DoctorTom, if we are the driving force behind the drug cartels, then isn't it our business? Well, at least we own some of that violence. Actually, a lot of it especially since the US seems to be funding both sides.

And of course one way is by doing exactly what you are asking for, better drug intervention and more effective social and jobs programs on our side of the border which would decrease the drug use as well as prison population, blighted areas, unemployment, welfare rolls, etc.

But part of the reform must also cross the border. We have always taken the War on Drugs as literally a war. Why not change the outlook and take that aid toward hardcore enforcement and develop something akin to the Marshall Plan. That way, we not only dry up the demand on our side, but we help make it easier for farmers and citizens, the people who have come to depend on the drug lords for survival, to walk away from the supply side.