Abstract
Illegal trade in the world is characterized by unauthorized drug use, money laundering and prostitution. These activities deny or take away money that is supposed to be used for economic development. Money laundering is an act that is destined to bring down the financial sector of a country because it interferes with the day to day activities of the sector. The built-up and agricultural segments depend on this sector for financing. It therefore means that when the monetary sector is affected, the supplementary sector also undergoes through economic intricacies. Prostitution on the other rivets both men and women. Some administrations have endorsed the act. Consequently, they amass levy from the proceeds of prostitution dealing. Furthermore, they are able to control the trade. Thus, illegal prostitution and Drug Use proceeds are used for unauthorized activities. This paper focuses on the effects brought about by unlawful Drug Use, prohibited prostitution and money laundering.
Banned Drug Use
The trade and application of certain remedy such as cocaine and marijuana is limited by region, nation and state. The reason behind this is that these drugs have negative effects to the public. For example, marijuana is linked to loss of recollection and heightened anger among users. Thus, a population characterized with increased use of Marijuana is expected to experience increased levels of dispute and crime. Culminating from these effects, several nations have criminalized the handling and sales of such drugs. In regards to illegal prostitution, scores of countries are finding way to contain the act by taxing the players. This has raised some questions about the morality of government in legalizing the immoral act. For those administration and countries legalizing the act, they must be ready and adequately prepare to face the effects of moral putrefy in the country especially among the young population. Funds’ laundering is a scandalous act that takes advantage of unsuspecting citizens. This paper will discuss about prohibited prostitution, remedy Use, and currency laundering.
In this section, a detailed account of the events that leads to the criminalization of these acts and activities featured in this essay will be outlined. Thus, the consequences of illegal activities will be explained into details.
Illegal remedy exploit denotes unauthorized application of medicinal or non-medicinal drugs. Persons or populace use drug for a variety of reasons. In regards to non medicinal drug use, individuals consume these substances due to peer pressure. Some of the reasons includes: to fit in a group, relax or escape, rebel, experiment, grow up and relive boredom. Young populace usually discovers and gets lured into drugs due to the above reasons. They end up becoming addict an action that renders them unproductive. They can execute whatever thing they come across so long as they are able to buy these Remedies. Some of the activities that the youths are more apt to engage in include robbery and prostitution. These activities are detrimental to the financial system due to the logic that they contribute to insecurities in a country. There are varied laws that control each and every drug considered to be illegal. In addition, laws will differ from solitary nation or district to the other. Some regions in America have legalized the application of marijuana while others criminalize it.
A number of the consequences will be drawn below. First, business will close early than expected due to fear of being attacked or robbed. This indicates that the economy will be losing a bunch of cash due to the number of hours it operates. For countries that operate a twenty-four hours system, the returns are good as compared to countries operating on a 12-hours economy. Second, the increased withdraw pace due to drug use contributes to increase in dearth levels in the country. Children lured into trafficking and use of illegal drugs fails to make it in life because they get entangled to immoral acts through the influence of drugs. In most countries, children are the main dealers and traffickers of banned drugs. They are hired by drug barons or tycoons as traffickers and peddlers an action that exposes them to exploitation and mistreatments. Some have been sexually abused in this line of business (Alasmari, 2012). Thus, drugs are not only harmful to the population but also affect security in a big way. Third, proceeds from the sales of illegal drugs are used to finance robbery, terrorism and illegal arms trade. Unregistered arms are applied in conducting illegal businesses such as robbery. To some extreme end, people use them for terrorism. Government usually spends a lot of money to fight or contain terrorism. This money could have been used in productive activities for the country. Thus, the population would benefit from these activities unlike what happens in the sector where they end up losing their capital or properties to criminals.
Illegal Prostitution
The word prostitution can be applied to both male and female in the sense that both are involved in the act. Women perform the act for financial gain while men go for satisfaction of their sexual desires. Moreover, men especially the young ones are being lured into sex by older women to satisfy their desires. This can also be termed as prostitution because there are elements of financial gain from the act. The moment older men or women exploit the young ones/minors due to their financial status, the act is considered to be illegal. The reason behind this is that minors are not able to make prudent judgment hence the adults will be sexually abusing them. In addition, minors are naïve and may make decision without proper consultation. In the event these young individual are offered money in exchange for sex, they give in easily because they need money to finance their lifestyle and meet the daily needs. Thus, they end up becoming sex objects for the older people who exploit them by giving them handouts and valuables. The end result would be laxity on the side of the young people who depends on their partners to finance them. Thus, they will become inefficient and unproductive economically and socially.
There are two types of illegal prostitution. The first one is exploitation of minors and the second one is criminalized commercial sexual business. All religions in the world criticize the legalization of prostitution as it discourages adoption of good morals. In addition, it goes against the religious teaching that emphasizes on trust and faithfulness in marriage. Thus, people participating in the act should be punished and seek forgiveness from God. On the other side, some governments believe that it is the right of every citizen to practice their sexual desires in accordance with the law. Nevada is one of the states that allow the act in brothels that are licensed to conduct the business. Thus, these premises or organizations tests workers from time to time for sexually transmitted diseases. There are arguments for and against legalization of prostitution.
The pro includes reduced violence, workers become healthier, it is victimless crime, earns revenue, law is applicable and labor rights. To expand on these points, we start by the first pro given above. According to world health organization (WHO), 82 % of the prostitutes were assaulted at San Francisco in 2005. Moreover, prostitutes that were abused would not pursue justice because the government had criminalized the act. Thus, they would end up being arrested if they prompt to report the matter. Thus, regulating these activities through registration of brothels to run the business was a major boost for the government (McCarthy, 2009). Thus, the legalization system would give women a chance to carry out their businesses in peace. This will eliminate violence that causes bodily and emotional pain to the participant or victims.
The second effect is provision of a healthy working environment. This goes hand in hand with the rules adopted by brothels at Nevada which expects all workers to use condoms and go for weekly test for STIs. This means that both the client and the service providers are protected from contracting dangerous diseases. The United Nation Development program (UNDP) conducted a research on the effects of criminalized prostitution in Pacific and Asia. The organization found out that police and other legal bodies would use condoms to prosecute cases related to prostitution. This raised a number of issues about women health during sex. Thus, women would be limited in terms of making choices health wise during sex. This was seen to be attributed to the criminalization process (McCarthy, 2009).
Brothels within Nevada pay a significant amount of tax to the state to allow them to run the prostitution business. Thus, it is a good source of money for some states which have made the act legal. However, the public have protested the application of such money to developmental projects such as schools and infrastructure. The belief is that money or taxes derived from immoral acts such as prostitution has been obtained illegally. This is not the case because there is no crime in sexual business. Moreover, there are no victims of prostitution when participants consent to engage in the act. Thus, criminalization makes individuals victims rather than curbing the act. Therefore, illegal prostitution is not only unproductive but also risks he life of women participating or engaging in the act. When the health welfare for women or partners is taken into risk then the business is no more viable (Glazebrook, 2015).
Money laundering acquisition and transfer of crime proceeds into legitimate money or investments. This means that money obtained through corrupt dealing may be used in personal development. There are many definitions of money laundering ranging from organized crimes to improper application of financial systems. These definitions give a clear indication of the things that takes place in the event the situation takes place. The developed countries have suffered the effects of money laundering because it is entrenched in the financial sector. Thus, it is a difficult thing to detect the act at its first stages. The outcome of the events connected to laundering is felt in other sectors in the economy such as agriculture. This is because the money may be destined for projects in these areas. Thus, these projects will be abated for lack of funds to finance critical activities. In most cases, the process takes place in three stages. They include placement, integration and layering. The first step is money laundering is placement where money is deposited in the bank or other financial institutions. In addition, the money may get converted into financial instruments. It is not easy to detect the laundering process because criminals deposit small amount at some intervals.
The only case supposed to be reported to the police would involve the depositing of $10,000 and above in a day. In this case, the police would be interested to know where this kind of money is coming from. At this point, criminals may decide to convert cash into money orders, cashier’s checks or travelers checks. Thus, it could be hard to establish or detect unlawful transactions. The second stage is layering which involves wire transfer. A number of accounts are created to enhance transfer to foreign banks such Panama. Thus, these accounts are operated for the purposes of laundering in an attempt to hide identity and source of money (Kiluk & Carroll, 2013).
The last stage is integration where criminal and original funds are circulated. The origin of these funds is less likely to be traced as evidence of transfer is unavailable. Thus, players in this sector end up getting scot free as they are able to hide their true identity from the legal bodies such as the police. In addition, terrorist are more likely to use this platforms to advance their activities in various parts of the globe. Thus, there is increased concern in regards to wire transfer of funds from different sources. The united states have tried to control the act by putting a limit on the upper limit of funds for transfer. However, this has not worked as security personnel’s are overwhelmed by huge volume of transactions carried out through online platforms. Thus, it would take time to follow a single transaction from one point to the other and from country to country.
The negative effects of these activities include illegal transaction and corruption, increased crime and misuse of funds. Money circulated and exchanged through the process is obtained thorough corruption. African leaders have been entangled in these transactions especially those from Nigeria. They have hidden money stolen from their government in foreign banks through this process. This enables them to evade possible prosecution in a court of law because there is no evidence of the activities and transaction that led to the acquisition of huge amount of funds (Miller & Reynolds, 2010). However, corrupt individuals from all corners of the earth make these deals that leave the common people without access to basic amenities because money to cater for the activities is fraudulently looted. There is need to curb the menace to allow individuals access the government services.
Conclusion
There are many things that are considered when it comes to categorization of whether an action is legal or illegal. This may depend on the regional, cultural and religious beliefs about certain issues and the manner in which these activities should be conducted. This is why there is diversion and diversity in regards to choices made on various issues of national importance. One of them includes the use of non medicinal drugs for recreational purposes. Some countries find no difficulties legalizing the act while other criminalizes it handling and transportation. Thus, if a person is caught in possession of illegal drugs, he or she will face the full force of the law. In some countries, handling of marijuana results to capital punishment that is affected immediately one is prosecuted and pleads to the charges. Prostitution is treated differently by people due to the religious perception towards the act. There have been a number of myths developed to discourage individuals from exploring the act. This is because it is seen as abomination of the natural laws and teaching of various religious relics. Lastly, we had money laundering which is a crime that is widespread especially in the current global setup.
References
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Glazebrook, A. (2015). Prostitution, archaeology of, classical world. The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality, 12(4), 861-1042. doi:10.1002/9781118896877.wbiehs384
Kiluk, B. D. & Carroll, K. M. (2013). Illegal Drug Use. The Wiley Handbook of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, 22(3), 1339-1358. doi:10.1002/9781118528563.wbcbt56
McCarthy, K. J. (2009). Why do some states tolerate money laundering? On the competition for illegal money. Research Handbook on Money Laundering, 22(2), 127-142. doi:10.4337/9780857934000.00019
Miller, E. M. & Reynolds, H. (2010). The Economics of Prostitution. Contemporary Sociology, 17(2), 179. doi:10.2307/2070558