The Failed Drug War and Growing Latin American Power

The Latin American countries are plagued with the byproduct of US drug war policies. Drug cartels that facilitate drug trafficking to the insatiable US illegal drug appetite wreak havoc on their host countries with violence, crime and act as a government destabilizer.  The Latin American countries are developing not only their economic muscle, but their political muscle that rides the same train and are creating a coalition to effect change on current US illegal drug policy. Even though the US mandates much of the drug policy by asserting its economic and political power via international institutions and direct US financial aid packages, the Latin American countries are beginning to address the glaring failure of these policies.

The trend in the US is to decriminalize possession, use and even sale of marijuana. Like the failed policy of prohibition, illegalization has spawned the same violence, crime and lethal drug organization outcomes. We can look to Portugal who in 2001 decriminalized the use of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines for data and studies on the effects of decriminalization. They focused more attention on education and rehabilitation and the current trends demonstrate a surprising drop in usage rates. The Cato report suggests that the US drug policy is based on “fear mongering and speculation” not studies or data that offer objective evidence.

The Latin American countries understand US resistance and are willing to push legalizing marijuana, but are hesitant to push for new policies on harder drugs. It is a system failure with many in the US fighting to maintain their hard line policies. The US is home to 5% of the world’s population, but they are responsible for 25% of the world’s prisoners. With much of the US prisons becoming privatized, there is a significant lobbying force to keep the status quo to maintain incarceration rates. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) will also maintain their hard line to sustain their bureaucracy and their livelihood. The military industrial complex will lobby hard against the decriminalization and certainly the legalization because they ship weapons and military supplies to countries fighting the drug war and would realize a drop in sales. The cost of education and prevention programs and drug rehabilitation programs would impose a much lower cost to taxpayers than the billions we spend on the failed War on Drugs, but the institutions that stand to lose financially are adamantly opposed to change for economic reasons. The Latin American countries may have to go it alone without the US when they are strong enough to do so.

Perez Diaz, Sonia . Latin America Will Push U.S. To Discuss New Drug War Strategies At OAS Meeting . The Huffingtonpost. 4 Jun 2013.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/04/new-drug-war-strategy-_n_3383786.html   WEB 14 Jul 2013

Szalavitz, Maria.  Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work? Time Magazine. 26 Apr 2009.    http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html   WEB 15 Jul 2013