Monday, January 11, 2010
Drug Trade in China and Cambodia
There are a lot of similarities between Drug trading in China in the 19th century and Cambodia today, and also the mexican drug trafficking of cocaine as well. . In Cambodia, safrol oil from the mreah tree was being used to make ecstasy. In both China and Cambodia there was a demand for opium and ecstasy, respectively. The difference was that in China the drugs were being controlled by the British and they were sending it to China from the British colonies in Afghanistan. The extent of the demand of opium was also higher in China. The Opium trade played a large role in the destruction of Chinese economy, and made the British a whole lot wealthier. Nothing so drastic happened in Cambodia, but the ecstasy trafficking was pretty bad in Cambodia.
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I think that the drug trafficking in Cambodia truly did have a large effect on the economy. As ecstasy was spread through Cambodia, people's labor was diminished. The situation paralleled a lot with China's opium trading because as China's economy was deteriorating, Britain's economy improved. Similarly, Vietnam made money by making the ecstasy from the oils, so as Cambodia was being hurt, Vietnam was making money.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the ecstasy production in Cambodia actually had a pretty bad affect on the social and economic aspect of Cambodia, just like China. I'm kind of confused of what your main point was because you said that the drug trafficking was bad in Cambodia, but nothing that bad happened in Cambodia even though more than 50% of the population are drug addicts. So in what sense did nothing drastically happen in Cambodia?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kevin in that Cambodia is not benefitting a lot economically from their role in safrole oil production. The workers are getting exploited by the Vietnamese for their labor and don't receive much in return. Maybe Britain and Vietnam are more similar in their exploitation.
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