https://www.wtma.com/news/report-us-war-on-drugs-in-latin-america-needs-overhaul/
The war on drugs was originally declared by Richard Nixon in 1971, where he addressed our country’s drug problem as a “serious national threat”, and our “public enemy No. 1.” In 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration, more commonly referred to as the DEA, was established to work together with other federal agencies to combat the large amount of drugs funneling into the US by Latin America. Harsh penalties are used against those purchasing, selling and using drugs. Fast forward to 1976, Jimmy Carter campaigns to decriminalize marijuana and drop federal charges against those with possession. It wasn’t until Reagan’s administration, beginning in 1981, decided that “drugs are bad, and we’re going after them.” In doing so, he punished both domestic and foreign affairs with Latin America, where many crops of illegal substances were being grown.
Reagan sought to eliminate drugs at their source, which included the use of aerial herbicides to be spread over Latin American countries, Peru and Columbia being among their top priority, in order to eradicate opium, marijuana and coca crops. This caused tension within Latin America, and Peru and Columbia were seeing far left-leaning Guerrilla groups, notably responsible for much of these drug crops, rising to power and seeking to create stronger armed forces to combat the US. With the growing human rights movement that was also taking place in Latin America, both wanting stronger armed forces, the two movements grew and found alternative ways to supply their drugs since the demand was still so high. The abuse against the Latin American people by the United States has lasted long to this day, five decades later, with no resolve.
As the article states, the use of cryptocurrency and the dark web amidst tough financial and economic times allows for the large amounts of drugs to continuously find their way into the country. The higher the stress our country’s population is put under, with the increasingly difficult ways to access healthcare, medication and coping resources, allocates for a much higher demand in illegal drugs, which the US has failed time and time again to put a cap on. Biden’s plan to advance Latin America’s financial aid, diplomacy and ethical human rights looks like it might give a promising approach to helping resolve, or lessen the impacts, of the illegal drug trade.