Samenvatting

This essay claims that the declared war on drugs has failed, it has caused more harm than good, and that a new approach is necessary. The focus of analysis lays especially on the implemented drug policies of Mexico and the United States. The goal is to point out the flaws of the current policy based on prohibition and persecution by analyzing its origins and comparing the current approach with the failures of the alcohol prohibition in the 1920s in the United States. One of the main points therefore discussed is that suppression and prosecution by state authorities create a black market that is too profitable to abandon and as a consequence cause the devastating dynamics of the drug war, leading to destabilization of the region, an undermined state and human losses. In conclusion, any escalation will only lead to a new circle of violence with the local population in the crossfire. The essay further explains in greater detail the effects of the drug war on the population and how recent economic policies, such as the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, have involuntarily created a new pool of recruits for the cartels and the narcoeconomy, where the income of regular people depends on the cartel’s fortune. Furthermore, the cultural effects on the population are described and analyzed. The conclusion is made that the legalization of narcotic drugs could offer a solutions to problems such as violence and corruption by eliminating the black market.