by Jacob G. Hornberger

April 27, 2026

The obtuseness regarding the U.S. drug war that has long afflicted American conservatives never ceases to amaze me. I just cannot understand how intelligent people can be so steadfastly ignorant when it comes to this manifestly evil and immoral federal program.

Yet another example of this strange phenomenon comes from a right-winger named Joshua Treviño, who serves in two conservative organizations — the America First Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Texas Public Policy Institute in Austin, Texas.

I’m not sure how old Treviño is but judging by his photo and also by the fact that he served as a speechwriter in the administration of George W. Bush, I’d guess he is in his 50s. He obviously is a smart man and he’s clearly old enough to be able to figure things out. Unfortunately, however, when it comes to the drug war, he remains steadfastly obtuse, just like almost every other right-winger in America.

Last Friday, Treviño penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal entitled “America Gets Serious About Cartels. Will Mexico?” in which he takes Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum to task for not doing enough to join the Trump administration’s efforts to win the drug war. Like Trump and other right-wingers, Treviño wants Sheinbaum to fiercely crack down on Mexico’s drug cartels.

Lamenting the recent deaths of two CIA agents who were purportedly engaged in drug war activities in Mexico, Treviño writes, “Those fallen Americans, killed in the line of duty against Mexico’s cartels, are a sign of a crisis in relations between the U.S. and Mexico. It is a crisis created by Mexico’s regime, which has cooperated for too long with its own cartels and must now reap the predictable result as Americans act to protect themselves.”

The assumption, of course, under which Treviño is operating is that if the Mexican government were simply to engage in a fiercer crackdown on the drug cartels, including perhaps inviting the U.S. government to send hundreds of CIA agents and thousands of U.S. troop into Mexico, the drug war could finally — finally! — be won.

That’s just pure silliness. How can a smart guy like Treviño not see that? Why can’t he see that such a crackdown would only accelerate the destruction of Mexico that has been brought about by the decades-old drug war itself?

I grew up in Laredo, Texas, which is located along the U.S.-Mexico border. In the 1960s, my high-school classmates and I would often cross the international bridge and enter Nuevo Laredo. Indeed, even though we didn’t have parental consent, we’d often go on dates in Nuevo Laredo, where there was no drinking age and plenty of live entertainment for teenagers to enjoy. In fact, Laredo was a prime tourist destination because people could get a taste of “Old Mexico” by easily crossing the bridge and shopping at the local market and having delicious nachos, enchiladas, beer, or a margarita in a some great Mexican restaurant or bar.

Overall, Mexico was a great place to visit. People drove everywhere and no one worried about drug-war killings and kidnappings. In fact, my parents drove to Acapulco for their honeymoon.

Not anymore. Today, no Laredo teenager in his right mind would dare cross into Nuevo Laredo for a night of carefree entertainment. The same holds true for driving throughout Mexico, especially at night. People now have to factor in the possibility of being killed or kidnapped by Mexican drug cartels.

But guess why that that’s the case. The drug war! That’s what Treviño and his fellow right-wingers amazingly just can’t see. Beginning in the 1960s, the U.S. government and the Mexican government began ramping up enforcement of their beloved drug war. The more they ramped it up, especially with the use of Mexican troops, the more the prices of illicit drugs went up. The higher the prices, the greater the profits, which, in turn, attracted more people into getting involved in the drug business. Like other illegal or “black markets,” the drug trade attracted unsavory types of people, ones who had no reluctance to resort to violence to wipe out competitors.

Over time, the drug war brought into existence the drug cartels that ended up turning Mexico into a land of widespread drug-war violence. The drug war and the violence it has produced have essentially destroyed Mexico.

But conservatives like Treviño simply cannot see that. Angry and frustrated that their beloved federal program has failed to produce victory after decades of deadly and destructive warfare, they double down and call for an even fiercer crackdown and, in the process, blind themselves to the fact that the U.S. government and Latin American governments have been cracking down in the drug war since the 1960s. Treviño would be wise to go to Netflix and watch the two series Narcos and Narcos Mexico. He would learn what happens when drug warriors succeed in destroying major drug cartels and drug lords. (Hint: They are quickly replaced by new drug cartels and new drug lords.)

I realize that we have made the following point for 36 years here at The Future of Freedom Foundation but it bears repeating and repeating: There is only one way — repeat: only one way — to put the drug cartels out of business and thereby end the massive violence that comes with them. That one way is through drug legalization — i.e., not cracking down in the drug war, as Treviño and other right-wingers want to do, but instead ending their drug war by repealing all drug laws.

By legalizing drugs, the black market in drugs obviously comes to an end. No black market means no more artificially high prices and profits and, therefore, no more drug cartels and drug lords because they can’t compete in a legal market. They go out of business immediately.

Isn’t that what Treviño and other right-wingers want — to bring an end to drug cartels and the violence that comes with them? Why can’t right-wingers see that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is problematic? Why can’t they see what our American and Mexican ancestors saw so clearly: that if one wants to live in a peaceful and harmonious society, it’s got to be one that is drug-war free?