"Drug use skyrocketed in the 1960's and drug traffickers became aware that more and more young people were trying drugs" (25). As of 1990, the estimated drug users was at 14.5 millions in the United States (80). .
According to Stewart, "Marijuana, cocaine, and heroin are the three most trafficked drugs in the United States" (15). Drugs that come from Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico are commonly smuggled through the borders of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California with Mexico. "Enforcement agents have to patrol some 2,000 miles of border between the United States and Mexico" (Johnson 80). With United States border inspection stations and the enforcement agents patrolling the border there are still thousands of miles of unguarded border with Mexico that are not patrolled every hour and every day of the week. So many miles of unguarded border with Mexico make it easier for drug smugglers, "mules", to bring the drugs into the United States (Stewart 80). Traffickers walk or drive through the border into the United States hiding illegal substances from enforcement officials: "There aren't enough Customs workers, D.E.A., or police officers to seal off the borders from drug smugglers" (80). .
Once drugs are smuggled into the United States they are then taken to the next step that is distribution. This is the process of selling drugs and distributing them into our society. This process along with smuggling is slowly killing our society. "As of 1997 1.5 million Americans were current cocaine users according to the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse." (Lesher) Year after year these numbers are increasing and the United States has yet to find a stop to the drug war. "In 1998 an estimated 61,000 convicted inmates said they had committed their offense to get money for drugs" ("Drug"). For drug users, the availability to get drugs in our society is not a problem and the more they are in demand the easier it is for prices to go up causing people to do whatever means to get the money for their habit.