As stated by Claire Suddath, from the Time article "War on Drugs", "It's a war without a clear enemy." The United States has been fighting for years over the War on Drugs. The U.S. has spent over $2.5 trillion in the past 40 years. Even though there is not a clear enemy, 90% of cocaine comes over the border from Mexico. There has been so much drug related violence in Mexico that it is spilling over into the U.S. causing more problems. Drugs are a country wide problem, but the main states involved are Arizona and Texas since they border Mexico. Many kidnappings and ransoms have been reported in Arizona. There have been numerous gun fights between gangs along the border, killing many. People who have lived along the border their whole lives say that they have never seen the violence this bad according to the article "Battle on the border" by John Maccormack from the San Antonio Express-News. Also from Maccormack, "The situation here is very violent, very grave, very critical," said one, who declined to give her name. "No one here has any confidence in the police or the local government. They will tell you it is tranquil, but people believe they are with the narcos." These statements came from two women who live in Mexico near the border. It is definitely becoming a crisis between our governments. Another possible enemy on our War on Drugs is Canada. In the Globe and Mail article "The U.S. is Addicted to War on Drugs" by Ethan Nadelmann, he states that there are five factors. The first being the marijuana policy. The U.S. does not agree with legalizing medical marijuana, where Canada does because they claim that it has been proven to reduce drug overdoses, infections, risky injection practices and public nuisance. Secondly, there have been many more places opening to injected medical marijuana, which he states, intimidates the U.S. The third factor being that there is no evidence that the drug policy will increase drug abuse in Canada. Fourth he states that the United States makes up 5% of the world's population, 25% of the world's prison population. Nadelmann says, "Almost half a million people are locked up for violating a drug law." By this statement one can tell that Nadelmann is trying to say that by legalizing medical marijuana, the U.S. may have less percentages in prison, especially for committing a drug crime. The fifth factor states that 80% of Americans voted that medical marijuana should be legalized when it is prescribed by a doctor. Nadelmann says that the U.S. is trying to make Canada "backwards adopt our policies". This is a continuing battle and will be until we can come to an agreement.
