Is the United States winning the war on drugs: a case study of the flow of drugs from Mexico and Colombia to the United States (2010 – 2020)?

Abstract

Drug manufacturing, trafficking, distribution, and selling have wreaked chaos and havoc globally, mainly in the United States of America, which then saw former President Nixon’s administration introduce and implement a counternarcotics strategy that would criminalize the sale of illicit substances in America. The problem tackled in this dissertation is a simple yet polarizing question of whether the United States is winning the War on Drugs, which will be analysed and deliberated thoroughly using a case study method that will focus on Colombia and Mexico as they are the manufacturers and transit countries for illicit drugs, respectively. According to Pearl (2018), President Richard Nixon declared war on drugs in 1971, launching a tough-on-crime policy agenda that still produces terrible outcomes today. The gap in the literature is that previous research has demonstrated that the “War on Drugs” has been a catastrophic failure. Still, this dissertation offers a new lens and perspective by exploring if the drug war has been a success or failure whilst looking at a period from 2010 to 2020 and reaching a probable hypothesis regarding the drug war. This dissertation adopted a qualitative research approach mainly because the events and ideas covered required critical analysis of human behaviour, the decision-making process, philosophies, and beliefs carried out by all actors involved in the “War on Drugs.” A case study method was also followed as specific actors in the drug war were targeted, mainly the United States, Colombia, and Mexico. The study used the “Just War Theory,” “Social Conflict Theory,” and “Rational Choice Theory” in guiding their research. The dissertation found through extensive research and analysis that the drug war was and still is a costly failure that could not achieve its objectives of dismantling and obliterating the illegal drug market. Drug availability, drug overdoses, drug-related crime, and killings are still staggering and growing daily. One recommendation the researcher has suggested is that a decriminalization of illegal narcotics policy be introduced and executed efficiently by the United States to ensure that their citizens are given the treatment they require, as drug use is a disorder/addiction, not a crime that needs punishment.