The United States and Drug Trafficking

A growing movement of Latin American leaders demands that America makes a serious change to its strategy to combat drug trafficking.

For the first time, leaders of Latin American countries are forming a united front to demand that the U.S. makes a significant change to its so-called “war on drugs,” which, like previous wars, is headed for failure.

The U.S.’s strategy of “prohibition at any cost” only expands drug consumption. It appears that they forgot that alcohol prohibition in the 1920s helped the mafia grow, which today is ineradicable from the American style of life. A similar situation is now occurring with drugs.

The annual Department of Justice report on the use and trafficking of drugs (National Drug Threat Assessment, 2011) shows that, so far, no progress has been made in reducing drug consumption. “Narcotraffickers are very efficient traders; no region of the United States is without access to cocaine, heroin, marijuana or methamphetamines. They are creative and efficient and function as the best postal system in the world.”*

If the narcotraffickers have created a giant distribution network, it is because a large consumption network already exists. (According to the United Nations, the U.S. consumes 37 percent of the world’s coca.) In the 1920s, the mafia created a network for contraband and distributed prohibited alcoholic beverages. Today it is one of the largest economic corporations in the country.

The presidents of Guatemala and El Salvador, Otto Pérez Molina and Mauricio Funes respectively, called on Latin American nations to join efforts to pressure the United States to intensively review its plan to tackle drug trafficking. The presidents of Costa Rica and Columbia, Laura Chinchilla and Juan Manuel Santos respectively, joined the initiative. Santos is prepared to legalize consumption of marijuana and cocaine if it will help “eradicate drug violence.”*

If that’s not enough, strong criticism from Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderón, should cause the State Department to take notice. It was he who said that people kill and die in his country so that Americans can get high. Calderón was, until the end of last year, the principle supporter of the total war strategy against the cartels and paid for this strategy with the lives of his countrymen. After four years of this policy, more than 50,000 Mexicans have been assassinated. “Are we going to continue to lose lives simply because they [the United States] are not able to discuss the problem?”*

Americans also pay high costs; sickness, death and drug related crimes cost $66,900 million every year. Every man, women and child pays close to $1,000 annually to cover costs ranging from unnecessary medical expenses, extra police service, car accidents, crimes and loss of productivity, all as a result of the abuse of these prohibited substances.

*This quote, while translated accurately, could not be verified in English.