The realities of American drug policy in Mexico

Thousands of Mexicans are being murdered each year due to "drugs in Mexico" (so says The Economist).

In fact, these deaths are attributable to US drug prohibition.

Interestingly, US officials know exactly who the cartels are and what areas of the country they control.

Yet, we (as well as the Mexican government) are powerless to stop them.
  

The figure to the right shows that the area where the most murder occurs is Chihuahua, largely controlled by the Sinaloa Federation.

This area borders New Mexico (a state whose former Governor Gary Johnson wants to legalize marijuana).

Why is there so much violence there? The profit to be made is simply enormous. These cartels make so much money (more than $20 billion per year), and so little is seized (less than $1 billion), that the costs associated with the profit are negligible. These guys make so much money they do not even count it. Instead, they weigh it (they know excatly how much a million dollars weighs, so that is how the money is accounted for). The huge profit margins explain why it is so easy for the cartels to buy off government and military officials.

Clearly, if these figures are to be believed, drugs cross many areas into the US. That is, it is US demand that drives these realities.

Yet, it does not have to be this way.

An alternative is legalization, where rational, free adults could get their drug of choice from US businesses. This would strip these cartels of their profits, reducing violence and corruption both in the US and especially Mexico.

Such an approach might increase use (although it might not). But clearly, prohibition is not working. And it is the Mexican people who are mostly paying for it.