ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the role that the legitimate drug industry plays in the nation's drug abuse problem and to understand the extent of the marijuana cultivation problem in the United States. It aims to understand the extent of the marijuana cultivation problem in the United States. The chapter explains the magnitude of the nation's clandestine laboratory problem and also to learn the consequences of pharmaceutical diversion in our country's drug problem. It shows that the legal drug industry is more than just a benign wholesale and retail business. The chapter suggests that doctors are not deserving of all the blame, since many people deceive doctors and pharmacists by phoning in false prescriptions or by “doctor shopping” to get multiple prescriptions. Illicit drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, are primarily produced in foreign countries. However, domestic drug producers and traffickers have also taken advantage of the opportunity to produce and cultivate illicit drugs.
