Pubdate: Thu, 21 Mar 2002
Source: Star-Gazette (NY)
Copyright: 2002sStar-Gazette
Contact:  http://www.stargazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1005
Author: Antonio M. Prado

COLOMBIA LOSING DRUG WAR, PROF SAYS

BIG FLATS -- The culture of violence, low coffee prices, the geography and 
the demand for drugs all over the world contribute to the drug problem in 
Colombia, retired Corning Community College professor Joe Vikin said 
Wednesday night during a Great Decisions lecture.

The eight-part series at CCC Airport Corporate Park continued with Vikin's 
speech, "Colombia and Drug Trafficking." Vikin is a native of Colombia who 
became a U.S. citizen 48 years ago. The Great Decisions program was begun 
by the Foreign Policy Association, based in New York City, in 1954.

Vikin said violence in Colombia stems largely from a national government 
that is weakened by low funds.

"The income tax is around 3 percent and a national pastime is to avoid 
payment of taxes," Vikin said. "Most of the people have to provide for 
themselves services that in this country we expect the government to 
provide, be it at the municipal, state or federal level.

"Let me give you an example how the police are treated in that country. Two 
common sayings go something like this: 'He is as ignorant as a policeman,' 
and 'We don't pay attention to a policeman.' "

Vikin added that the price of coffee, Colombia's major export, has gone 
down while other commodities such as oil go up. That leads farmers to try 
to make money by growing coca or marijuana.

As for demand, Vikin said drug use by celebrities perpetuates the demand 
for drugs in America. He pointed to Darryl Strawberry and Robert Downey Jr. 
as examples of celebrities who know they can get away with abusing drugs.

John McCabe, 78, and his wife, Eva McCabe, 67, of Waverly, who are students 
of CCC's Phoenix Project, a lifelong learning program for people 55 and 
older, have attended all of the Great Decisions lectures.

"You just can't stop it," John McCabe said about the drug problem in 
Colombia. "There's no government down there. The cartels control everything."

John Roby, a retired Campbell-Savona High School social studies teacher, 
serves as the series moderator. He said that in researching Colombia to 
prepare for Vikin's lecture, he found that a proposed solution to the drug 
problem is to destroy coca and marijuana fields by spraying them with 
chemicals.

"The long-term effects will be contamination of the water supply and the 
ecosystem," he said.

CCC's next Great Decisions topic, "South Asia: Focus on India," is from 
6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 3. For more information, call 607/962-9497.
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MAP posted-by: Beth