More Mexicans Seeking Aslyum from U.S.-Fueled Drug War

The Washington Post recently published an article addressing five common myths about the Mexican drug war. Myth #4: "Drug violence is a Mexican problem, not a U.S. one." Wrong!

Drug trafficking is demand-driven. As long as people are buying illegal drugs, drug cartels will figure out a way to supply them. And no, a border fence is not going to fix this: drug traffickers have even built submarines to transport their product secretly because the payoff is so lucrative. People in the United States consume upwards of $60 billion worth of illegal drugs, which puts money in organized crime's pockets, and goes to purchase high-caliber weapons in the U.S. and smuggle them back across the border. The solution is to recognize that we are causing our neighbor's problems, and to work on strategies to reduce demand for illegal drugs in America.

How would we go about doing it? Well, we could make marijuana not illegal, for one. Sixty percent of profits from the drug trade stem from weed — not surprising, given the high demand in the U.S., where 14 million people get high regularly and 100 million have tried weed. So legalizing the plant would take a big chunk out of the drug lords' paycheck. Just think: one simple policy change to legalize a drug more harmless than alcohol, and we could wipe out half of the illegal drug trade. (Isn't it cool how the government can just pass a law and decide whether something is illegal or not?)

For other drugs that people would be less eager to lift prohibition from, we need to direct more funding for prevention and treatment to reduce demand and help addicts — rather than the traditional War on Drugs focus on incarceration and running after organized crime suppliers, a stance the White House is still clinging to.

As the drug war violence builds, more Mexicans are fleeing the country; the lucky ones are able to get visas through family in the United States, while others enter seeking asylum. In the early 90s, the vast majority of asylum seekers from Mexico were denied, but as more people and families are endangered and the number of petitions increases, this has begun to change. In 2008, 250 asylum requests were approved, almost double the number in 2006, the official beginning to Mexico's war on drugs. While most of the approvals are for former police officers, lawyers and journalists, more and more everyday persons are also escaping with their lives to the U.S. and Canada.

Mexican families are bearing the brunt of the violence caused by Americans' consumption. It's time we got our own house in order and stopped messing up other countries.

Photo credit: Heart of Oak