Live beginning at 7 00 a. M. Eastern. Join the discussion. [inaudible] [inaudible] not on. Good afternoon. Im the policy analyst on latin america. At catos center for global liberty and prosperity. Not long ago was in each policy issue lead among others by few libertarians and the editors of the economist. Naturally briefly they polish this article. The recent horrors of the wine drugs in mexico and Central America have increase Peoples Awareness of the failure of prohibition. And the need to tackle the socalled drug problem using a different approach then street law enforcement. They argue that Economic Perspective of the issue can best help us to understand how the drug industry works and whats wrong with current policies. It was, after all of freemarket economies from the university of chicago such as friedman and baker, using supply and demand who pointed out the opportunity prohibition. This approach was echoed by none other than one of Latin Americans renowned drug warriors, to acknowledge the failure of his own drug policies by the end of his term in 2012 he told the wall street journal the following, the price of drugs goes up thanks large to intern jackson issues you will increase profit so you are creating more incentives for participants in the market. He he went on to say that it is clearly a case for open Economic System or the more successful you are, the more criminals you are creating. This is precisely what the war and drugs been doing for 40 years. Rising economics, prohibition has driven up the price of a few cheap commodities to create a violent and 300 billiondollar drug industry. And a fermentable industry Drug Trafficking has become. Drug cartels have shown tremendous ingenuity and entrepreneurship to satisfy over one quarter billion customers worldwide. In this regard, its a fascinating read for anyone interested it to understand why this business is likely to fail. I found it particularly interesting how hard cartels to the streets of the United States. However, when it comes to cocaine trafficking criminal organizations prefer to specialize in just one part of the business. In choosing their business model, cartels are actually applying another chicago boy, the nature of the firm. But i will let the author of the book explain the findings of his research which took him from bolivia to el salvador, to colorado. Well also talk here from one of washingtons leading thinkers whose 2005 book, illicit shed light on how changing the world by economy, and capturing powers. Let me introduce the author. Hes the editor of calm medicine until 2003 he was the mexico city broached chief for that magazine. As well as parts of south america in the United States border region where he covered information. He was a contributor to the times and a literary review. Hughes bennett, tailored on, tailored on cnn, the bbc, npr and others. He has a firstclass degree in philosophy and economics. Please help me welcome him. [applause]. Thanks a lot and thank you all for being here. Its a great privilege to be here especially great to be sharing a platform with one of the great authorities on the subject and indeed many other subjects. I hear we have practically a full house today and its good to see so many people here. Im a bit concerned that there is to so many people in washington that want to know how to run a drug cartel. Ill see that your interest is purely academic as is my. I should probably start by explaining myself. And explaining how i came to write this unusual book. I began when i got sent to mexico with an economist in 2010. I thought. I thought i was going to be writing about ordinary subjects, regular business whether the oil industry, car car business, tourism and that kinda stuff. But as i have arrived the drug lower arrived, the mix murder rate was spiraling in mexico. So quickly i found this was the subject that people wanted to talk about. You got interviews and parties or business roundtables, quickly found that the subject very often returned to the subject of the drug business. So i i started writing more about it than i expected. I got into this habit of doing business stories one weekend drug stories the next week. The more i did the two and came to see that actually the two were not quite as different as you might think. I began to wonder if the drug story was in fact a big business and economic story that we had been missing. I started to try to think about the terms. There arent Many Companies in the world but they are not that big. So looking into it a big a bit more with the estimate. So the retail price is for the drugs were headed the conservatively estimated maybe 5 a gram in the United States then over 100 tons it just gets bigger with half a billion. But if you get a moments thought and apply it to any other business you can see how insane thises the specially a product like coffee to say the retail price in United States is three brawlers maybe you get 2 grams of coffee so that 1 kilo in mexico must we worth 2,000. Remember trying to calculate the price of the state by the cow you get a weird figure but that is what were doing. So i looked at what theyre really should be with worth it was much lower the wholesale price is 0. 98 per gram. So maybe it was a bit less than 10 million vs the 500 million river told so theyre shocked me to think thats in fact, of what were doing on the supply side is 90 percent less effective than we believe, and then what else are we getting wrong . And we need to think seriously. And in so doing i identified to the cartel and in various ways to take part in franchising their brand. Theyre very concerned with things like Public Relations and that is the time on to lead the 6 00 news. Then they get into lawn Online Retailing like the silk road that they are experimenting with ecommerce. Solidities and i lay it out in the book i know were short of time but one of the ones that i thought were most interesting and important is the question it seems we focus on the supply side rather than the demand side. But look at cocaine. 22 bolivia to look at the cocaine business there all the worlds cocaine ridgy it blood dash and originates from bolivia or peru or colombia. The idea is fairly straightforward to cut into supplies and demand remains constant and if the price goes up you expect people to consume less but that doesnt seem to be what has happened. Go back a couple of decades it has been quite successful. They have money to eradicate the cocoa leaf that you need to make cocaine it is about 14 times the size of manhattan. And watching over land mines is an incredible feats. But for all of this the retail price in the United States all that time is around 150. So there are a couple of things to bear in mind. One thing happening in south america it is important to make clear in what people accuse them that it is a monopoly buyer. And then you expect them to raise the price as a result. And we will set the price and it wont go higher. But something very similar is happening in south america that some areas where coca leaf is grown it could be a Mexican Cartel in to say this is the price even if interrupted it is the price continue to pay isnt as if they have no affect all but they are affecting the wrong people rather than and the Mexican Cartels. And affecting the farmers that grow this stuff. And their least interested in harming. And those are the people that are bearing the brunt. And the second on the supply business and to increase the price of the coca leaf that seems extremely difficult even if you could increase it he wouldnt have much of an impact on the retail price. So to explain how this happened to make a kilo you need 1 ton of fresh coat sleeves and that is about now a kilo of pure cocaine by the time it makes it to the United States is about 150,000. So if you are very effective to raise the price or double last night managed to push all the extra cost on to the Consumer Industries the price of about 150,400. Just by 0. 40 that is what you get if you are incredibly effective. So i use that example to say we want to raise the price so we will try to raise the price so imagine 50 but what is happening . Nothing. So that caught my attention. And the other is humanresources. And it actually is. In to be the head of the one of the big gangs in el salvador. And i went to see the head of the gang who is currently in jail. We sat down and started to talk about business. The problem is serious. These two groups together thousand to america for comparison that is the number of people employed by General Motors in the United States. Submitted these guys is difficult. But organized crime groups in particular have to be any problems one to have a very rapid turnover to have a very high rate of violence and there is an example that i read in imagine trying to run a business or a think tank with every transaction. And the problem is compounded that they cannot place the ad in the paper it is a real problem for them but fortunately we come up with a perfect solution. It is very hopefully get together with criminal records and locked them in there for a few years. So if you were not a member of his gang when he went in and then you were when he left. And then to see the examples of prisons at the universitys if you are watching netflix youll come across the guy named carlos and was put in a jail cell in connecticut. And the rest is history. And they have the cartel problem in this is how the hell. And then to expand quickly and then to the extent that which we can use violence. It is far more likely it is easy to replace them. And looking at another part of the world but an interesting study what happens when cocaine deals go wrong. Were they were at least 20 kilos and the way it goes wrong is hilarious. Guest was because it was the wrong number because it was meant to be picked up from below whole of the ship but the driver got seasick and had to call an off. You would expect them a violent revenge to be taking the into thirds of those cases the problem that was worth millions of dollars and what it concluded is the cost to find new contacts was so high that more often than not to resolve the matter without violence. Where is very easily to recruit people you have a flat labor market. If we have a tighter labor market in the evidence seems to be there less likely to use violence. I think i am coming to the end of my slot so i will leave it there but theres much more to be discussed in their look forward to your questions. Thank you. [applause] the neck speaker for the contributor to the atlantic also a host of the Weekly Television program that airs throughout the americas. Yet tory chief and the author of many scholarly articles of International Economics and politics. His most recent book, a New York Times bestseller was named one of the best books of the year. With the minister of trade i might add. And with those largest for philanthropic foundations. Please help me to welcome. [applause] i read almost everything. With the trafficking of all kinds. This is one of the best books i have read in years and is strongly recommended. And those that dont know right books and very often dont know what theyre talking about. [laughter] and that is a rare combination of thinkers to stay at home to reporters just go and report. But he is more than that. And have a framework. So the other thing and with Drug Trafficking in the light and with the arrival of the economys. In these our markets wider use some of those tools and the Regulatory Framework and to do a better job but we havent had Something Like this book and if you look it reads like the syllabus of Harvard Business school or any of the Business Schools. Wittier Resource Management and Corporate Social Responsibility. And with those subjects and are normally taught at the Business School but then lets look at the cartel to use that to come up with better ideas. With some of the distortions from but was treated with the war on drugs. And then for those that criticize the book. Or to tell about the book and worth debating. Here are three words you will not find. Money, finance and wondering. As in Money Laundering. He talks about that but with love to have a chapter about finance. And not just financially but were talking about containers what do you do with that . You were in mexico in greasy bacon cater. What you do with that . You try to inject into the Financial System and to pay a fee for that. Into that vertical integration it is very lucrative and sophisticated and that industry has had obstructions in one was osama been lauded in the other is from wall street. That distortion came after a 9 11 and it became clear one of the main tools so to go after the money became important if you understand the sources of funding so they created a moneylaundering regime that was all sorts of conditions and restrictions how to deal with money transfers around the world. And that had Collateral Damage in one and did nothing to do with terrorist because of your writing the cartel and to deal with those forces and though world. So there are incentives from the traffickers and terrorists. But that created a challenge for the people in the cartel. With their Money Laundering operations. There was another disruption that there is a whole school of instruments to become quite significant to be very sophisticated that was for the cartels it to create new options. And that is one of the points that i want to raise. What is not in the book it has to do with lobbying. To have a very engaging chapter on social responsibility. Said you had better send somebody spend some money for someone that builds with the sports stadium in gives money away to friends and family and we have seen their reactions of so they were important donors. So what makes sense of Corporate Social Responsibility to make the effort to gain the trust is what corporations do and what the cartels to. And they lobby government. This is one of the most regulated industries in the world it is so regulated in fact, that the same time so why not assume theyll spend a chunk of the revenues to be influenced with government or regulators. So to assume they would do exactly the same as they do. For that is why we see on drugs in politics. That is why we see regulators the are bribed or incinerated to look elsewhere in the 10s to curb that is another important area with the damage with to the users and it could argue that the drug use of course, of fax the users and but you can also argue it is harmful for society. In to think that they suffer the consequences. Is they interfere with politics and corrupt government creating all types of conditions. So understanding that from this perspective that is a useful contribution. Thank you very much. I can respond to that or take questions. Just very quickly but first of all, Money Laundering is something that could be more in the meantime that could be elicited. [laughter] which covers this very well. So that is a very important part and i cover thats the way they go offshore and to see this as they leave to countries in Central America where the wages are lower thin then you see similar things in the Cartel Business like in countries like guatemalans and honduras. And the lobbying is part of that. With the expression in the Banana Republics with the expression that comes from the fact that the Food Companies could lobby the government for those that run the place it is literally a Banana Republic but now if you see something similar the you can lobby these governments very easily it is very low in some cases. Like a strong state by comparison. We do see this lobbying and it is corruption. By the way the book was reviewed today in the wall street journal. We will open the floor for questions and wait to be called on. Keep it short. And we will start over here. Good afternoon a big fan of all your work i am finishing my a masters of International Security in to see this growing up and down the streets in the United States. So what type of business acumen to use seeing at the corporate levels are you seeing individuals one of the m. T. A. Or masters of a highlevel to create the sophisticated networks of trafficking . In my experience deifying the Cartel People with the nbas on whole lot i remember one trafficker but i remember one they all have nicknames and was relatively high level of education. But generally not. But it is pretty sophisticated so the tricks of the trade they have learned. So i make these analogies in the book so i dont get the impression that theyre not constantly looking at firms like that. But that same business logic for what the mechanism works. Sorry i lost my train of thought. I suppose it is the logic of the of market so i suppose that is why on whole index the tactics. Very quickly there are two generations that we are the visionaries in these are people early on to understood sooner of those opportunities from globalization and the open markets in they created very sophisticated Business Operations to be instinctual entreprenuers but they were visionaries. And then when tom was there with the war against the cartel is essentially with all the leaders the power was fragmented with a second or third layers of the hierarchy. And to be far more crazy and operational. So there is the deterioration because there is a fragmentation because they usually break up with many cartels running with many leaders with vision and the skills and to be less strategic. And with those requirements but they do hire them. They usually have pretty good lawyers and pretty good people Love Technology and communications that i have elicited the people for trying to get them and with those technologies into be far advanced to be more modern and sophisticated. They also have very good many people but theyre not members of the cartel but just service providers. Ion colombian and also a master student. When a latin american president becomes the expresident where the secretary general becomes the next we need to work on this. What is your comment . Why arent they more active on this issue . One thing that is changing the restarting to see more president speaking out. Recently those in guatemala which is no longer a great example but and people were stunned by that and we needed to change that. And much more important example. In the penalties on whole you will invite that disapproval of those allies improbably will not get very far. The way that it is experimenting with the equalization. To have a license for other countries to go ahead to be more explicit. If it hasnt been for the great experiment with marijuana it would have been much harder for a contract uruguay or jamaica to do the same thing. Just like the state Department Said about a country like jamaica and a half to be interpreted flexible and that is a different message from one year ago but that has opened a big space and that could be an incredible moment. And you can see a change on that from. In to push the issue of their ardor. Essentially the prohibition led to the prohibition to think that regime created a culture and a narrative that said if not for prohibition and then you must me for it so that means youre in the pocket and soft on crime. I was a member that included the president s from mexico and people like me we spent a couple of years talking to everybody. And we came out recommending the legalization but mostly what we felt was a need to create that state. And can seriously argue there is one for everybody should be legalized. That would be an extreme vision. But there are spaces that need to be explored. With just a policy. That is the cover story. And what they need to create and then to with the possibility of prohibition. And i interviewed a lot of people and they all agreed you have this very strange situation that everybody agreed that it could not be changed because it is the cando country because the politics are not there but as some said the politics have moved in now it is safer for politicians with prohibition. I na graduate student. [laughter] our the thoughts of the similarities by those Legal Enterprises and the drug cartels with those nine state actors . The. That is what to make sure i understand the question so the similarity billons of and on state . Im sorry i dont get where youre getting at. The similarities between the Legal Enterprises and the drug cartels. Have a uc this relation between the Legal Enterprises . I see what you mean. Is a good example to be involved in the drug business themselves. Another example is the Islamic State is involved in a big way. And today to use the tactics in that way. In those terrorist groups in ways that mimic companies to gather the support online like twitter and facebook. And then to go recruiting but maybe it is the subject could with the idea to look at nonconventional types of organization and then to do push a much further. To do have concerns about a particular substance that should not be legalized . With that cover story the the mission of the economist is with the mainstream drugs and this one place i can say that is at the cato institute. [laughter] but i think it is important to make the case talking about legalization if you look at the way they legalize heroin the way it is restricted form of legalization it is worth to make clear when you really get down to the details even like marijuana you do make difficult decisions. And thats most would agree with. Mother under 21 and now there are questions in this does raise an interesting question. Event in the case of the market youre not really doing that. It did not exist before. And that is what the market does to come up with a whole range and it is a worry actually within that legalization with there is a Strange Alliance and those who see that as a more effective way headed is everybody is right to do drugs under control. But to be better them prohibition to get along quite happily but when you are discussing consumption. These two sides are allied on their way. But it seems in colorado and i really should say what will happen in canada. And then one day lead is the interesting question for me. There is a marketresearch your. But what isnt stowe substances should and the legal . That exact question when we say legal or not to whinnied to think of the details. Aunt there are many. In to be answered one is relatively easy. And how delegalized cracking and how do you do that or distribute that . It should never be legalize or not. That model of conversation of the society to experiment and learn to find that middle ground so i will stay away and that everything has to be legalized all the time. From the center for regulatory effectiveness. The discussions have focused on illegal agricultural substances. But to now embark in a different experiment with the substance illegal. Like menthol flavored cigarette that began has been enacted in some places. Could you please speculate how that would respond to such an event . Good question. So Menthol Cigarettes are banned where i come from in europe and half of bed with any other flavored cigarettes. As far as i know there has and then an explosion it seems to be phased out relatively straightforward. The idea is to be more likely to be to be appealed to children. The recently there is a ban on it them in australia for the same reason. But to part company i am in favor of legalizing drugs but once legalized parts of the benefit it gives you the ability to shape exactly what market you have. In those settings with the Civil Liberties problem and that cigarette industry to get to colorado but because of these disagreements they reached an agreement that is appetizing. Marijuana companies on the other hand, have their Constitutional Rights of free speech so they use it. Ended regulates in colorado. But yet you may not have been paul cigarettes it is a weird contingency. But having been there recently myself edging toward the more conservative side that is where i find myself like flavored cigarettes. I can see there is a strong argument on either side. But marijuana regulators are good the vital we do that for marijuana . Retired Foreign Service officer. And i want to make one observation the current prohibition paradigm one was the Police Prison and with that industry if you move towards that there is pushed back from everybody for the other assistance in Police Agencies and a forprofit prison industry says people were arrested for drugs. And consuming drugs. What is your comment on that . That depend on each other and both pushed back. Bid is a good point. But it could have the potential to reduce the present population. It is one of the things to have the broken naxos to accommodate the United States. But you are right. But one thing that interested me is i ask the authorities in denver what legalization had done. I expect them to say in they surprised me by saying they have to hire more police. That they said the reason is now the Regulatory Framework that is a straight forward band a straight forward and so now what happens to say my neighbor is growing too much in their house and they will say these are mine they belong to my brotherinlaw of the is out of town. It was the big regulatory challenge. So i was surprised by this event to enforce the relatively complex new ones regulations that are failed to enforce so it is interesting that i suspect for of the prism lobbying prison lobbying on the inside following legalization to get behind those initiatives if you look at the money going to each side of the campaign it tends to have more funding and the no side. In the know from the past Tobacco Companies are looking into this so i suspect that you may find the lobbying in favor and that is my guess for what it is worth. When you see the stereotypes used like for example, people keep saying the single men. We know that isnt true entirely. And to describe this industry. And what its about the prices with a street value in london of course, it isnt worth that much. So that in numeracy is involved but if you look at the stereotypes it has managed to cultivate a reputation with their publicity efforts is you can see how effective with the former Drug Trafficking has written an autobiography which is one of the aliases. And he describes his adventures as an enjoyable escapade be he was funneling money into columbia where he would murder people in the thousands and his willingness to describe drug traffickers is a real problem that people in the rich world dont get. I have come across people in britain and those who are paid up members and then to say to them any idea . It is the least fair trade business on earth. And that is one thing that bugs me. And to be clear how he spends his money and to be honest guy from the mountains to in that is one thing. I would add to have the best collection of stereotypes then just read sean penns interview and then you have everything you need to know. When you were doing the research not all leads to an addiction when it comes to a cocaine you half figures that is problematic. I am just trying to think what is in the book and is focused more on the supply side the you can do interesting comparisons where the authors compare those drugs how much does it take to get you high . They measure these against each other for the alcohol the example was a ratio 10 one so it takes a couple of points to get drunk and then maybe a real risk of death. Hair when was the lowest like five one and that is of varying purity you can see how they overdose very quickly. Marijuana as far as anybody knows it isnt possible to overdose of they have tested that theory. [laughter] cry right over there to the back. Thats a good question. You find overlap and this and i cover it to some extent in the book. Theres a different industry in which the cartels are diversified. Like any other business theyre looking for different ways to use the skills i have to make money. With trafficking business and that sex trafficking business they are getting into that through their expertise in smuggling because what they smuggles specializes in is getting things across the border. That can apply to people just like it can apply to drugs. The Mexican Cartels are getting more involved in the business of trafficking migrants, not always for sex. Most migrants are people who pay a fee to be brought across the border from their own accord. In some instances they are being trafficking the proportion of migrants that are moving illegally in the United States over the past few decades, its like a coyote of people trafficker and that has increased traffic dramatically. It was relatively easy to cross the border in proportion to using professional help has been rising steadily in a recent survey found more than 90 of the Illegal Migrants use the help of a pay trafficker. This this is a result of the crackdown of the border. Which that has increase the price as well, the fee of using a coyote. You can also look at the number of hours policing the borders to the average price of a coyote service and their directly correlated. The more we spent protecting the border the more we drive up the price of crossing the border. The cartels which have a more professional smuggling operation than others are getting more heavily involved in it. So for them them it has become a nice burner and they are more involved in getting people across the border. The majority are people who want to go to work and to do straightforward work. But a proportionate of them are people who are being trafficked against their will. Its a worrying development that the cartels which is so good about getting people in drugs across the border are now turning their attention to this crime which is a particularly horrible one. Good afternoon, and most students and i want to thank you for coming today. Its a great talk. Your book is actually in a required reading in one of my classes. Theres been a lot of talk today about columbia and i want to discuss more in depth the coming potential Peace Process and how it could affect the cocaine market in the drug trade in general. So from a business perspective you have a group with a huge share in the columbia Business Market and if they agreed to cease their criminal activities after the accord you have a huge play in the market exiting abruptly. Im wondering how you think that is going to affect the drug trading and columbia and in the world in general. That may possible spackling on the Security Side of things. Once they exit the market are you going to have a power vacuum in people battling to control the marketing columbia like you have going on in mexico or could there be some in transition we havent seen yet . Thank you. Thats a very good question and nobody quite knows the answer. If it was to get out of code cocaine you would wonder which country in the might move to. Every time countries managed to drive it out of one country, it comes up in another one of people talk about the balloon affect and its called the cockroach affect because you drive it out a one room and they take up residence somewhere else. Thats what we sought used to be peru was the main cultivator, they drove it out of peru and it went to columbia. They when it out of columbia and went back to peru. Thats where we are now. As far as now. As far as i understand. Was now the main provider of cocaine in the world. I would suspect that if they do get out of cocaine and its far from a done deal that they would but if they did, i would keep an eye on peru and bolivia and have a look at that. I am less less up with the latest news on the talks. Im a supporter of the peace and processing columbia i hope it goes well. I hope they sign it and i hope it works. But those are all hopes. In essence you can use toms approach of using business metaphors and meta methodologies to apply to other fields for the Peace Process and say essentially that what is going on the government of columbia is launching a friendly takeover of the franchise. So they are buying the franchise of the farc. So the fark appears more or less as an armed group and that friend disappears. They already have another bread that replaces that in columbia. And they call it with criminal gains. Its its hard to imagine that just because a government of columbia signs an agreement with fark that the whole industry of cocaine in drugs and columbia is going to disappear. That vacuum will be sealed. Both in columbia and elsewhere. The good thing is the fark was essentially providing security for the drug cartel. It was masking it under the ideology of social redemption citing foreign equality and justice, but they were essentially missionaries that were provided securities to the drug cartel and the drug traffic operation. Now that is gone and they want to be replace, as service providers. The others will provide security. The armed perfection that the drug cartel requires. As far as what else will happen, a lot of that will move to venezuela. It is rapidly becoming a state capable of controlling borders. A lot of of the cartels and the drug operations in colombia and the kingpins are operating in the border, venezuela is today the main source of drugs to europe. They come from and they are essentially so essentially what will happen is well see a transfer of operations from other country and to another foreign operation. Just remember on march 30 were hosting an event of the Peace Process in columbia. And theyll be debating on the merits of the peace corps we have time for one last question. The gentleman with a green tire over there. Hello. This question is could you comment on the recent Admission Initiative in guatemala all and hunters when their outsourcing their Justice System . Do you see this as something necessary or replicable in countries that are governed aided by cartels like mexicos or the our own venezuela . What a great question and what a difficult answer, i dont know but its a very good question. As you all know and you may be talking about at some point there was a guatemala outsource, its a judicial system and essentially the un sanction body came to decide on people of corruption essentially. They became quite a force in the country. They had influence on decisions concerning magistrates and all of that. And tom covered that it is a horrible thing when you say as a country i have to recognize that im not capable, that i have to outsource because i cannot do it. Theyre not enough lawyers and magistrates or people that are going to be immune to the temptation of the drug cartels and others. Its a very sad story. At the same same time its a very practical answer. So the answer is i dont know. I think its a great question and i dont the future of that. I cannot imagine that this is going to be mostly with small weak countries. I cannot imagine mexico or brazil deciding they can handle the Justice System and are going to call someone to run it. So its is going to be small countries mostly. So theres this question of should they outsource this like el chapo or should they do it at home, im not sure i know the answer either but i suspect the compromise whereas in the short term these outside interventions can help but really the priority in the long run has to be getting it to run properly. I think getting the equivalent in honduras and others i would support them. But they cant go on forever. I think they should probably have a time limit and the emphasis should be on building Institutional Capacity at home, same with the prisons. But you really have to fix the domestic system. You wanted to have a final word. Its not a final word i just wanted to make sure that at some point in the conversation we raise the issue that we may be fighting the old war in which you are fighting the war on drugs that are important in the next war are to be not harvested when you not talking about crystal meth and all kinds of drugs that are synthetic that are chemical, so that kind of drug are growing quite quickly and quite significant. You have a great chapter in the book about the cartels a diversifying and they first diversify and the book also shows some very interesting examples of how diversifying on with methamphetamine and other stuff. It plagues the conversation we just had imagine the conversation we just had does not include importation so theres nothing to interdict, theres no interdiction. Theres no eradication of planes, there is is nothing that many of the things we discussed here do not apply about the main drugs we talk about our cooked in the lab but not harvested. And instead of being imported from a third world country are made somewhere in the United States. It creates all kind of challenges that are even less clear. You point out Something Interesting in the book and four out of ten americans have taken Illegal Drugs but what about when theyre producing the drug in the United States . I think there is a big division the tween produced countries like colombia and consumer countries like the United States. Now are seen a where consumer countries like the states are consuming more drugs as they get richard. Theyre adopting all types of middleclass habits. I think in some ways this could help politics of the protest. Until now youve had an imbalance where countries like the United States and countries of western europe have been quite content to wage the war against drugs. I think things are going to change in both fronts if consumer countries start becoming producer countries theyre going to think twice about rating meth labs in the same way in other countries what they might start thinking about the issue differently if they start getting an epidemic of drug taking of a sort in the rich world. Thank you very much rearrest out thank you very much for your time [applause]. At 8 00 p. M. Author of can the u. S. Military shapes the way you eat. From the savannah book festival Army Veteran Travis mills writes about his three tours of duty in afghanistan and the combat ones that left him a quadruple npt. And former cia director on his new book planed to the edge, about the role of intelligence and fighting terrorism. This week on cspan we are featuring programs and increase of drug abuse in america. In the situation of the Current Supreme Court vacancy. Wednesday evening at 7 00 p. M. Eastern with the abusive Prescription Drugs and hair went on the rise we look at the governments handling of the issue from health expert, former addict in the u. S. Senate. Including comments from president obama and president ial candidate ted cruz. Its really not going to be washington d. C. That steps in and solves these problems. Its going to be friends and family, churches, charities, loved ones, treatment centers, people working to help those who are struggling to overcome their direction addiction. Ive made this a pride for my ministries were not new to this. In 2010 we 2010 we released our First National drug control strategy. We followed that up in 2011 with a Prescription Drug abuse prevention plan. Were implementing those plans and partnering with communities to prevent drug use, reduce overdose deaths, help people get treatment. Thursday at six p. M. , with an apparent impasse between democrats, the white house and republicans come over the next up in Court Justice we look at what todays leaders have said in the past. In my view confirmation hearing, no matter how long, how fruitful, how thorough can alone provide sufficient places for determining if a nominee there seat on our supreme court. A couple senator should realize that any benefit of the barring an ideological opponent from the court are not likely to outweigh the damage done to the courts institutional standards. He goes on, ideological opposition to a nominee from one end of the political spectrum is likely to help generate similar opposition to later nominations from the opposite end. Those are some of the programs featured this week on cspan. Good afternoon. My name is jerry fowler, im a Senior Analyst at the open society foundation