WEBVTT 00:00:10.300 --> 00:00:15.080 Worldwide, approximately 275 million people 00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:17.080 use illicit drugs every year 00:00:17.080 --> 00:00:20.240 with enormous social and health consequences. 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:23.100 But not only human lives 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:24.480 are negatively affected 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:26.480 by illicit drug economies. 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:29.360 Illicit drug crop production 00:00:29.360 --> 00:00:31.200 has a massive negative impact 00:00:31.200 --> 00:00:32.860 on the environment, too. 00:00:32.860 --> 00:00:35.400 On all our living space. 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:38.920 Cocaine is extracted from the coca bush, 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:41.640 which is cultivated mainly in South America, 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:42.920 in the Amazon region 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:45.780 and the Eastern slopes of the Andes Cordillera. 00:00:45.780 --> 00:00:49.080 Often, remote natural protected reserves 00:00:49.080 --> 00:00:52.820 of the rainforest serve as cultivation areas. 00:00:52.820 --> 00:00:54.820 But not without a price: 00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:56.520 Some of the land is obtained through 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:59.100 deforestation of pristine flora. 00:00:59.100 --> 00:01:02.040 Sometimes coca cultivation also leads 00:01:02.040 --> 00:01:04.460 to the agricultural frontier extending 00:01:04.460 --> 00:01:06.460 into sensitive habitats. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.580 Clandestine infrastructure 00:01:08.580 --> 00:01:09.980 like airstrips for illicit 00:01:09.980 --> 00:01:11.500 drug transportation 00:01:11.500 --> 00:01:14.080 also contributes to this phenomenon. 00:01:23.720 --> 00:01:26.520 Pesticides and precursor chemicals 00:01:26.520 --> 00:01:29.960 not only harm habitats for plants and animals. 00:01:29.960 --> 00:01:32.140 They get into the soil and rivers, 00:01:32.140 --> 00:01:33.940 threatening nearby villages 00:01:33.940 --> 00:01:36.580 and the health of the inhabitants. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:39.680 As a result of all these actions 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:42.340 Biodiversity is endangered. 00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:44.760 Animals lose their habitat. 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.860 The ecosystem is destabilized. 00:01:48.740 --> 00:01:51.760 Often, the criminal revenue generated 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:52.720 is laundered through 00:01:52.720 --> 00:01:54.720 unsustainable investments 00:01:54.720 --> 00:01:56.760 such as extensive cattle ranching 00:01:56.760 --> 00:01:58.960 and massive land grabbing. 00:01:58.960 --> 00:02:02.100 A dirty trail of drug supply. 00:02:03.820 --> 00:02:05.740 Opium poppy cultivation 00:02:05.740 --> 00:02:09.400 covers vast fields in Asia and Latin America. 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:12.420 Opium and heroin are extracted from it. 00:02:13.100 --> 00:02:16.080 In Afghanistan, partly desert areas 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:18.680 provide the space for cultivation. 00:02:18.760 --> 00:02:20.780 But water is scarce. 00:02:20.780 --> 00:02:23.300 Therefore, groundwater is transported 00:02:23.300 --> 00:02:25.920 to the surface by solar pumps for irrigation. 00:02:25.920 --> 00:02:28.320 This causes the groundwater level 00:02:28.320 --> 00:02:30.320 to drop drastically. 00:02:30.320 --> 00:02:33.220 And it also contaminates the remaining water 00:02:33.220 --> 00:02:35.220 and threatens local health. 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:38.160 A vicious circle for farmers. 00:02:39.180 --> 00:02:41.060 In other source countries, 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:43.240 the environmental impacts derived 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:45.100 from opium poppy cultivation 00:02:45.100 --> 00:02:48.180 are also related to deforestation. 00:02:48.320 --> 00:02:50.700 These are high environmental costs 00:02:50.700 --> 00:02:53.660 to supply opium and heroin markets. 00:02:55.660 --> 00:02:57.300 Fields and greenhouses 00:02:57.300 --> 00:02:59.340 with illicit Cannabis cultivation 00:02:59.340 --> 00:03:01.980 can be found all over the world. 00:03:02.200 --> 00:03:03.980 For outdoor cultivation, 00:03:03.980 --> 00:03:05.120 land is cleared, 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:07.540 water resources are exhausted, 00:03:07.540 --> 00:03:09.540 soil dries out. 00:03:09.540 --> 00:03:12.660 Indoor cultivation is a major source 00:03:12.660 --> 00:03:14.660 of greenhouse gas emissions. 00:03:14.660 --> 00:03:17.020 Lights, air conditioners and heaters 00:03:17.020 --> 00:03:19.340 require a lot of energy. 00:03:20.640 --> 00:03:22.680 The often long trafficking routes 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:24.360 increase the carbon footprint 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:26.560 of the illicit supply chains too. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:30.380 Thus, the drug market leaves deep traces. 00:03:31.480 --> 00:03:34.700 And what about synthetic illicit drugs? 00:03:35.040 --> 00:03:37.620 Illicit synthetic drug production 00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:40.680 contributes to environmental degradation too. 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:43.600 Resulting waste is often illegally dumped 00:03:43.600 --> 00:03:45.000 in rivers or pits, 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:47.700 contaminating natural surroundings. 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:52.060 Illicit drug economies generate income 00:03:52.060 --> 00:03:54.440 at the expense of the ecosystem. 00:03:54.880 --> 00:03:57.000 They exploit not only people - 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:00.140 but also the environment.