There is only one way to eradicate Mexico’s drug cartels and the massive violence that has come with them. That one way is drug legalization — that is, the end of the drug war by legalizing the possession, ingestion, and distribution of all drugs. There is no other way to eradicate Mexico’s drug cartels.
Longtime readers of The Future of Freedom Foundation know that I have emphasized this point for a few decades. But it just bears repeating periodically, given that so many people, including, of course, the president of the United States, still believe that the drug cartels can be eradicated by “cracking down” in the drug war.
For example, this week the El Paso Times published a piece entitled “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Should Accept U.S. Assistance to Combat Cartels” by Diana Washington Valdez. In her article, Valdez calls on Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum to accept Trump’s offer to employ U.S. military force against the cartels inside Mexico, an offer that Sheinbaum has refused to accept.
Valdez is an educated and experienced journalist. She earned her political science degree from the University of Texas at El Paso and has taught political science. She is an author. She has appeared on numerous television and radio programs to talk on matters relating to drugs, immigration, and border issues. She has received numerous awards for her investigative reporting. You can read her impressive biography here.
Yet, here she is — honestly believing that Mexican drug cartels can be eradicated through U.S. military force. With all due respect to fine woman, that is just plain inane.
No matter how viciously the Mexican government and the U.S. government crack down on the Mexican drug cartels, it won’t make any difference. As soon as they arrest or kill one drug lord or destroy one drug cartel, those drug lords and drug cartels will immediately be replaced with new ones.
It’s what’s called the economic law of supply and demand. As the U.S. government cracks down with its decades-old drug war, the price of illegal drugs goes up. When the price goes up, so do the profits. As the crackdown ramps up, the profits soar, which attracts new people who wish to make a lot of money in a very short period of time. Meanwhile, demand for the drugs continues unabated because the American people, for whatever reason, want to continue ingesting mind-altering substances.
The government cannot bomb or even repeal the law of supply and demand. Americans who want drugs are going to get them, even if they have to pay exorbitant black-market prices to do so. And there are always going to be people who will take big risks to supply those drugs owing to the large amount of black-market profits that can be made.
I wish Valdez would watch the Netflix series Narcos. I wish everyone who still believes that the U.S. and Mexican governments can win the war on drugs would watch that series. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar was the drug kingpin of the day. He had everyone coming after him. They ended up killing him in a firefight. He died at the age of 44 in 1993. That was more than 30 years ago!
Guess what happened. Escobar was quickly replaced with other drug lords. And guess what happened when they targeted those drug lords. They too were replaced with new drug lords. U.S. officials have been busting drug lords ever since. It’s a never-ending process.
The case of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is instructive. He was determined to win the war on drugs in his country. He is accused of authorizing his drug-war goons to shoot suspected drug dealers on sight. No trial. No pesky criminal-defense attorneys. No due process. Just kill them. Guess what happened. After countless dead people, the drug war just kept being waged because officials had still not won their war on drugs.
Another valuable lesson is alcohol prohibition here in the United States. It was no different from drug prohibition. Alcohol prohibition came with massive violence, just like the drug war has. U.S. officials waged a brutal war against the alcohol lords, just as they have for decades with the drug lords. The war on alcohol failed, just as the drug war has failed. But when alcohol was re-legalized, the alcohol lords were eradicated immediately, just like the drug lords will be eradicated immediately when drugs are legalized.
There is something else worth noting — something extremely important: Trying to win the war on drugs comes with a high price — the destruction of the liberty, privacy, peace, and well-being of both the American and Mexican people. Since the war on drugs can never be won, this destruction of liberty, privacy, peace, and well-being continues indefinitely, until enough people come to their senses and decide to bring an end to this inane governmental program.
President Sheinbaum is right to refuse President Trump’s offer to employ U.S. military force against Mexican drug cartels. That would only make a bad situation worse. I repeat: There is one — and only one — way to eradicate Mexico’s drug cartels. That way is the full and complete legalization of all drugs — the end of the decades-old, failed, violent, and destructive war on drugs.
Reprinted with permission from Future of Freedom Foundation.
