Hobbies And Interests
Deforestation
Coca, poppies and marijuana are all crops that require land. Since growing them is illegal in most countries anyway, the farmers of such crops are unlikely to abide by restrictions on land use. In Columbia, for example, large tracts of cloud forest have been cleared to make way for coca plantations. In the United States, natural habitat goes for marijuana crops. The damming of streams to provide a water supply alters and damages aquatic ecosystems.
Pollution
The growers of poppies and coca leaves tend to use large quantities of pesticides and fertilizers. There is not a much of a market for organic heroin. These chemicals end up in the water and soil. Pesticides are toxic and fertilizers provide an excess of nutrients that leads to algal blooms. Government interventions of spraying the plantations with herbicides cause yet more pollution. Production of drugs such as methamphetamine also produces large amounts of toxic waste, which the producers rarely dispose of responsibly. Pharmaceutical drugs eventually end up in the water supply after people use them, although the impact on aquatic life is unknown.
Soil Erosion
The clearing of forests for crops contributes to soil erosion. The methods of cultivation of coca and poppy crops are not sustainable in the long term. Farmers plant them as monocrops, not interspersed with any other plants, little regard is paid to soil conservation, and there is little or no terracing. These methods all exacerbate soil erosion, especially on steep slopes such as in the Andes. They come about because the producers do not expect to be growing their illegal crops in one place for very long. The result is once fertile land becomes barren and unable to support either future agriculture or natural habitat.
Carbon Emissions
Like any other import, it requires energy to refine and transport drugs. They are not a carbon-neutral product, especially when you add on the costs of deforestation. Carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions contribute to climate change, ocean acidification, acid rain and air pollution.