Is the U.S. Winning the Drug War in Latin America Essay

Is the U.S. Winning the Drug War in Latin America - Essay Example CON: U.S is losing the drug war in Latin America 1. U.S government has failed to re-evaluate her strategy to fight the drug menace. 2. The war fight largely focuses on the users and therefore leaves the other partners in the trade to thrive well in the trade. 3. There is no concrete drug enforcement mechanism to restrict the production of drugs. 4. The affordability and cheap processing makes it difficulty to wipe drugs out of Latin America. 5. A lot of resistance from human rights organization derails the efforts to do away with the drugs. The U.S will to control drug trafficking and abuse in Latin America confirms that it is very committed to wipe the drugs from these region. To begin with, since 1960s, the government has invested a lot of her efforts and attention to wage war on drug trade in Latin America. Regan and Bush declared war on drugs in U.S and Latin America when they occupied their presidential offices. The Bush successor; Bin Clinton continued with the worth fight on d rugs when he came into power in 19931. Since then, the U.S government has been strong on the war on drugs in Latin America. The U.S government recently got a support from Latin countries such as Mexico, Cuba, and Columbia. For instance, president of Mexico, Calderon has been in the forefront to combat drugs in the country2. Since he took office in 2006, he has made leaps towards the drugs war. For example, his government has formulated policies to deal with the consumers and traders of illicit drugs. These efforts have paid handsomely because the consumption of drugs has subsided. Obama’s government is in talks with Latin America Governments. Biden’s trip in 2012 to Latin America shows that the government has given negotiations a favorable chance. Biden was seeking to discuss on how leaders in that region can decriminalize drugs with an aim to stop its trade. Second, the new laws are in formulation stages. Policy analyst have advocated for a change in the current polic ies to allow U.S to win war on drugs. Arguably, their insights will provide new strategies to curb drugs trafficking in Latin America and U.S. The medical professionals have suggested programs to treat the drug victims. In addition, the social advocates suggests, that creation of awareness about dangers of engaging in drugs is the way to go. All these concerted efforts promise a win in the war on drugs in Latin America3. Third, the debates on drugs have attracted a lot of public interest. The Latin and the U.S population feel that drug consumption is not socially acceptable. They propose tough punishments for the growers, manufacturers, suppliers, and sellers. The public warns of the dangers of permitting drugs to get into the society. They provide a procedure, which can deter the abuse of drugs. The public suggests that, through identification, imprisonment, and persecution, the war can yield fruits4. Moreover, the drug user will be accountable for their actions. Implementation is now happening in the Latin America. This is a huge step towards gaining victory in the drug war. The increase of funds through budgetary allocation to fight drug abuse demonstrates U.S readiness to see the better end of the war. There has been a significant attention on the budget to allocate enough money in the drug war. In 1990, U.S budget on drugs was at $ 9.7 billion. This almost doubled in 2000 when it hit $ 17.7 billion mark. On top of this, the Drug Enforcement Administration department staffed