How to Grow Coca and Opium Poppies – Global Drug Trafficking pt. 2
This post is part of a blog series about Global Drug Trafficking. Find part one, “Discover the Trade” here. This week, we will discuss the cultivation of the coca plant (cocaine) and the opium poppy (heroin). As designer drugs such as methamphetamine and ecstacy are not cultivated (only organic drugs are), we will not discuss them until the next Global Drug Trafficking post, which will be on the manufacture. The source for all statistical information in these posts is the UNODC – the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime, and in particular the World Drugs Report 2010. Cultivation of the Coca Plant for Cocaine Coca (Erothroxylum Coca) is a plant native to western South America. It has always played a big role in Andean culture, where it is used...
What is Criminology and what is Crime?
Since the poll I took two weeks ago or so pointed out to me that you all love posts on Criminology, I decided I’m going to write more posts on the subject. But, I thought, do people even know what criminology is? Because it is not a synonym for crime. Criminology is a behavioral science that focuses both on the individual and on society. Criminology is the study of the nature, extent, causes and control of criminal behavior. The Definition of Crime What is crime? There are many different ways to define crime and criminologist haven’t yet figured out one, definite definition yet. This definition might be the most obvious: The most precise and least ambiguous definition of crime is that which defines it as behavior which is prohibited by the criminal...
Solitary Confinement: It’s nothing but torture
Not too long ago, my boyfriend and I watched a documentary on the National Geographic channel, called “Solitary Confinement”. Nat Geo introduced us to solitary confinement (SC) by showing some of its history, particularly the very first experiments with SC. In 1829, the first SC complex was built in the US, and in 1913, researchers decided SC was “ineffective, cruel and torturous”. They concluded that instead of curing the prisoners’ antisocial tendencies, they became paranoid, disoriented and even delirious. The United States are one of the few countries in the world that still widely uses solitary confinement. As a contrast, in The Netherlands (where I live), prisons cannot put prisoners in SC for longer than ONE WEEK. They are...
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