And Mexico Keeps Getting Stuck With Ours

WARNING: This post may trigger some people. If you are one of those people, my advice is to buy a mirror and use it.

 

The drug war is not complicated.

We pretend it is.
We wrap it in politics, policy debates, border arguments, and moral posturing.

But at its core, it’s a simple supply-and-demand problem.

And the demand doesn’t come from Mexico.

It comes from us.

Americans consume the drugs.
Mexico absorbs the violence.

That’s the trade. That’s the reality.

Demand Is Invisible. Consequences Aren’t.

In the U.S., drug demand looks abstract to most people*.

It looks like:

• A line at a party
• A prescription pad
• A weekend escape
• A “victimless” personal choice

In Mexico, demand looks very different.

It looks like:

• Armed convoys in daylight
• Families caught between cartels and the state
• Communities living under threat
• Journalists silenced
• Children growing up normalized to violence

Same demand.
Radically different consequences.

The Lie We Tell Ourselves

Americans like to believe the drug war is a foreign problem.

“That’s cartel violence.”
“That’s corruption.”
“That’s a Mexico issue.”

No.
That’s outsourced violence.

If there were no buyers, there would be no sellers.
If there were no profit, there would be no armies.
If the demand dried up, the business would collapse.

We don’t get to pretend otherwise.

When One King Falls, Nothing Changes

Recent reports around El Mencho—whether true, false, or somewhere in between—don’t change the underlying reality.

Take out a leader, and another fills the gap.
Break one cartel, and another reorganizes.

Why?

Because the demand never stopped.

As long as Americans keep buying, someone will keep supplying.
And Mexico will keep paying the price—in blood.

The Mexican People Aren’t the Problem

Let’s be clear about something that too often gets lost:

The Mexican people are not the problem.
They are the ones living with the fallout.

I live here.
I see the pride, the kindness, the resilience, and the community that rarely make the headlines.

I also see how unfair this burden is.

A country shouldn’t have to absorb violence generated by another country’s appetite.

But that’s exactly what’s happening.

Accountability Starts at Home

If Americans want to talk seriously about the drug war, accountability has to start on our side of the border.

Not with:

• Militarization theater
• Border blame games
• Moral superiority

But with honesty.

Our demand fuels this machine.
Our consumption sustains it.
Our denial enables it.

Until we’re willing to own that, nothing changes.

And Mexico keeps paying for our choices.

Next: If Not Mexico, Who? – History proves that someone else will step up to satisfy the U.S. demand.

*When I mention “most people“, I’m not referring to the addict, the family member of an addict, or anyone who’s in a place where they witness the effects of addiction directly. For you, the demand is much deeper and a lot more personal.