Relationship Between Drug Abuse and Trafficking

The simple rule of demand and supply operates in the area
of drug abuse and trafficking as well. For an addict the
drug becomes an essential commodity. For essential
commodities, the demand is inelastic. If the supply is
reduced, the demand will not become less, but the price
will go up. As we saw in the earlier chapter, the addict will
need more and more of the quantity of the drug to satisfy
his/her craving. When the addict is not able to meet the
expense for the drug he/she requires from his or her own
resources, he/she will start trading illegal. Thus she/ he
becomes an addict as well as develops a link in the illegal
trafficking system.
The criminal gangs use children to sell drugs. As per law,
children below 12 years cannot be convicted of any crime
they commit. “It is in Brazil that the phenomenon of street
children has appeared in the largest proportions. They act
as couriers for the traffic of illegal drugs and themselves
become drug users.... Some children are used in the
neighbourhood as drug couriers. They are known as
aviozinhos, the ‘little airplanes’. They earn a bit of money
that allows them to contribute to their family’s
subsistence.... From as young as six or seven years old,
drugs become an important part of the lives of these
children.”