Sir,
Hugh O'Shaughnessy notes recent shifts in the American policy on drugs, but there is an ongoing move towards greater securitisation of the drug "threat" and fusion with the "war on terror" ("US waves white flag in disastrous 'war on drugs'", 17 January). The New York Times reports that the US attorney for Manhattan is to combine the units tasked with prosecuting international narcotics and terrorism cases. Last summer, it was revealed that the US had placed 50 drug traffickers suspected of financing the Taliban on a "kill list", equating smugglers with insurgents. And while some US agents may have been removed from Latin America, US-funded aerial fumigation of coca continues, with spray planes accompanied by military helicopters...
Citation: Damon Barrett. 'At War with Ourselves: Letter to the Independent' (International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy, excerpt published by The Independent, January 24, 2013)