Because a majority of drugs consumed in the United States are produced in Latin America, the U.S. government has turned that region into the main battleground of its international war on drugs. But trying to stop drugs at the border or at the source makes no economic sense, so long as drugs remain illegal in the United States. That merely reflects the fact that the risk premium of selling drugs increases as the drugs approach the point of retail sale. The decriminalization of drugs in the United States would inevitably lower or eliminate the risks of drug trafficking and, consequently, the huge profit margins of drug traffickers. But rather than admit that the solution can be found at home, the U.S. government exercises its considerable leverage to coerce other countries to collaborate with it in an unwinnable war.
Certification is an arbitrary and hypocritical exercise.
Mexico's anti-drug efforts, for instance, are not any better than Colombia's. Evidence of drug-related violence and corruption is just as manifest in Mexico as it is in Colombia, and yet Mexico was certified again this year while Colombia was decertified for the second consecutive time. Of course, the reason Mexico was certified is that it shares with the United States huge economic interests that could have been greatly disturbed if President Clinton had imposed sanctions against Mexico. Unfortunately, the mere threat of decertification has prompted Mexico, where drug-related violence has dramatically increased in the last months, to step up its own prohibition measures. Washington may consider the militarization of Latin American societies a welcome development in its war on drugs.