Tech on Tec

“Mexico is the top drug exporter to the United States” (Levy and Bruhn 213). While I couldn’t tell you where or when I learned this information, it did not shock me to come across this statement when reading for class. What shocked me was that I had never applied the basic principle of supply and demand pounded into my head during a semester of macroeconomics: “with no demand, there would be no reason to produce” (Levy and Brunn 216). More simply put, Mexicans sell drugs to Americans because Americans want to buy drugs from Mexicans.

Since the drug problem is two-fold—Mexican production and American consumption—it makes sense that the countries would work together to find a solution. Ideally, while the Mexican government addressed the economic and social factors that make drug production and distribution attractive to its citizens, the American government would focus on understanding and decreasing U.S. consumption. In actuality, however, both countries’ efforts have been devoted to the to the production and transport activities within Mexico.

Many feel the U.S. focus on Mexico is hypocritical and detrimental. Some wonder why the U.S. portrays the drug trade as a Mexican problem without acknowledging its more than thirty million drug users. Others worry that Mexico’s stance on drugs is an act of subservience to the U.S; many Mexicans see “the drug problem as a U.S. problem that becomes a Mexican problem simply because of U.S. pressure” (Levy and Bruhn 222). Adding even more fuel to the fire is the growing number of guns making their way from the U.S. to Mexico where they are illegal. “They are cynical regarding this (consumption) issue,” said Mexico’s Attorney General Eduardo Medina during a recent speech criticizing the lack U.S. action to stem the fire arms flow.

For now it seems, the two countries will continue to center their efforts in Mexico. As we learned in David’s recent post, on June 25, 2007, nearly 300 members of Mexico’s federal police force were temporarily suspended and told that they would be reinstated upon completion of drug, polygraph, and psychological screening. Additionally, President Calderón has fortified anti-drug forces with military support, and the extradition of drug traffickers to the U.S. has increased.