An Analysis of U.S. Counter-Narcotic/Counter-Drug Policy in Central America and the Caribbean

A detailed review of United States government publications on counter-narcotics throughout the Interagency results in the discovery of upbeat and positive estimates of our nation's success in the current war on drugs. An enormous national effort has been made to confront the scourge of illicit drug trafficking and its domestic use over the last three decades, leading to some well-documented victories. However, a number of outspoken critics both at home and abroad have put in question these successes and suggest there may be issues worthy of closer scrutiny with respect to U.S. counter-narcotic/counter-drug (CN/CD) policy. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) highlights President George W. Bush's plan by focusing on its three principal goals: Stopping Drug Use Before It Starts--Education and Community Action; Intervening and Healing America's Drug Users; and Disrupting the Market for Illicit Drugs.1 Although sources of narcotics range from Afghanistan to Myanmar to Colombia, the most prolific import source of drugs found on U.S. streets continues to be from our southern neighbors, a region that has been the focus of a War on Drugs since as early as the 1980s.