The failure of the War on Drugs

Investigating the impacts of US prohibitionism upon human rights and security

With particular reference to Colombia and Mexico

Avinash Tharoor
1POL699 B.A. International Relations (Honours)

University of Westminster 2013

1

Contents

Introduction

p.1

Methodology

p.4

The Origins of Prohibitionism

p.5

Colombian Prohibitionism: A Multifaceted Threat

p.13

The Militarisation of Mexico: A Failed Response to Drug Trafficking

p.20

Alternatives to Prohibitionism

p.27

Conclusion

p.34

Bibliography

p.36

Introduction
Prohibition... goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control mans' appetite through legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not even crimes..." Abraham Lincoln, 18401 The United States government has implemented federal laws that outlaw certain narcotics since the early 20th Century. The implementation of such policies is known as prohibitionism, and has been characterised by government suppression of the cultivation, manufacturing, trafficking and consumption of a number of drugs2. This illegality was instituted into international law by the United Nations in 1961, and, since then, the United States has advocated this prohibitionism as a prominent part of its foreign policy agenda3. This dissertation aims to identify and investigate the impacts of these policies upon basic human rights and security. In this context, human rights are deemed to be the internationally recognised set of rights outlined in the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Security is perceived as the safety and survival of the state or governing body; in this context, national security and regional security are encompassed by this term. In this dissertation it will be argued that prohibitionism has directly caused a severe deterioration of human rights and national security. US prohibitionist policy has taken a number of forms, including the support for militarised counter-narcotic endeavours. This policy has caused extreme intrastate violence in Latin America, particularly evident with the conflation of terrorism and drug trafficking. This militarisation of prohibitionism is explored throughout this dissertation, and may be considered to be the reasoning behind the word war in the idiom the War on Drugs; a phrase coined by Richard Nixon when state violence against drug traffickers began to develop4. To analyse the effectiveness of prohibitionism, it is essential to investigate the origins of such policy. Chapter One will involve an investigation into the roots of
1 2

Drowne, Kathleen. Spirits of Defiance: National Prohibition and Jazz Age Literature. 2006. p165 Inciardi, James. The Drug Legalization Debate. 1999. p9 3 Zepeda, Roberto. Drug War Mexico. 2012. p36 4 Crandall, Russell. Driven by Drugs. 2008. p22

domestic prohibitionist policies in the United States, as these were the principal laws upon which global prohibitionist regulations were based. Subsequently, this chapter will focus on the transition of prohibitionism into international law, and will provide an explanation and analysis of how the United States government was, and continues to be, the primary driver of the intensification of the War on Drugs, particularly in Latin America. The primary argument put forward by this chapter will be that prohibitionism originated from a bigoted and oppressive rationale, and that these connotations continued as it progression into the international realm. It will also be argued that this discriminatory foundation is partially responsible for the inherent flaws within contemporary international prohibitionism. The proximity of Latin America to the United States has allowed the former to become the primary cultivation region of the two most prevalent illegal drugs used by Americans: marijuana and cocaine. In the 1980s, Colombia emerged as the predominant producing nation in the hemisphere, and Mexico became the principal transit route of illegal drugs into the US5. Since, Colombia and Mexico play vital roles in the drug trade, Chapter Two and Three will analyse the important, but distinctly heterogeneous, impacts that the War on Drugs has had upon human rights and security in these two nations respectively. Chapter Two addresses prohibitionism in Colombia; analysing the success of policies including crop fumigation and the conflation of counter-narcotic and counter-terror efforts and the repercussions upon the government and citizens. In contrast, Chapter Three will address the widespread corruption and empowerment of cartels that have resulted from prohibitionism in Mexico, as well as assessing the effectiveness of US involvement in the nation. These case studies are used to argue that prohibitionism, particularly the militarisation of drug policy, has caused severe destabilisation to both Colombia and Mexicos national security, as well as a marked increase in human rights abuses; fuelling social, economic and political instability in both a local and regional context. Following this disclosure and scrutiny of the consequences of prohibitionism, Chapter Four will outline an alternative framework for controlling drugs. The concepts of legalisation and decriminalisation will be defined, and the potential for their success
5

Cook, Colleen. Mexicos Drug Cartels.2007. p7

will be considered by referring to recent examples of drug policy reform, as well as theoretical perspectives. This chapter will put forward the argument that a legal and regulated system for the cultivation, distribution and consumption of drugs is superior to prohibitionism for the protection of human rights and national security. Additionally, it will be argued that legalisation is the most appropriate course of action at both the national and international level.

Methodology
The research undertaken for this piece has been gained from an array of books, journals and online articles. To investigate various opinions on the drug war, the technique of discourse analysis has been employed; a dissemination of the language used by government figures, authors of certain selected texts, and the consideration of issues that may have influenced such rhetoric. To ensure a degree of impartiality, the choices of literature include authors arguing from multiple sides of the drug policy debate, including those supporting continued prohibitionist militarism, decriminalisation and legalisation. Qualitative information has been gleaned from the publications of foreign policy and drug policy experts, some of whom have widely contrasting ideological viewpoints. Quantitative data is an important element for this piece, as it has allowed for a statistical illustration of the effects that policies have upon the abundance of cultivated or trafficked narcotics and the degree to which human rights are violated. In an attempt to defend impartiality, sources of such information have included NGOs, as well as relevant governments. Using such diverse publications has allowed an analysis into the reliability of different sources, preventing a focus on one-sided figures. Despite an attempt to project fair and accurate information, widely varying statistics suggest that there is no way to deduce if one single source is truly accurate. The use of online material has been necessary to ensure the inclusion of fresh data, for example, the recent reduction of US aid towards Colombia in March 2013 has led to a significant change to prohibitionism. Additionally, the use of books from the 1980s and 1990s have been highly useful, as some offer a unique perspective, due to being written at the peak of domestic prohibitionist efforts in the US and Colombia.

1 The Origins of Prohibitionism

"As long as the government can arbitrarily decide which substances are legal and which are illegal, then those who remain behind bars for illegal substances are political prisoners" - Paul Krassner6, US journalist Most illicit drugs undeniably have negative effects on human health, which has commonly been the primary argument of those who advocate prohibitionism. Incidentally, alcohol and tobacco pose serious health threats, and medical researchers have deemed that these two popular legal drugs are more harmful and addictive than many common illegal substances7. However, unlike alcohol and tobacco, several illegal substances, including cocaine, LSD, marijuana and opium, have medically proven benefits891011. Some severe health problems caused by illegal drugs such as the contraction of HIV from needle sharing, or sudden heart failure caused by the prepurchase mixing of powdered drugs with unknown dangerous substances stem from the lack of regulation over their distribution and production. Such dangerous medical implications of prohibitionism raise the question: Why are some deadly substances legal while others are not? This chapter will investigate the original rationales for outlawing certain drugs, and examine the consequences of such laws reaching the international sphere.

Part I The Inception of US Prohibitionism

In the United States, from the beginning of the twentieth century, state and federal authorities began to impose legislation to outlaw the production and consumption of marijuana, cocaine and opium. The normative understanding of these
6

Button, Graham. The War on Drugs. University of Denver: Denver. 2011. p1 Nutt, David. Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse. 2007. p1050. 8 Sawada, H. Cocaine and Phenylephrine Eye Drop Test for Parkinson Disease. 2005. p293 9 Kramer, John C. Opium Rampant: Medical Use, Misuse and Abuse in Britain and the West in the 17th and 18th Centuries. 1979. p377 10 Krebs, Teri. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcoholism: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. 2008. p9941002 11 Kalant, Harold. Clearing the Smoke on Cannabis. 2012. p6
7

laws is that they were intended to protect the population from risks to their mental and physical health. However, with a closer examination of official rhetoric and circumstances at the time, a more clandestine purpose becomes clear; to bolster laws of racial persecution and oppression and Towards the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, the recreational use of certain narcotics in the US began to flourish among immigrants and minority races. Samuel Gompers, the first president of the American Federation of Labor, supported the prohibition of opium. He reasoned that thousands of our American girls and boys who have acquired this deathly habit [are] innocent victims of the Chinamens wiles12. Soon after, the Smoking Opium Exclusion Act of 1909 was implemented to tacitly criminalise and persecute Chinese immigrants13. Yet opium was not the only substance to face a prohibitionist policy with a racially discriminatory subtext in the land of the free; the use of cocaine was also portrayed as a race issue. Decades after The Coca Cola Company began to utilise the coca plant derivative in their popular drink recipe, use of powder cocaine grew in popularity across the US including among minority races. This supposed threat towards White society began cause alarm. In 1914, Dr Edward Williams published a report in The Medical Record where he noted that the negro who has once formed the [cocaine] habit seems absolutely beyond redemption, and championed the statement of a US police officer: the cocaine nigger is sure hard to kill14. Due to such claims by the media, government officials, and other supposed experts, support for prohibition was easy to gain from the majority Whites, and the 1914 Harrison Narcotics Tax Act outlawed non-medical consumption of cocaine. Similarly, in 1937, Harry Anslinger, the first Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, drafted the Marihuana Tax Act - which eventually progressed into the modern norm of marijuana prohibition. Anslinger argued that the primary reason to outlaw this plant was its effect on the degenerate races [as it] causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes [and it] makes darkies think theyre as good as

12 13

Brown, Richard. The Opium Trade and Opium Policies. 2003. p29 Holloway, Johnny. Fear and Loathing in Perpetuity: Racism, Nativism, Jingoism and the Staying Power of America's Drug War. 2003. P4 14 Holloway, Johnny. Fear and Loathing in Perpetuity: Racism, Nativism, Jingoism and the Staying Power of America's Drug War. 2003. P10

white men15. Additionally, the federal government sought to ease White anger towards Mexican labour immigrants, so, surreptitiously, anti-marijuana legislation effectively served as anti-Mexican legislation16. The Thirteenth Amendment of the United States constitution outlines that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude can be enforced upon Americans. However, the amendment was purposely conditional; stating that slavery was illegal except as a punishment for crime17. Following the aforementioned popularity of certain narcotics among ethnic minorities, the criminalisation of the use of such substances allowed the federal government to legally enslave such citizens if they were convicted of drug possession; a concept known as penal labour. Essentially, drug control legislation became a governmental tool to hinder the social mobility of certain racial and cultural groups. The inherent injustices within US drug policy continue to this day, including penal labour, and the matter has been criticised by numerous academics. Civil rights scholar Michelle Alexander has described modern US drug control laws as a tacit extension of Jim Crow laws - the set of US regulations that ensured Black Americans would remain economically, educationally and socially disadvantaged in comparison to White Americans18. Today, minorities remain the primary target of US domestic drug policy. A recent Human Rights Watch report detailed that, despite White and Black Americans engaging in drug use at similar rates, Black Americans were around 6.5 times more likely to be arrested for such crimes19. Due to the prevalence of forced labour as an aspect of criminal punishment, the discriminatory factors that led to the creation of drug control legislation continue to covertly exist, as the US government criminalises thousands of citizens; restricting their prospects, and sometimes forcing them into servitude. Aside from the perceived threat of ethnic minorities, ideological opponents of the government have also been targeted by contemporary drug policies. Relatively newer illegal narcotics, particularly LSD, MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms, were

15 16

Open Doors SRI. The Cost of Marijuana Prohibition in Rhode Island. 2010. p4 Helmer, John. Drugs and Minority Oppression. 1975. P24 17 Thirteenth Amendment of the US Constitution, 1865, Section 1. 18 Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. 2010. p5 19 Human Rights Watch. Decades of Disparity. 2009. P1

outlawed during the second half of the 20th Century. These substances gained much association with the cultural revolts, hippie movement and anti-war protests of the 1960s and 70s; Brown suggests that this linkage of drug use and cultural change allowed the suppression of such by implying such individuals were immoral. This notion correlates with the aforementioned racially motivated drug policies, as it indicates the repression of certain socioeconomic groups opposed to the actions and opinions of the ruling elite; continuing upon the theme of restricting social mobility for ideological reasons.

Part II - The Rise of International Prohibitionism and the War on Drugs

The progression of US drug polices to an international level were far more covertly executed. On the 28th of June 1919, the formal state of war between Germany and the Allied powers came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Aside from the segments that promoted peace, individual freedom and human rights, a small note was included in Part 1, Article 23 of the Treaty: [signatory nations] will entrust the League [of Nations] with the general supervision over the traffic in opium and other illegal drugs this single sentence set a precedent for almost a century of international prohibitionism20. After World War II revealed the incapability of the League, it was dissolved, and the newly-founded United Nations acquired the role of promoting international law. In 1961, the UN introduced the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (SCND) - formalising a list of substances to be classified as internationally illegal. This half-century-old convention remains the legal backbone of modern drug policy. Unlike typical UN rhetoric, it includes highly subjective phrasing, including the description of drugs as a serious evil21. During the next few decades, acceptance of the SCND grew around the world, and eventually prohibitionism became a significant element of domestic policy in almost every nation, though some were reluctant to implement it. Despite UN requests for prohibition implementation in many nations, the United States government has been, and continues to be, the primary sponsor of such legislation
20 21

The Treaty of Versailles: 1919. Part 1, Article 23. Bewley-Taylor, David & Jelsma, Martin. Fifty Years of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drug. 2011. P1

10

by exerting both economic and diplomatic pressure. To understand the methods of prohibition implementation espoused by the US, it is necessary to examine the varying policies of the ten US presidents who have served in office since the introduction of the SCND. Despite being in office at the time the SCND was introduced, John F Kennedy and his administration were denied the chance to enact policies to strengthen prohibitionism due to his untimely death. The US animosity towards drug use that was seen earlier in the century continued to exist, notably with the aforementioned Harry Anslinger becoming the sole US representative to the UN Narcotics Commission in 1962. Kennedys successor, Lyndon B Johnson, began introducing several legal changes, including the establishment of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD). This institution was created to focus on domestic law enforcement; Johnsons presidency was arguably the last time that the US government framed drugs as a primarily domestic problem22. The turning point came with the inauguration of Richard Nixon in 1969; he described drugs as a serious national threat, and by 1970 his administration had implemented legislation to ensure stricter penalisation of Americans involved in drugs, as well as rhetoric demonising foreign producers and traffickers. Nixon coined the term War on Drugs in stark contrast to the War on Poverty promised by Johnson23 - and described drug abuse as public enemy number one. In 1971, Nixon gained significant Congress funding allowances for the training of foreign narcotics officers, as well as to help other governments end drug trafficking. Nixons proposals included an international goal of ending opium production and the cultivation of poppies; an intention of directly abetting or imposing counter-narcotic policy upon other sovereign nations. In order to reach this goal, Nixon successfully requested a modification to the SCND by the UN; in 1972, an amendment was made which resulted in several major consequences for prohibitionism. A requirement was instituted for nations to seize and destroy any illicitly produced substances from the opium poppy,

22 23

Inciardi, James. The War on Drugs IV. 2007. P12 Germany, Kent. War on Poverty. 2007. p1

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the coca bush or the cannabis plant24, and any states who failed to effectively implement this faced a threat of economic sanctions25. Thus, with the clout of US diplomatic and economic power, the United Nations entrenched the illegality of a number of substances throughout much of the world. In 1973, to empower the US in its new role as the world-leader of prohibitionism, Nixons administration merged the BNDD into the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the highly-funded and militarised federal agency that pursues counter-narcotic activities around the world to this day. The implementation of these policies continued during the remainder of Nixons presidency, and under the administration of his successor, Gerald Ford. However, after being inaugurated in 1977, Jimmy Carter began to provide a more sympathetic and less intrusive approach to the international drug trade. The counternarcotic policies proposed and implemented by his administration are distinctly different from those of all other presidents since the introduction of the SCND. He demonstrated a sense of compassion rarely seen in the discourse of US prohibitionism, including a request for the development of an alternative source of income for the impoverished farmers in cultivating regions26. With an ostensible safeguarding of human rights in place, the Colombian and Mexican governments began crop eradication programmes following pressure from Carters administration27. From the inauguration of Ronald Reagan in 1981, the impact of US prohibitionism upon Latin America particularly Colombia and Mexico began to grow exponentially. The creation of the Task Force on South Florida successfully led to the shutting down [of] South Florida as a drug importation centre28, although this led to the US-Mexico border becoming the primary point of entry for drugs. In 1986, Reagan began to militarise prohibitionism across Latin America, particularly when

24 25

United Nations. 1972 SCND Amendment. Article 22 Ibid. Article 20 26 Strategy Council on Drug Abuse. Federal Strategy for Drug Abuse and Drug Traffic Prevention. 1979. p62 27 Youngers, Coletta. Drugs and Democracy in Latin America. 2004. P103 28 Munsing, Evan. Joint Interagency Task Force-South. 2011. p7

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drugs became associated with the Cold War29. An element of coercion became evident when Reagan ratified a 1986 national security directive, proclaiming that Latin American nations that did not comply with prohibitionism would lose their eligibility to receive US aid30. Additionally, militarisation was manifested in a series of attacks. In 1986, Operation Blast Furnace led to the destruction of Bolivian cocaine factories in what was - according to drug policy expert, Coletta Youngers - the first major antidrug operation on foreign soil to publicly involve US military forces. Reagans administration set a precedent in the War on Drugs, as previously the US had only funded or encouraged foreign prohibitionism. George H. W. Bush, who promised that his government would create a kinder, gentler America31, began his presidency by requesting an extra $1.2billion from Congress in military spending to combat the War on Drugs32. He then continued implementing counter-narcotic policies in Latin America similar to those of the Reagan administration. As the 1990s progressed, the amount of cocaine trafficked into the United States from Colombia steadily increased. In 1998, Bill Clintons administration formed an agreement with Colombian president Andrs Pastrana that has been colloquially referred to as Plan Colombia. A vital part of the deal was the provision of huge amounts of aid for the implementation of counter-narcotic operations by the Colombian military and police, peaking at $765million in 200033. The impact of the deal upon human rights, security and the stability of Colombia during Clintons presidency has been controversial, especially as the amount provided for other domestic issues was relatively minimal. In 1998, $112million was provided for the military and police, while just $520,000 was earmarked for social development34. By the dawn of the 21st Century, when George W. Bush had ascended to presidency, drug trafficking through Mexico, and the associated violence and corruption, had reached endemic levels. It was estimated that around 90% of cocaine
29

Parry, Robert. Reagan Lashes Sandinistas for Alleged Drug Trafficking. 1986. [online]

30 31

Crandall, Russell. Driven by Drugs: US Policy Toward Colombia. 2008. p168 Caputi, Mary. A Kinder, Gentler America. 2005. p2 32 Baxtrom, Wayne. America Hanging By a Thread. 2007. p148 33 Veillette, Connie. Plan Colombia: A Progress Report. 2005. P2 34 Ibid. p2

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in the US had entered through Mexico35. Towards the end of his term, Bush responded to this growing crisis by creating a bilateral agreement known as the Mrida Initiative. The deal involved the US government providing Mexico with around $1.6billion of military training and equipment, intelligence provision, and funding for social development including human rights issues. Despite this assistance, Mexican trafficking continues relatively unabated, and the number of deaths caused by related violence seems to be increasing exponentially36. Under Barack Obamas administration, the Mrida Initiative continues to be in effect, with almost $900 million provided during 2011 37 . Similarly, Obamas administration has allocated $319million for Colombia to combat drug-traffickers and related armed groups38. The impacts of US-sponsored prohibitionism in Latin America have varied greatly in different regions. The following chapters will analyse the distinct consequences that have become apparent in Colombia and Mexico during the past few decades.

35 36

Cook, Colleen. Mexico's Drug Cartels. 2007. P7 Sherman, Christopher. Mexico's drug war death tolls a guess without bodies. 2013. [online] 37 Pace, Julie. Obama, Calderon Pledge Cooperation On Drug wars. 2011. [online] 38 O'Gorman, Joey. Obama cuts funds to combat Colombia's drug trade. Colombia Reports. 2013. [online]

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2 Colombian Prohibitionism: a Multifaceted Threat

Many people know that the government won't help the people in what they need. Many people come to us to collect money, debts on cars, debts for drugs, basically anything. - Anonymous Colombian drug trafficker39 The implementation of much counter-narcotic activity in Colombia is assisted if not entirely funded by the United States; therefore it is vital to explore the bilateral relationship between the two states when understanding the War on Drugs. This involvement in the Latin American nation has been dubbed Plan Colombia, although this term is vaguely defined simply referring to related legislation enacted by the US government. The chief aspects of the Plan are the suppression of drug-trafficking, and the conflation of counter-narcotic and counter-insurgent activity. The human rights of the Colombian people, as well as the security and stability of the Colombian state have endured significant changes as result of this. As one of the most prominent source nations in the international drug trade, Colombia has endured the repercussions of interventionist US governments, international agreements, and aggressive domestic organisations. The Colombian governments focus on counter-narcotic and counterinsurgent issues, while often neglecting the social priorities of the citizens, has been so damaging to the state that it could lead to collapse 40. In Colombia the aggressive militarisation of the War on Drugs has displaced over three million people since 2000, in what one human rights report describes as being the most serious human rights crisis in the Hemisphere41. The reasons for this destitution are complex, although prohibitionism is undoubtedly a root cause. State corruption associated with the drug trade is rife in Colombia. This was most prominently exemplified in 1998, when outgoing President Ernesto Samper admitted that his successful election campaign was partially funded by drug trafficking 42.
39

TIME. Quotes of the day. TIME World. 2012. [online]

Tickner, Arlene B. Local and Regional effects of the US War on Drugs in Colombia. 2001. P22 Bailey, John. Plan Colombia and the Mrida Initiative. 2009. P9

40

41
42

BBC News. Samper admits drug money used for polls. BBC. 1998. [online]
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Corruption at the state level is undoubtedly a major contributor to the failure of the state to protect civilians, as powerful government institutions receive bribes from groups of violent criminals. This in turn diminishes the stability of the state, as citizens seek representation and redress for their problems from alternative sources, particularly the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla organisation that has engaged in bloody conflicts with the national government since 1964. The murders of numerous Colombian political figures have been attributed to such groups, including three candidates in the 1990 president elections alone43; indicating the detriment to democracy and political development caused by the traffickers empowered by prohibitionism. Conversely, ethical politicians who oppose corruption create an alternate problem for citizens, as a primary focus on the suppression of drug trafficking has led to social issues such as healthcare, education and employment being overlooked44. In his 2002 book Narco-Terrorism, author Douglas Davids described how drug trafficking has helped support terrorism and military insurgencies throughout the world by financing terrorists and guerrilla forces45. Essentially, narco-terror refers to the blurring of the relationship between violent ideologically-motivated organisations and drug traffickers into a multi-faceted threat. Davids infers that, by serving as the primary source of illegal drugs to the US, Latin America is the predominant location of narco-terror. He recommends a number of controversial measures to combat this scourge, including the extradition of US drug users to the source-nation of their chosen narcotic due to their inadvertent funding of terrorism46; a radical notion in terms of human rights and international law. However, some of his more judicious suggestions have recently become more evident in US foreign policy, particularly increased funding and militarisation of Latin American nations47. Davids highlights Colombia as the Latin American state most impaired by and vulnerable to narco-terror,

43 44

Tickner, Arlene B. Local and Regional effects of the US War on Drugs in Colombia. 2001. P20

CNN Wire Staff. Five facts about Colombias FARC rebels. CNN. 2012. [online]
Tickner, Arlene B. Local and Regional effects of the US War on Drugs in Colombia. 2001. p.xiii

45 46

Davids, Douglas J. Narco-Terrorism: A Unified Strategy to Fight a Growing Terrorist Menace. 2002. p72
47

Ibid. p90

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calling for increased US and multinational action. He claims that to leave Colombia to fight [] narco-terrorism by itself [] is leaving the State to die48. In her 2001 analysis of the War on Drugs in Colombia, Arlene Tickner claimed that the primary reason for the belligerent counter-narcotic strategies espoused by the US government (and Davids) is that such policies are framed within realist dogma. This notion is exemplified by the perceptible US belief that the state is the primary rational actor in the War on Drugs, and that the lawlessness of terrorism and drug trafficking is due to an anarchy caused by the lack of over-arching authority in the international system49. Indeed, there is no greater power instituted to protect the Colombian state from the dangers caused by trafficking groups. However, the policies implemented and recommended to deal with this disorder seem to further weaken the security of the Colombian state. In turn, this insecurity erodes human rights of Colombian citizens; militarised prohibitionism and the intrastate violence it generates have led to increased poverty and illnesses, as well as the arbitrary detainment and deaths of thousands of civilians50. The relationship between counter-narcotic activity, and security and human rights is exemplified by the intensive US-funded crop fumigation programme conducted between 1994 and 1998. Poverty grew among peasants, particularly due to the inadvertent eradication of legal food crops and soil being rendered unusable including in agricultural areas being funded by the United Nations51. Huge protests were staged at this destruction of agrarian land, and the hazardous effects of fumigation upon human health 52 . Consequently, anti-government forces gained increased popularity among civilians. Even to those who saw crop fumigation as a legitimate weapon in the War on Drugs, this action was a failure. According to a UN
48

49

Ibid. p87 Tickner, Arlene B. Local and Regional effects of the US War on Drugs in Colombia. 2001. P4

Zalph, Ruth. The many casualties of Colombias war on drugs. The New Observer. 2013 [online]
50 51

Tickner, Arlene B. Local and Regional effects of the US War on Drugs in Colombia. 2001. P25

52

Latin American Herald Tribune. Thousands Protest Aerial Fumigation of Coca in

Colombia. LAHT. 2000 [online]

17

survey, Colombian cocaine production more than doubled during the period of fumigation; from 300 metric tonnes in 1996, to 680 metric tonnes by 199953. The failure of the fumigation campaign can be viewed as a microcosm of the War on Drugs in Colombia. The prohibitionist policy in the country is often implemented with the intention of reducing drug production with few efforts made to maintain the livelihood of citizens or improve social development. This government indifference leads to the strengthening of FARC, due to citizens losing faith in authorities to protect their interests. According to political scientist Russell Crandall, in response to the increased popularity of FARC, right-wing paramilitary forces have launched an undeclared war on civilians perceived to be sympathetic to FARC and other left-wing guerrilla groups54. The UN reported in 2008 that around 80% of killings in Colombia were undertaken by paramilitaries many of which have direct ties with the Colombian national government55. Therefore, some of the US aid provided to Colombia is used to fund extrajudicial killings, torture and kidnappings of drug traffickers, members of left-wing groups, judges, journalists and sympathetic civilians by paramilitaries56 - despite being wholly contrary to the stipulations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which the US and Colombian have ratified. In many cases of the implementation of prohibitionism, Colombian efforts have actually increased the power of drug traffickers, increased instances of intrastate violence, and diminished the Colombian states monopoly over the use of force57. These results relate back to the failure of realism as a framework to combat drug trafficking; Tickner corroborates this notion by asserting that the states instinct for self-preservation reduces its institutional capacity to provide security and well-being for the population at large, leading to the increased vulnerability of society as a whole58. Essentially, the

53 54

UNODC. Coca Cultivation in the Andean Region. 2008. P90 Crandall, Russell. Driven by Drugs: US Policy Toward Colombia. 2008. P1

55

Latin American Herald Tribune. Thousands Protest Aerial Fumigation of Coca in

Colombia. LAHT. 2000 [online]

56 57 58

Crandall, Russell. Driven by Drugs: US Policy Toward Colombia. 2008. P1 Tickner, Arlene B. Local and Regional effects of the US War on Drugs in Colombia. 2001. P20 Tickner, Arlene B. Local and Regional effects of the US War on Drugs in Colombia. 2001. P30

18

failure of the government to appropriately handle the socioeconomic repercussions of prohibitionism has severely undermined human rights, and this has directly led to a weakening of national security. Despite such consistent failures of prohibitionism occurring in Colombia in the 1990s, the US has continued to vigorously pursue the War on Drugs in the nation since then, albeit with a different and arguably more detrimental - approach. Following the attacks of September 11th 2001, the administration of George W. Bush began to refocus foreign policy in Colombia more towards counter-insurgency. Meanwhile, the Colombia government began to concentrate on subduing left-wing Marxist insurgents, especially as such groups often gained revenue and power from the drug trade59. This politicised approach grew from the fact that both the US and Colombian governments have characterised themselves as staunchly anti-communist. In 2002, Bush was successful in convincing the Congress to ease restrictions on Colombian aid, allowing for the provision of half-a-billion dollars for combined counter-insurgent and counter-narcotic military efforts60. The rejuvenated funding resulted in the Colombian army engaging in a major offensive against FARC, a repeated increase in aerial crop fumigation61, and - for the first time - the direct involvement of US troops in the nation. This controversial programme to train Colombian soldiers was introduced in 2003 under the guise of countering the drug trade and combating insurgents. According to the BBC, however, the principal US aim... [was] to ensure that the oil [in the region] can be exported northward 62. Crandall argues that, between the 1990s and today, the drug war has become institutionalised within US government policy, and therefore precipitates continuous funding for a plethora of counter-narcotic agencies. This war, he claims, will continue regardless of its success in actually reducing the amount of illegal drugs that enter the United States, as, paradoxically, drugs do not seem to be the sole

59 60

Crandall, Russell. Driven by Drugs: US Policy Toward Colombia. 2008. p3 Lobe, Jim. Bush approves Colombia funding despite paramilitary ties. The Monitor. 2002. [online] 61 Crandall, Russell. Driven by Drugs: US Policy Toward Colombia. 2008. p7
62

BBC News. US troops engage further in Colombia. BBC. 2003. [online]

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motivation of the War on Drugs. The US appears to be using prohibitionism to battle ideological enemies, and to gain resource control. Some commentators suggest that the most appropriate response to the failures of contemporary prohibitionism is the intensification of militarised aggression; Davids argues for the creation of an inter-regional multinational force to counter trafficking cartels and associated guerrilla groups63. Although the multinational aspect has not come to fruition, the increased militarisation certainly has; and the results have evidently been dangerous and destabilising for Colombia. Additionally, the consequences are no longer restricted to Colombia the effects are felt across Latin America as a whole. Kidnapping and violence has occurred against residents along the Venezuelan border, while an influx of displaced Colombian people has fled to Ecuador, creating a strain on the nations government. In the past two decades, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil have vastly increased security along their borders to prevent further spillover effects 64 . Although the White House reported that cocaine production in Colombia dropped by 25% between 2010 and 201265, neighbouring Peru encountered a 5.2% rise in cocaine production in 2012, the sixth consecutive year of an increase in that country66. A new problem has emerged; when cultivation land and trafficking routes are suppressed, those involved simply move operations elsewhere. This activity has been recognised by the US government as a flaw in policy. Dubbed the balloon effect, the traffickers response is likened to the transition of air from one part of an inflated balloon to another when pinched67.

63

Davids, Douglas J. Narco-Terrorism: A Unified Strategy to Fight a Growing Terrorist Menace. 2002. P101
64

Tickner, Arlene B. Local and Regional effects of the US War on Drugs in Colombia. 2001. P26

65

Los Angeles Times. White House: Peru displaces Colombia as top cocaine

producer. LA Times. 2012. [online]

66

UNODC. Coca bush cultivation increases in Peru. United Nations Office on Drugs

and Crime. 2011. [online]

67

Seelke, Clare. Latin America and the Caribbean: Illict Drug Trafficking and US Counterdrug Programs. 2011. p26

20

Despite existing social and political problems prior to the War on Drugs, such conditions in Colombia have undeniably been worsened by US-sponsored prohibitionism. Crop eradication programmes particularly aerial fumigation have failed to ultimately reduce production, and the anti-government sentiment produced by this has stifled elements of Colombian democracy. The illegality nature of the drug trade allows cartels to operate in an entirely unregulated manner, causing corruption, political violence and intrastate conflict. The huge profits made by many involved in the trade allow for the easy creation and funding of armed militia and guerrilla groups. Such violence poses a significant threat to the stability of Latin America as a whole undermining the regions economic capabilities, as well as governments abilities to protect and advance the interests of their own citizens. The US holds much responsibility for such issues due to its historic financial support and coercion aimed at the Colombian implementation of prohibitionist policies. As the US government is the primary international actor countering the Latin American drug trade, it is vital to follow the route that drugs take to that nation. Mostly originating in Colombia and neighbouring nations, the vast majority of illegal substances then enter the US through Mexico where distinctly different threats have arisen towards human rights and security.

21

3 The Militarisation of Mexico: a Failed Response to Drug Trafficking

"The [cartels] go for a person, kill their mother, kill their brother. They kill lots of innocent people. They killed my father. It just keeps spreading out and it's mostly innocent people - Cristina Roman, Mexican civilian68 The movement of illegal substances from Mexico to the US is not a recent trend. In the 1930s, Mexico was the primary provider of Americans preferred illicit drug alcohol. Following the legalisation of liquor, the cross-border trafficking continued of other illegal substances continued. This remained at a low, though steady, level until the 1980s when trafficking rose sharply. The successful effort made by President Reagan to counter Colombian cocaine importation in South Florida led to Mexico becoming the primary narcotic trafficking route into the United States. This coincided with a period of heightened cocaine demand in the US69. With the demise of several Colombian cartels in the 1990s, Mexican trafficking groups began filling the power vacuum70. To address this change, the 21st Century saw the beginning of an intensified strategy of prohibitionism in the nation; as in Colombia, this implementation was mostly financed by the US government. In 2006, President Calderon initiated Mexicos first military-led assault on drug cartels, in which 50,000 counter-narcotic troops were deployed in the southern state of Michoacn. Due to the lack of success with this strategy, in 2008, the US government began providing Mexico with hundreds of million dollars to fund such efforts. This financing was resultant of the US-Mexico bilateral agreement for targeting drug cartels, known as the Mrida Initiative, which has aimed to increase the militarisation of domestic Mexican prohibitionism. This has had dramatic impacts on the security and stability of the Mexican state such as corruption and intrastate
68

Hernandez, Daniel. Mexican drug war's innocent victimes: 'They tried to kill me with

my kids'. The Guardian. 2013. [online]

69 70

Morris, Stephen. Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Violence in Mexico. 2012. P35

Borderland Beat. Mexican Drug War. Borderland Beat. 2010. [online]

22

violence. Additionally, the livelihoods and human rights of civilians have suffered considerably due to state repression. Yet, despite this increase in counter-narcotic action, Mexico arguably remains the most significant nation in the process of drug trafficking; a recent report noted that around 90 per cent of cocaine entering the United States transits Mexico71. The fight against drug cartels has not just been a military campaign, ordinary citizens bravely stood up to traffickers too. In 2008, Mara Santos Gorrostieta, a 32year-old mother of three, was elected mayor of a small Michoacn town called Tiquicheo. Gorrostieta was hailed as a heroine of the 21st Century for taking a stand against cartels, and refusing to be enticed by bribery or corruption. She was attacked and intimidated on numerous occasions by armed groups, and in 2009, her husband was shot and killed in front of her. She later published graphic photos of her own injuries in a national magazine, declaring "I wanted to show you my wounded, mutilated, humiliated body because... it is the living testimony that I am a whole and strong woman, who, despite my physical and mental wounds, continues standing". In 2012, while driving her young daughter to school, Mara Santos Gorrostieta was kidnapped, beaten, and killed. She was just one of 30 Mexican mayors killed since the beginning of the Mrida Initiative; fifteen were assassinated in 2010 alone72. The unremitting frequency of violent deaths among Mexican politicians believed to be defying trafficking groups has largely been attributed to drug cartels and their associates; an anti-democratic trend preventing politicians from being truly representative of their voters wishes and creating a culture of fear. Cases like that of Gorrostieta are just a small part of the detrimental results the on-going drug war in Mexico. Yet evidence suggests that such insecurity and violence is actually being perpetuated by prohibitionism. During the past three decades, as Mexican drug trafficking groups grown in size and number, cartels have used violence to compete with one another, and to vie for increased state influence73. As in Colombia, the abuse of human rights correlates with

71 72

Morris, Stephen. Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Violence in Mexico. 2012. P30 Ibid. P38 73 Ibid. P36

23

the weakening of national security particularly due to a changing relationship between drug cartels and elected representatives; unlike Gorrostieta, many political figures have submitted to corruption. In a recent journal article regarding Mexican trafficking, Professor Stephen Morris described corruption and organised crime as inherently linked emphasising the power endowed to cartels by corrupt lawmakers and law enforcement agencies74. Journalist Charles Bowden goes further, claiming that in over a half century of fighting drugs Mexico has never created a police unit that did not join the traffickers75. This corruption has reached the highest echelons. In 2007, the head of the Mexican Interpol office, as well as the former director of the governments organised crime division, were found to be covertly collaborating with drug cartels in the country 76 . Corruption remains a problem, but unlike its manifestation among Colombian state officials, corruption in Mexico appears to occur more broadly across all levels of law and governance77. Morris refers to the indictment or prosecution of prison officials, military and police commanders, governors [], district attorneys, mayors and city officials, and hundreds of municipal police for involvement in the drug trade78. Calderon has described corruption within Mexico as a cancer that has fuelled insecurity and violence, and his ratification of the Mrida Initiative was indicative of his aim to clamp down on such unethical behaviour79. The corruption powered by the drug trade has emerged as a multi-faceted threat to national security. Morris describes how it effectively weakens state efforts to control or contain drug trafficking cartels80 by removing the states ability to enforce law, and bolsters public distrust towards the government. Unlike the numerous guerrilla and paramilitary groups involved in Colombias drug trade, there are only two significant domestic participants in the Mexican War on Drugs: the cartels and the government (including the police, legislators, and other officials). However, alike in Colombia, the violent and corrupt relationship between
74

75

Ibid. P30 Bowden, Charles. Murder City. p109

76 77

Morris, Stephen. Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Violence in Mexico. 2012. P30 Ibid. P31 78 Ibid. P30 79 Ibid. P30 80 Ibid. P34

24

these actors seems to have a cyclical nature. This recurring pattern is evident in the paradoxical interaction between the government and cartels; when the government concentrates its aggression on a certain cartel, rival cartels are then strengthened. A synchronised attack on all cartels is currently infeasible, particularly due to the inherent corruption in government agencies and their surreptitious alliances81. Indeed, the 2006 attempt to aggressively target all cartels in a certain region was a failure that spawned an unprecedented level of insecurity82. Calderons policy of involving huge numbers of Mexicos military servicemen in fighting the internal threat of drug traffickers has had a catastrophic result on civilian well-being83. Around 35,000 people have died84, and the number of human rights complaints increased more than eight-fold between 2006 and 200985. US political scientist Robert Leiken described the use of soldiers, who are trained to employ all necessary force to attack and eliminate an enemy, as being detrimental to the cause. Their readiness to kill, he argues, conflicts with the need for officials to interact with civilians and support prosecutions86. This lack of engagement with civilians and in non-military law enforcement contributes significantly to the abuse of human rights and extrajudicial killings conducted by Mexican troops. Approaching drugs as a matter of law enforcement, rather than as a matter for the military, seems to be more befitting for the protection of civilians; the police are better trained to handle the day-to-day requirements of the drug war87. A key criticism made by Morris of militarised prohibitionism is that, even when it is occasionally successful, the implementation of such violence begets further violence; effective government attacks upon powerful cartels have expanded the power vacuum, simply increasing aggression between competing groups, and against the state88. The interdiction of drugs has also led to traffickers seeking additional alternative sources of income.

81 82

Morris, Stephen. Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Violence in Mexico. 2012. P39 Ibid. P40 83 Ibid. P37 84 Nieto, Nubia. Political Corruption and Narcotrafficking in Mexico. 2012. p1 85 Olson, Eric. Shared Responsibility: U.S.Mexico Policy Options for Confronting Organized Crime. 2010. P23 86 Leiken, Robert. Mexicos Drug War. 2012. P12 87 Ibid. P15 88 Morris, Stephen. Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Violence in Mexico. 2012. P38

25

Cartels are now involved in kidnapping[s], human trafficking, [involvement in] the protection/extortion racket, theft and other lucrative forms of criminal activity. US policy has exacerbated the violence of Mexican prohibitionism, both directly and indirectly. A prominent example was the 2004 lifting of the national US ban on civilians owning assault weapons, when a massive increase of arms crossing the border vastly empowered cartels89. Calls have been made by US politicians and analysts to increase the presence of US troops along the Mexican border to improve security and bilateral cooperation. Such military involvement, it has been argued, would send a signal of long-term commitment that law-enforcement simply does not90. Military collaboration has been effective since the Mrida Initiative, with the US providing much training to the Mexican army, and the two nations sharing a vast amount of equipment, assistance, and intelligence91. The control exerted by cartels over particular regions, and the intrastate violence caused by this, prompted the Former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to describe modern Mexico as looking more and more like Colombia looked 20 years ago92. Leiken accentuates a discrepancy between Mexican and US rhetoric regarding drug traffickers; the former referring to it as a national security threat, and the latter as a criminal insurgency93. Such discourse illustrates a highly politicised element of US-sponsored prohibitionism; the depiction of drug traffickers in Mexico as antigovernment rebels is particularly effective at mustering support for militaristic funding, particularly in the midst of the US War on Terror. Despite certain Mrida Initiative provisions for the improvement of Mexicos socioeconomic development, the primary focus of US assistance has been the suppression of cartels. Between 2008 and 2012, the US provided around $100million to support economic development, compared to a staggering $1.8billion for military financing and counter-narcotic law enforcement94. Developmental aid has been used

89 90

Ibid. P36 Leiken, Robert. Mexicos Drug War. 2012. P7 91 Ibid. P11 92 Ibid. P1 93 Ibid. P2 94 Seelke, Clare. US-Mexican Security Cooperation: The Mrida Initiative and Beyond. 2013. p8

26

for a variety of domestic initiatives, including attempts to reform the judicial system95, although, few substantial constructive results have been seen. A Human Rights Watch report noted alarmingly low levels of judicial involvement in serious violent crimes; between January 2008 and January 2011, less than two thousand investigations were launched into the killings of the estimated 35,000 people allegedly linked to organised crime96. Despite US assistance, the Mexican governments efforts to appropriately safeguard its citizens rights continue to be mired in corruption and conflict. The implementation of militarised prohibitionism in Latin America has often resulted in the conflict spreading into different nations or even expanding across whole regions particularly in the case of Colombia. However, different spillover effects have been exhibited during the Mexican drug war; the increasingly wealthy and powerful cartels have expanded cultivation operations in nearby Central American states, and the inherent violence has inevitably followed in their wake97. Guatemala, the sole nation separating Mexico from the rest of Latin America, has become a battleground between two of the most dominant drug cartels Los Zetas and the Sinaloa - and has led to the deaths of many civilians and government personnel. The balloon effect in Colombia and Peru, in which operations are simply moved from where the pressure is applied, has not happened in Mexico. Regardless of government aggression, cartels cannot afford to stop operating in the country, as it is their sole viable gateway to the United States. The situation in Mexico could be more accurately described as a boiling effect, where friction between law enforcement and traffickers has led to spiralling violence, with national insecurity and human rights abuses rapidly increasing too. The lack of legal regulation over the drug trade is undoubtedly the primary factor in the massive wealth and power of Mexican cartels. These benefits that the trafficking groups enjoy have endowed upon them the financial and logistic abilities to effectively counter government and military suppression in particularly violent means; the outcome of this clout has been dreadful for the livelihood of many Mexican

95 96

Leiken, Robert. Mexicos Drug War. 2012. P9 Morris, Stephen. Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Violence in Mexico. 2012. P33 97 Morris, Stephen. Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Violence in Mexico. 2012. P39

27

citizens and officials, and has hugely destabilised the nation undermining the authority of the government. The Mexican government has made little progress in suppressing drug trafficking, as the quantity of illegal substances crossing the US border continues to rise98. The efforts made have evidently increased instances of violent attacks in numerous regions both by cartels and the military. The US government holds considerable responsibility for this due to its financial and diplomatic support of the policies. As in Colombia, this backing has been bolstered by a desire to protect US interests curtailing the problems of drug trafficking from entering the United States. It is apparent that, as in Colombia, policies of prohibition in Mexico have failed, and have generated further insecurity and human rights abuses. The concluding chapter will propose alternative policies and solutions that could reduce many of these dangers.

98

Beckhusen, Robert. As Deadly Mexican Cartel Loses Control, Heroin and Meth Trafficking Rise. 2013.

[online]

28

4 Alternatives to Prohibitionism
The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. - Albert Einstein99 The goal of drug policy, as with other social policies, should be to maximise the safety and security of the public and the nation as a whole. As has been seen in the previous chapters, prohibitionism fails to support this goal, and even undermines it; the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy concluded in 2010 that the policies of prohibitionism had been a lost war100. Human rights and national security have often deteriorated when prohibitionism has been implemented. Due to these evident failures of prohibitionism, an alternative strategy is vital. Legalisation and decriminalisation of drugs are the primary suggestions for policy reform within contemporary discourse, although these are not strictly defined terms, and there are a number of interpretations. It will be argued that legalisation is vastly superior to prohibitionism due to the reduction in human rights abuses and increased protection of national security that it offers. This will be illustrated with a consideration of academic predictions, as well as an analysis of recent drug policy reforms. James Inciardi, co-director of the Centre for Drug and Alcohol Studies, suggests that opposition to the prohibition of alcohol and tobacco is primarily due to the widespread belief that adults have the right to choose what substances they will consume and what risks they will take - and that the financial cost of enforcing abstention would be enormous101. However, due to the commonly made moral distinction between illegal drugs and alcohol or tobacco, policy reform has gained little international momentum102. Additionally, it has been argued that legality condones

99

100 101 102

Sarat, Austin. Law and the Stranger. 2010. p222-223 Tokatlian, Juan. Drugs: towards a post-prohibitionist paradigm. 2010. P108

Inciardi, James. The Drug Legalisation Debate. 1991. P25 Ibid. P34
29

the use of physiologically harmful substances103. A fear has also been voiced that policy reform could increase violence; a 1986 study by Paul Goldstein in the Journal of Drug Issues concluded that a decline in the systemic violence of prohibitionism would be accompanied by an increase in psychopharmacologic violence the aggression sometimes caused by narcotic use. The fact that certain societal problems are caused by drug abuse has led to allegations against advocates of policy reform - that legalisation is an elitist and racist strategy to legitimise increased drug dependence among the poor and the chemical destruction of an urban generation and culture104. Several proponents of this argument describe legalisation as a socially destructive force targeted at further marginalising minorities, ironically akin to the motivation for the original US implementation of prohibitionism. However, this view fails to consider the complexity of legalisation, as well as the various policy reforms that offer different ways to counter such negative repercussions. There seems to be a slow shift away from militarised prohibitionism in certain parts of Latin America. A number of nations, including Mexico and Argentina, have decriminalised the possession of a small amount of certain narcotics for personal use 105 . Decriminalisation, however, is distinctly different to legalisation. In the framework of the former, drug possession and usage remains illegal, although violating that law is considered an exclusively administrative violation rather than a criminal offence106. Since the 2001 decriminalisation of all drugs in Portugal, treatment of drug users by the state has improved. Within the first four years, the number of heroin users in the nation dropped by 28 per cent, while drug-associated diagnoses of HIV decreased by over 70 per cent. The incarceration of individuals purely for drug possession immediately ended, with the resulted savings being partially utilised for the rehabilitation of addicts. Decriminalisation in Portugal has also prevented users of lowharm, non-addictive drugs such as MDMA or marijuana from facing prosecution therefore protecting the prospects of non-violent criminals107. Despite fears that such

103 104 105 106

Tokatlian, Juan. Drugs: towards a post-prohibitionist paradigm. 2010. P108 Greenwald, Glenn. Drug Decriminalization in Portugal. 2009. P1 107 Ibid. P7

Ibid. P52 Ibid. P65

30

leniency would encourage drug use, evidence from the Portuguese Institute for Drugs and Drug Addiction indicates that, within the first five years of decriminalisation, there was a significant decrease in youth usage of cannabis, cocaine, MDMA, LSD, heroin, psilocybin mushrooms and methamphetamines108. It is interesting to note that the percentage of individuals who have used cocaine in the United Kingdom is more than six times higher than in Portugal despite the UK threatening incarceration of up to seven years for simple possession109. This would suggest that prosecution, and the threat of prosecution, have little bearing on public drug use. Yet decriminalisation is not without challenges. One serious drawback is that, despite improving certain human rights issues, it does not tackle the issue of drug trafficking, the greatest drug-related threat to national security. Since trafficking remains illegal, criminal gangs continue to profit from the sale of drugs. Consequently, decriminalisation does not offer a solution to the violence and power of cartels, the militarisation of counter-trafficking policy, or to other problems caused by prohibitionism such as corruption. Stephen Morris argues that a better form of drug policy would be focussed on reducing violence and tackling the underlying social and economic causes of drug use and trafficking, rather than directly countering trafficking with violence110. The militarisation of the War on Drugs in Latin America has had little long-term success in the direction of eliminating or even reducing the drug phenomenon111. However, if drug production was regulated and traders operated within a legal and professional framework rather than through illegal and violent means a militarised counter-force would become unnecessary. Indeed, the implementation of prohibitionism, academic Juan Tokatlian argues, is at the very origin of such organised transnational crime 112 . Therefore, the undermining of democracy, social injustice, financial costs, and corruption that result from such organised crime are directly caused by prohibitionism. If narcotics were not illegal, the political strength and financial wealth of organised criminals would be
108 109 110 111

Ibid. P12-13 Ibid. P24

Morris, Stephen. Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Violence in Mexico. 2012. P40 Tokatlian, Juan. Drugs: towards a post-prohibitionist paradigm. 2010. P106 112 Tokatlian, Juan. Drugs: towards a post-prohibitionist paradigm. 2010. P107

31

hugely reduced. Perhaps most importantly, the violence and narco-terror that threaten national security would diminish, as these organisations would lose a key source of income. An analysis of the income of terrorist organisations illustrates this. FARC earns around a half a billion dollars annually from drug trafficking, while profits from opium funded the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan in the early 2000s113. Thus, as well as reducing violence between the state and cartels, legalisation would vastly undermine the capabilities of certain guerrilla organisations and rebel groups. A reduction in intrastate violence would improve national security and potentially enhance the livelihoods of civilians, particularly in Latin America. In contemporary discourse, a range of implementations have been suggested, including the suggestion that the government should have no restrictions over the production and sale of these substances114. However, the legalisation approach that has garnered the most acclaim is that of an efficiently regulated system that tackles the social problems caused by drug use, as well as the violence, corruption and human rights abuse that result from the drug trade. Inciardi succinctly described the application of such policy reform: It is [a strategy] in which government makes most of the substances that are now banned legally available to competent adults, exercises strong regulatory powers over all large-scale production and sale of drugs, makes drug-treatment programs available to all who need them, and offers honest drugeducation programs to children. At the time of publishing - in 1991 Inciardi estimated that such a strategy could result in savings of $10billion to the US economy. This figure is now dwarfed by modern estimates, such as the 2010 projections of the libertarian Cato Institute, which anticipated an annual expenditure reduction of around $41billion if legalisation were implemented115. The case for legalisation is demonstrable in the context of the public policies that characterise Latin American prohibitionism. These include crop eradication, the militarisation of conflict against trafficking groups, and the criminalisation of the

113

Peters, Gretchen. How Opium Profits the Taliban. 2009. P5

114

Inciardi, James. The Drug Legalisation Debate. 1991. P19

Miron, Jeffrey. The Budgetary Impact of Ending Drug Prohibition. P1

115

32

entire domestic chain of drugs116. The militarisation of the War on Drugs has hugely deteriorated the relationship between the military, the government and the public in affected nations. A recent analysis found that human rights abuses and the deaths of thousands of Colombian citizens were treated with impunity as violators were protected by the military courts 117 . Legalisation would significantly reduce this seemingly unfettered aggression, and could potentially decrease the prevalence of corruption found in clandestine affiliations between cartels and certain armed forces118. Ending crop eradication, particularly aerial fumigation, would reduce the detrimental effects of such chemicals on human health, as well as the persecution of impoverished farmers certainly progress for human rights too. Additionally, this lack of interference would likely lead to a reduction in anti-government sentiment in rural, agricultural areas; therefore, an end to source suppression would diminish support for violent ideological enemies of the state, such as FARC, that threaten the security and stability of the state119. Nations seeking policy reform have found the attainment of transnational support to be unlikely, particularly due to the international obligation of adhering to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The United Nations has therefore become a major obstacle for policy reform. The institution consistently lauds prohibitionist efforts, despite such implementations often conflicting with basic rules and rights advocated by the UN itself. This has been clear with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime praising Iran for having one of the worlds strongest counternarcotic responses 120 in the same year that the Iranian regime executed almost 200 people for drug offences121; this case is particularly poignant as a large portion of the

116 117

p6
118 119

Tokatlian, Juan. Drugs: towards a post-prohibitionist paradigm. 2010. P103 Aviles, William. Global Capitalism, Democracy, and Civil-Military Relations in Colombia. 2006. Tokatlian, Juan. Drugs: towards a post-prohibitionist paradigm. 2010. P106 Ibid. P104

120 121

Sanei, Faraz. Dont praise Irans warn on drugs. The Guardian. 2011. [online] Mail & Guardian. SA grills Iranian dignitary on excessive executions. Mail &

Guardian. 2013. [online]

33

funding for Iranian counter-drug policies is provided by the United Kingdom122 a Security Council member. Similarly, another permanent Security Council member the United States funds the special counternarcotic police force in Bolivia; a group that Human Rights Watch condemns as having arbitrarily searched, stolen from, arrested, detained and physically attacked civilians 123 . Yet this clearly violates Universal Declaration of Human Rights ban on arbitrary arrest [or] detention. It appears that, in many cases, the UDHRs opposition to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment has been overlooked in favour of upholding prohibitionism. If the United Nations accepts legalisation as a valid and viable alternative to prohibitionism, it would no longer be acceptable for such gross abuses of human rights to occur under the guise of the War on Drugs. A tenet of legalisation that has been particularly debilitated by international opposition is the concept of harm reduction. Harm reduction policies treat drugaddicts as medically ill, and ensure the provision of healthcare and therapy to treat this, as well as a safe consumption environment. Inciardi claims that harm reduction policies focus upon justice, equity, health, education, and employment124; factors that are vital for the protection of human rights. As legalisation frameworks traditionally portray drug abuse as a symptom of complex societal issues, a reformed approach should therefore consider social, political, cultural and economic forces rather than merely criminality. The effectiveness of such policies can be seen in Portugal, where harm reduction has led to a decrease in diseases acquired through needle-sharing, and an overall reduction in drug abuse. Despite success in Portugal and several other states, the benefits of such initiatives have not yet gained UN recognition or advocacy. The United Nations has consistently refused to support harm reduction treatment partially due to economic pressure; the United States government has threatened to cut all
122

Doward, Jamie. UK aid to Irans war on drugs has led to rise in hangings, UN warns.

The Guardian. 2012. [online]

123

Human Rights Watch. Bolivia: Human Rights Violations and the War on Drugs. The
Tokatlian, Juan. Drugs: towards a post-prohibitionist paradigm. 2010. P110

UN Refugee Agency. 1995. [online]

124

34

funding for the UNODC if the body were to advocate such policies. As the largest single donor to the UNODC, the US government uses its economic clout to ensure that the tenets of US prohibitionism are upheld at an international level. To counter the human rights and national security issues caused by prohibitionism, two key factors of policy reform must be in place. Firstly, there must be a regulated and taxed system of production and distribution. Secondly, harm reduction treatment must be offered. This would yield the benefits of decriminalisation, such as decreased youth incarceration and disease rates, while reducing some of its problems, such as continued violence. There are many obstacles to drug legalisation and decriminalisation in terms of international law, the United Nations and the United States. Consequently, the path to policy reform for any state can be a difficult one. Yet, within the source and transit regions of Mexico and Colombia, as well as consumer nations such as the United States, the potential for success is immeasurable.

35

Conclusion
Most of the harm that comes from drugs is because they are illegal." Milton Friedman

Overwhelming evidence indicates that the greatest detriment to human rights and national security comes from drug prohibitionism not consumption. The origins of prohibitionism are discriminatory and little has improved since then. In the US, domestic prohibitionism continues to stifle the potential and success of certain social groups, while the international prohibitionism sponsored by the US government continues to threaten the national security of certain regions of the world. Although the US is not the only instigator of international prohibitionism, it remains the most prominent and influential advocate. Although drug use is far more prevalent in developed nations, it is the developing source countries that bear the brunt of prohibitionisms repercussions. Prohibitionism has destabilised several nations in Latin America, caused suffering among citizens, and capped the regions potential for further economic success. As a source nation, Colombia has considerably suffered with the ramifications of prohibitionism both US-backed and domestically supported. Colombian security was significantly weakened by prohibitionism due to existing social, economic and political problems in the nation. The corruption, violence and instability generated by prohibitionism allowed for a more rapid decline in state power, with narco-terror contributing heavily towards this. Colombia also serves as a prime example of the human rights abuses generated by prohibitionism. From actual policies, such as crop fumigation, to consequences of policies, such as the numerous civilians caught in the crossfire of intrastate violence. Similarly, the primary reason for human rights abuses and national insecurity in Mexico is the implementation of prohibitionism. Following huge prohibitionist pressure on Colombia, drug production began to decrease in that state and spill over into bordering nations. However, there is no alternative route from Latin America to the United States apart from through Mexico. The problems of drugs in Mexico therefore persist and even increase despite the swelling militarisation of prohibitionism.
36

Decriminalisation of drugs would address a number of prohibitionisms unwanted consequences. However, decriminalisation does not sufficiently tackle the violence and power of the trafficking groups that exploit the lack of regulation. Instead, legalisation appears to be the only effective alternative to prohibitionism, since it would elicit public support for the government and weaken the powerbase of violent groups. In addition, legalisation would protect rural farming communities, provide improved healthcare and treatment for drug users, prevent indiscriminate incarceration, and uphold the principle of individual freedom. Prohibitionism has proved to be destructive to human rights and security, and ineffective at decreasing the trafficking or consumption of narcotics. All the facts point to the accuracy of the statement by the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy: that the War on Drugs has been a lost war125. It has been asserted that the War on Drugs has been led by the United States, has not been challenged by the European Union nor contested by emerging powers around the world, has been assimilated by Latin America, and has been internalised by the United Nations; essentially, prohibitionism has become an international norm126. This international obligation is the primary obstacle between governments and drug policy reform, nevertheless, it is not an impassable issue. If governments wish to minimise the harms that drugs have upon society, it is essential for prohibitionism, and the violent anarchic system it brings, to be replaced with a safe, legal and regulated system.

125 126

Tokatlian, Juan. Drugs: towards a post-prohibitionist paradigm. 2010. P108 Ibid. P102

37

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Treaty of Versailles

The Constitution of the United States of America

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