Final answer:
The subject of minimum quantities of cocaine and heroin trafficking is related to legal thresholds set for enhanced penalties during the U.S. War on Drugs. Significant disparities in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine led to disproportionate incarceration rates until the Fair Sentencing Act reduced this disparity. Mexican cartels play a large role in the smuggling of these drugs into the U.S., leading to security concerns and the need for international law enforcement cooperation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept of a minimum quantity of cocaine and heroin trafficking relates to measures in law enforcement and narcotic regulations where specified amounts of illegal drugs are set as thresholds for enhanced legal penalties. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the United States witnessed the severe legal implications of drug trafficking and possession, especially in its so-called War on Drugs. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, for instance, created mandatory minimum sentences that were strikingly harsher for crack cocaine, which was predominantly used in poorer, urban communities, compared to the powder form of cocaine, associated with wealthier users.
This disparity was dramatically evidenced by the law that mandated a ten-year sentence for the possession of only 50 grams of crack cocaine but required possession of 5,000 grams of powder cocaine for the same sentence. It was not until 2010, with the signing of the Fair Sentencing Act, that the disparity was reduced to a ratio of 1 to 18. The involvement of Mexican drug cartels in trafficking illegal drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, into the U.S. also facilitated narco-terrorism and the issues related to illegal smuggling networks, which have been recognized on an international level and call for collaborative cross-border policing efforts.