The U.S.’ Congruence with Drugs

How committed are people of the United States to the War on Drugs? This is a relevant question that President Felipe Calderón asked our neighbors yesterday.

The Mexican president said, “I ask for consistency from the United States, or to really just discuss legalization in depth and respectfully, using technical and serious arguments. Or rather, we shall discuss seriously complying with the law.”

Neither of these two things occurred, because, as in any country, the topic of decriminalization is a bit touchy, and it tends to produce polarized opinions. That has not stopped, however, the fact that in many states of America, one can produce and consume marijuana. This has been the legal response to the war’s failure.

For this reason it is a contradiction that U.S. officials applaud the “zero tolerance” of the Mexican drug policy while in certain regions of the United States, use of drugs is increasingly being permitted.

Perhaps one can await success in the battle against drug trafficking in Mexico while on the other side of the river, the product is being marketed without prohibition. After all, though the current law only supports marijuana, in reality, it is easy to consume any type of substance in the United States.

President Calderón said, “It’s unfair that I stop Mexican farmers from producing a quarter of a hectare of marijuana while it is being produced industriously, or that I should stop marijuana that I know goes to consumers who, like in the movies, are very happy.”

Here’s what the specialists say: As there exists a demand for drugs, the pressure to provide them will never stop. It is an irrefutable economic logic.

The U.S. and Mexico’s answer to the drug trafficking problem, then, needs to be homogenous. Is it a security problem, as suggested by the Mexican authorities’ focus or America’s rhetoric, or is it a problem regarding “urban sociology and public health,” as Javier Sicilia ensured last Sunday in Zócalo?

In addition, the problem for the United States is not only consumption. There are also increases in drug cartels in the region. For this reason, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s warning yesterday about Latin America living in another lost decade if it doesn’t advance against the mafias also applies to the U.S.

Without a doubt, both countries should establish where they want to go with the war on drugs. If not, there will continue to be deaths in Mexico and happy drug addicts in the United States.