Borderland Beat posted by DD republished in part from Vox
Sometimes it is difficult for some people to understand the big issues - issues like prohibition and the war on drugs. The best way to explain it to them is through the use of metaphors. Maybe a video such as this one involving kings, dragons, and medieval warfare might help some people (including some nations' leaders) understand the issues at this time when Mexico is taking down Cartel leaders left and right.
The short video was produced by the Global Commission on Drug Policy.
The short video was produced by the Global Commission on Drug Policy.
This effect has occurred again and again throughout the history of the war on drugs. During the 1990s, drug production moved to Colombia from Peru and Bolivia after crackdowns in both of the latter countries. After Mexico and Colombia, with US aid, went after drug traffickers and producers during the 2000s, criminal operations shifted from Colombia to neighboring Ecuador and Venezuela, and from Mexico to Central America's Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala). In these cases, production didn't slow for long, if at all. It just went elsewhere.
This trend is often called the balloon effect, because squeezing an inflated balloon just moves the air around, instead of getting rid of it. But it's also occasionally compared to a hydra, like in this video, because cutting off one head just causes a few more heads — or drug traffickers and producers — to sprout.