Is the War on Drugs Killing the Environment? | The War on Drugs

We talk a lot about the human and financial costs of the War on Drugs – but this conflict is also having a serious environmental impact. From the military spraying pesticides onto the Amazon rainforest to suppress coca production, to MDMA producers dumping toxic chemicals into rivers in the Netherlands – the illegal drug trade is unquestionably bad for nature. But whose fault is this? All the drugs we take could be produced in much greener ways as part of a legal, regulated market. The problem is not that they are drugs, it’s that they are illegal. Is the war on drugs killing the environment? Watch more from this series: Did the CIA Actually Sell Crack in the 1980s?    • Did the CIA Actually Sell Crack in the 198...   Why Mexican Cartels Use American Guns    • Why Mexican Cartels Use American Guns | Th...   How Mexican Drug Cartels Make Billions    • How Mexican Drug Cartels Make Billions | T...   Check out the VICE World News playlist for global reporting you won't find elsewhere:    • World News   Click here to subscribe to VICE: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE About VICE: The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE. Connect with VICE: Check out our full video catalog: http://bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com More videos from the VICE network: https://www.fb.com/vicevideo Click here to get the best of VICE daily: http://bit.ly/1SquZ6v Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter:   / vice   Follow us on Instagram:   / vice   The VICE YouTube Network: VICE:    / vice   MUNCHIES:    / munchies   VICE News:    / vicenews   VICELAND:    / vicelandtv   Broadly:    / broadly   Noisey:    / noisey   Motherboard:    / motherboardtv   VICE Sports:    / noc   i-D:    / idmagazine   Waypoint:    / waypointvice