The Hill News

At a recent summit in Venezuela, Latin American and Caribbean leaders vented over their region’s soaring murder rates, much of which is fueled by the northward pull of drugs, and the southward flow of guns from the United States. Forty years after President Nixon initiated the war on drugs, the latticework of kidnapping and gang battles, endemic underdevelopment, and human subjection resembles open combat. But if we are to address this enduring challenge, we need bold new approaches that transcend traditional thinking â€" particularly in an era of budgetary restraint.

The illicit drug trade and violence it spawns is more than just a domestic and foreign policy challenge, it raises uncomfortable questions about our national identity. Characterizing it as an overseas threat, and responding to it with primarily military instruments, has satiated U.S. sensibilities, but it has failed to provide an enduring solution for the United States or for Latin America. Stay! ing the course in the war on drugs wastes vital resources, and dooms the Americas to cyclical violence and underdevelopment. Rebalancing our efforts, on the other hand, could improve public safety, health, and reduce costs both here and abroad.

Our first step should be letting go of the war on drugs’ emotional reward, and recognizing that the addiction and drug-related criminality that afflicts our communities is created by our demand, not by supply from overseas. A greater proportion of resources should stay at home, both to help overcome the problem and to control the debt, rather than being transferred to foreign security services.

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