War on Drugs in MexicoIn 2006, the former president of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, launched a massive crackdown on drug traffickers. This escalated a conflict that would contribute to the deaths of tens of thousands of people in drug-related violence. To address this problem, the United States provided funds and intelligence to increase Mexico's institutional capacity to combat drug trafficking. Its main objective has been to stem the flow of drugs into the country and enforce national law (Lee, 2014). Although they are unsure how to resolve Mexico's simmering conflict, analysts agree that the United States' turn to drugs has been a failure and requires a new approach. The United States is gradually moving toward the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana, which is one of the main substances involved in the war on drugs. "Mexico's Collapse, Its Civil War Comes to America" ​​reveals that the battle between Mexican drug cartels threatens to turn into America's southern neighbor has become a failed nation-state and has spread deeper into the United States than anyone imagined (Newsmax, 2011). Many would say that Americans are addicted to drugs. According to the U.S. State Department, 90% of cocaine enters the United States through the Mexican border. These cartels also manufacture 80 percent of the crystal meth sold in the United States, 14 percent of the heroin and the majority of marijuana. U.S. Department of Justice Mexico is a major supplier of heroin to the U.S. market and the largest foreign supplier of methamphetamine. These productions are said to have increased since 2005 (Lee, 2014). The war on drugs in Mexico has cost nearly 40,000 lives since 2006 in nightmares of beheadings, mass graves, etc. middle of paper. ....clearly visible “foot soldiers”. Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution advocates aggressively targeting the middle layer, which is intrinsic to operational capability and is not as easily replaceable (Lee, 2014). Vanda also supports a more hierarchical approach to targeting traffickers, prioritizing those who are the most violent, rather than "attacking indiscriminately every time intelligence comes in." » References: CNN World. (2014). Mexico Drug War Fast Facts. Retrieved from: http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/02/world/americas/mexico-drug-war-fast-facts/ Lee, B. (2014). Mexican Foreign Relations Council. Consulted. from: http://www.cfr.org/mexico/mexicos-drug-war/p13689Newsmax (2011). Mexico's drug war is spilling across the U.S. border. Retrieved from: http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/mexicodrugwar-. usborder-violence-immigration/2011/06/14/id/400068/