Cocaine, Welfare, and Asparagus
Copyright 2004 by Alan Burkhart

Our government has a history of acting with only the best of intentions, and achieving disastrous results. To be sure, there are times when the U.S. government shines through as a beacon of power and success, but as often as not we find ourselves mired in yet another tar pit of excessive spending, and then still more spending to get us out the mess caused by the original spending. Two of the most frequently traveled paths to the tar pits are welfare and the so-called War on Drugs. It was inevitable that the two paths should eventually cross, and this serves to bolster my oft-asserted view that government is most helpful when it stays out of the way of private enterprise. Let's take a look at the results of the Andean Trade Preferences Act…

Back in the early 1990's our benevolent government sought to find a way to dissuade poor Peruvian farmers from growing the coca plant (from which cocaine is derived). Some genius discovered that Peru has a near-perfect climate for growing asparagus year-round, and our government went to work, convinced that we now had a way to slow the importation of South American cocaine into our country. Import tariffs were eliminated or reduced, and millions of American taxpayer dollars were pumped into Peru to jumpstart its existing (but tiny) asparagus industry. It seemed so simple on the surface… just get the coca farmers to grow asparagus instead of coca. How hard could it be?

To ease the burden upon American farmers (and save face with all those registered voters), the U.S. government engaged in a massive taxpayer-funded buyout plan. Our government now buys the otherwise-unused American asparagus (6.5 billion pounds) and uses it in various welfare programs, providing free or inexpensive food to the poor. So, first our government dumps tons of our hard-earned money into building a new industry in a foreign country. Then when that industry (along with unscrupulous companies like Del Monte) runs Americans out of business, government steps in and spends still more money to prop up a now dying American industry and simultaneously increases the number of Americans dependent upon government for their income.

And here's the real ball-buster: Coca is grown in the highland areas of Peru, while asparagus is grown at near sea level. Our government has wrecked a century-old American industry in a madcap plan that had no chance of success. They never gave the farmers any reason to stop growing coca because the areas where coca is grown are not suitable for asparagus. One can cite the fact that Peruvian production of coca has indeed dropped in recent years, but a 2002 DEA report clearly shows that coca planting is on the rise again. It's also worth noting that while coca production in Peru and Bolivia dropped by a combined total of about 25% from 1995 to 2000, Columbian production INCREASED by more than 150%. It is likely that market forces, rather than drug enforcement, were driving the shift in production.

So... how did our government end up implementing a plan that succeeded only in destroying American asparagus farmers? There are two possibilities. The most likely possibility is that in its typical ineptitude our government simply didn't do the research that would have shown the differences in the climatological requirements of coca and asparagus. Nevertheless, once the benefits of cheap Peruvian labor were known, companies like Del Monte were quick to act.

The other, less likely possibility is that the large buyers of asparagus persuaded the U.S. government to use the Drug War as an excuse to get a cheaper product. This one reeks of "Conspiracy Theory" and I'd just as soon pretend that our government is only inept, rather than inept AND malicious.

Whichever possibility happens to be the truth, the result is the same. Hundreds of American farmers have been put out of business by a bumbling federal government and avaricious corporations. And the Peruvians continue to grow coca, which eventually ends up making its way to America in the form of cocaine. One report I read states that there are no cocaine labs left in Peru. Am I the only one who has trouble believing this? Evidently quite a few of the labs were eradicated because a lot of Peruvian coca ended up getting shipped to Columbia for processing. The bottom line here is that Peruvian coca was still getting processed.

And just what did our government have to say about the damage done to the American asparagus industry? David Murray, special assistant for the White House Drug Policy Office, was quoted as follows in the New York Times...
"Apologies to the people affected, but the idea of creating alternative development, countrywide, does serve our purposes."
In other words, the Federal Government thinks it's okay to wreck American industry as long as doing so fits their agenda. Wow... I'm so proud to be an American! Thanks Dave.

And that isn't all...

A similar situation exists with the cut-flower market. Our government had also sought a way to reduce the amount of coca grown in Columbia. Every Valentine's Day, roughly 110 million cut roses are sold in the U.S. Approximately 60% of those roses are imported from Columbia. U.S.-based Dole Foods a few years ago bought the four largest flower growers in Columbia and is now not only the single largest grower in that country, but the largest employer. And guess what? These flowers are not grown anywhere near the coca fields. Once again, our government failed to recognize that its actions had no chance of success.

Predictably, the number of American rose growers has dropped by over 50% since the Andean Trade Preferences Act was enacted in 1991… hundreds of American businesses closed… thousands of Americans out of work… and Columbian cocaine still flows across our borders.

I daresay that it's a safe assumption that many of the flower and asparagus growers in Columbia and Peru also own coca fields. If that assumption is true, then the very people our government supposedly sought to fight are actually benefiting from this unbelievably irresponsible act. In practical terms that would mean that the U.S. Government is directly aiding and abetting the enemy in the Drug War. Given that the Drug War is a tremendous source of government jobs, one might also assume that good old Uncle Sam is perpetuating this whole deadly mess for the sake of keeping people on the government payroll and creating excuses for invasive law enforcement. But of course… that's only an assumption, right?