Beginning of Essay
Too many nations have made the mistake of underestimating the nature of the threat posed by illegal drug cultivation, production, trafficking, and consumption. Governments that have tolerated the cultivation of coca or opium poppies have seen deforestation and dis ....

Middle of Essay
.... of the global response to this common threat. 1997 was a good year for international drug-control efforts, particularly in the Western Hemisphere. Appreciable gains were made in crop reduction, in interdiction, in weakening trafficking syndicates, strengthening law enforcement, and in targeting drug money laundering. The year's best news came from Peru, for years the world's largest coca growing country. Three-plus years of joint efforts by U.S., Peruvian, and Colombian forces to choke off the "air bridge" that carries Peruvian cocaine base to Colombia for processing paid off handsomely. The operation simultaneously deprived Colombian trafficking or ....