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The U.S. must instead prioritize domestic demand reduction and halt the flow of assault weapons over the border if it is to cease exporting both the motive and the means for violent drug trafficking to Mexico.

1 Yet an examination of the current Mexican and regional context leads to the conclusion that without a paradigm shift in design, the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars earmarked for the Mérida Initiative and other anti-drug aid to Mexico will fuel a dysfunctional approach to public security-one that is characterized by widespread human rights violations within the framework of an ineffective war against criminals that has not reduced drug-related violence.

One could argue that the United States can avoid fueling human rights violations in Mexico by withholding funding from certain military or police units shown to be responsible for such abuses or by waiting to disburse assistance until Mexico has met certain human rights requirements.

In addition to these concerns, the consistently ineffective track record of frontal-combat approaches to reducing drug trafficking leave little doubt that supporting such an approach now will not end the drug trade, despite any short-term increases in the number of arrests or amount of drugs seized

In February 2009, the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, composed of leading political figures including former Presidents of Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, issued its conclusions on this subject. It strongly criticized as ineffective the U.S.-led drug war paradigm of the past 30 years and called for a public health approach to drug policy centered on treatment and demand reduction.