Drug trafficking

READING
Cocaine now is cheaper than a cappuccino
The global drug trade is booming, fuelled by the demand from more than 200 million people worldwide who used illegal narcotics last year. According to an UN report, despite multi-billion-pound anti-drug measures that have restricted some supplies, the market is as insatiable as ever. The report shows that demand for drugs has increased in more than three quarters of some 150 countries surveyed. A number of states have recorded consumption levels - Israelis are said to use 100 tons of marijuana, 20 tons of hashish, 20 million tablets of ecstasy, four tons of heroin, three tons of cocaine, and hundreds of thousands of LSD blotters annually. The number of registered heroin addicts in Belarus has doubled. In Finland and Estonia, surveys show an increasing appetite among young people for amphetamine-type stimulants.
Today Europe is awash with cheap drugs, with a line of cocaine (about £2.25) now costing less than a cappuccino. In the UK the price of ecstasy, heroin, crack, cocaine and cannabis has come down to a record low in the last year, as dealers pumped ever greater quantities onto the market, encouraging hundreds of thousands of people to become regular users. The price of ecstasy has dropped down by 70 per cent over the last decade to £3.50 a pill. In certain areas, users - some of whom have become so hardened to the chemicals that they take up to 20 tablets a night - are being offered the drug for just £2. Cannabis remains most widely used, with almost 600,000 frequent users. In the UK one in three young men uses cannabis, and cannabis economy brings in £11 billion. The second most popular drug is cocaine. It has 237,000 frequent users, slightly fewer than the number of crack and heroin addicts combined.

        Despite the falling costs, the amount spent by UK users remains sizeable. For instance, in an 'average month' a regular cocaine user spends almost £170 on the drug. Crack and heroin addicts spend more than £440. They are in a constant need for money.
It is believed that about 25 per cent of offences are committed under the influence of drugs. Drug-related crime is believed to cost Great Britain up to £18 billion a year and associated with murders, manslaughters, thefts and domestic assaults. The easiest way to get money for a new dose is stealing, and drug users steal about £13,000 a year just to survive.
  

Task 1. Define the statements to be true (T) or false (F). 

1. The price of ecstasy, heroin, crack, cocaine and cannabis has come down to a record low, as dealers pumped ever greater quantities onto the market.
2. Today a line of cocaine costs less than a cup of cappuccino.
3. Israelis are said to use 100 tons of marijuana, four tons of heroin, and hundreds of thousands of LSD blotters monthly.
4. The number of registered heroin addicts in Belarus and Estonia has doubled.
5. Young people in Finland have an increasing appetite for amphetamine-type stimulants.
6. Cannabis remains the second most popular drug in the UK, with almost 600,000 frequent users.
7. One in three young Englishmen uses cannabis.
8. The number of cocaine users is more than the number of crack addicts.
9. A cocaine addict spends almost £170 on the drug a year.
10. About 25 per cent of crimes are committed under the influence of drugs.

 

 VOCABULARY
 Task 2. Match the synonyms.       

1. hard narcotics	a) drug user
2. to snort	b) drug trafficker
3. to produce	c) to swallow
4. to prohibit	d) to misuse
5. nonsynthetic	e) to manufacture
6. to take orally	f) natural
7. to abuse	g) to ban, to forbid
8. to conceal	h) heavy drugs
9. drug addict	i) to sniff
10. drug dealer	j) to hide

 

 Task 3. Match the English and Ukrainian equivalents.

1. a pain killer	a) забороняти наркотики
2. drug abuse	b) нюхати розчинники
3. drug-related crimes	c) отримати без рецепта
4. drug substances	d) виробляти важкі наркотики
5. rehabilitation scheme	e) ділитися шприцами
6. to obtain without prescription	f) знеболюючий засіб
7. to share syringes	g) злочини, пов’язані з наркотиками
8. to prohibit drugs	h) зловживання наркотиками
9. to produce heavy drugs	i) програма реабілітації
10. to snort  solvents	j) наркотичні речовини

 

                                                                                                                              

Task 4. Complete the sentences with a word and a word-combination from the box below.

a) fighting drug dealers                                       f) chemical industry b) drug trafficking                                               g) prostitution c) Interdepartmental Drug Data Basis                 h) synthetic drugs d) suffer                                                               i) AIDS e) to hide                                                              j) smuggling routes

1. In Thailand the penalty for … is death.
2. The accent has transferred from fighting drug addicts to … .
3. Many addicts contract … when they share syringes.
4. Drug traffickers use baseball bats, dolls and tubes of toothpaste … drugs.
5. After a brief moment of euphoria, cocaine users often… from hallucinations and panic.
6. There are many … , like LSD or ecstasy, and they are more dangerous because of their cheapness.
7. Female addicts often earn the necessary money through … .
8. International narcomafia try to use the Ukrainian … to produce drugs.
9. Ukrainian special services has revealed drug … from Columbia and countries of “the Golden Triangle”.
10. For the purpose of fighting drug abuse there has been created the … in Ukraine.

  

WRITING

Task 5. Write a short composition (5-7 sentences), answering the questions and using the notes below.
What social groups usually take drugs?
What are common motives to start taking drugs?
What are the risks of drug abuse?
What are the ways of solving the drug abuse problem?
 

?  financial difficulties; loneliness; boredom; lack of understanding; failure, misfortune; negative influence of movies;

Drugs or alcohol? fashionable? exciting? pain killing?

! - to educate teenagers, to inform  them; about  the effects and risks of the drug abuse; helpline; severe penalties for drug dealers;

constant need for money; crimes; broken families; overdose; physical and psychological dependence; infection and  death;

 

          

 

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