I imagine this had a huge impact on the drug trade too: In the 1980s, the US and the USSR were fighting numerous proxy wars in countries like Nicaragua. When

I imagine this had a huge impact on the drug trade too: In the 1980s, the US and the USSR were fighting numerous proxy wars in countries like Nicaragua. When the USSR collapsed, you had thousands of trained soldiers who stopped receiving a paycheck. If you've spent the last ten years fighting in a war, you're not just going to put down the AK47 and go work on a farm.