| | |  Editorials | Issues | April 2009 
Americans Assess Blame on Drug War
 Angus Reid Global Monitor
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Many adults in the United States believe Mexican drug producers are primarily responsible for the violence in Mexico, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 56 per cent of respondents agree with this assessment.
Conversely, 30 per cent of respondents believe drug users in the U.S. are more to blame for the problem.
Mexican president Felipe Calderón took over as Mexico’s head of state in December 2006. During his campaign, he vowed to combat illicit drug trafficking and drug-related crime. One of Calderón’s first measures was to send military personnel to northern towns severely affected by drug trafficking. More than 6,300 people have died in 2008 and 2009, many of them caught in conflicts between drug cartels.
Under the so-called Merida initiative, the U.S. is giving Mexico $1.4 billion U.S. in order to combat organized crime and drug trafficking.
On Apr. 16, U.S. president Barack Obama visited Mexico, and declared: "I commend Mexico for the successes that have already been achieved [fighting drug cartels]. But I will not pretend that this is Mexico’s responsibility alone. A demand for these drugs in the United States is what is helping to keep these cartels in business. This war is being waged with guns purchased not here, but in the United States. More than 90 per cent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States, many from gun shops that line our shared border."
Polling Data
Who is more to blame for growing drug violence in Mexico—Mexican drug producers or drug users in the United States?
• Mexican drug producers - 56%
• Drug users in U.S. - 30%
• Not sure - 14%
Source: Rasmussen Reports
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 likely voters, conducted on Apr. 15 and Apr. 16, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent. |
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