Did you know that the world's environment is being destroyed by coca, opium and marijuana planting, the manufacture of methamphetamine and cocaine, and the devastation of inner cities?

Above: coca field

One of the most often overlooked and ignored aspect of the illegal drug trade is the cost of drug production on the environment. From the clear-cutting of rain forests in Central and South America for the planting of coca fields, to the destruction of national forests in the United States for the growing of marijuana, to the dumping of hazardous waste byproducts into the water table after the manufacture of methamphetamine, illegal drugs have a far-reaching impact on the environment. These activities have consequences for the health of the groundwater, streams, rivers, wildlife, pets and the farmers living in those areas. Illegal drug production contributes to deforestation, reduced biodiversity, and increased erosion and contributes to air pollution and global climate change.

It's not a problem we can ignore, and it's our problem too. We're outraged when oil-tankers spill fuel into our waters, yet every day meth cookers poison our buildings, soil and water supplies---who's concerned about protecting those environments? We're paying the environmental costs---all of us.

The Rainforest

Above: Colombian opium clearcutting

Rain forests cover only 6 percent of the earth's surface, yet account for more than 50 percent of the earth's plant species. Burning of rain forests for illegal drug farmland releases greenhouse gases. The increase in these emissions is being studied as a possible contributor to global climate change.

Coca and opium production, and cocaine manufacturing have a tremendous impact on the environment of South America . One quarter (25 percent) of all of the deforestation that has taken place in Peru in modern times is associated with clear cutting and burning to prepare land for the planting of coca bushes. Over the past twenty years, 2.4 million hectares of rain forest (1 hectare equals 10,000 square meters or 2.47 acres)--- an area roughly the size of El Salvador--- has been lost to drug production fields in the Andean region of Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. One hectare of coca field requires four hectares of forest to be cleared.

Burning and cutting down rain forests to make room for drug fields exposes the thin layers of topsoil to accelerated erosion. Nearby streams and rivers are more susceptible to increased and prolonged flooding. In the late 1970s, the Huallaga River in Peru experienced significant flooding resulting from increased runoff from coca fields cleared out of the surrounding jungle. Plots of land for coca crops are typically useful for growing for four to ten years. At the end of that time, the coca farmers move to a new area and cut or burn down more jungle to start new fields for coca cultivation.

Illegal drug production contributes to
deforestation, reduced biodiveristy, and
increased erosion and contributes to air
pollution and global climate change.

Chemicals like ethyl ether, acetone, ammonia, sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid are used in jungle laboratories to turn coca leaves into coca paste and finally cocaine. 14,800 tons of these chemicals are discharged into the Amazon River Basin each year in the production of cocaine. The chemicals discharged from jungle drug laboratories, combined with the agricultural imbalance of coca growing fields, endanger 210 mammal species, 600 bird species, 170 reptile species, 100 amphibian species and 600 fish species in the Amazon and Orinoco River systems alone.

Additionally, terrorist and insurgency groups in Colombia with links to the drug trade regularly bomb pipelines in that country in an effort to overthrow the government and terrorize the population. These pipeline bombings result in significant oil spills with environmental damage.

The damage is not only related to cocaine production; opium (for heroin) production has also resulted in deforestation. Each hectare of productive opium field requires the clearing of approximately 2 ½ hectares of forest. 120 to 230 tons of soil per hectare is lost to erosion.

Drugs and Environmental Damage in the United States :

It's happening in our own backyard. Meth labs, marijuana plots, urban streets littered with syringes and vials. Our fragile environment is being damaged by drug traffickers.

Above: Dangerous chemicals are routinely found in connection with meth labs---this could be your neighbor's home.

The production of methamphetamine has skyrocketed in the United States since the early 1990s. The chemicals used in the making of the drug include lye, red phosphorus, hydriodic acid, and iodine. One pound of finished methamphetamine results in five to six pounds of hazardous waste byproducts. These chemicals are often dumped into the ground near a laboratory, contaminating the local water.

The chemicals used in methamphetamine laboratories and the finished product are very toxic. Children who live in houses with such laboratories often test positive for the drug. The cleanup of a laboratory is time consuming, dangerous, and expensive. The cost runs from five hundred dollars and a few hours of work to tens of thousands of dollars and weeks or months of work. Every year houses and motel rooms are torn down due to their extensive contamination by toxic methamphetamine laboratory chemicals.

For every pound of methamphetamine produced, between five and six pounds of highly toxic waste is generated. Remote areas offer easy disposal of toxic by-products of the manufacturing process. It can take up to three or more days and more than $100,000 to clean up contaminated soil, destroy buildings, and remove toxic chemicals from drug sites.

Marijuana in US National Forests

Above: Marijuana in US National Forests

More than 2,500,000 marijuana plants have been found and destroyed in National Forests in the United States since 1997. These marijuana farms have been planted in protected areas, often destroying the surrounding areas by the careless use of herbicides and pesticides.