got arrested for new crimes 55% less often than those on regular probation; and they got their probation revoked and were sent to prison 53% less often''.

 

With fewer people going to prison, the program is saving the state a hundred million dollars and helping to transform the lives of people who may otherwise have been homeless, in jail, or dead. While the demand exists and big profits can be made, there will however always be people willing to risk jail to supply 'Drugs Inc. Hawaii'.

Cocaine: Wealth to a few, Misery to millions.

Cocaine is a global business. From coca farmers in Columbia, to trafficking cartels in Mexico, to crack slingers in Miami, to cocaine dealers in London, the supply chain of cocaine stretches around our world. For some cocaine is a way of life. Producers, traffickers, dealers, users, scientists, and cops are all part of this 300 billion dollar global industry.

 

Crack                      Powder

Cocaine, a powerful stimulant that produces feelings of intense pleasure and wellbeing, is used in two main forms. Cocaine powder, snorted predominantly by middle class and up. Many of whom would believe that it's non-addictive and can enhance both work and play. Crack cocaine is sold in rock crystal form that can be heated and inhaled or smoked. It is called 'crack' in reference to the cracking sound it makes when it is heated. It appeals to a lower class cohort due to it's price and availability and it delivers an intense high. However, smoking crack follows the laws of diminishing returns, the euphoria delivered by the first hit from a crack pipe is always the greatest. Users continue to smoke in an attempt to recapture the impact of that first hit.

The United Nations World Drug Report declares that there are up to 20 million cocaine users worldwide, with the majority snorting cocaine. Crack cocaine first emerged in 1984. Up until then, cocaine costing $100 per gram was seen as a drug that was the preserve of the rich. Crack revolutionised the cocaine business by offering a cheap, yet intensely powerful high for as little as $5. It soon swept through America's inner cities. Within a year, 5.5 million people had succumbed to this new addiction.

 



Cocaine has long been seen as
synonymous with a glamorous lifestyle

On the other side of the Atlantic in the U.K., crack cocaine has never really become as popular. The British population lean towards powdered form and use more than any other nation in Europe (EU Drug Agency Report). In the 1990's the appetite for cocaine in the U.K. exploded. Seen as a glamorous drug that enabled users to work and play harder and longer, cocaine became the drug of choice for Britain's middle class. Today, an estimated 38 tonnes of cocaine is being consumed in the U.K. each year.

Around the world there are an estimated two million people working as cocaine dealers. Selling cocaine in crack form can provide a good living but few make a fortune. The big fish are the traffickers who supply the dealers with the 900 tonnes of cocaine produced each year. They earn millions smuggling large shipments across international borders.

 

Cocaine dealt on the streets of London comes from the other side of the globe. From Columbia, cartels ship their product to depots they've built in Guinea Bissau, West Africa. The cocaine is then trucked to Morocco and into Spain, where it is sold to British traffickers who load it on trucks that are sent to the U.K. by ferry. Out of ten trucks, two are usually expected to be caught.

 

The cocaine trade wreaks havoc on countries around the world. Cash from the sale of coke has financed coups in Bolivia, fuelled guerrilla wars in Nicaragua and Columbia, and threatens the stability of the Mexican state today.

Every year 51 billion dollars worth of cocaine floods across the border into the United States. Mexican cartels purchase cocaine from Columbia where over half of the world's cocaine is produced. The cocaine produced by peasant farmers in Columbia is smuggled across the international borders by traffickers. Sold on city streets by dealers and to be snorted by the 1.9 million regular American users of cocaine. 360,000 of these are hard-core crack addicts. 25% of Americans who have used cocaine in the past year will develop a problem with it. Some will end up in prison and many will seek help for addiction.

 

Since 9/11, the U.S. department of homeland security reinforced it's border with Mexico by building hundreds of miles of fences and installing license plate readers at all points of entry. It's also increased border patrol units on land, sea, and air.

 

By the turn of the century, a wave of violence had spread through northern Mexico. The drug cartels fought each other for cocaine trafficking routes into the United States. In 2006 Felipe Calderon was elected president of Mexico. He pledged to take on and defeat the cartels responsible for plunging Mexico's northern cities into anarchy.



Felipe Calderon

Calderon dispatched state police and troops to crack down on the operations of the cartels. When Eduardo Arellano Felix (Tijuana Cartel) was arrested, the leadership vacuum sparked a war for control of the cartels and their drug smuggling routes into the U.S. With many looking to be 'top dog', the war is brutal. In the 3 years following Calderon's election, another 15,000 people are gunned down.

However, the deaths don't deter people  from entering into the illegal and violent drug trafficking business. There were hundreds eager to step into Eduardo's shoes and take over his trafficking routes by undermining his position. Up to 2013, the Mexican drug war has cost the lives of 60,000 people, with other reports putting it as high as 100,000 due to missing persons.

 

For the best part of the last 25 years, governments around the world have been fighting a war against cocaine. In Columbia, the American government has financed an eradication operation to reduce cocaine production in the country by 50%. Since 2000, the U.S government has poured five billion dollars into these eradication missions of cocaine superlabs, all to little effect. The amount of cocaine manufactured in Columbia remains the same today as at the beginning of the century.

No matter how many dealers are arrested, there will always be somebody else eager to take their place. Where there is demand, there will be a supply. Today, more cocaine enters the U.S. than ever before, with an army of dealers selling it to America's 7 million users and addicts. The war is relentless and the vast profits made from cocaine will undoubtedly continue to finance this global drugs business for the foreseeable future.
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''Cocaine is God's way of saying you're making too much money''.
                                                                                                    ~ Robin Williams

Meth Zombies



Shabu or glass - shards of Crystal Meth

Crystal, Ice, Tina, Meth, it has been around as a street drug since the 1950's. In the US, the drug hit the west coast first and moved east thereafter. Crystal meth used to be a popular drug on the rave scene, but now it's so cheap it's replacing crack as the favourite high of the down and out. However, other reports say that in some parts of the U.S, an ounce of meth is currently more expensive than an ounce of gold. But when there's a glut of it like today - prices fall.

It's an 'upper', a party drug, a super strong type of speed that's 3 and a half times more powerful than cocaine. It can be smoked, snorted, swallowed or injected directly into a vein or under the skin ('popping').

People move from crank to meth to get more 'bang for their buck'. Known as 'poor man's cocaine', a hit of meth can last up to 12 hours making it much more economical to the desperate addict.

It travels through the bloodstream to the nucleus accumbens, a central reward centre for the brain. This is a release site for the neurotransmitter dopamine, the chemical key to human pleasure.

Dopamine is a natural chemical which causes us to feel good. More dopamine means more pleasure. It's one of the ways the brain rewards behaviour that helps us survive. Food and sex being two of the highest natural pleasures. And with crystal meth, there's a sh*t load of dopamine being produced - six times more dopamine is released than the body can do on it's own. However continual use makes it difficult for long term users to get a rush of dopamine with meth or without it.

 

In low doses meth increases energy and in higher doses it can induce euphoria. The initial high (rush) being followed by adrenaline-like effects which kick-in, increases heart rate and can lead to ''endurance levels off the map''. As the old joke goes, 'What's the best part about being a meth addict... Only one sleep till Christmas'.

Meth combines the hyperactivity of cocaine with the delusions of LSD (e.g. 'Meth bugs'). Users often feel paranoid with some feeling that they are under constant police surveillance. Meth abuse can also lead to violent effects. In Thailand hostage situations arising from meth-use led to a crackdown in 2003, but it is still prevalent on the streets of Bangkok.

Meth is engineered to trick your brain, keep you awake, prevent hunger, and make you feel brave. Interestingly, the Japanese created the first type of meth nearly a century ago. Later a perfect opportunity arose for it's use - World War II. It was administered to help soldiers keep fighting for longer and kamikaze pilots were believed to have taken it to keep them stoked for their suicide missions.

                                                   2.5 years later

 

Meth is more physically damaging than crack or heroin. While under it's influence, many users feel a crawling sensation under the skin, which leads to picking and scratching that can cause open sores. Hair becomes brittle. Teeth begin to rot ('meth mouth') due to meth impeding the flow of saliva which makes it easier for bacteria to build up faster. Further, a meth addict will most likely spend their money on a hit at the expense of their dental needs  Addicts are literally like zombies. The average life expectancy for a heavy meth user is 5 to 7 years.

 

Approximately 12 million people in America have tried meth. It is one of the most addictive substances on the planet. As much as 92% of users relapse after treatment. As the meth takes hold, addicts lives fall apart and there is destruction of entire communities. One such example is that of the Tenderloin, situated in San Francisco. San Francisco is notorious for drugs and a city saturated in meth. It was an epicentre of the 60's psychedelic revolution. The Tenderloin is one of the worst drug ghettos in the whole of America.  One young woman who moved to the area was told by a resident that ''people don't come here to live, they come here to die''.

 

The 'loin

A 50 block area, right in the heart of downtown San Francisco, the Tenderloin has long been a notoriously violent drugs supermarket. Meth, heroin, crank, and prescription pills are assigned their own specific corners - what you want, when you want it. Few drugs however have caused as much mayhem as meth and the Tenderloin is plumbing new depths. I once heard a dealer say that ''if you can make chocolate chip cookies then you can cook meth''. Ok we're getting into Walter White territory now, but homemade productions in the US have significantly dropped but the supply has not.

Mexico has stepped up it's production, and there is now the alarming influx of  an extra pure and potent 'Mexican meth' being mass produced in super-labs. This type of meth is not as diluted ('stepped on') as what would be normally found on the streets of the Tenderloin. Cutting agents such as MSM, a nutritional food supplement, is often used to bulk out the drugs size.

 

Asian cartels have been poisoning San Francisco with meth for almost 25 years, however their monopoly on meth is now under increasing threat from Mexico. The Sinaloa Cartel is believed to be moving into meth to reduce it's reliance on Columbian cocaine. The Mexicans sent meth into the US via routes that were already established by the cartels. Their drugs 'super-highway' running from the border of Mexico all the way up to the Bay area.



Mexico

An operation similar to that of a terrorist network. 80% of meth in the US is now supplied by the Mexican cartels, with the Sinaloa cartel estimated to make $3 billion a year from drug trafficking. Between 2007 and 2009, seizures of meth along the Mexican border increased by 87%. But for every batch lost, a dozen are believed to make it through.

It's supply and demand, and with Mexican meth now up to 90% pure and less than half the price - demand is high for 'the Devil's drug'.

A previous meth addict sums up the downfall into his love affair with a drug that is destroying lives worldwide, saying ''The drug won't bring a rapid death...you can see the shame, but you're just so high you don't care....you put your head down and walk away...it's incredible how deep the hooks go''.