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Date Permissions Signed

5-26-2011

Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Alper, Donald K.

Second Advisor

Abedi, Amir, 1966-

Third Advisor

Biswas, Bidisha

Abstract

After the attacks of September 11th, 2001 the American government placed a new emphasis upon domestic security and scrutiny soon fell upon the US-Canada border. From 2001 to 2011 there has been a great expansion of border security on the US-Canada border. It is the objective of this thesis to examine how increases in security along the US-Canada border following 9/11 have affected or changed drug smuggling in the Pacific Northwest. It is the central hypothesis of this thesis that the smuggling of drugs produced in British Columbia for American markets has been pushed into the interior of the Pacific Northwest, both to less used ports of entry and to between ports of entry. This thesis examines an area in which there is a profound dearth of scholarly research. The hypotheses of this thesis were tested through the examination of data related to drug smuggling arrests and drug seizures at the border. Additionally, interviews with relevant border stakeholders were conducted. The central hypothesis of this thesis has not been conclusively supported by the data acquired for this research. It appears, based on the drug seizure and interviews, as if drug smuggling in the Pacific Northwest has greatly decreased following increases in border security after 9/11. The substantial reduction in the amount of marijuana seized at the US-Canada border in the Pacific Northwest is significant, but it is inconclusive as to what is directly responsible for this decrease.

Type

Text

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25710/psfc-te85

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

733845593

Subject – LCSH

Drug traffic--Northwest, Pacific; September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001--Social aspects; Border security--Northern boundary of the United States; Border patrols--Northern boundary of the United States

Geographic Coverage

Northwest, Pacific

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.

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