Since 2008, the United States and Mexico have worked collaboratively to combat drug trafficking across their shared border. The State Department’s current position on the situation is to to support continued cooperation with Mexico and collaborate on strategies to increase security and create policy measures that strengthen the rule of law. The State Department divides the United States’ strategy for combatting drug trafficking into four strategies: targeting cartels and their operations, aiding the Mexican government in their efforts, improving border security to efficiently facilitate trade and counter illegal operations, and defend and strengthen communities.1 However, the United States’ foreign policy measures with Mexico, including bilateral agreements and operations, have been criticized for failing to produce results and exacerbating the situation. Mexico is currently the largest foreign supplier of methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin to the United States. Corruption in Mexico’s political system has allowed drug trade operations to flourish and for cartels to become lethal and powerful forces. Along with the influx of drugs, the wave of violence that followed President Calderon’s declaration of war on drug trafficking in 2006 has taken an estimated 164,000 lives as of July 2015.2 The United States has been waging a war on drugs for over 40 years. President Nixon was the first president to declare a war on drugs in June 1971 to combat a rise in
The problem of drugs coming over into the United States from Mexico is not new, but it is serious and in spite of many efforts by American law enforcement and border authorities, it continues day after day. This paper reviews the problem from several perspectives and brings to light attempts the U.S. has made to stop drug trafficking on our border with Mexico. The biggest issue regarding border security is the power of the drug cartels, and the majority of emphasis in this paper is directed towards the cartels.
Drugs first surfaced in the United States in the 1800s. After the Civil War opium become very popular and was used medicinally. Following opium was cocaine which was also used as a health remedy but near the end of the 19th century opium and cocaine abuse peaked and local governments began to prohibit opium dens and importation. In 1914 the first federal drug policy, the Harrison Narcotics act, is passed and drugs are no longer seen as harmless remedies. The act aggressively regulated the manufacturing of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and morphine. During the 50’s more federal drug policies were passed and drugs began to become more criminalized. The 60’s saw a rise in counter-culture and substances such as marijuana and LSD saw widespread use. The demand for drugs skyrocketed in the 1960s. In 1971 President Nixon declared drug abuse America 's number one enemy and proclaimed that we must wave a all out offensive. After President Nixon declared the War on Drugs in 1971, the United States has spent more than a trillion dollars on this failing policy that not only has had no effect on the amount of drugs being used in the United States and has increased the number of people incarcerated on drug charges from just 50,000 to over half a million, but also has helped fuel drug cartels and foment violence and death through overdoses from uncontrolled drug potency and turf wars between street gangs.
In the past forty years, the United States has spent over $2.5 trillion dollars funding enforcement and prevention in the fight against drug use in America (Suddath). Despite the efforts made towards cracking down on drug smugglers, growers, and suppliers, statistics show that addiction rates have remained unchanged and the number of people using illegal drugs is increasing daily (Sledge). Regardless of attempts to stem the supply of drugs, the measure and quality of drugs goes up while the price goes down (Koebler). Now with the world’s highest incarceration rates and greatest illegal drug consumption (Sledge), the United States proves that the “war on drugs” is a war that is not being won.
The United States of America has been more or less victorious in every war this nation has been involved in since the beginning of modern American history except one, the war on drugs. What makes this war uniquely terrifying is the fact that this is the first modern age war to be fought on American soil. Just in the year 2014 the war on drugs claimed a little over seven times as many American lives as pearl harbor and 9/11 combined. However, the death toll isn’t the only thing that’s rising. Each year the cost of waging this war climbs higher and higher. Over the past four decades the United States as poured over one trillion dollars into fighting drugs inside our own boarders, relying on taxpayers to supply the capital. While the Obama administration assured Americans the border was
Many currently illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine have been used for years for both medical and personal uses. The first cocaine laws were directed towards black men in the South. The first marijuana laws were passed in the 1910s were directed toward Mexican Americans as well as Mexican Immigrants. Since the beginning of the 1900s, the illegal smuggling of drugs has been a prevalent problem in America. It was not until June 1971 that President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs, because he believed America’s number one enemy was drug abuse. As an effect of the drug wars of Colombia, taking place throughout the 1900s, the American culture changed drastically economically and in the areas of drug and gang mentality as well as violence,
The United States has a long history of intervention in the affairs of one it’s southern neighbor, Latin America. The war on drugs has been no exception. An investigation of US relations with Latin America in the period from 1820 to 1960, reveals the war on drugs to be a convenient extension of an almost 200 year-old policy. This investigation focuses on the commercial and political objectives of the US in fighting a war on drugs in Latin America. These objectives explain why the failing drug policy persisted despite its overwhelming failure to decrease drug production or trafficking. These objectives also explain why the US has recently exchanged a war on drugs for the war on
This research paper is intended to argue that effectively and efficiently securing the United States borders will ultimately help disrupt and dismantle transnational criminals to include: narcotics traffickers, human traffickers, Human, weapons, and bulk cash smuggling, and prevent terrorists and their weapons from entering the country and wreaking havoc. These transnational crimes are extremely profitable and are in no means going to stop unless enforced at the United States borders. The benefits of securing the United States border will outweigh the costs and is crucial for increasing national security. Transnational criminals pose a major threat to the American people and negatively effect the nation. This subject is highly debated and political in nature, and there is no one perfect solution. So in order to keep a broad audience this paper is not attempt to offer a solution to the problems, nor will it attempt to focus on political issues, but rather attempt to identify the threats and argue the benefits of a more secure and efficient border system for the United States. This paper will discuss the severity of these transnational crimes and explain that these crimes will continue to grow if not enforced. This research paper uses the information obtained from scholarly sources that have experience within the topic of argument.
The international drug trade from Latin American states is having an impact on a global scale. The trafficking of drugs along with corruptness and murder is an international conflict that is being fought daily. There are many aspects of the drug war from Mexico and other Latin American states which have effects on United States policy as well as policies from other countries that participate in the global suppression of illegal drugs.
The United States has led the fight against criminal activities from Mexican borders for many years. Criminal activities along the United States and Mexican border range from drug trafficking, human smuggling and an economy that disruptive. These are illegal activities scholars have argued could lead to the failure of Mexico as a country and the spread of violence to the United States. The illegal activities are not only a threat to the economy of Mexico and United States but also to the rest of the world due the impacts associated. The border between Mexico and US is of essential significance because it provides the link between the two countries. The border provides passageways through which either country can access the other via land or air means. Although the border is of significance to both countries, smuggling of drugs and trafficking human are main causes of violence between the countries. Drug cartels in Mexico smuggle drugs into the United States and this drives a war between them and the US government. The economy and the peace between Mexico and US is also affected significantly due to the illegal activities. To minimize the violence caused by these illegal activities, the US government need to act against the activities. The United States needs to increase the economic aid and military intervention to Mexico to fight the drug cartels, otherwise it could become a failed state; spreading more violence across the US border.
Every day the U.S. border patrol has to constantly keep an eye out for the smuggling of drugs by Mexican Cartels. There has been much violence due to this drug problem that has left many people near the border killed and is allowing more criminals to obtain these weapons. A lot of this attention goes to the U.S. because many of the weapons utilized in the “drug war” are U.S. made and is interfering with trading relations amongst both the U.S. and Mexico. With this current violent situation in Mexico this has transformed the flow of weapons to an even larger scale.
The current violence and drug traffic in Mexico presents a twofold problem in regards to domestic law enforcement in the United States. Not only are US law enforcement authorities required to combat the massive influx of illicit drugs from Mexico, they are also expected to stem the tide of illegal immigrants, many fleeing the dire circumstances in their home country, and also to quell fears of cartel violence spilling over our largely unsecured southern border. This has led to a fundamental shift in domestic the law enforcement tactics in the United States as well as an increased US law enforcement presence in Mexico itself. Local and State law enforcement agencies are increasingly being asked to
Drug trafficking has become an increasingly growing problem in the world today. Illegal drug trade is a worldwide black market consisting of production, distribution, packaging, and sale of illegal substances. Although today’s "War on Drugs" is a modern phenomenon, drug problems have been a common problem throughout history. The market for illegal drugs is massive, when we consider the estimated global drug trade value is worth $321 billion (Vulliamy). The most drug trafficking happens on the border between Mexico and the United States. Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon said, “Our neighbor is the largest consumer of drugs in the world. And everybody wants to sell him drugs through our door and our window”
The drug problem in the U.S. and around the world is an important issue and seems to be a difficult problem to tackle across the board. The inflow of drugs has become one of the largest growths in transnational crime operations; illicit drug use in the United States makes it very difficult for nation states police and customs forces to get a handle on the issues. War on drugs, drug trafficking has long been an issue for the United States. There has been a proclamation of “war on drugs” for the past 44 years.
The “War on Drugs” is the name given to the battle of prohibition that the United States has been fighting for over forty years. And it has been America’s longest war. The “war” was officially declared by President Richard Nixon in the 1970’s due to the abuse of illegitimate drugs. Nixon claimed it as “public enemy number one” and enacted laws to fight the importation of narcotics. The United States’ War on Drugs began in response to cocaine trafficking in the late 1980’s. As the war continues to go on, winning it hardly seems feasible. As stated by NewsHour, the National Office of Drug Control Policy spends approximately nineteen billion dollars a year trying to stop the drug trade. The expenses shoot up, indirectly, through crime,
Stopping the trafficking of drugs into the country is a key part of their overall mission: to protect America. The Border Patrol’s 2012-2016 strategic plan supports the national-level strategies like the National Drug Control Strategy and “uses a risk-based approach to securing the border”. According to this strategic plan, “Transnational criminal organizations represent a significant cross-border threat to homeland security”.