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R.J. Godlewski's The Independent Counterterrorist. I, Militia. June ...

R.J. Godlewski's The Independent Counterterrorist. I, Militia. June ...

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world’s nations—as a result of the current global economic<br />

meltdown, efforts to relieve the endemic strains<br />

should focus on the micro level rather than the macro.<br />

<strong>The</strong> need will be for small-scale, precisely targeted<br />

projects that alleviate the endemic poverty that has long<br />

afflicted much of the country and provide economic and<br />

social alternatives to criminal activity for populations<br />

at risk. Micro-finance and vocational training programs<br />

provide good examples of such initiatives, which<br />

have already been used for counternarcotics and antiorganized<br />

crime purposes in Central America. A pilot<br />

program in El Salvador recently reintegrated roughly<br />

300 former gang members into society by offering<br />

training in carpentry, screen-printing, and other such<br />

activities, and the Inter-American Development Bank<br />

has approved a $32 million loan to Honduras for a<br />

micro-entrepreneurship program aimed at vulnerable<br />

youths. 142 <strong>The</strong>se programs should be replicated on<br />

a broader scale in Mexico, along with sustained and<br />

sufficiently funded alternative development projects<br />

that will provide economic incentives for marijuana<br />

farmers to switch to legal crops.<br />

Guns and Users: U.S. Domestic Contributions.<br />

Due to the political controversy that surrounds<br />

issues like gun laws and U.S. domestic demand,<br />

these questions may well prove to be the thorniest<br />

aspects of counternarcotics policy. With respect to<br />

demand, the debate on this issue is often framed as<br />

a choice between legalization and enforcement. In<br />

reality, this is false dichotomy. Studies by the RAND<br />

Corporation have shown that, if funded properly,<br />

prevention and treatment initiatives—running the<br />

gamut from anti-drug-use advertising to education to<br />

43

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