America Is To Blame For Mexico's Drug War

• Volume 33, Presented On: December 01, 2009
• Visit Full Debate Page

From the Panel

• For: Andres Martinez

• Mexico Might Not Have the U.S. to Kick Around Anymore
  Steve Fishman, New York Magazine August 2, 2009
• Be Neighborly, Go to Mexico
  Andres Martinez, Los Angeles Times June 9, 2009
• 2009: The Year America Discovered Mexico
  Andres Martinez, Foreign Policy April 6, 2009
• Distant Neighbors
  Andres Martinez, Slate April 2009

---

• For: Jeffrey Miron

• Commentary: Legalize Drugs to Stop Violence
  Jeffrey A. Miron, CNN March 24, 2009
• Mexico’s Decriminalization Might Backfire
  Jeffrey Miron, Libertarianism, from A to Z August 22, 2009
• The Effect of Marijuana Decriminalization on the Budgets of Massachusetts Governments, With a Discussion of Decriminalization’s Effect on Marijuana Use
  Jeffrey A. Miron, Harvard University October, 2008

• Against: Jorge Castañeda

• What Does Mexico’s New Drug Law Portend?
  Jorge Castañeda, New York Times September 13, 2009
• Border Issues Haven’t Gone Away
  Interview by Kevin Friedl, National Journal February 2, 2009
• Calderón’s War of Choice
  Jorge Castañeda, Slate April 14, 2009
• The Danger across the Border
  Jorge Castañeda, Newsweek January 24, 2009

---

• Against: Chris Cox

• Mexico’s Drug Wars: Will Gun Owners be the Scapegoats?
  Chris W. Cox, NRA-ILA April 27, 2009
• GAO Reports on Arms Trafficking in Mexico
  Chris Cox, NRA-ILA June 19, 2009

---

• Against: Asa Hutchinson

• Are Terror Groups Teaming Up with Drug Cartels to Infiltrate America?
  Transcript from Hannity & Colmes, Fox News August 16, 2007
• Decrying “Myths” of the Drug War Reform Movement
  Speech by Asa Hutchinson, Director, Drug Enforcement Administration at the Modernizing Criminal Justice Conference June 18, 2002

Related Articles

• US-Mexico Timeline

• Interactive Map
  Washington Post 2009
• Timeline: U.S. Mexico Relations
  Council on Foreign Relations 2010
• Mexico’s Drug War
  Stephanie Hanson, Council on Foreign Relations November 20, 2008
• The Real War in Mexico
  Shannon O’Neil, Foreign Affairs July/August, 2009
• On the Train of the Traffickers
  Economist March 5, 2009
• A Fighting Chance
  Alfredo Corchado, Wilson Quarterly Spring, 2009
• 2009 INCSR: Country Report - Mexico
  Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs February 27, 2009

---

• American Policy

• Lawmakers Scrap Plan for 300 More Miles of Fencing on Mexican Border
  Christopher Sherman, Associated Press October 10, 2009
• The Two Faces of U.S. Drug Policy
  Jeff Horwitz and Dave Jamieson, Atlantic April 8, 2009
• Clinton: U.S. Drug Policies Failed, Fueled Mexico’s Drug War
  Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post March 26, 2009
• Helping Mexico Help Itself
  Shannon K. O’Neil, CFR February 24, 2009
• Napolitano’s Testimony before Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Southern Border Violence: Homeland Security Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Responsibilities
  Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security March 25, 2009
• National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy
  Office of National Drug Control June, 2009

---

• Mérida

• The Mérida Initiative
  Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs June 23, 2009
• CRS Report for Congress: Mérida Initiative – Proposed U.S. Anticrime and Counterdrug Assistance for Mexico and Central America
  Colleen W. Cook, Rebecca G. Rush, and Clare Ribando Seelke, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division June 3, 2008
• Mérida Initiative for Mexico and Central America: Funding and Policy Issues
  Clare Riando Seelke, Congressional Research Service August 21, 2009

---

• Mexico Decriminalization

• What Will Mexico’s New Drug Law Do?
  New York Times September 13, 2009
• In Mexico, No Jail Time for Small Amounts of Drugs
  Tracy Wilkinson, Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times August 23, 2009
• Mexico Eases Ban on Drug Possession
  David Lunhow, Jose de Cordoba, Wall Street Journal August 22, 2009

---

• Against Decriminalization

• Drugs: To Legalize or Not
  John P. Walters, Wall Street Journal April 25, 2009
• Yes, Addicts Need Help. But All You Casual Cocaine Users Want Locking Up
  George Monbiot, Guardian June 29, 2009
• Marijuana is Gateway Drug for Two Debates
  Sarah Kershaw, Rebecca Cathcart, New York Times July 17, 2009

---

• For Decriminalization

• Drug Decriminalization in Portugal
  Glenn Greenwald, CATO Institute April 2, 2009
• The Patriot’s Guide to Legalization
  Kevin Drum, Mother Jones July/August, 2009
• How to Stop the Drug Wars
  Economist March 7, 2009
• U.S. Won’t Prosecute in States that Allow Medical Marijuana
  David Stout, Solomon Moore, New York Times October 20, 2009

---

• Guns

• Counting Mexico’s Guns
  Factcheck.org April 22, 2009
• U.S. Stymied as Guns Flow to Mexican Cartels
  James McKinley Jr., New York Times April 15, 2009
• Gun Trafficking and the Southwest Border
  Vivian S. Chu, William J. Krouse, Congressional Research Service September 21, 2009

---

• Narco Cultura

• Days of the Dead
  Alma Guillermoprieto, New Yorker November 10, 2008
• In Mexico, Fears of a ‘Lost Generation’
  William Booth and Steve Fainaru, Washington Post November 3, 2009
• Crackdown on La Familia Cartel Leads to More than 300 Arrests across US
  Ed Pilkington, Guardian October 23, 2009
• Meet the Narcos
  Susana Seijas, Slate April 14, 2009
• La Familia: Another Deadly Mexican Syndicate
  George W. Grayson, Foreign Policy Research Institute February, 2009

• Mexican Police

• Fixing Mexico Police becomes a Priority
  Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times November 17, 2009
• Mexico’s Cops Seek Upgrade
  John Lyons, the Wall Street Journal October 24, 2009
• The Fall of Mexico
  Philip Caputo, Atlantic December, 2009
• Skeptics Doubt Mexican Data on Military Abuses
  William Booth, Steve Fainaru, Washington Post November 23, 2009
• Mexico Accused of Torture in Drug War
  Steve Fainaru, William Booth, Washington Post July 9, 2009
• Mexican Governors and Mayors Place Ex-Military in Public Safety Posts
  George W. Grayson, Center for Strategic and International Studies May 11, 2009

---

• Recent Drug Violence

• 17 Charged in String of Brutal Kidnappings and Slayings in San Diego Suburbs
  Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times August 14, 2009
• Mexican Drug Cartel Violence Spills Over, Alarming U.S.
  Randal C. Archibold, New York Times March 22, 2009
• Gruesome Slayings Add to Guerrero’s Toll
  Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times October 17, 2009
• Mexico’s ‘Narco-Lawyers’ Risk Everything
  Ken Ellingwood, Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times October 12, 2009
• 18 Killed in Juarez Clinic for Addicts
  Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times September 4, 2009
• 8 Killed at Street Party in Mexico
  Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times August 31, 2009
• Mexico Police Figures Slain in Separate Attacks
  Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times July 30, 2009
• 12 Slain in Mexico were Federal Police Officers
  Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times July 15, 2009
• Drug violence spilling into Guatemala
  Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times June 4, 2009
• Refugees from Mexico Drug War Flee to U.S.
  Andrew Becker, the Nation April 6, 2009
• "We Bring Fear"
  Charles Bowden, Mother Jones July 8, 2009

---

• Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy

• Drugs and Democracy: Toward a Paradigm Shift
  The Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy April 6, 2009

---

• Task Force

• U.S.-Mexico Task Force Seeks Renewed Ban on Assault Weapons
  Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post November 13, 2009
• Managing the United States-Mexico Border: Cooperative Solutions to Common Challenges
  Robert C. Bonner, Andrés Rozental, Pacific Council on International Policy

---

• RAND

• How Goes the “War on Drugs”?
  Jonathan P. Caulkins, Peter Reuter, Martin Y. Iguchi, James Chiesa, RAND 2005

---

• Drug Summary

• National Drug Threat Summary
  U.S. Department of Justice, National Drug Intelligence Center 2009
• State Factsheets
  U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration 2008
• Drug Use and Crime
  Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice 2007
• Enforcement
  Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice 2008
• Pretrial, Prosecution, and Adjudication
  U.S. Department of Justice 2010
• Correctional Populations and Facilities
  U.S Department of Justice 2010
• Drug Treatment under Correctional Supervision
  U.S. Department of Justice 2010
• Drug Control Budget
  U.S. Department of Justice 2010
• Drug Use
  U.S. Department of Justice 2010
• Public Opinion about Drugs
  U.S. Department of Justice 2003

---

• Bad Economy

• New Strategy Urged in Mexico
  William Booth and Steve Fairanu, Washington Post July 28, 2009
• The Crisis Came. Mexico Didn’t Fail. Surprised?
  Larry Rohter, New York Times May 9, 2009
• Border Arrests Decline Again
  Cam Simpson, Wall Street Journal November 11, 2009