Reforma: Lorenzo Meyer*
Translated by Rebecca Nannery
Translated by Rebecca Nannery
The “War on Drugs” initiated during the presidency of Richard Nixon has been lost. In Mexico, one of the most important battle fronts, the failure has been obvious for some time and at an international level is still an ongoing debate. In any case Mexico must once again take up the position that it attempted to in 1940 but which the US forced it to abandon: outlining a policy based on its interests and needs, without being tied to the priorities of others.
In order to verify the failure of the current regulations against drug trafficking you don't have to look very far, simply reading the news would suffice. To nobody’s surprise, the holiday week in March offered a genuine string of news stories related to a series of organized crimes that took place in Acapulco, at the center of which was drug trafficking, despite the fact that the port town was full of tourists, the military and police. It is because of this environment of a failed policy that the Senate held some meetings to discuss what the position of Mexico should be in a special session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on the international drug control system in April.
The ideas aired at the Senate were a true reflection of those circulating in other areas in the nation: the prevailing prohibition policy is unfeasible as it did not reduce the production or consumption of illegal drugs and yes, it had, and has, a high cost in lives, public resources, human rights violations, and senseless punishment of thousands of young people- the ‘small fish’ in the vast sea that is drug trade- and large scale institutional corruption.
What is already clear
The international drug trade was started by one of the major powers centuries ago, notably but not exclusively, England, which forced China to consume opium produced in India. Currently, the terms have changed, as the central economies are the greatest consumers and neighbouring countries like ours, are the producers and the exporters, but the prohibitionist stances still do not work and the majority of the damage is suffered by the countries with weaker institutional structures.
At this point, and after a century of international conventions and agreements, from the Shanghai Conference in 1909 about opium to the United Nations’ Plan of Action to Counter the World Drug Problem in 2009, the production, trade and use of drugs persists despite an annual expenditure of some 100 billion dollars by the governments involved in the War on Drugs (http://www.countthecosts.org/seven-costs).
A UN report in 2015 estimated that there were 246 million illegal drug users in 2013. Javier Sicilia, the leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, calculates that the deaths and disappearances caused by organzed crime in Mexico since the end of 2006, the year in which the government intensified its ‘war on drug trafficking,’ has already reached 200,000 (Reforma, Revista, 27th March). The majority of the people in prison for drug possession in our country are males between the ages of 20 and 30 years of age and who received sentences of one year or less (Carlos Galindo, ‘Mexico and drug conventions,’ Belisario Domínguez Institute, 28/03/2016). All the figures indicate that the official policy pursued so far at a local and global level has been a very costly social failure.
Weak State, Strong Drug Culture
Interestingly, in Mexico, public opinion still seems
determined to stick with the failed prohibitionist policies. The survey taken
by Parametría in October 2015 found that 77% of the population believe this
about the legislation on marijuana consumption. However, other surveys have
shown that 72% of the Mexicans believe that the violence provoked by the drug cartels
is one of the biggest problems in the country (Pew Research Center, 2014).
Thus, the vast majority of the Mexican public seems not to accept that a choice must be made and that striving to maintain a prohibition policy is not the lesser of two evils.
Historically, the Mexican State has been very weak. This weakness was concealed by authoritarianism and ‘strong Presidents’ during the Porfiriato [Presidency of Porfirio Díaz from 1876 to 1911] and the post-revolution. But then, as of December 2006, Felipe Calderón’s government supposedly launched all the force of the State against the drug traffickers, who counterattacked with their two best weapons; extreme violence and corruption. Calderón failed, despite having the support of the US government through the “Merida Initiative”.
The U.S. hasn't won its ‘war on drugs’ either, but having a relatively strong State, its failure has not been as evident nor scandalous and its institutional structure maintains the normality of collective life. In contrast, in Mexico, there are regions with collapsed governments and where decisions have long been made by the drug cartels.
If the U.S., the country that issued the guidelines on prohibitionist policy worldwide, is already beginning to legalize the consumption of marijuana, all the more reason for the Mexican government to rethink, and quickly, the very nature of its drugs policy. Keeping up the momentum, as the current government has done, is a matter of life and death.
Reforma only allows subscribers to access its articles online.
*Lorenzo Meyer is a political scientist, historian and columnist. He earned the Bachelor's degree and a Ph.D. in International Relations from the College of Mexico and pursued postdoctoral studies in Political Science at the University of Chicago. Author of several important works on Mexico’s foreign relations and on the Mexican Revolution, he has also written on the Mexican political system, its authoritarian forms of power and democratization processes of the 20th century. He has taught in Mexico, the USA, Spain and England. He has been a columnist for NOTIMEX, Excelsior and currently Reforma. His most recent book is "Nuestra tragedia persistente: la democracia autoritaria en Mexico" ("Our Persistent Tragedy: Authoritarian Democracy in Mexico"). @DrLorenzoMeyer
See also: A Disastrous Metaphor: Waging Domestic War
Influence of the United States on UN Drug Policy
Thus, the vast majority of the Mexican public seems not to accept that a choice must be made and that striving to maintain a prohibition policy is not the lesser of two evils.
Historically, the Mexican State has been very weak. This weakness was concealed by authoritarianism and ‘strong Presidents’ during the Porfiriato [Presidency of Porfirio Díaz from 1876 to 1911] and the post-revolution. But then, as of December 2006, Felipe Calderón’s government supposedly launched all the force of the State against the drug traffickers, who counterattacked with their two best weapons; extreme violence and corruption. Calderón failed, despite having the support of the US government through the “Merida Initiative”.
The U.S. hasn't won its ‘war on drugs’ either, but having a relatively strong State, its failure has not been as evident nor scandalous and its institutional structure maintains the normality of collective life. In contrast, in Mexico, there are regions with collapsed governments and where decisions have long been made by the drug cartels.
If the U.S., the country that issued the guidelines on prohibitionist policy worldwide, is already beginning to legalize the consumption of marijuana, all the more reason for the Mexican government to rethink, and quickly, the very nature of its drugs policy. Keeping up the momentum, as the current government has done, is a matter of life and death.
Reforma only allows subscribers to access its articles online.
*Lorenzo Meyer is a political scientist, historian and columnist. He earned the Bachelor's degree and a Ph.D. in International Relations from the College of Mexico and pursued postdoctoral studies in Political Science at the University of Chicago. Author of several important works on Mexico’s foreign relations and on the Mexican Revolution, he has also written on the Mexican political system, its authoritarian forms of power and democratization processes of the 20th century. He has taught in Mexico, the USA, Spain and England. He has been a columnist for NOTIMEX, Excelsior and currently Reforma. His most recent book is "Nuestra tragedia persistente: la democracia autoritaria en Mexico" ("Our Persistent Tragedy: Authoritarian Democracy in Mexico"). @DrLorenzoMeyer
See also: A Disastrous Metaphor: Waging Domestic War
Influence of the United States on UN Drug Policy