During the past decade, the drug
war policy of the United States has mainly focused on eradicating the coca
leaf. Consequently, the major aims have
been campesinos who are exclusively reliant on the coca’s cultivation, usually
in the regions that are under the control of Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed
Forces. The strategy has unavoidably lead to an increased military role by the
United States in the forty-year old civil war in Colombia as the Colombia’s
Revolutionary Armed Forces are at present being dubbed the ‘narco-guerrillas’
by the United States of America (Cockburn 93). As a consequence, the country
has now become a major target of the United States in the war on drugs.
During the 1980s, we find that
majority of the news on drugs that came from the country were all centered on
the Cali and Medellin cartels. The former leader of the Medellin cartel known
as Pablo Escobar was more than often depicted by the government of the United
States as well as the media as the major enemy of the war on drugs. The
formation of the cartels had been done during 1980s by the processors together
with the traffickers of cocaine who were gaining supernormal profits from the
market of cocaine that was really booming and flourishing. This led to the
sights of the policy of the United States war on drugs being focused on the
Cali and Medellin (Earlywine 73).
Determination is not all it takes
in order to be in a position of winning the war on drugs. The United States of
America, since the year 2000, has sent over six billion dollars to Bogota to
assist Alvaro Uribe, the president of Colombia together with his predecessor in
stabilizing the Andean area, stop the drugs flow into the cities of the United
States and reduce the production of drugs. In the so-called ‘plan Colombia,’
the United States sent choppers and pilots to the country, offered training to
commandoes and prepared weapons for fighting terrorists and drug traffickers. President
Uribe, on his part together with his predecessor increased the military budget
from four to six percent of the total national Gross Domestic Product. However,
instead of reducing the production of drugs in half by the year 2006, as was
intended by the Plan Colombia, the piece of lands set aside for the cultivation
of coca is up fifteen percent since the year 2000 and presently produces four
percent more cocaine as compared to about eight years ago (Scott 83). This
means that the goals of the Plan Colombia have not been fully accomplished.
However, even though the United States was successful in eliminating the
perceived leader of the drug cartels, Pablo Escobar, the war on drugs has not
been successful as drugs are still being cultivated trafficked in large
quantities, thus the need for trying to employ some other strategies, and see
if they would work.
For
long, music has been a fundamental part of the culture of America, particularly
that of the youth. The resistance by the youths has been generally attributed
to the songs that are sung and the tunes that are played. Music has always
helped the young people in expressing their views and feelings and also sharing
the feelings together with views with other several young people all over the
world. The youth is considered as a subculture that is intricately associated
with the emergence of popular music and culture. The individuals in this
particular group have the same experiences, they undergo peer groups and their
badge is music; they use it as a way of the identification and expression of
emotion. It is thus true that music works within the subculture of the youths
as a means of definition of the self, creation of the collective enthusiasm, and
creating a sense of togetherness and consciousness within the subculture.
Nevertheless, school helped in the
clear definition of the subculture of the youth by separating the youths
physically so that a bigger part of their day is spent in the peers’ world. In
the same way, children were separated ideologically by the mass media. The
language used by the youths, their dressing styles, behavior, values and goals,
together with music in particular turned out to be more and more strange to the
adults. This gave the music industry a reason to make the youths their target
market for their products, thus establishing a different culture of pre-teens. The
youths made their culture an exceptional one by protecting their language and
music (The Washington Office on Latin America
(WOLA)).
It is thus no wonder that since the
period of 1970s, hip hop has taken over the bigger part of the youth consumer
market. Rap as a term is synonymous with hip hop, even though this is not
correct. Although it can be called a musical genre, we find that it is much
more than just that. Currently, it has become so big that it is a
representation of publications, films, language, political activism and even fashion.
Nonetheless, most academicians and researchers all over the world have used all
features or aspects of the hip hop culture for therapeutic purposes and related
issues.
The use of hip hop music helps in
enhancing knowledge, particularly writing and critical thinking. It plays a
crucial role in the setting of goals as well as making of decisions; it also
gives us what is required for our lives to be successful and in the actual
world. The use of
drugs among the youths in Colombia has been on a steady rise over the past decades.
However, it is important to have interventions that involve the values and
beliefs of the young people so as to be in a good position of reducing this
problem. Hip hop plays a very critical role in the lives of many young people
in Colombia and the world as a whole, and offers a context within which the
dangerous behaviors can be prevented. The students in the group of intervention
are considerably more likely to possess higher information or understanding of
the perception of the risk of drugs and more knowledge regarding its effects.
Currently, hip hop is the undisputed face of the
youth subculture and it is beyond reasonable doubt that any star in the
industry becomes a darling to many. Therefore, it is the sole responsibility of
the hip hop stars to write songs or lyrics that have positive messages
regarding substance abuse. Hip hop has become so popular that it is even used
to spread the gospel. Holy hip hop is used as a tool for preaching and it can
also be used to portray substance abuse in bad light.
A lot of children are growing up
without a good educational background because they are just thinking of
pursuing a record deal so as to be like the stars that they know in the hip hop
field, which results in them dropping out of school at an early age. Some of
them just think of growing up and living a thug way of life, choose to become a
drug kingpin so as to earn a lot of money and be rich, like their superstars. However,
what they do not know is that the hip hop stars do not make their future bright
the way they are through such evil ways as perceived by many who consider hip
hop as a shame and misleading the society. Legacies, societies and generations
suffer due to the negative visualizations, the hip hop superstars who are
ignorant, producers and executives of record companies, as well as the urban
contemporary mediums that promote all the bad and negative things. It would
actually be a huge favor and step for the changing of the face of the industry
if several young hip hop musicians such as Jay-Z and 50 Cent came out and
stated boldly that the industry is defined by glamour and image. It would also
be important for the artist to emphasize the significance of education while
working on their degrees or diploma, as this would be motivational to the young
children because they will be able to see the importance of education and also
deem possible the fact that they can pursue some other intended goals along
with education, or even after their education.
The hip hop stars know very well that
they are well liked by their fans who are mostly the young people and this is
the group that is mostly involved in the issue of drug use; thus it is their
sole responsibility to be the ambassadors of the voices that are against the
substance abuse. They should conduct themselves in manners that completely
depict the use of drugs as evil and bad that should never be thought of by
anyone. This can be especially good for the young children who normally grow up
while looking up to them so as to be able to shape their future.
Hip hop cannot only help in fighting
the use of drugs among the youths through their messages or even lyrics, but in
different way as well. For instance, there are several campaigns within the
country and all over the world that are geared towards dealing with the rampant
spread of substance abuse, and seeing that it is brought to an abrupt end; some
of the initiatives or campaigns are sponsored by the government while others
are sponsored by the non-governmental organizations. However, the best ways
that these organizations or the government can effectively execute their
missions and ensuring that the message reaches the youths is through organizing
concerts. The organization or planning of the concerts should be done in ways
that their themes contain words that condemn the use of drugs. Nonetheless, for
the concerts to be successful in attracting large crowds of young people as
well as grabbing their attention, big artists should be incorporated in the
programs. Many of them such as The Game, Ja Rule and even Snoop Dog should be
invited to perform as it is obvious that many of the youths would be willing to
see their superstars face to face performing. During the concerts, the
musicians should be expected to say a word or two regarding the negative
effects of substance abuse and offer some piece of advice to the aspiring
musicians, regarding how they can make their ways to the big platform of the
hip hop industry.
The social media has also been
dominated by the youths and this is also another good platform that can help in
denouncing and condemning the use of drugs by portraying it negatively. Discussions
can be initiated on the social sites such as Facebook whereby the young people
are engaged in debates regarding the importance of education and how substance
abuse can ruin one’s life completely. The hip hop stars can also be the ones to
initiate these talks on their web pages because they normally have several fans
who subscribe to their pages or like their pages, as it is obvious that they
would have a lot of comments from their fans who love them.
Despite the negative attitude that
the adults have towards the culture of the youths, it is a fact that there must
be a working knowledge of this particular segment of the society or community,
which contextualizes and engulfs the lives of the young individuals, if
actually they are to be effectively communicated with. The information or
message that they process should be understood if the objectives of making the
society to be favorable for everyone, particularly the youths, are to be
achieved (The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)). The social marketing
rules are important and propose that efficient communication start with the
identification and understanding of the audience that is targeted. Together, youths
in Colombia represent a very strong and influential movement that surpasses
gender, race, ethnicity, and economic or even social status. The youths are a
moving representation of their world perception that has an external
manifestation via a lot of things that describe them and that are also very
unique and limited just to them.
Works Cited
Cockburn,
Alexander. Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press. New York: Verso,
2008. Print.
Earlywine,
Mitchell. Understanding marijuana: a new look at the scientific evidence.
Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
Peet,
Preston. Under the influence: the disinformation guide to drugs. The
Disinformation Company, 2004. Print.
Scott,
Peter Dale. Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America.
University of California Press, 2009. Print.
The Washington
Office on Latin America (WOLA). “Alternatives to Violence: Hope in
Medellin.” A
Speech by Rep. James McGovern. 13 Sep 2011.
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