Publications

State of siege: Drug related violence and corruption in Mexico

1 January 2006

State of Siege provides an overview of drug trafficking and drug-related violence and corruption in Mexico and argues that the United States must share responsibility with Mexico for addressing these problems for two reasons. First, illegal drugs are trafficked through Mexico to meet a strong and in some cases growing U.S. demand. Second, and more fundamentally, the United States has chosen to prohibit certain drugs, a strategy that in all probability keeps drug use lower than would be the case under some form of legalization, but at the cost of creating a large, violent, and corrupting black market.'