During the 1980s, Pablo Escobar and his ruthless Medellín Cartel became synonymous with violence and death in Colombia. His policy in dealing with law enforcement and government officials was known as plata o plomo, silver or lead. Those that couldn’t be bribed were killed. This resulted in the deaths of hundreds, including civilians, policemen and state officials. Escobar was also responsible for the murder of Colombian presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán as well as the bombing of Avianca Flight 203 and the DAS building bombing in Bogotá in 1989. That year, Forbes magazine estimated he had a personal fortune of $25 billion, making him the seventh-richest man in the world. His Medellín cartel controlled 80% of the global cocaine market. The Colombian government finally went on the offensive and Escobar was eventually hunted down and killed in 1993. While the majority of cocaine is still produced in Colombia and cartels still exist, Mexican cartels have grown increasingly more powerful. The State Department estimates that 90% of cocaine entering the United States transits Mexico.

Facing a situation similar to Colombia’s in the 1980s and 1990s, Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared war on the drug traffickers after his election in 2006 by deploying nearly 45,000 troops and 5,000 federal police to 18 states. As in Colombia, there has been an alarming increase in deaths. Estimates are that 9900 people have died in drug-related incidents since January 2007. Cities such as Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo have become armed camps. But Calderón’s war on the drug cartels has had an effect beyond the increased levels of violence and deaths. The U.S. government estimates that the amount of cocaine seized on U.S. soil dropped by 41 percent between early 2007 and mid-2008. And yesterday, Mexico captured Teodoro Garcia Simental, known as El Teo, one of Mexico’s major drug kingpins. His capture follows the arrest of Benjamin Arellano Felix and the death of his brother Raul, the leaders of the Arellano Felix gang.

Still, the U.S. Justice Department now considers the Mexican drug cartels the greatest organized crime threat to the United States as violence spills across the Mexican border. Officials in cities such as Phoenix have reported an alarming increase in killings, kidnappings and home invasions connected to Mexico’s cartels. Also, more than 200 Americans have been killed in Mexico since 2004. The governors of Arizona and Texas have asked the federal government to send additional National Guard troops to help those already there supporting local law enforcement efforts against drug trafficking.

While Colombia has experienced a continuing decrease in levels of violence as current President Alvaro Uribe continues the country’s war against drug traffickers and military groups like the FARC, it’s anyone’s guess whether Calderón and Mexico will succeed. The level of corruption runs deep.

Along with continued military and financial support to Colombia and Mexico, the U.S. could help reduce drug usage and violence by decriminalizing marijuana usage and treating it as a public health problem rather than a security problem. Studies have found that using drug user treatment to reduce drug consumption in the United States is seven times more cost effective than law enforcement efforts alone, and it could potentially cut consumption by a third. Decriminalization, particularly of small quantities of marijuana, might also save money and countless lives in Mexico and in the U.S.