U.S. Spends $1 Trillion on War on Drugs as Cartel Violence and Drug Use Surge

‎More than five decades after the United States launched its War on Drugs, illicit substances remain widespread and cartel violence continues to destabilize Mexico. Despite investing over $1 trillion since 1971, narcotics trafficking networks remain resilient, and drug consumption has expanded both domestically and worldwide.

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‎After $1 trillion spent on the War on Drugs, cartel violence and drug use persist. El Mencho’s death underscores ongoing U.S.-Mexico narcotics challenges.

‎Daniel Cardenas/Anadolu/Getty Images

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‎The campaign began when Richard Nixon labeled drugs “public enemy No. 1.” At the time, annual federal counter-drug funding totaled about $100 million. By contrast, in the final year of Joe Biden’s presidency, the requested drug control budget for fiscal year 2025 reached $44.5 billion. Over time, spending has encompassed DEA operations, border monitoring, public awareness programs, and foreign assistance across Latin America.

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‎Yet one major benchmark has not reflected victory: the number of drug users. A United Nations report found that in 2023, 6% of people worldwide aged 15 to 64 consumed drugs other than alcohol or tobacco, up from 5.2% ten years earlier. Cannabis remains the most commonly used substance, while cocaine output reached an all-time high in 2023.

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‎Expanded coca cultivation and advances in processing have dramatically increased cocaine supply. At the same time, lucrative profits have motivated producers to widen distribution routes into Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Demand in the United States has also climbed, with cocaine use approaching levels last seen in the 1970s and 1980s.

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‎Much of the cocaine confiscated at the U.S. border originates in Colombia, where coca farming has surged, contributing to oversupply and falling prices, according to the DEA. Trafficking corridors frequently run through Mexico, underscoring the interconnected nature of the regional trade.

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‎That dynamic was embodied by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, widely known as El Mencho. Mexican authorities confirmed his death Sunday following an operation supported by intelligence from the White House under Donald Trump’s administration. El Mencho led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which evolved from a regional offshoot into one of Mexico’s dominant trafficking organizations, distributing fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine to global markets.

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‎Violence erupted swiftly after the operation, beginning in cities across Jalisco state before spreading nationwide. The unrest illustrated the persistence of North America’s drug crisis, even after decades of enforcement-heavy strategies.

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‎Between 2015 and 2024, nearly $13 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds were directed toward international counternarcotics programs aimed at dismantling operations like El Mencho’s. According to Harm Reduction International, that figure surpasses U.S. spending on primary education, water access, and sanitation in low- and middle-income nations during the same timeframe. In Colombia alone, U.S. assistance exceeded $10 billion beginning in 2000 to curb drug groups, though coca cultivation later rebounded to record levels.

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‎Meanwhile, overdose fatalities in the United States have risen over the past two decades. Initially driven by prescription opioids and heroin, the crisis has more recently centered on synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Although deaths declined after peaking in 2022, they remain historically elevated.

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‎Cartel influence has also expanded beyond Latin America into Western and Eastern Europe, according to the UN. Past takedowns—from Colombia’s Medellín cartel to Mexican kingpins like Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán—have shown that removing a top figure rarely reduces the broader drug market. Research indicates fragmentation can instead intensify violent competition among smaller groups.

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‎As the War on Drugs enters its sixth decade, El Mencho’s fall marks another chapter in a long succession of cartel leaders. The trafficking routes and the demand fueling them, however, persist.