In many jurisdictions, legislation gives rise to two patterns of drug production and supply: licensed and illegal. The legislation is designed to obstruct or punish perceived drug abuse or to protect the interests of government-approved traders (licensed dealers) and users, and it may be designed also (not least with respect to alcohol and tobacco) to generate government tax revenue.(Agar,2003)
Illegal supply is generally via the black market and criminal drug dealers in response to consumer demand. Drug dealers are stereotypically associated with organized crime syndicates, though they often work freelance in reality and bear no connection to organized criminal groups. The motivations for participation in the drug trade vary greatly depending on the specific drug.
Dealers of "soft" drugs with relatively low profit margins such as marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms often cite as their motivation the philanthropic desire to allow people to use such drugs in spite of their illegality, with profit as a secondary factor, and tend to view drug prohibition laws as immoral restraints of personal civil liberties by the state. (Caulkins,2003)
In contrast, dealers of "hard" drugs such as heroin and cocaine with more severe trafficking penalties, and consequently much higher profit margins, are more often motivated by prospects of financial gain.(Mike,2003)
Black market drugs are sourced often from otherwise impoverished farmers in developing countries, farmers who rely on illegal drug crops as a means of livelihood.
Many in the media have also postulated that any drug-trafficking contras involved were "rogue" elements, not supported by the CIA. But these denials overlook much of the Mercury News' evidence of CIA complicity. For example:
CIA-supplied contra planes and pilots carried cocaine from Central America to U.S. airports and military bases. In 1985, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Celerino Castillo reported to his superiors that cocaine was being stored.......
