On Mexico's Drug War, the White House Disappoints

by Matt Kelley · 2010-03-26 06:56:00 UTC
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Mexico City this week with a high-level American delegation to discuss partnership on addressing Mexico's spike of drug-related violence. Unfortunately, the most logical, sustainable solutions (treatment and legalization) appeared to be off the table. The drug war drags on.

Clinton was joined by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske. While there may have been a glimmer of hope that the Obama administration would address the issue of drugs differently from his hawkish predecessorys, reality set in this week.

Clinton even seemed to start down the right track, saying: "We know that the demand for drugs drives much of this illicit trade, that guns purchased in the United States are used to facilitate violence here in Mexico."

But the conversation went off the rails from there, and the Americans brought just what we've come to expect: more drug war and more money.

Instead of offering smart alternatives and a commitment to addressing demand in the U.S. through treatment, Clinton offered an expansion of the Bush-era Merida initiative, a $1.4 billion program aimed at fighting organized crime in Mexico and Central America.

The American corporate and political establishment would prefer to keep drugs illegal and popular so we can keep pouring money into law enforcement around the world (and into alcohol). One devastating price of these backwards policies is thousands of lives in Mexico, in the U.S. and around the world. More than 18,000 people have died in Mexico from drug-related violence in the last three years. No amount of community policing can stop this spate of violence -- it can only be addressed through demand-side measures, including treatment and legalization.

One of the best examinations of policies on U.S.-Mexico drug war relations I've heard recently came during the Intelligence Squared debate I covered here. To my ear, the legalizers won that debate handily over the hawks. It's time for new ideas on international drug policy. It's a shame Clinton and Obama aren't bringing them to the table.

Photo Credit: sskennel

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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